MIKE
Dana Michel (CA)
10 + 11 November @ 19.00 – 22:00 (doors open @ 18.00)
The creation and production of MIKE is a commitment to highlighting the idea that without trust in ourselves and in others, it is impossible to safely live public lives that reflect our interior lives. We are sure to stagnate in a state of half-life and disharmony… gridlocked in the endless traffic of not knowing how to respect or even truly recognize the other. WE MUST LEARN HOW TO TRUST THE OTHER. We must first trust OUR «TRUE» SELVES in order to do this work.
And so, with this work, I have created a list of three “musts”… around which I will sculpt a performative proposal:
1) I/YOU/THEY MUST TRUST that we cannot healthily and consistently continue to work within modalities and environments that weren’t designed for a diversity of minds and hope to thrive or even survive;
2) I/YOU/THEY MUST TRUST that “the arts” is where a large percentage of humans with highly diverse minds come for respite and in pursuit of flourishing. Artists, audiences and cultural workers alike come looking for a safer space to build other possibilities for existing in the world, and we could all benefit greatly from shifting into a modality that reflects more recognition of this diversity of minds in our day-to-day working practices;
3) I/YOU/THEY MUST TRUST and believe in my/ your/their interior experiences in order to advocate for them and therefore to build sustainable and possibly helpful-to-others futures. We must model self-respect.
These musts are to be explored via a performative reflection on “work” culture. I will reflect on my business education and office work past, on my personal and professional administrative present, and on a conjuring of a working revolutionary and inclusive future.
MIKE is a durational piece at three hours in length. The audience is encouraged to stay for the full length of it to feel the complete experience but are free to move around and see the piece from different perspectives. Everyone can arrive, leave and circulate at any point to suit their needs.
Credits
Created and performed by: Dana Michel
Artistic activators: Viva Delorme, Ellen Furey, Peter James, Heidi Louis, Tracy Maurice, Roscoe Michel, Karlyn Percil, Yoan Sorin.
Scenographic consultant – Technical direction: Romain Guillet
Sound consultant: David Drury
Production: SCORP CORPS – Viva Delorme, Dana Michel
Distribution: Key Performance – Anna Skonecka, Koen Vanhove
Coproduction: ARSENIC – Centre d’art scénique contemporain (Lausanne, Switzerland), Centre national des Arts (Ottawa, Canada), Festival TransAmériques (Montréal, Canada), Julidans Amsterdam (Netherlands), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium), MDT (Stockholm, Sweden), Montpellier Danse (France), Moving in November, (Helsinki, Finland), Wexner Center for the Arts of The Ohio State University in Colombus (United States of America).
Creative residencies: Alkantara (Lisbon, Portugal), ANTI Festival (Kuopio, Finland), Centre national des Arts (Ottawa, Canada), Kinosaki International Arts Center and Kyoto Experiment (Japan), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium), Künstlerhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt, Germany), Montpellier Danse (France) résidence de création à l’Agora, creation residency at Agora, cité internationale de la danse, with support from BNP Paribas Foundation, RIMI/IMIR SceneKunst (Stavanger, Norway), Shedhalle (Zürich, Switzerland) with the kind support of Tanzhaus Zürich and the Embassy of Canada to Switzerland, The Chocolate Factory (New York City, United States of America)
The creation of this work is being made possible thanks to the financial support of Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie and Conseil des Arts de Montréal.