About Dreamwalker
The work that ANDDC presents speaks to the human experience, either through current events, issues, or through a set of values, feelings. Our work is process driven, guided by the parameters of the project while fueling investigation, playfulness, freedom of expression, singularity, and virtuosity. It is our wish to remain open to possibility and to allow the alchemy that is created between collaborators be celebrated and central to the collaboration. We consciously strive to create a safe, supportive and rewarding work environment for those involved.
Process
Bring together/invite – inspire/facilitate – allow/encourage – guide/direct – observe/witness – identify/present challenges – excite/support – respond/reflect – make decisions – present reflect.
Elysha Poirier tests images for Beside Each Other
Tom Kuo, Anne Bourne, Andrea Nann research new ideas
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Andrea Nann – Artistic Director/Choreographer/Performer
Andrea Nann is a Toronto-based contemporary dance artist and artistic director of Dreamwalker Dance Company. As a choreographer her creative collaborators include author/poet Michael Ondaatje, poet/musician Gord Downie, dance/literature artist Sarah Chase, composer cellist/vocalist Anne Bourne, dancers Brendan Wyatt & Gerald Michaud, visual artists Wayne Ngan, Michael Caines, Elysha Poirier & Janet Morton, pianist Andrew Burashko, opera singer Patricia O’Callaghan, theatre artist Maiko Bae Yamamoto, composers John Gzowski, Rick Hyslop, David Buchbinder & George Gao, designers Ken MacKenzie, Aisling Sampson, Cheryl Lalonde, Peter Chin, Arun Srinivasan, Glenn Davidson & David Duclos, musical group The Skydiggers, singer/songwriters Andrew Cash, Josh Finlayson & Andy Maize, poet Chris Chambers, video artist Samm Higgison, digital media artist Tom Kuo, interdisciplinary artist Helen Yung, electronic musician Nilan Perera and filmmakers Peter Mettler, Nick de Pencier, Nicole Mion, Brian Johnson, Lisa Hayes & Veronica Tennant.
A graduate of York University’s Department of Fine Arts in 1988, Andrea Nann was a full-time member of the Danny Grossman Dance Company for fifteen years from 1988-2003 where she created, performed and taught major roles from the works of Mr. Grossman and guest choreographers. As an independent dancer Andrea Nann has created and performed over forty-five original roles for a long list of prominent Canadian choreographers and directors. Nann has received three Dora Mavor Moore Award Nominations for Outstanding Performances and in 2011 she and Brendan Wyatt received a DMMA nomination for Outstanding Choreography. Nann is an original cast member of Volcano’s multi award winning theatre production Four Horsemen Project and currently appears as a guest artist with Canadian touring companies Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Sarah Chase Dance Projects, Co. Erasga and Tribal Crackling Wind. In 2003, Veronica Tennant O.C. created Shadow Pleasures, an award winning film that features two of Nann’s choreographic works Cato and Alice and Meditation #5 – On Loss and Desire. In May 2005, Shadow Pleasures won a record-breaking seven Golden Sheaf Awards at the prestigious Yorkton Short Film and Video Festival, including an award for Best of the Festival. Current projects include collaborations with Nilan Perera, Brendan Wyatt and Ken MacKenzie (untitled), Diasporic Genius (Andalusia to Toronto), Flying Bulgars (Tumbling Into Light), Bageshree Vaze (Mudra), Lacey Smith & Tyler Gledhill (Symbios), Gord Downie & Brendan Wyatt (Beside Each Other). Nann is currently a Resident Artist at the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.
Jessa Agilo-Copeland – General Manager
Jessa Agilo-Copeland is an interdisciplinary arts manager, consultant and entrepreneur with over twenty years of experience in the contemporary arts. Jessa has undertaken advanced training in Music Composition & Electroacoustics (Queen’s University & University of British Columbia), Fundraising Management (British Columbia Institute of Technology), and Arts & Culture Administration (John Molson School of Business). In 2006, she was awarded the Humberto Santos Award in Business and Administration (Concordia University). An independent arts consultant, Jessa is the founder of : agilo arts :, offering strategic arts consulting services to a variety of organizations and independent artists from across Canada. Currently the General Manager of Kaeja d’Dance (Toronto), Jessa’s past management commitments include the multi-faceted role of Arts Manager at the Dance Umbrella of Ontario (Toronto).
