resident companies
plastic orchid factory is a group of artists from diverse artistic backgrounds that have been working together since 2008. We value a shared practice that encourages true interdisciplinary, with multiple, and sometimes contrasting, expressions. Our programming is defined by artist-led, collaboratively devised projects that support risk in which artists have the opportunity to be informed and transformed by the practices and aesthetics of the other collaborators. Priority is placed on inclusive approaches that blend genres and facilitate research, collaboration, exchange and the development of new frameworks for making and experiencing art. We honour thinking fluidly across disciplines and framing propositions using the materials most apt to the task. We make work where the creative hierarchies are horizontal and collective responsibility is taken to see the proposal through from beginning to end. In recent years, we have worked to re-imagine the ways we create, produce and present our work to maintain as much independence as possible, including using this model to support the work of our peers.
Conceived in 2003 and established as a social profit society in 2008, plastic orchid factory has devised over 20 original works shown in both formal and unconventional spaces. This body of work has been supported by The Vancouver Art Gallery, The New Forms Festival, Will Aballe Art Projects, The Capture Festival, The Facade Festival, The Belkin Gallery, The Dance Centre, EDAM dance, Circuit-Est (Montréal), Opera Estate (Bassano Italy), Electric Company Theatre, The Vancouver East Cultural Centre, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Boca del Lupo, The Vancouver International Dance Festival, 10 Gates Dancing and The National Arts Centre.
Since 2015, plastic orchid factory has hosted and presented the work of Canadian dance artists: Angélique Willkie, Jaques Poulin-Denis/Grand Poney, Melanie Demers/MAYDAY Danse, Angie Cheng, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Zoë Poluch, Tedd Robinson/10 Gates Dancing, Ame Henderson, Rob Abubo, Vanessa Goodman, Diego Romero, MACHiNENOiSY, dumb instrument Dance, Ralph Escamillan, Ted Littlemore/Mila Dramatic, TWOBIGsteps Collective, ReLoCate Collective, Evann Siebens and olive theory. plastic orchid factory continues to pursue this activity as a way to make space for and strengthen models for no-nonsense, artist-to-artist support in presentation capacities.
MascallDance has (so far) produced and incited somatic movement creation for 38 years. It is a platform for the work, ideas, and collaborators of company founder and artistic director, Jennifer Mascall. Recently described as “the fertile, iterative, gloriously unfinished practice of one of this town’s most unique creative forces” (Deborah Meyers), her work spans 45 years, over 200 choreographies and many awards. The aesthetic of these works is based "not on what a movement looks like, but on what the dancer is thinking about, and the distinct and specific quality of that thought." (Johanna Householder). Early in her career, international press dubbed Mascall “the enfant terrible of dance.” Lately, she is referred to as “the Frank Zappa of dance.”
At MascallDance, any movement idea possible is used to explore and realize an idea. Assumptions, traditions and styles are frequently questioned. In all aspects of the company, we intentionally take participants out of their habits, foster new, emerging and mature choreographic voices, and place high demands on art workers. The company serves as a movement centre encompassing Mascall’s wide-ranging studies and fluid interests in physical motivation, movement and mind/body connections. Here, initiatives are continually propagated, advancing collaboration, movement creation and somatic choreographic practice. Dialogue about dance and movement is stimulated between many disciplines and diverse publics. MascallDance has provided a continual resource to generations of movement practitioners and anyone who is curious about the body. Scores of artists from many disciplines have contributed to the company’s productions and tours in Canada, Scotland, Holland, Finland, Germany, India and Italy.
Action at a Distance Dance Society is a performance company under the artistic direction of choreographer Vanessa Goodman. The company would like to respectfully acknowledge that it is working in historic Chinatown on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations
The priority of the company is to foster work that reflects the human condition, using dance to decode contemporary experience. It is the company’s goal to create immersive environments, working towards facilitating an engrossing experience for those who witness the work. Goodman has received several awards and honours, including: The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2013); The Yulanda M. Faris Scholarship (2017/18); The Chrystal Dance Prize (2019); The Schultz Endowment from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019); and the "Space to Fail" program (2019/20) in New Zealand, Australia and Vancouver.
The company's work has been presented in Vancouver by DanceHouse, SFU Woodwards, The Belkin Gallery through Evann Siebens, The Firehall Arts Centre, The Dance Centre, The Chutzpah! Festival and The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Presentations further afield include the Fluid Festival (Calgary), Kinetic Studio (Halifax), The Dance Made in Canada Festival (Toronto), On the Boards (Seattle), Risk/Reward Festival (Portland), Offset Dance Fest (New York) and The Bienal Internacional de Dança Do Ceará (Brazil).
The company and Goodman have been artist-in-residence at The Dance Centre, Dance Victoria, Harbourfront Centre, The Shadbolt Centre and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where she was also on faculty. Commissions include Springboard Dansé Montréal, the plastic orchid factory (with Ame Henderson), Votive Dance, Lamon Dance, Modus Operandi and The SFU rep class.
Upcoming projects include collaborations with James Proudfoot, Scott Morgan (Loscil); Caroline Shaw (premiering January 2021); and Simona Deaconescu (premiering at National Dance House/Romania and Left of Main).
Electric Company Theatre inspires audiences with a renewed sense of possibility: our performances consistently defy and expand the definition of what live theatre can be. We provide a highly collaborative environment for artists, creating the right conditions for experimentation, risk, and the pursuit of excellence. We traverse artistic disciplines, challenge theatrical conventions and explore universal themes. Our projects are the result of innovative partnerships with community organizations, arts groups, businesses, schools and individuals. We work to reach across cultures, backgrounds, economics, and ideology to find the universal elements that connect all members of our community. We are also committed to providing opportunities for emerging artists to work on large scale projects with established artists.
Electric Company Theatre is one of Canada’s leading creators of live theatre, rich in spectacle and adventurous in form, challenging theatrical conventions while preserving a strong sense of story.
Electric Company Theatre was originally formed as a collective in 1996 by Siminovitch Prize-winning director Kim Collier, David Hudgins, Jonathon Young and Governor General’s Award-winning writer Kevin Kerr, who met while training at Studio 58. The company has created 22 original productions including Betroffenheit, Tear the Curtain!, No Exit (co-produced with The Virtual Stage), Studies in Motion, Brilliant!, and the feature film The Score.
Electric Company Theatre has toured throughout Canada, to the US and the UK and co-founded Progress Lab 1422, a 6,000 square ft theatre creation space in Vancouver BC, with Rumble Theatre, Neworld Theatre and Boca del Lupo.
CADA/West is its membership of dance artists and supporters. We work together to raise artists up. We offer a variety of programs, outreach and resources.