May Newsletter
Greetings! As May transitions into June, we are concluding Asian Heritage Month with reflections on People, Places, and Stories; with celebrations of Artists in our Community; and news of exciting Upcoming Events!
Firehorse & Shadow In Community: The Story Poems

Photo by Ran Zheng
If you have been following our social media, during Asian Heritage Month we have been sharing a collection of Firehorse & Shadow Story Poems — four short films holding some of the extraordinary People, Places and Stories that came forward over our year of Firehorse & Shadow Community Activations in Vancouver’s Historic Chinatown. All four films are now available to watch on Vimeo:
We are grateful to all of our participants, facilitators, hosts and partners. Thank you for sharing your hearts with us. We are grateful for you too, our online community, and so proud to share these tender gatherings with you via film.
Thank you to our core collaborators: Andrea Nann, Sarah Chase, Cindy Mochizuki, and Annie Katsura Rollins.
Thank you to the Canada Council and to the Ontario Arts Council Artist-Presenter Collaborations Program, and to our partners: April Liu and the Chinatown Storytelling Centre (CSC), Jasper Yip and the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society (VAHMS), James Gnam and Natalie LeFebvre Gnam and plastic orchid factory.
Thank you to our filmmakers and film artists: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier, Yasuhiro Okada, Sophia Mai Wolfe, Dan Loan, Ran Zheng, Sarah Genge, and Cameron Saville.
Thank you to the maker of the Giant Dumpling, Wen Wen (Cherry) Lu, and to 'Dumpling's' hosts: Richmond Community Centre, Roundhouse Community Centre, Centre A: Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Strathcona Community Centre, Sunset Community Centre, Light Up Chinatown Youth Forum for Asian Representation, and the Chinatown Storytelling Centre. Thank you to Clare and Marshall for supporting Dumpling's Burning Ritual.
Thank you to our Creative Producer Kelsi James and our Indigenous Liaison Phil Davis.
We feel the rich honour of holding, celebrating and sharing these stories this month, and always.
Dreamwalker International!

Venezia, Italia
April 16-19th 2024, Dreamwalker was in Venice with China Blue's Saturn Walk: Embodying Listening, at (Re)Create Gallery in conjunction with the Venice Biennale!
Saturn Walk: Embodying Listening is a participatory art experience and social performance practice devised and created by visual sound artist China Blue with dance artist Andrea Nann/Dreamwalker, and performed in Venice by Jennifer Dahl (Canada/Italia), Laura Colomban (U.K./Italia) and Andrea/Dreamwalker!
Photo: Jennifer Dahl, Laura Colomban and Andrea Nann/Dreamwalker embodying listening

Copenhagen, Denmark
May 15-17 2024, Dreamwalker was in Copenhagen for the First International Conference On Embodied Education!
Dreamwalker Core Ensemble member Danielle Denichaud had, in her words, “the wonder and honour of bringing Conscious Bodies practices to a group of scholars, artists and educators to engage in conversation around the power and need for Embodiment in Education.” Danielle also shared her own PhD research at the conference, “Embodying Regenerative Hope!”
Photo: Danielle Denichaud at the First International Conference on Embodied Education
We were so grateful and honoured to have her representing us in Copenhagen.
In the Community - To Celebrate!
We also celebrate the glorious work members of our extended community have been doing throughout Asian Heritage Month:
Asian Heritage Month at Morrow: small batch intimate events at Odd Meridian’s cultural space, Morrow. ahmm invites rupture, nurture, defiance and bows in deep reverence to all things queer. Congratulations to Ziyian Kwan and all. Learn more here.
CanAsian Dance Festival: Asian Heritage month. Each day during the month of May, CanAsian Dance is featuring a member of our Toronto/Ontario Asian Dance community. Learn more here.
Upcoming

There Is So Much More To Say
On June 18th and 19th, 2024, an 18-year-old, a 44-year-old, and a 68-year-old invite you into conversation.
A Generous Friend performance project made and performed by Erin Brubacher, Chloe Cha, and Anne Wessels, with Sara Constant, Janet Morton, Andrea Nann and SHEEEP Studio/ Reza Nik. Tickets are Pay What You Wish.
Photo: Anne Wessels, Chloe Cha, Erin Brubacher in rehearsal
for "There Is So Much More To Say"

Wild Soma at Hollyhock
WILD SOMA BEING AND BECOMING: EMBODIED PRACTICES FOR COLLECTIVE THRIVING
With Andrea Nann, Julia Aplin, Roula Said and Shannon Litzenberger
June 23-28 at Hollyhock
Photo: Roula Said, Julia Aplin, Andrea and Shannon Litzenberger,
collectively known as Wild Soma, at Hollyhock.
In this time of intersecting social, political, and planetary crises, how do we embrace and honour all that is arising in us as bodies? What if we listen closely to what we feel in our hearts, what we sense in our bones, and what we know in our guts? Can we resonate care and connection across our differences, tuning into our sense of aliveness and embracing a fully embodied, relational way of being in the world in service of collective thriving?
Wild Soma invites you to a six day retreat at the Hollyhock Retreat Centre on Cortes Island, BC.

R.A.V.E.
It’s a dance party. It’s a theatre show. It’s a rave opera for desperate times.
Announcing the World Premiere of R.A.V.E., a transformational dancefloor seminar designed to unlock your true potential with the power of dance. R.A.V.E. is happening June 9-16 in Tkarón:to (Toronto), and is created, co-directed and performed by Me Time, co-devised and co-directed by !Kona, developed by Griffin McInnes, with development and directing support by Mitchell Cushman (Outside the March), and developed in embodied creative practice with Dreamwalker Dance.
Photo: The R.A.V.E. Ensemble
R.A.V.E. is presented in association with Luminato Festival, with choreography and movement design by Andrea Nann with dance artists Chenise Mitchell, Ashley Perez, Wellesley Robertson III, and Raoul Wilke.
PAT AND TONY ADAMS FREEDOM FUND
The Pat and Tony Adams Freedom Fund For The Arts has created, in association with Crow’s Theater, an annual award to acknowledge four extraordinary mid-career artists who have devoted their lives to the theatre. This year’s four recipients include our own Andrea Nann, as well as Richard Feren, Oliver Dennis and Maria Vacratsis. Congratulations, Andrea!
Andrea says, “I am profoundly moved and honoured to receive this generous expression of appreciation. It is a gift that 'fell from the sky' so to speak, a gift so completely unexpected and wondrously remarkable to me as I go about my daily life. My heart sings a song of gratitude! ❤ Thank you Pat and Tony Adams and Congratulations Oliver, Richard and Maria!”
MATCHING DONATION CAMPAIGN
It's not too late to contribute to our matching donation campaign!
With thanks to a very generous donor, all donations made before June 30th will be matched up to $10,000!
Thank you to our 2023-2024 donors! We are so deeply grateful! Your support means the world to us!!
Sandra and Jim Pitblado
Ruth and Douglas Grant
Jane Deluzio and Joe McAllister
Jane Gowan and Rob Deibert
Gillian Grant and Gordon Potts
Roz and Andrew Heintzman
Eileen Farrow
Mary Keogh
Jessa Agilo
Greg Barber
Naomi Campbell
Ron and Lori Chong
Judith Doan
Sian Ferguson
John Gladki
Kasia Gladki
Surendra Lawoti
Asha Lohia
Jeffery Maize
Monica Pereira
Gillian Reiss
Tom Robles
Elizabeth Rucker
Michiko Sakamoto-Senge
Virginia Solomon
Heidi Strauss
Mary Ungerleider
Phyllis Whyte
Deanna Wong
Glenna Wong
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