a noun, a verb, an adjective.
Envision a warehouse; a vast, large building with the opportunity to manufacture whatever the mind can invent. A space to store products that were once an idea before they are ready to be released; before they are ready to be shared. It is a space with the ultimate potential to build and shelter brilliance.
WAREHAUS dance collective is committed to facilitating interdisciplinary projects that connect artists in different stages of their career. We are passionate about working in process, experimenting with the blending of artistic backgrounds, and infusing traditional movement with a contemporary aesthetic. Our vision is to create thoughtful, relevant works to share with different communities both locally and abroad. We want to establish a creative platform to develop artistically through various projects. As an emerging collective, we value, the freedom to experiment with ideas and concepts., we value learning and personal growth through continued education in movement practices as well as through mentors in the arts community, we value individual expression through traditional and contemporary techniques and we are proud to be work among the strong presence of female choreographers in Vancouver.
Envision a warehouse; a vast, large building with the opportunity to manufacture whatever the mind can invent. A space to store products that were once an idea before they are ready to be released; before they are ready to be shared. It is a space with the ultimate potential to build and shelter brilliance.
WAREHAUS dance collective is committed to facilitating interdisciplinary projects that connect artists in different stages of their career. We are passionate about working in process, experimenting with the blending of artistic backgrounds, and infusing traditional movement with a contemporary aesthetic. Our vision is to create thoughtful, relevant works to share with different communities both locally and abroad. We want to establish a creative platform to develop artistically through various projects. As an emerging collective, we value, the freedom to experiment with ideas and concepts., we value learning and personal growth through continued education in movement practices as well as through mentors in the arts community, we value individual expression through traditional and contemporary techniques and we are proud to be work among the strong presence of female choreographers in Vancouver.
THE COMPANY
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Akeisha de Baat
Co-Founder | Co-Artistic Director Born and raised in the Lower Mainland of B.C, Akeisha trained at a small studio in Mission, developing a love for Ballet and the early modern techniques., taking her to New York City in 2008, training at The Ailey School. In 2014 she graduated with her BFA from Simon Fraser University (SFU) and shortly after co-founded WAREHAUS dance collective. As a contemporary artist, Akeisha continues to enhance her craft by educating her mind and body through workshops and classes at home, in Vancouver, and abroad traveling to places such as Australia, Germany, Italy, Austria, London and The Netherlands. She has developed a keen interest in Coutnertechnique, traveling to Australia and San Francisco to gain more knowledge and insight in the teachings in order to better integrated the method into her artistic practice. Along with creating works for WAREHAUS, Akeisha has worked as an assistant to Dutch choreographer, Joeri Dubbe, at the Korzo Theatre in partnership with The Netherlands Danse Theatre. She has had the pleasure of presenting and performing work through Dance Allsorts, Small Stage, 12 Minutes Max, Cascadia Film Festival, and To. Be. Announced; and performed works by Vanessa Goodman, Paras Terezakis, Lovers Cabaret, Dezza Dance, and Valence Movement over the years. Being a co-director of WAREHAUS has allowed her to express, experiment and collaborate with others as she continues to develop her personal artistic craft. |
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Megan Hunter
Co-Founder | Co-Artistic Director Co-Artistic Director of WAREHAUS dance collective, Megan is actively creating works both in collaboration with WAREHAUS and independently. Through WAREHAUS, Megan has been mentored and performed works by Vanessa Goodman and Desiree Dunbar. WAREHAUS has performed original works presented by Dance Allsorts by New Works Dance Management, Small Stage, OURO collective, To.Be.Announced, Sweet Moves, Cascadia Film Festival, and Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (International Dance Day) and Dezza Dance.. She had the privilege of training sessionally at the Toronto Dance Theatre and in partnership with Dancemakers, and in scholarships programs with EDAM and Training Society of Vancouver. Megan is the honoured recipient of the Grant Strate Award in Dance in 2014, from Simon Fraser University. She is currently performing and rehearsal directing with Kinesis Dance Somatheatro. She additionally was also the assistant to Paras Terezakis, Artistic Director, through his creation process, titled “In Penumbra”. Megan was invited to New Brunswick in April 2017, to create and perform a new work in collaboration with musicians, Andrew Reed Miller and Emily Kennedy, under mentorship from Lesandra Dodson. WAREHAUS travelled to Toronto in June 2017 to present Warp and Weft, choreography by Vanessa Goodman for New Blue Emerging Festival. Megan’s education in movement continued this year as she travelled internationally to participate in multiple workshops in Italy, France, Sweden, Spain and Vienna. She also presented a new work created in residency in Veretz, France and performance in Festival Dansez Maintenant. |
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Sofija Polovina
Co-Founder Born in Serbia, Sofija moved to Vancouver at the young age of 7 where she has lived and studied since. Vancouver's contemporary dance scene has provided her with invaluable past experience performing works by local and international choreographers such as Donald Sales, Judith Garay, Rob Kitsos, Cheryl Prophet, Marla Eist, Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg, Tiffany Tregarthen, Paras Terezakis, Desiree Dunbar and Andrea Naan. Sofija's most recent projects include performing a remount of Merce Cunningham's Native Green under the direction of Megan Walker-Straight as well as taking on rehearsal directing for Kidd Pivot and Wen Wei Wang in SFU's Fall 2014 Repertoire Show "Epic". Upon completion of her Bachelors degree in Fine Arts at Simon Fraser University, Sofija has taken on the distinct challenge of co-creating and performing original works with WAREHAUS. |
OUR HISTORY
The collective was originally founded in 2014 by Akeisha de Baat, Megan Hunter and a former member of the collective, Sofija Polovina. Since the Fall of 2016, it has been under the artistic direction of Akeisha and Megan. In its first season (2014), the collective remounted and performed Picturesque, an original work by Sofija Polovina and Megan Hunter for East meets West and International Dance Day (Shadbolt Centre for the Arts).
Under the mentorship of Desiree Dunbar in 2015, WAREHAUS was the first participant of The Dance Lab - presented by Dezza Dance where we seeded and premiered VITA. We performed excerpts of VITA with OURO collective, International Dance Day (Shadbolt Centre for the Arts), and To.Be.Announced: Choreographic Showcase. Picturesque was also revived for a performance in August 2015 for Sweet Moves.
In 2016, WAREHAUS was presented by New Works in their Dance Allsorts Series where we performed VITA and premiered a new creation, Doe. We went on to perform Doe at Cascadia Film Festival in August of that year.
A duet, choreographed by Vanessa Goodman was created in September of 2016 titled Warp and Weft. Warp and Weft was commissioned by Small Stage and performed in progress at Small Stage: 34 with support from Akeisha’s BCAC Early Career Development Grant with Small Stage. Akeisha and Megan performed in collaboration with musical artist Sanford and filmmaker Rob Rolland as part of the Small Stage: Salon Series, vol. 4 + 5 in the same season. Also in 2016, Akeisha de Baat participated and performed in collaboration with Nathan Todd in the 40th Edition of 12 Minutes Max (Vancouver) in their final season performance.
In 2016, WAREHAUS teamed up with filmmaker Gemma Crowe to create a documentary style film, sharing the creation process of EnTrench and the inside view of WAREHAUS as an emerging company. This film was screened in July at Cascadia Dance and Cinema Film Festival at The Dance Centre and Vancity Theatres. We also collaborated in 2017 with filmmaker David Phu on a film exploring movement, projection and sound, including original composition by Tim Rich, which was premiered at the New Blue Emerging Artist Festival (ON) and screened at the Festival of Recorded Movement (F-O-R-M) in June 2017 at The Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. This was also most recently screened in London (UK) at a dance and film festival.
In May of 2016, through the research development The Alumni Lab at Simon Fraser University (SFU), curated by Rob Kitsos, Akeisha and Megan developed the original concept for EnTrench, collaborated on its creation and hired dancer, Amanda Damaren. We received support from Perform Arts Studio and an artistic residency with the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts, where we were able to continue work on EnTrench. The piece was presented in January of 2017 along with the premier of Warp and Weft through the New Works’ Dance Allsorts Series.
We are excited to be continuing this season with the start of a new project. This new work will premier in April 2018. STAY TUNED FOR DETAiLS.
Under the mentorship of Desiree Dunbar in 2015, WAREHAUS was the first participant of The Dance Lab - presented by Dezza Dance where we seeded and premiered VITA. We performed excerpts of VITA with OURO collective, International Dance Day (Shadbolt Centre for the Arts), and To.Be.Announced: Choreographic Showcase. Picturesque was also revived for a performance in August 2015 for Sweet Moves.
In 2016, WAREHAUS was presented by New Works in their Dance Allsorts Series where we performed VITA and premiered a new creation, Doe. We went on to perform Doe at Cascadia Film Festival in August of that year.
A duet, choreographed by Vanessa Goodman was created in September of 2016 titled Warp and Weft. Warp and Weft was commissioned by Small Stage and performed in progress at Small Stage: 34 with support from Akeisha’s BCAC Early Career Development Grant with Small Stage. Akeisha and Megan performed in collaboration with musical artist Sanford and filmmaker Rob Rolland as part of the Small Stage: Salon Series, vol. 4 + 5 in the same season. Also in 2016, Akeisha de Baat participated and performed in collaboration with Nathan Todd in the 40th Edition of 12 Minutes Max (Vancouver) in their final season performance.
In 2016, WAREHAUS teamed up with filmmaker Gemma Crowe to create a documentary style film, sharing the creation process of EnTrench and the inside view of WAREHAUS as an emerging company. This film was screened in July at Cascadia Dance and Cinema Film Festival at The Dance Centre and Vancity Theatres. We also collaborated in 2017 with filmmaker David Phu on a film exploring movement, projection and sound, including original composition by Tim Rich, which was premiered at the New Blue Emerging Artist Festival (ON) and screened at the Festival of Recorded Movement (F-O-R-M) in June 2017 at The Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. This was also most recently screened in London (UK) at a dance and film festival.
In May of 2016, through the research development The Alumni Lab at Simon Fraser University (SFU), curated by Rob Kitsos, Akeisha and Megan developed the original concept for EnTrench, collaborated on its creation and hired dancer, Amanda Damaren. We received support from Perform Arts Studio and an artistic residency with the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts, where we were able to continue work on EnTrench. The piece was presented in January of 2017 along with the premier of Warp and Weft through the New Works’ Dance Allsorts Series.
We are excited to be continuing this season with the start of a new project. This new work will premier in April 2018. STAY TUNED FOR DETAiLS.
Top header photograph of WAREHAUS dance collective, Megan Hunter, and Akeisha de Baat, by Santiago de Hoyos