PROJECT 686km: CALGARY ARTISTS ANNOUNCED
PROJECT 686km Artistic Exchange
Announcing the Calgary Dance Artists
Calgary dance artists Sabrina Naz Comanescu, Jason Galeos, and Jessica McMann will participate in an artist exchange project which provides time, financial support, mentorship, and the potential that comes within the synergy of a creative exchange across provincial borders for three emerging BIPOC artists from Calgary and Vancouver. These three artists were selected by a group of Vancouver dance artists: Eric Cheung, Kristy Janvier, and Zahra Shahab.
PROJECT 686km Artistic Exchange considers the distance between the creative centres of Calgary and Vancouver and offers a roadmap for creative exchange for emerging artists of colour who are living and creating in each centre. Springboard Performance and Made in BC - Dance on Tour (MiBC) have been working over the past year to create an exchange for emerging dance artists that builds off of MiBCs annual residency for artists of colour.
While this is a small effort that connects a group of emerging artists to develop their work, in the wake of anti-racism protests and marked by this time of deeply personal and societal reflection of systemic injustices, we stand with artists in supporting their craft and offering mentorship and platforms to further galvanize communities, activate more critical dialogue, and work to bring the vibrant potential of art even more into the world. We stand in solidarity with activists and organizers across the country and around the world who are mobilizing against state-sanctioned violence and systemic racism. We acknowledge that this is an ongoing movement to overcome centuries of insidious practices, which demands actively combating racism and speaking out against injustice. We raise our voices in support of widespread systemic change.
PROJECT 686km is developed by Springboard Performance and Made in BC - Dance on Tour, with additional funding and administrative support from the CanDance Network.
About the PROJECT 686 Artists:
Sabrina “Naz” Comănescu
Sabrina Naz Comănescu is a dynamic member of the Calgary Dance Community through her work as a performer, choreographer, dance instructor and filmmaker. She is currently in her fifth season performing with the Decidedly Jazz Danceworks company in Calgary, Alberta and is the current major force behind The Diversity Performing Arts Club of Calgary. Comănescu also Artistically Directs Casa De Naz, an art collective with a mission to “excite and educate art hubs across Canada about the thriving Caribbean community in Calgary and the arts of the Caribbean through fashion, film and dance” since 2012.
Jason Galeos
Jason Owin F. Galeos was born in 1986 in Bergen, Hordaland, of the West Coast of Norway. He was raised in multiple international countries by two Filipino parents and is an independent dance artist based in Calgary. He started at the age of sixteen, joined a dance group known as BattLeZone. His dance studies are based on Hip Hop, House, and Funk Styles. He earned a BA at the University of Calgary (2012), Majoring in Contemporary Dance and is the founder of J-SIK Movements (2015). Galeos continues to further his career nationally and is entering his 4th season with DJD.
Jessica McMann
Jessica McMann is a Cree (Cowessess, SK) musician, contemporary dancer and choreographer. She is also a classically trained flutist, with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Calgary. Her research focus has been contemporary music, jazz, and improvisation. She has successfully defended her thesis for her MFA - Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. Her recent compositions and soundscapes explore Indigenous identity and history.