The Dance Centre Presents The World Premiere Of Stand Up Dance's ANATOMALIA: ANATOMY + ANOMALY + FEMALIA

The Dance Centre presents the Global Dance Connections series Stand Up Dance, Thursday-Saturday November 16-18, 2023, 8pm with a post-show artist talkback November 17, at Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St, Vancouver

An exciting world premiere created by Berlin-based queer Canadian choreographer Meagan O'Shea, Anatomalia is an adventurous international collaboration, and a passionate collective healing of the damage done to 'femalia'. Bringing together a cast of five exceptional dancers from Canada, Mexico and Europe, original sound and design, and local participants, the work cycles between shame and curiosity, repulsion and desire, fear and trust, to release the trauma stored in the body, and reclaim joy. Theatrical, playful, and imaginative, this one-of-a-kind creation celebrates survival and recovery.

This is a promenade-style performance where the audience is free to move around the space to see the unfolding of the work from different perspectives, for a richly immersive and intimate experience. There will be limited seating available for those that need it.

"For me 'femalia' refers to all female-ness and is inclusive of all womxn," explains O'Shea, "and by damage I mean not only sexual violence, but also all abusive, derogatory, systemic and historic damage. My goal is for Anatomalia to lead us through the residue of sexual violence to freedom, and to celebrate queer joy, resilience and hope." The local cast is comprised of members of Rainbow Refugee, a Vancouver-based organization supporting refugees fleeing persecution for their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, and HIV status.

The Artistic Director of Stand Up Dance, queer contemporary dance Meagan O'Shea works across forms and borders, seeking to disrupt dominant paradigms and offer alternatives to binary systems. From dance-theatre mash-ups and site-specific works to films and interactive installations, her work is almost impossible to categorize and has been presented across Canada and Europe as well as in New York, Mexico, and Morocco. Her ongoing "dance like no one is watching" performance project, which animates/disrupts public space, has included over 200 dancers and reached 30,000 people. She is co-founder of hub14 in Toronto, and has been International Associate Artist at Dance Ireland, Associate Artist at Toronto's Theatre Direct, and Barcelona International Dance Exchange Artistic Collaborator. She was the first graduate of the contemporary dance program at The School of Dance, Ottawa, and is a recipient of the KM Hunter Award in Dance.

Developed in international residencies: Queens Collective, Marrakesh, Morocco; FringeLab, Dublin, Ireland; Ponderosa, Stolzenhagen, Germany; TanzFabrik, Berlin, Germany; KulturPark Stolpe, Stolpe, Germany; Fabrik Potsdam, Potsdam, Germany; Fabra I Coats, Barcelona, Spain; Espai Nyamnyam, Mieres, Spain; Rechenzentrum Potsdam, Germany.

The Dance Centre was established in 1986 as a resource centre for dance professionals and the public in British Columbia, and offers a range of activities unparalleled in Canadian dance. The Dance Centre offers programs and resources supporting the professional development of artists, presents public performances and events, manages Scotiabank Dance Centre, one of Canada's leading dance facilities, and works to promote BC dance.

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