W&M DANCE Projects

ELEVEN YEARS AGO.....

Eleven years ago this past June, W&M took on a facility lease at 4005 9th Street SE that had 2 beautiful dance studios, a kitchen, a tiny office, and a common area. Over the years, we furnished, renovated, scrubbed, painted, invited, moved, taught, created, hosted workshops, performances and post-performance celebrations, launched Surge, W&M2, and W&Men, laughed and worked ourselves silly to keep the space alive. Many wonderful dancers, artists, and guests have moved through those studios with us; you know who you are. Margie Gillis, Peggy Baker, Denise Clarke, Crystal Pite and many others were guests. We strategized, improvised and scrimped, and have finally decided to leave that (always financially difficult) lease for bigger and brighter things that include committing our resources to artistic projects and artists. The Calgary Opera continues to hold the lease, and Kylee Dawn, who has managed rentals for the last couple of years, will take on leasing the upstairs studio. All other aspects of W&M continue with refreshed energy; our own artistic work and touring, our artist in residence and artist support programs, our collaborative projects and relationships, our film and video work, and our educational activities. We have simply relieved our organization of the financial burden and stress of a facility. You may even see us rehearsing in the space (as we have our mirrors and floors on loan there until June). We have many new projects on the go; WeSelle and Uje(ci)/Framed tour Poland again this Fall and W&M will co-present a retrospective of work by Monteros (with Mochniej as collaborator and Isom designing lights). To all of you who shared the work and the dancing in those spaces, Thank You! It was a labor of Love!

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