I am creating a solo, It was temperate., for myself together with composer James Maxwell, light designer James Proudfoot and outside eye Ileanna Cheladyn.
I have a history of creating and performing solos. I have primarily created memoir; however, there is typically not a literality. My work is somatically based, arises out of improvisation, and culminates in highly structured form in time and space.
Contemporary dance artist, certified Laban Movement Analyst and somatic movement educator Helen Walkley has, since 1980, lived and worked extensively in the Netherlands, Germany, the US and Canada creating, performing and teaching. She completed an MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies in SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts in 1996 and has since been based in Vancouver. Helen is the recipient of The Dance Centre’s Isadora Award which recognizes an artist’s outstanding contribution to dance in British Columbia and in 2022 she received the Lola McLaughlin Legacy Award. https://helenwalkley.com (she/her)
James Maxwell is a composer of concert music and music for dance, theatre, film, and media. His work has been presented by leading organizations including Aventa Ensemble, Continuum New Music, Music on Main, Redshift Music, Standing Wave, Turning Point Ensemble, Vancouver Pro Musica, Vancouver New Music, and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Recent works include Rachel Meyer’s “Magicicada”, “Cabin in the Woods” with Fight With a Stick performance, music for Helen Walkley’s “blocking”, and “kwelfaeld” for 2 alto flutes, bass flute, and electronics for the Tempest Flute Choir. He’s also a technologist in the field of musical creativity. https://jamesbmaxwell.com (he/him)
Ileanna Sophia Cheladyn is a dance artist and PhD candidate in sociocultural anthropology at University of California, Davis. Her research and artistic practice explore perceptual schemas, relational shapes, attention, and the social possibilities opened through contemporary dance and somatic practices. Based in Vancouver, she approaches fieldwork as a collaborative process, attending to how bodies world together. Alongside her doctoral work, she facilitates workshops, artist conversations, and public programming that cultivate curiosity and generous forms of encounter. She works slowly, sensitizing to the moments when theory and dancing kiss. https://ileannacheladyn.com (she/her)
James Proudfoot is from Edinburgh, Scotland, where he received his initial theatre training. He is a lighting designer based in Vancouver since 1993. After establishing a busy freelance career designing lighting he was also Resident Lighting Designer / Lighting Director for Ballet British Columbia under the Artistic Director Emily Molnar from 2014 to 2021 designing 20+ pieces and touring nationally and internationally with the company. Specialising in the realm of dance lighting, James has contributed designs to many companies.https://www.jamesproudfoot.com (he/him)
Helen and her collaborators are grateful to live and work on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
