Voices Dance Project. Photo provided.
A new interdisciplinary dance troupe is debuting in Ottawa. Voices Dance Project, led by co-founders Jasmine van Schouwen and Sarah Squizzato, are a group with an amibitious, cross-displinary show of contemporary dance, live music, and poetry. Their show Poetry in Motion is taking place October 5 at Arts Court Theatre.
“For years, I had had this dream in the back of my mind of creating a dance company in Ottawa that would be body-inclusive and that would empower dancers to go beyond the traditional dancer’s role of bringing someone else’s vision to life and begin taking an active part in the creative process,” says co-founder van Schouwen, who has been dancing professionally since 2006. “Voices Dance offers a space where experienced dancers can train, create and perform.”
Poetry in Motion will feature modern and contemporary dance, but with unique twists from each choreographer. With nine choreographers, there are a lot of skills to draw from—even belly dancing and classical ballet are included in the lineup.
Julia Sterling has been dancing since she was three, including as part of the Carleton Ravens Dance Pack, where COVID interrupted her choreographing debut. She bumped into van Schouwen “serendipitously” and has been involved with Voices since last October.
Voices Dance Project. Photo provided.
“All the dancers were able to try out choreography,” Sterling says. Sterling herself choreographed two pieces for the show.
“She [van Schouwen] met all these diverse dancers, and brought them along to join the team, and so that’s why the show is as diverse as it is. It’s not typical for dance shows to have different genres on stage … but she really wanted to see what magic happens when a lot of different techniques are coming together,” says Sterling.
An opportunity to both create and dance, like what Voices offers, is rare. Professional dance opportunties “remain few and far between” in Ottawa, says van Schouwen, and chances to choreograph are even rarer, with many dancers either leaving Ottawa or rejoining dance schools for opportunities.
Voices Dance Project keeps talent in Ottawa and lets it thrive.
“It is built on a model that puts dancers first and built on the idea that we all do our best work when we are surrounded by people who meet us where we are, who take us as we are, who recognize our needs and make us feel seen, heard, and cared for,” says van Schouwen.
The 11 represented poets—all queer and/or BIPOC—answered a cross-country call-out from Jasmine, who narrowed down the many entrants to eleven. She then let each choreographer read the poems and choose which one they connected with the most.
Photo provided.
The dances and poems are accompanied by live music, composed by Jack Hui Litster and performed by four musicians.
“We put a lot of heart and time and effort into the show and I think it comes through in the movement,” says Sterling of her reason to watch the show. The mixture of art forms and styles is also a draw for the audience: “It’s not always clear what the motives are behind a piece, but now there is poetry to connect the two.”
Check out Voices Dance Project’s website for more information and buy tickets to their October 5 show here.
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