How to Make Something From Nothing

Cast & Crew

Tamara Bliss – danced in the USA, frequently designed costumes for companies she danced with and for others. In NYC, SLC & Philadelphia, companies Jennifer Muller and the Works, Zvi Gotheiner, Young Soon Kim’s White Wave Rising, Matthew Diamond, Ed Henry, Lynne Wimmer and Rachel Lampert used her designs (1983-1993). In Canada since 1993, she costumed Montréal Danse Company’s Cuidad de Heirro (by José Besprovany) and for choreographers Tania Alvarado, Heidi Bunting, Usha Gupta, Kathy Ochoa, Andrea Rabinovitch, Linda Rubin, Charlene Tarver, Brian Webb, and more. Tamara taught dance costuming at NYU, Marymount Manhattan College, the Arts Outreach program MacEwan and Vic Comp. The Orchesis Dance Program’s annual productions saw numerous ‘Bliss’ costume designs over 25 years, including choreographers Peggy Baker, Corie Caulfield, Josh Beamish and Sarisa Figueroa de Toledo.

Tamara received three post secondary degrees: BA Dance/Theatre from WWSU (1975), AA design degree the Fashion Institute of Technology, NYC (1986) and MA from the U of A (1996) focused on performing in Flow and peak experiences. Retired from teaching dance in the U of A Faculty of Kinesiology Sport and Recreation in 2018, Tamara currently teaches yoga, True Movement ™ and creates in fabrics.

Kiidra Duhault is a stage/event manager, a sound designer, and theatre technician based out of Edmonton (Amiskwacîwâskahikan). Selected theatre credits Include: Joyride (Caravan Farm Theatre), Michael Mysterious (Pyretic Productions); Heaven (Citadel Theatre’s Horizon Series); A Vendre, Suspension, & Kaldr Saga (Cardiac Theatre); Dead Center of Town (Catch the Keys); Boy Trouble (Vena Amoris Projects); Origin of the Species (Northern Light Theatre); Gemini (Defiance Theatre); Do this in Memory of me/En Mémoire de moi (L’Unithéâtre).

Ainsley Hillyard (she/her) is based in amiskwacîwâskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton), working as a performer and choreographer in contemporary dance and theatre. She has created and/or performed in works for the Brian Webb Dance Company, OFFTA festival, Uno Fest, the Dance Made in Canada Festival, The Expanse Festival, and The Art Gallery of Alberta, among others. Ainsley has choreographed for several theatre companies. Select choreography credits include; Jane Eyre by Erin Sheilds with the Citadel Theatre, Mr. Burns: A post electric play (Sterling nomination for Outstanding Choreography) with You are Here theatre and Blarney Productions, The Other and Bears (Sterling Award for Outstanding Choreography) with Pyretic Productions; Ursa Major and Snout with Catch The Keys Productions and has assistant choreographed for the broadway hit Hadestown and Peter Pan Goes Wrong with the Citadel theatre. Ainsley enjoys long walks with her French bulldog Jezebel in Millcreek ravine and reading feminist sci-fi.

Whittyn Jason (they/them/theirs) is a queer, non-binary, mixed-race scenographer and collaborator of South African and Ukrainian descent. They currently live and create in amiskwacîwâskahikan (colonially known as Edmonton). Previous credits include The Fiancee, Heaven, A Brimful of Asha (Citadel Theatre), Night (Major Matt Mason Collective). They hold a BFA in Theatre Design from the University of Alberta, and are a member of Associated Designers of Canada. In addition to scenography, they’re also the Festival Director for Found Festival (Common Ground Arts Society).

Thurga Kanagasekarampillai is a Deaf Tamil Queer Non-Binary Femme artist. She has worked as Deaf Interpreter and ASL performer with Cahoots Theatre for “The Enchanted Loom” (2016); Red Dress Production for “Drift Seeds” (2017) as ASL performer; Million Billion Pieces (YTP 2019); The Holy Gasp (July 2020); Speculation (2018, 2019, 2021). She is also an actress and was in ‘The Tempest’ at Citadel Theatre as Miranda in Edmonton in April – May 2019. She is the one of three founders of Deafies’ Unique Time with Ali Saeedi, and Ralitsa Rodriguez. Deafies’ Unique Time – ‘Eye So Twisted’ (Rhubarb Festival / Sound Off Festival 2019), Deafies Detective Agency (Sound Off Festival 2020) & Ministry of Mundane Mysteries with Outside the March (Sound Off Festival 2021.) Thurga travelled to Nova Scotia to work with Zappa Theatre’s ‘At This Hour’ as a lecturer/performer. She recently worked with Connor Yuzwenko-Martin for ‘Ministry of Mundane Mysteries’ at Sound Off Festival 2022.

Alison Kause is a founding member of the Good Women Dance Collective and a teacher in Dance Education with Edmonton Public Schools. She is a graduate of the Grant MacEwan Dance Program and the School of Contemporary Dance at SFU, as well as the Education program at the University of Alberta. She has trained and performed across Canada and been inspired by work with local and international colleagues. Alison is inspired by the challenge of finding an intersection between being an artist, mother and teacher – these roles constantly demand attention, inform one another and provide diverse perspectives.

Alida Kendell is a dance artist, teacher and choreographer in Amiskwacîwâskahikan. She has been a collective artist with GWDC since 2009 and during this time has been shaped, challenged and encouraged by its programming, its artists and the communities GWDC engages with. She has been most influenced by dancing in the creative processes of Melenie Demers, Peggy Baker and Sasha Klienplatz. She is in love with the process of enabling physical change through introspection and play, and currently practises durational improvisations that take her further away and closer to herself.

Alida Kendell is a dance artist and mother to her 3 year old daughter. She works primarily in Treaty 6 territory with the Good Women Dance Collective as a performer, choreographer and teacher. Pandemic restrictions have returned Alida to a solo practice that investigates durational improvisation as an escape from and return to self. Alida’s recent participation in the Hack Lab (Theatre Direct) has inspired her to work in ways that incorporate the experience of motherhood rather than working despite it.

Mustafa Rafiq explores sound through atonal & left-field guitar tunings and free jazz saxophone, occasionally receiving electronic treatment to create long-form drone & ambient scapes. Their work in theatre has landed them as a sound designer, actor and tech for theatre in Edmonton, they are also a program curator for various festivals. Their new group, Takleef Ensemble is a free music & multi-media collective with a shifting lineup of poets, musicians and visual artists.

Rebecca Sadowski is an Edmonton-based Métis performer, choreographer, and dance instructor. She has recently joined the Good Women Dance Collective as a collective artist as well as a curator for the Nextfest Festival. She currently teaches dance with dancED Movement Project, and the City of Edmonton.

She has performed as a dancer and actor with Punctuate! Theatre, Alberta Aboriginal Arts, Good Women Dance Collective, Northern Light Theatre, Thou Art Here Theatre, and Catch the Keys Productions as well as other independent productions. She has also performed in Toronto with Solar Stage Children’s Theatre and the Lower Ossington Theatre. Her original choreography has been presented by Mile Zero Dance, Expanse Festival, Nextfest Festival, Alberta Culture Days, and the Edmonton Fringe Festival with Alberta Opera.

Kate Stashko is a dance artist currently based in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan / Edmonton. She works both independently and with Good Women Dance Collective and has danced with artists including Peggy Baker, Justine A. Chambers, Mélanie Demers, Helen Husak, Mile Zero Dance, and Heidi Strauss. In 2016, she co-founded KnK Collective with Krista Lin. Kate has performed throughout Canada, including collaborations with musicians, poets and spoken word artists, and (in non-pandemic times), she loves travelling to train around the world. After studying at the School of Alberta Ballet, Kate graduated from the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. She teaches dance and Pilates, and is completing a degree in Psychology and Political Science at Athabasca University. Kate is an avid cyclist, climate activist, gardener and coffee drinker. She has recently worked with Lin Snelling and Marynia Fekecz, and is currently making a solo dance for/about her pelvis. Look out for KnK Collective’s show on May 27+28 in the Brian Webb Dance Company’s season!

Brandon Wint is a poet, spoken word artist and multi-disciplinary collaborator based in western Canada. He is presently the artistic director of Tree Reading Series. Brandon is the author of one collection of poetry, Divine Animal (Write Bloody North 2020), and several albums, including the recently-released Freedom Journal: Antidotes to Violence.

Connor Yuzwenko-Martin (he/him) is a Deaf creator born on Treaty 6 land, in the region of amiskwaciy in the city known as Edmonton. He is a fourth-generation settler with ancestry in Ireland and Ukraine, and works every day to honour the land, water, and air shared by countless generations that have come before us and will come after us.

Connor is a freelance professional specializing in accessibility consultation and theatre creation/performance. He has nurtured a lifelong passion for theatre and accessibility, beginning in grade school with simple skits and continuing into his young adulthood with his first professional engagement as a rookie improvisor at Rapidfire Theatre. To date, he has worked with organizations including Edmonton Fringe, Intrepid Theatre/ Victoria Fringe, SOUND OFF Deaf Theatre Festival, Nextfest, RISER Edmonton, Tiny Bear Jaws, Good Women Dance, Outside the March, Quickdraw Animation Society, and Sync Canada.

In June 2020, Connor premiered his first independent performance, The Invisible Practice, during Nextfest 2020 which took place online amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This was followed up with The Invisible Practice: Grief on the Hands in 2021. Currently he is writing and producing his first original script, After Faust.

Connor relentlessly explores the intersections between Deaf/Disability experience, art, advocacy, and leadership. He is also a certified Access Activator through Tangled Art+Disability’s training program. In 2021, Connor completed his Public Relations diploma from MacEwan University and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science at the University of Alberta (2014).