In March, we sent out a call for dance artists in Toronto in order to create an Ontario-based team for Tricoter. We’re now pleased to introduce three new members of the growing Foolish Operations team: Phylicia Browne-Charles, Maria Riano and Jamee Valin!

Our professional development week, from Julie Lebel:

“From April 10-17 we held a full week of remount and professional development on zoom to equip three new dancers based in Toronto to perform Tricoter, when we are able to meet audiences again. The week included rehearsals at home with dance mentors Marie-Pier Gilbert and Meredith Kalaman and violinist Clara Rose.

Since we are preparing to present Tricoter for all ages but specifically for very young audiences, we held many workshops dedicated to early years development. Through our partnership with Luna Dance Institute (Berkeley, CA), Jochelle Perenña facilitated a workshop of the concept of neuro-development pathways from 0-5yrs, attachment theory and play theory where we also got to dance together.

One of the highlights for me was a meeting, about mid-week where over 11 artists that have performed Tricoter over the years joined in to share stories about the audiences they met, the places they performed it in to fill the three new dancers with beautiful cumulative memories and context.

We also held an Ensemble Thinking workshop and were supported by two of my fellow Lower Left collective members Margaret Paek (Wisconsin, USA) and Kelly Darlymple-Wass (Berlin, Germany). I was also grateful for associates Caroline Liffmann, Sarah Gallos and Sophie Brassard to hold check-in meetings that have helped set the tone and share collective values of Foolish Operations.

I want to thank everyone for their hard work during that very full week. I am excited to share Tricoter in Toronto when it is safe to meet audiences again and have Phylicia, Jamee and Maria shine among the beautiful colours of Tricoter’s yarn. Thank you Meredith and Marie-Pier for your support in planning that week, it was a lot of work but the careful planning made it enjoyable for all. Finally, I am grateful for the support of the Canada Council for the Arts that made this project possible.”

From our three new artists:

“ My week remounting Tricoter with Foolish Operations was exciting and filled with moments of joy and learning” – Maria Riano

“Dancing for the Toronto remount of Tricoter has been one of the most rewarding experiences of the pandemic for me. I love how we connected with people across the globe, sharing in the love for movement, education and awareness. The group was extremely welcoming, using technology in a way that felt surprisingly organic and fluid. A major highlight was improving to the live music that flooded the Zoom platform from Clara Rose”. – Jamee Valin

“I’m so surprised at the amount of content we were able to fit into pro-d week, without it being overwhelming. Everyone that was a part of it gave great insight to doing Tricoter, and the workshops and discussions around early childhood development helped tremendously to make connections with the audience once we get to perform live in the community.” – Phylicia Browne-Charles

Photo credits: Top photo taken by Jamee Valin, bottom left is of Phylicia Browne-Charles taken by Jessica Chin-King, middle photo of Jamee Valin taken by Kylie Thompson, bottom right of Maria Riano was taken by Aidan Tooth.