2023
The Creation of Shumka’s Newest Dance Theatre Piece
Artists in Residence July 17-20, 2023
Public Show July 21, 2023
Lougheed Centre for the Performing Arts, Camrose
The public performance of Shumka Emerge 2023 features a brief Workshop Performance of Shumka’s newest work followed by a presentation about the research, development and creative process behind-the-scenes. The evening will end with A Whirlwind Summer, featuring Shumka’s exciting and energetic 2023 Festival performances from Vegreville’s 50th Anniversary Pysanka Festival and Dauphin, Manitoba’s National Ukrainian Festival.
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During the pandemic, Shumka worked on various projects to remain active and focused on its vision. One such project was an emerging artist opportunity – an investment in new works and choreographers for succession and artistic development of the organization and local arts community.
Read the playbill here.
SHUMKA: Emerge gave dancers the unique opportunity to create their own piece of choreography under the Shumka name, with the resources and support of Shumka. The project allowed for new works and encouraged hidden talents within the organization for succession planning.
Seven works were presented. Mentorship, production assistance, access to resources including cohort dancers, was provided. In addition, the Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre in Camrose came on board in support of an Artist-in-Residency project in the Summer of 2022. The new works were rehearsed and teched from July 19 to 21, and then performed for a live audience the evening of July 22, 2022. The performance of these seven works – each 5 to 10 minutes in length – was followed by an Artist- Audience post-show chat to discuss influences, motivations, and artistic insights.
In Shumka, new works are created by members of the Artistic Team or commissioned by Shumka to choreographers in Canada or Ukraine. While company dancers can hold Dance Captain positions for rehearsal purposes, they are rarely given opportunities to develop a concept, create choreography, cast dancers, work with designers and prepare a piece for performance for an audience. SHUMKA: Emerge provided a safe and supported environment to experiment with the creative process.
This is a mutually beneficial project. Through the Emerge program, Shumka can test out riskier works while giving young artists professional opportunities that could shape their future careers and potentially, Shumka’s ultimate direction.
SHUMKA: Emerge 2022 was made possible in part through support from the Heart + Soul Fund by EPCOR. Learn more at epcor.com/heartandsoulfund.
