The overall artistic objective of Mascall Dance is to provide a forum for research, creation, performance, education, documentation and dissemination of contemporary dance and related disciplines. The company is concerned with dance as an art form and with its significance to our culture. While Mascall Dance primarily develops and promotes the work of choreographer Jennifer Mascall, the company also places a high priority on mentoring emerging artists and new choreographers.
The mandate of the Mascall Dance Society is to:
- Promote the public appreciation of and exposure to dance and its related arts
- Research human movement and physical motivation and apply this knowledge to the production, presentation and documentation of dance
- Educate dancers and the public in modern dance traditions, history, technique, and discoveries
Our objectives are to:
- Train performers in both traditional dance technique and new practices, within a nurturing learning environment
- Promote public awareness of dance within BC and beyond through residencies, public performances, and teaching
- Work with related art forms and technology, such as video, CD ROM, photography and media arts in order to animate and document the work achieved by Mascall Dance
- Proactively pursue and develop innovative educational programming and performance
- Seek artistic and business partnerships that will facilitate expanding the BC dance market and the accessibility of dance, and lead to co-productions, collaborations, exchanges and touring at home and abroad
- Develop and maintain infrastructure that supports the Mascall Dance Society and its activities
Activities of the organization include:
- Mainstage performances and touring
- Research and development through the creation of new work, and exploration of new techniques and forms through our Nijinsky Gibber Jazz Club improvisational training workshops and studio performances
- Education and animation through our school tours and workshops throughout BC, participation in the Artist in the Schools program
- Formal and informal mentorship relationships with emerging dancers, choreographers and Artistic Directors, specifically through our Artist In Residence Program
- Professional development and training workshops for professional performers
- Audience development through the Nijinsky Gibber Jazz Club salon series and site–specific performances
The company is committed to education in all forms. As an educator and movement therapist, Mascall lectures, gives private sessions and teaches classes and workshops. Make a Dance, Mascall’s very successful program for young audiences, toured in western Canada for three years. Homewerk, our current educational offering, tells stories of home from different countries. In addition, each year Mascall Dance hosts master teachers with workshops for the professional dance community.