>>PREVIEW
FROM THE GROUND UP
MoMo Dance Theatre Mixed Ability Movement Company
May 27
Vertigo Studio Theatre (Calgary Tower)
Imagine a movement-based, inclusive arts community, twisted with humour and compassion. Imagine this well, and you may have experienced MoMo Dance Theatre Mixed Ability Movement Company.
"Our show is called From the Ground Up and it has work from six choreographers. We have about 20 dancers, and it’s about half and half – people with disabilities and people without," says MoMo’s Pamela Boyd.
"We have two batches of MoMo dancers – we’ve been running a Saturday open workshop, so one comes out of that. And we have a class from the Prospect Human Services Society for young people of developmental disabilities. So they’re less experienced, but very excited about performing, and I’m very excited to see them perform."
The choreographers include Boyd, Laurie Montemurro, George McFaul, Trina Rasmuson, Valerie Campbell and Michael Ho. Although many of the choreographers are professionals within Calgary’ arts community, this will be the first piece Ho has choreographed that he will also be performing as a solo.
Boyd says the idea for the classes came after she went to the International Disability Dance Festival in Australia. "It blew me away seeing dancers of all abilities working together, and I thought this had to happen in Calgary."
Boyd joined forces with Montemurro and McFaul, and the three began organizing and instructing open contact improvisation workshops.
"We started to run some classes to see what would happen. It turned out to be a good idea and that there was a need for it in our community," Boyd says.
MoMo debuted at Alberta Dance Explosions Festival of Choreography in 2004. After the positive response, they presented their first show, and the project has gone forward from there.
"This past year we’ve done the Disability Arts Festival, Mutton Busting’s Plink Plink Plink as part of the High Performance Rodeo, Alberta Dance Explosions, and we will also be doing Ignite, Sage Theatre’s festival of new works," says Boyd.
"So we’ve been getting out there and the classes need us to be performing to be visible, and we need to run the classes so it’s possible to perform."
Boyd notes MoMo’s classes are open to everyone, from "people with profound disabilities to professional performers. It is an intergrated, mixed ability idea." |
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