New Works Cohort Program

The New Works Cohort Program is a 5-month long program offering both mentorship and coaching about the business aspect of dance. It aims to provide learning and guided experience towards independent artists' knowledge and stability within the dance art sector.

Since 1993 New Works has operated as a vibrant dance management + performance organization. We have provided stable, affordable management services to some of Vancouver’s most innovative dance artists. And this program aims to spread this knowledge into the new generations' art leaders.

Participants will expand their networks while gaining insights from leading performing arts professionals with expertise in fundraising, producing, organizational management, communications, career planning, and finance. Through peer learning sessions, the participants will gain sustainable skills and knowledge over the course of 5 months (from January to May 2024).

 

New Works Cohort 2024

Meet the Cohort 2024

Santiago Leudo Povea

Bio
My name is Santiago Povea Leudo, but I like to be called Donsan. I am from Colombia and I’m 26 years old. I started dancing at 15 with the Red de Danzas Ciudad de Medellín, where I explored different forms of body expression. At 17 I enrolled in Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas with emphasis in Arte Danzario, an experience that shaped me as an artist and as a person. I graduated at 22 and the following year I traveled to Canada to continue learning and growing in the Coastal City Ballet, a company that has given me many opportunities. In addition to dancing, I am interested in research and cultural management. I have collaborated as a monitor in the research unit of my university and have supported various cultural projects with local communities.
Cohort Expectations
Santiago aims to gain mentorship and guidance from the Cohort Program in hopes to find skills on how to finance his own projects, learn about copyrights and licensing.

Liat Harlev

Bio
Liat started her Flamenco Dance training locally and later on internationally. Locally She studied with Kasandra La China, Oscar Nieto, Rosario Ancer,Karen Pitkethly, and Michelle Harding. She has travelled to Spain to further her skills with mentors such as Leonar Leal, La Choni, Irene La sentio, Beatriz Morales, David Cordoba, Angel Atienza. She has been emerging as a Flamenco dance performer, choreographer, and teacher, and has been actively performing for the community, cultural and flamenco festivals, as well as private events and small theatre venues across the lower mainland. As a dance artist Liat believes that Dance exists to express, communicate, and teach. It is an embodied language that has different forms, shapes, and expressions. // Photo by Elvira Yebes
Cohort Expectations
“Being a part of the cohort program is significant for me right now as I am in search for mentorship, collaboration, connection, resources, and community so I can learn, share, teach, and feel supported as I strengthen my artistic voice.”

Lance Lim

Bio
Lance Lim is a disabled interdisciplinary artist living and working on the unceded territory of the Musqueam, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.​ Lance Lim is a local artist who grew up in the Strathcona district and his original movement background came from studying martial arts and Wu shu. As a former Wu Shu athlete, he competed in North American tournaments until he suffered major injuries. ​ This brought him to study dance at Simon Fraser University. He had several student pieces displayed at student shows. In 1998 he was involved with the Chinese Cultural Centre and worked with other artists on Self Not Whole, a showcase of Canadian Asian artists. He also has had his choreography displayed in Dancing on the Edge and most recently as part of the Heart of the City Festival. He is a teaching assistant and associate artist with All Bodies Dance Group.

Clarence Tang

Bio
Clarence Tang is a dance artist and emerging creator from the unceded territories of the Musqueum, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. While having experience extending across multiple dance communities, he has a particularly deepened connection to street dance culture and the style of Waacking. His artistic perspective is heavily influenced by the intersectionality of his identity and the sense of self that is built from an inability to fit in. His work is often centered around evoking strong emotional connection and embracing the weird, unusual, and queer to subvert expectations. With his collective, Konichiwaack, his works have been presented at F-O-R-M, Vancouver Street Dance Festival, and featured in music videos for Canadian artists Woodpigeon and Frontperson.
Cohort Expectations
"As a dance artist who has split experience between the commercial industry and street dance community, the opportunity and financial viability to create my own work has been limited. Through the New Works Cohort Program, I’m excited to gain the knowledge and resources to further develop my dance artistry by creating more opportunities for myself as a creator and producer."

Fiana Kawane

Bio
Fiana Kawane (she/her) is an independent dance artist and choreographer trained in Kathak. She dances and writes in Vancouver, B.C. on the unceded, ancestral, and traditional territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil- Waututh) Nations. Her work has been supported by the Dance Centre, New Works, Dance West Network, BC Culture Days, and Vines Art Society, among others. She is an artist-in-residence with Dance Victoria. She teaches at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality, & Social Justice at the University of British Columbia. In her dance work, she is currently thinking of labouring bodies, waterways, and unmastery. // Photo by Aizenka P. Kawane
Cohort Expectations
"As part of New Works Cohort 2024, I am delighted to be in community with dance artists and professionals across genres in the city dance ecology. I look forward to thinking through sustainable, non-extractive, and equitable practices of developing new work from start to finish."

Kevin Li

Bio
Kevin “Shazam” Li is a street/ contemporary dance artist/choreographer/teacher ​​based in so-called Vancouver. Best known for his hand choreography work on the American fantasy TV series The Magicians, Kevin’s dance journey began after moving from Hong Kong to Vancouver in 2009. He trained with hip hop company SOULdiers and focused on tutting and flow arts afterwards. In 2014, Kevin joined Modus Operandi, a Vancouver based contemporary dance training program. Since graduating, Kevin has choreographed for various projects such as Apple TV series SEE and theater production Sparkle Bunny: The Last Raver Dancing. As a member of Earthen Bodies, a multidisciplinary art collective, he co-choreographed their recent work in progress Lichenized Earthen Bodies. He is currently working with New Works as artist/instructor and All Bodies Dance Project as facilitator/live translator. // Photo by Shawn Kim
Cohort Expectations
"My main goal is to learn more about grant writing and producing dance work. I am currently working on a few projects with different artists. The cohort program will be very helpful to move these projects forward."

Generouss Mess - Sarah Hutton & Aiden Cass

Bio
Generous Mess is an emerging contemporary dance company based in Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Their choreography plays between delicate details and outlandish, exaggerated scenes. Unruly and vulnerable lifts and pathways make up their partner work. Storytelling, humour, and autobiographical themes have molded the context for their first works. Their Vancouver debut, by means of each other, was a duet commissioned and presented at Dancing On the Edge Festival in July 2021. by means of each other - pt. 2 recently premiered at Left of Push in January 2023 in Vancouver, BC. Their first ensemble work, heirloom, premiered at the EDAM Spring Choreographic Series in March 2022 in Vancouver, BC.
Cohort Expectations
"The aspirations we have for our artistic practice require us to go further with our understanding of what we have to offer as artists and what needs to happen on a practical level to achieve those goals. We are excited and grateful to undergo this moment of growth alongside the mentors and peers of the New Works Cohort Program to make what can feel like a scary thing, slightly less scary and definitely less lonely!"

Clala Dance Project

Bio
Clala Dance Project was originally based in Japan under the direction of Tomoyo Yamada and Chihiro Nukuto, both graduates from Mukogawa Women's University located in Hyogo, Japan. Their works have been presented in various places including the REVERBdance Festival (New York, USA) and festivals in Japan such as Dance Jewels (Hyogo). Currently, the collective is based out of Vancouver, BC and run by Tomoyo Yamada (dance/choreography), Charlotte Telfer-Wan (dance), and Sam Mason (film), who are all graduates of Simon Fraser University, School for the Contemporary Arts. They most recently performed their self-produced show UCHI (2023) at the Beaumont Studios in April, and notably have been presented by the Dance Centre in Open Stage (2020), Dancing on The Edge (2019) and Vines Art Festival (2019). // Photo by Lula-Belle Jedynak
Cohort Expectations
"The past few years we have been able to work on multiple projects and hire a handful of additional artists outside of our collective for collaboration, and we yearn to take one step forward to establishing our collective. We are considering becoming a non-profit organization, enabling ourselves to exist not only during a project’s timeline, but in the gaps between and around them. However, we lack the knowledge of how to achieve that and hope to learn through our participation as part of the New Works Cohort."

Isak Enquist

Bio
Isak Doran Enquist is a movement artist, choreographer, teacher, and experimental musician/sound designer living on Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh, Skwxwú7mesh, and xʷməθkwəy̓əm nations. Raised in the Kootenays/Ktunaxa of Canada, he began formal training in Shotokan Karate-Do before pursuing post-secondary dance education at Simon Fraser University and Modus Operandi (Vancouver). He has performed nationally and internationally with Canadian performing companies such as: Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Compagnie Vision Impure, Shay Kuebler Radical System Art, Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien, Amber Funk Barton, Mascall Dance, Generous Mess, Enquist X Enquist, Anne Plamondon Productions, and Corporeal Imago. Isak is faculty with Vancouver’s Harbour Dance Centre and Lamon Dance Company, and a guest teacher with institutions such as Training Society of Vancouver, Goh Ballet Academy, and GötesborgOperan Danskompani (Sweden). // Photo by Richie Lubaton
Cohort Expectations
"Through this Cohort Program, I want to learn more about defining healthy roles for producers, choreographers, and dance artists as I navigate projects from each perspective. Collecting and sharing resources that support the people who are making, so that the work itself has the best chance possible to become something generous, thought provoking, and impactful to its community."

Antonio Somera (TSV)

Bio
Training Society of Vancouver (TSV) is a not-for-profit organization providing professional and pre-professional dance technique training to the TSV community of dancers, movers, performers and folks with physical practices. TSV was created and is organized by a team of dance artists who make up the board and are volunteer administrators. Antonio Jr. Somera, who has been a director of the board since 2018, aims to continue TSV's artistic goals and uphold the organization's mandates to provide accessible, inclusive training practices to the community. Antonio is a freelance dance artist based in Vancouver, the unceded territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations. He has helped organize and support community events such as Here For Now, Shooting Gallery Performance, Faux Real Battles, and Vancouver Street Dance Community (VSDF). // Photo by Alanna Milaney
Cohort Expectations
As a representative of TSV, Antonio aims to gain mentorship and guidance from the Cohort Program in hopes to find skills on how to keep TSV sustainable in this current economy and maintain growth and diversity for the community.

Program Outcomes:

Be part of a supportive network of dance makers, learning together and sharing experiences.
Shine a light towards where your career or company is going, and feel empowered with new skills so you can get there.
Be guided by a professional mentor, whose counsel is tailored specifically to your situation.

Those admitted into the program by the selection committee will have met the below requirements.

Program Requirements:

  • This program is open to dance artists. Projects can include interdisciplinary elements.
  • This program is open to individuals, collective, non-profits, and charities with an organizational budget under $150K.
  • The artist or company must be based in BC.
  • The participant must have clear and specific goals and objectives.
  • The participant are available to attend the majority of the shared learning sessions each month of the program.
  • The participant must commit to work with the mentor 1 hour each month during the duration of the program.

We prioritize applications from equity-seeking artists who have or are facing systemic barriers that infringe on their artistic career. This includes, but is not limited to, artists who identify as Indigenous, Black, Person of Colour, Trans, Non-binary, Queer, Disabled, low income, and living in the intersections of these identities. If you have any questions please contact marco@newworks.ca

Applications for 2025 Cohort will be announced November 2024!

Check out the Cohort Program from past seasons

2023 Cohort Program
2023 New Works Cohort Program:
Alexis Fletcher
Carol Mendes | AMOK
Alexandra Clancy | Soleful Dance Collective
Carla Alcántara
Kami Reed Schuyler
Kaili Che
Kiera Shaw
Luciana Freire D’Anunciacao
Melissa Sorge | The Body Project
Punit Singh
Subscura | hushhush

2023 Cohort Program Coordinators:
Michelle Kneale,
& Jason Dubois, New Works Executive Director.
2022 Cohort Program
2022 Cohort Program Participants:
Jade A. Hails
Sarah Hin Ching U
COME EMOTE WITH ME, Rita Sheena
Shanny Rann, International Tristar Taiji Association
Paige McConnell and Kenzie Skoglund, Counterbalance Projects
Kaia Shukin
Rachel Helten
Elizabeth Ferns
Anya Saugstad
Sierra Megas

2022 Cohort Program Coordinators:
Michelle Kneale is an arts administrator, and dramaturg with over 10 years experience in professional theatre; She has worked for companies such as Boca del Lupo, Pi Theatre, Alberta Playwrights Network, Pumphouse Theatre, Handsome Alice Theatre, African Friendship Society, and Ne. Sans Opera and Dance. Michelle is currently Board Past President of the Playwrights Guild of Canada, and Board Vice President of Playwrights Canada Press. Michelle has experience with producing, governance, operations, administration, communications & outreach, grant writing, planning, leadership transitions, artist support, programming, as well as physical and digital organizing. & Julie Mamias, Former New Works Executive Director.
2021 Cohort Program
2021 Cohort Program Participants:
Jhoely Triana
Ne.Sans Opera and Dance (Idan Cohen)
Tamar Zehava Tabori
Stephanie Cyr
Joshua Ongcol
Kayla De Vos
Kelly McInnes
Lily Cryan
CAMP (Brenna Metzmeier, Sarah Formosa, Ted Littlemore, Isak Enquist, Eowynn Enquist) VD/CM Productions (Kay Huang Crossmaneuver & Virginia Duivenvoorden) 2021 Cohort Program Coordinators: Kristina Lemieux, arts manager with more than 20 years of professional experience. She is also a contemporary dancer. Raised in Treaty 6 territory (rural Alberta), Kristina lived in Edmonton, attending the University of Alberta, for 10 years before heading to Vancouver where her passion for the arts has driven collaboration, creation, and innovation in the Vancouver arts scene for over a decade. After working with Generator in a freelance capacity for several years, Kristina made the move to Toronto in January 2017 to take on the role of Lead Producer of Generator. She is also the proud co-founder and Creative Producer of F-O-R-M. Kristina is passionate about generating dialogue in the arts and, to this end, earned a certificate in Dialogue and Civic Engagement from Simon Fraser University. In all that she does she works to support independent artists across performing disciplines in finding ways to make art outside of the currently prescribed modes. & Julie Mamias, Former New Works Executive Director.

Can’t commit to a long term program? No problem! Check out NW for Artists resources below: