CALGARY 2018 PANEL & WORKSHOP PRESENTERSPANEL: The Ins ‘n Outs and Roundabouts of a Dance Career

PAUL CHAMBERS tried to retire from dance in 2003 but Joysanne Sidimus, founder of the DTRC, talked him out of that decision. Instead, she suggested career counselling through

the DTRC. Paul danced for 14 years with Cleveland San Jose Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Banff Festival Ballet, Ballet Jorgen Canada, and Toronto Dance Theatre. TDT was an experience he would have missed if not for Joysanne. Career counselling prompted the understanding for more experience. Paul started to “learn the ropes” of dance administration by serving as the Dancer Representative for Ballet Jorgen Canada and a Regional Representative for the DTRC. Paul was the Program Coordinator at The Banff Centre for four summers. He finally retired to become the Company

Manager for Alberta Ballet while studying for the Cultural Management Certificate from Grant MacEwan University. He worked with Calgary 2012 and the Calgary Philharmonic

Orchestra before becoming the Major Gifts Officer at the Calgary Women’s Emergency Shelter where he still spends his days. His evenings and weekends are with his husband Craig,

also a retired dancer, and their 60 goats at Dancing Goats Farm where they produce goat cheese sold in Calgary restaurants and shops.

PIL HANSEN (PHD) is a dance/devising dramaturg, a founding member of Vertical City Performance, and an assistant professor of performing arts at the University of Calgary.

She has a background as general manager and international touring manager in Scandinavia and Canada (Dansekontoret, Puppetmongers Theatre, Kaeja d’Dance) and she teaches Performing Arts Management. She has dramaturged 27 premieres and remounts, including award winning and both nationally and internationally touring works. Her artistic and scholarly research examines cognitive dynamics of memory and perception in creative processes. This work has been published widely in 38 journal

articles, book chapters, and edited volumes. Her latest books are Modes of Agency, Awareness and Engagement (Palgrave 2015) and Performing the Remembered Present:

The Cognition of Memory in Dance, Theatre and Music (Methuen Bloomsbury 2017). Current and recent artistic collaborators are: Kaeja d’Dance, Theatre Junction Grand, Toronto

Dance Theatre, Ghost River, and Public Recordings.

ERIN O’CONNOR is currently the General Manager of the Calgary Film Centre where she oversees business development, operations and facility management. Prior to this

position, Erin was an Arts Management Consultant providing advisory services, project management and administrative support to projects across Alberta. She has consulted in all areas of the creative industries including visual arts, theatre, music and dance in strategic and business planning.

Erin was the Executive Director of One Yellow Rabbit and Managing Producer of the High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s International Festival of the Arts, and one

of the largest annual events of its kind in Western Canada. In this leadership role, she developed organizational capacity and funding initiatives by utilizing her training

and experience in financial and organizational management. Erin has deep experience in the performing arts and is known for her passion, professionalism, and dedication combined with strategic leadership and management skills.

HELEN HUSAK (panel moderator) is an independent contemporary dance artist, movement educator, and choreographer based in Calgary. Helen developed her

choreographic voice with a primary focus on solo performance works. She honed her craft through self- directed residencies housed by Dancers’ Studio West, Banff Centre for the Arts, Le Groupe Dance Lab, Ottawa Dance Directive, La B.A.R.N, Centre Q, and Mile Zero Dance. She counts renowned Canadian artists Tonya Lockyer, Davida Monk, Peter Boneham, and Tedd Robinson as most influential to her practice. She has performed her solo work in local and national festivals across Canada including

Ottawa’s Canada Dance Festival. Helen is recipient of the 2008 Enbridge Emerging Artist Award and the 2010 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award. She is

founding member of the Dance Action Group directed by Dancers’ Studio West’s Davida Monk, and currently teaches contemporary dance and yoga at the School of Alberta Ballet.

AMANDA HANCOX began her dance career as a member of Les Feux Follets touring Canada, the United States, Europe and the Middle East. Amanda has worked extensively as a dancer and an actress in theatre, film and television. She is a member of both ACTRA and the Canadian Actors’ Equity Association. Amanda joined the DTRC in 2002 as Director of Administration, a position she held until her appointment as Executive Director in January 2006. Throughout her tenure at the DTRC, Amanda has contributed her expertise to a number of major international and national conferences. Additionally, she acts as a career transition consultant within and outside

the arts community. She is an Executive member of International Organization for the Transition of Professional Dancers (IOTPD), and former Chair of the Dance Media

Group, publisher of The Dance Current magazine.

WORKSHOP - Unmasking Wellness

LAUREN RITCHIE is an Accredited ICF Coach and Dance Educator. Combining her degree in Professional Communications with her passion for the dance community,

Lauren created The Dance Podcast; a series of interviews dedicated to inspire and educate dancers and teachers as they navigate the journey to excellence in the studio, on a professional job and in life.In the studio, Lauren educates young artists on the physical, emotional and mental intricacies of dance. She combines fundamental dance technique with proven strategies from master instructors, sport psychologists, and industry leaders. Lauren

develops programs and opportunities that allow dancers to reach their highest potential. From “How to Build a (Dance) Career” to “Empowered Artistry” to “The Art of

Practice”, Lauren’s workshops continue support dancers across Western Canada.

WORKSHOP: Planning a Future that Fits

PAULA MCQUAID and JESSICA RENNEY are Certified Canadian Counsellors (CCC) who specialize in working within the athletic community. After discovering a mutual desire to support youth in sport, they founded MindfulAthletics. MindfulAthletics is a therapeutic service aimed at encouraging the exploration of mental wellness through team workshops and one on one meetings. Such facilitated workshops include: exploring the pressure and expectations experienced within athletics; furtherdeveloping one’s capacity to cope; and raising mental health awareness and support

within the athletic culture.