Dance artists and educator Ashley Johnson is well known in the Battlefords for working with school children and encouraging adult interest in contemporary dance, and this Saturday she will be performing at The Gog.
On the program for the evening is a dance-theatre collaboration with long-time friend Nicole Schafenacker, titled Sisters in the Wild. It鈥檚 a story of friendship, history and identity, exploring through movement and text what occurs in moments of intersection and connection.
鈥淲e are so excited to be presenting it in North Battleford just in time for spring,鈥� say the two artists who have been friends since they were 12 years old. 鈥淪isters in the Wild works lots of images of flowers and dirt and new beginning and old friendship.鈥�
Presenting dance theatre in a house concert is an exciting challenge, says Johnson, known to have created work in trees, parking lots, banks and abandoned buildings.
Johnson says a presentation such as Sisters in the Wild is a good way to introduce or reintroduce dance and theatre to an audience as a more visual experience than the purely musical performances most people are more familiar with.
Johnson鈥檚 collaborator, Schafenacker, is an Edmonton writer, performer, yoga instructor and medical humanities researcher. She has shown original work in theatre and dance festivals throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan. This summer she will participate in the Citadel Theatre鈥檚 Playwright鈥檚 Forum where she will be writing her fifth play to date.
Johnson and Schafenacker met as students of the same school in a small Alberta town. New to town, eighth grade Johnson found herself 鈥渉orribly lost鈥� (she admits getting lost is a common occurrence for her even today) and Schafenacker, who lived across the street, was assigned to see she made it to and from school. At the time, they weren鈥檛 exactly happy with the arrangement, but eventually they came to realize they shared an interest in taking their art and their work outside the standard realms of each.
Due to their long association, Sisters in the Wild is in some ways autobiographical of their friendship, says Johnson.
In addition to Sisters in the Wild, Saturday evening at The Gog will also feature solo work by Johnson and Schafenacker as well as guest artists Erica Jacks and Kelly Van Damme of Saskatoon.
Johnson currently works between Saskatchewan and Alberta. She has a particular interest in dance education and how we integrate art practice into daily life.
She was a dancer in residence with Living Sky School Division for three years, where her focus was Joyful Learning, why we dance, how we dance and when we dance, and has been back to the Battlefords several times for additional engagement in the schools. Her most recent project looked at increasing teacher confidence and shifting environments in pre-kindergarten classrooms for more accessibility to daily movement.聽
Johnson has a diploma in dance from Grant MacEwan College of Edmonton as well as a bachelor of arts degree in dance from University of Calgary. In 2007, she followed modern dance pioneer and Mitzvah Technique teacher Amelia Itcush to Davidson, where she certified as a Mitzvah Technique and Itcush Method teacher.聽
In 2009, she embarked on a mentorship with Emilie Conrad, the founder of the Continuum Movement. She continues to pursue the connection between somatic movement, the creative impulse and dance.
Johnson believes the creation and production of new and original work derives from the landscape we inhabit. Her work as a dance artist focuses on site-specific creation in a variety of unusual settings. She believes dance happens everywhere.
Friday鈥檚 hostess will be Kelly Waters, owner of The Gog.
鈥淚nterest was extremely high last time Ashley was at The Gog, though I am known for squeezing in a few more last minute,鈥� says Waters. 鈥淭here is a risk of聽me having to declare the show sold out this time.鈥�
Check with Waters to see if there is room for you by emailing [email protected] or by texting 306-481-3656.
Admission is $20 with all admission going directly to the artists. Waters provides hors d鈥檕euvres and is happy to accept donations to help offset the cost of food and refreshment.
The Gog is located at 1391-105th St., North Battleford. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the show goes at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, in a day-long workshop with facilitators Johnson and Schafenacker, participants will find out how use the media of theater, dance and writing to unearth their stories 鈥� 鈥淲rite it, dance it, speak it.鈥�
The workshop is for all levels, from age 14 up. No dance or theater experience is required, just the willingness to be creative.
