Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency artists Sidney Chuckas, Mohammed Rashead, and Ana Sosa have a studio showing, December 1
Dance West Network’s “Meet the Artists” event at Morrow provides a peek at work in progress
Clockwise from top left, Ana Sosa, Sidney Chuckas (Elizabeth Steele photo), Mohammed Rashead.
Dance West Network’s Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency “Meet the Artists” studio showing on December 1 at Morrow (910 Richards Street, Unit 204) at 8 pm
THE THREE emerging dance artists who are participating in Dance West Network’s 4th annual Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency will offer a peek at their new creations in a free “Meet the Artists” studio showing on December 1 at Morrow.
Sidney Chuckas, Mohammed Rashead, and Ana Sosa will share early excerpts from work that they’re creating (with mentorship support) during the 2022-23 residency.
Chuckas is a Ballet BC dancer whose performance experience spans concerts by the likes of Brandy and Chance the Rapper, with training at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Alvin Ailey, and the Joffrey Ballet. “As a black, queer artist, it is important to me that the work is not created within a fantastical vacuum but speaks to the current socio-political climate: a quickly evolving technological landscape which often measures ‘uniqueness’ and ‘individuality’ via digital popularity and influence, placing a heavy emphasis on individual success over collective growth,” Chuckas says in their artist’s statement.
Mexican-born Sosa was born and raised in Mexico, and moved to Vancouver at eight, studying a variety of dance styles at Dance Co. and Harbour Dance Centre. She then moved at 18 to New York City, where she studied continued her dance education at Steps on Broadway, Broadway Dance Center, Pace University Dance Program, the Tango Company, and Gibney Dance and ran her own dance company, Sosa Dance Company, from 2013-2014. She is currently part of Okam's Racer, a new collective founded with Jenna Berlyn, Samantha Krystal, and Will Jessup. “Watching others collaborate and create together during rehearsals reminds me of the harmonious energy that Indigenous cultures were built upon. I’ve discovered that the decision to allow people to have a voice, to allow people to explore themselves and to grow and to learn to accommodate everyone (including myself) is surprisingly, not challenge, it’s a joyful process. I hope to unite everyone involved so we can change gracefully for the better together and build a new foundation for the future world,” Sosa says.
Rashead is a first-generation Canadian from Syria who’s trained across jazz, contemporary, and hip-hop. He danced with TwoFourSeven Company, and he’s currently working in the film industry on shows such as Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist. “I know that there are many young-uns out there who face the same struggles of stereotypes with creativity, sexuality and being who you are. I know there needs to be a voice to ground and nurture those who need to hear that: being who you are is beautiful and you need to embrace it. The immense love that we can spread. The joy. I want us to feel a bit uncomfortable but also safe to explore the feelings that arise,” Rashead’s artist’s statement reads.
Each emerging dance artist receives a $2,500 flat fee and has the opportunity to choose an established artist to be a mentor offering creative feedback. Josh Martin and Lisa Gelley from Company 605 will mentor Chuckas; Becky Izad will mentor Rashead; and Ziyian Kwan will mentor Sosa.
The unique project also connects each dance artist with an emerging writer of colour (Misha Maseka for Chuckas, Brenda “Bee” Kent Colina for Sosa), and to-be-confirmed for Rashead.)
Launched in 2019, Dance West Network’s Recentering/Margins Creative Residency project provides opportunities and professional development for emerging dance artists of colour to create contemporary performance works.
The three selected artists were chosen in a competitive process by a selection committee of established artists.
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