Movements promo ronald reagan working out no text v3.png

ARTWORK: Christian Ludwig Hansen

JUNE 6

SPECIAL EVENT THEATRE | DANCE

THE MOVEMENTS

ZUPPA

The Movements is a high-octane theatre/dance spectacular and the economics class you never had in school. It’s a show about the global economy in the form of a 90-minute workout routine. Accompanied by a soaring musical score and multi-layered video design, four performers never quit as they transform dry data into aerobic movement before your very eyes. Covering everything from GDP and the WHO to wealth inequality and inflation, The Movements examines the mind-boggling complexity of these hot topics in a way that is accessible and endlessly engaging.

Created by Zuppa with choreographer/performer Liliona Quarmyne, video designers Anna Shepard and Christian Ludwig Hansen, composer Stewart Legere and in partnership with Kinetic Studio and Halifax Dance, The Movements examines of the social, political and environmental costs of growing wealth stratification, and the challenges of addressing it.

Every movement in the tightly choreographed 90 minutes is a physical expression of data. Did you know that the average Canadian owns less of Canada’s wealth than in the 1990s and substantially less than in the 1960s? Did you know that WWE Wrestling’s CEO Vince McMahon is the world’s rich athlete, or that the World Bank loaned Colombia $500 million to support the nearly 2 million recent refugees from Venezuela? Have you always wondered what 'neoliberalism' means but were afraid to ask?

Indebted to the aesthetic of 1980s workout videos and drawing on economic data from a range of sources, The Movements grapples with the legacy of the last 40 years of economic policy and asks us to consider what might be next.

EVENT HAS ENDED

THE MOVEMENTS, STAGES 2023

(Photo by James Arthur MacLean)

ZUPPA

Nova Scotia / Mi'kma'ki

We aim to make extraordinary experiences that provoke the consideration of new perspectives and ideas. We prioritize questions over answers, and the discovery of possibility over the depiction of what is. This compels us to experiment with new forms and grapple with relevant questions of our time. We attempt to do this as generously as possible and have developed a unique collaborative process that favours the intuitive over the formulaic and thrives on the play between the imagined and the real.

We are Alex McLean, Ben Stone and Stewart Legere. With each new project we attempt to do something we don’t know how to do and work with collaborators who bring new life experiences, perspectives or skill sets to the table.

We make shows for Halifax and for places far away, with the support of The Canada Council for the Arts, Arts Nova Scotia, and The Nova Scotia Department of Communities, Culture, Tourism and Heritage, and Halifax Culture and Events. Zuppa is an affiliate member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres.

WEBSITE

CREDITS

Starring (alphabetical):
Stewart Legere
Faly Mevamanana
Liliona Quarmyne
Rebecca Wolfe

Choreographer: Liliona Quarmyne

Video Designers: Christian Ludwig Hansen with Anna Shepard

Composer: Stewart Legere

Lighting Design: Jessica Lewis

Director: Alex McLean

Dance Coach: Rebecca Wolfe

Video Design: Christian Ludwig-Hansen with Anne Shepard

Creation Intern: Kate Urquart

Producer: Sophie Schade

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Created in partnership with Kinetic Studio and Halifax Dance.
Thanks to The Craig Foundation, The Black Family Foundation.

ARTIST BIOS

SOPHIE SCHADE

Sophie (she/her) is an actor/theatre worker based in Halifax/Kjipuktuk. She studied acting at Dalhousie University and has since branched out to production, stage management and film. Recent work credits include: From Season 2 (MGM), The Station (BARE Theatre), Washington Black (Disney) At This Hour, Tiny and This Is Nowhere (Zuppa Theatre), Henry V, The Wizard of Oz, and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare by the Sea), Listen to the Wind and Macbeth (Steady Theatre Co.), What to Expect When You Aren’t Expected (Annie Valentina), and various shows for Dalhousie.

ALEX MCLEAN

Alex McLean is a theatre artist based in Kjibuktuk/Halifax. He is a co-artistic director of Halifax’s Zuppa Theatre Co. and has co-written and directed the majority of that company’s shows. Recent works with Zuppa are The Movements, The Archive of Missing Things, tiny (with Vertical City), Pop-Up Love Party and This is Nowhere, a large-scale live/digital performance for out-of-the-way places. With his ad hoc group Surplus Production Unit, he directed and wrote (from verbatim sources) A Timed Speed-Read of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire Trial Transcript with Additional Notes. With Ker Wells he was a founding member of Number Eleven Theatre (1998 -2006), and he holds an M.A. from the University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies. A specialist in devising, Alex has taught extensively, published scholarly articles, and collaborated with practitioners across multiple disciplines. His work explores the past, the present, and things that are too big to grasp or too small to contain.

FALY MEVAMANANA

Faly (she/her) is a queer mixed race actor, writer, and singer. Since graduating from the Randolph College for the Performing Arts, she has performed in seven provinces across Canada and been nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for individual performance. Some of her favourite theatre credits include playing the title role in Alice In Pantoland at Neptune Theatre, The Dream Catchers at The Charlottetown Festival, and starring as Juno in Juno's Reward at the Grand Theatre. Most recently, she played the lead in In Lieu of Flowers at Neptune Theatre. As a creator and a leader, Faly is driven to tell stories which showcase marginalized voices in a joyful way. Big thanks to her family for their love and support.

Christian is a While man with Green eyes and longer blond hair, he’s wearing a brown tshirt and is in front of a blurry blue background.

CHRISTIAN LUDWIG HANSEN

Christian (He/Him) is a Video and Projection Designer as well Performer with special focus in Collaboration, Puppetry, and Stage Combat. He is from Northern Friesland by the German-Danish border and now lives in Kjipuktuk/Halifax. Select Design Credits: The Movements (Zuppa), Bluebirds (TNB), The Glass Menagerie (ARC), The Proletariat (HAT), #IAmTheCheese (HTYP & EFT), Fat Juliet (EFT & SBTS). Acting Credits: Midsummer nights dream (SBTS), Settle Elsewhere (Theatre du Poulet).

STEWART LEGERE

Stewart is a multidisciplinary artist originally from Punamu’kwati’jk/Dartmouth. He is the Associate Artistic Director of ZUPPA, co-Artistic Director of THE ACCIDENTAL MECHANICS GROUP, and is currently an artist-in-residence at THE THEATRE CENTRE in Toronto. He has released two albums: "Quiet the Station' (2017), and To the Bone: Songs from Splinters (2020). With ZUPPA he has co-created and toured over a dozen original shows, including “Poor Boy", “Pop-Up Love Party” and "The Archive of Missing Things". Solo work includes "El Camino or The Field of Stars" and "Let's Not Beat Each Other To Death." He has appeared in festivals and theaters across the country and internationally. He is fascinated with vulnerability, intimacy, the destruction of persona and the celebration of performance.

REBECCA WOLFE

Rebecca Wolfe (she/her) is an emerging theatre-maker in Kjipuktuk. She is an actor, choreographer, freelance producer, and occasional director. Specializing in physical and devised theatre, she is a graduate of Humber College’s Theatre Performance Program. You can find her teaching across the HRM at places such as the MacPhee Centre for Learning, Leica Hardy School of Dance and Halifax Regional Arts. Rebecca has worked as a Producer and Administrator at Shakespeare by the Sea, The Villains Theatre, Eastern Front Theatre, Kinetic, HomeFirst Theatre, Kick at the Dark Theatre and Live Art Dance. She has received the NSTT Lieutenant Governor Award, Theatre Nova Scotia Award and won the Eastern Front Theatre’s Ten-Minute Play Writing Contest (2013).

Acting: Macro Digitals (Eastern Front Theatre); 4.48 Psychosis (Caravan Theatre); Young Company 2020 (Theatre New Brunswick); Penny (Alinea Theatre); PEACE Project (Transitus); The Nutcracker (9 seasons, Symphony Nova Scotia). Film: Diggstown, Trailer Park Boys, Mr. D. Direction & Choreography: Birds of a Feather (Director, Neptune Theatre Young Company) Elf The Musical (Chrysalis Choreo, Neptune Theatre) The Movements (Asst. Director & Choreo, Zuppa), Shakespeare’s Time Machine (Co-Director, The Villains Theatre), Observatory Mansions & Zomblet (Asst. Director & Movement, The Villains Theatre), High School Musical on Stage & Elf The Musical Jr. (Director & Choreographer, Halifax Regional Arts).

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