Meet the current Foolish Operations team !

Julie Lebel – Artistic Director

Born and raised in north-eastern Québec, on the ancestral lands of the Innu Nation, from a family of settlers of French and Irish ancestry, Julie Lebel now gratefully lives and dances on the ancestral and unceeded Indigenous territories of the xwməθkwəy̓ əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) First Nations. She is a francophone choreographer invested in community engaged dance and in interactions between public space and community – involving musicians, visual artists, film makers and writers with a body of work spanning 30 years. She is the artistic Director of Foolish Operations, connecting people of all generations through new dance experiences, especially with and for very young children. She is a member of Lower Left Collective (USA, Germany, Norway and Canada) teaching and performing Ensemble Thinking. Julie is a proud mother of very active twin girls who act as first consultants in all her creative endeavours.

julie@foolishoperations.org

Michelle Rosales – Coordination and Production

Originally from Mexico City, Michelle Rosales is a passionate and versatile actress with a strong background in both performing arts and marketing. She trained extensively in musical theater, earning an RSL Award in Musical Theater Performance and performing in productions such as Into the Woods and Les Misérables. In 2022, she moved to Vancouver after receiving a scholarship to study Acting for Film and Television at Vancouver Film School. She continues to be actively involved in the theater and entertainment industry in Vancouver.

Beyond her artistic pursuits, Michelle holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications from Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City and a diploma in Business Management from BCIT. She developed a strong foundation in marketing while working with major companies like Televisa–Univision in Mexico, where she refined her expertise in sales and product placement. Her experience managing diverse entertainment projects deepened her understanding of audience engagement and brand integration.

Michelle firmly believes in the transformative power of art. She sees community as the heart of a fulfilling life and knows that the happiness and well-being of children are essential to building a brighter future.

Coordination@foolishoperations.org

Sarah Gallos – Artistic Associate

Sarah Gallos is a dance artist, specializing in performance, creation, facilitation and curation of contemporary and improvisational dance theatre. Working with Foolish Operations since 2016 and Artistic Associate since 2021, she’s participated in the co-creation of all of the company’s repertoire.

Also a sought after dance and movement teacher, and BCRPA certified fitness professional, Sarah has been the lead artist for Vancouver Park’s Board Moberly Senior Dancers since 2025.

Sarah lives, plays and rests with her children and husband, on the unceded traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, in the Renfrew-Collingwood neighbourhood of Vancouver.

community@foolishoperations.org

Lily Alice Malena-Morin – Support

Having been raised primarily in Quebec, Lily Alice also spent time living and studying in Nepal, Cambodia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, including an interning with a Roma human rights organization in Macedonia. These experiences have nurtured her fascination with people and culture, how we live together and build community. As a Loran scholar, she studied Sociology and Math at UBC. During her summer breaks, Lily Alice joined the Foolish Operations team as a Coordination Assistant as a summer student in 2020. One of her major project was to build Foolish Operations’ database and to support our productions and volunteer management. She continues to support FO’s team in a flex-time manner. Having been exposed to the artistic community through her father’s work, she believes deeply in the importance of art in our lives and is excited to support the creative and inclusive community Foolish Operations has fostered. In her free time, Lily Alice enjoys choral singing, photography, walking and cooking.

Vanessa Lazare – Communications

Vanessa is a performer and educator currently based in New Westminster on the unceded lands of the Halkomelem speaking peoples. She holds a BFA in Performance Creation from Concordia University in Montreal where they deepened their love for both theatre and French language and culture. Vanessa is so excited to be joining such a welcoming team as Communications Coordinator and can’t wait to be a part of introducing performance to young artists!

People in crucial times:

Caroline Liffmann has been a close artist collaborator on Paper Playground and Moving Resting Nesting, as well as our learning-unlearning efforts, including Trauma-Informed training and decolonizing practices.

Peggy Leung supports prop making and our volunteer events, as well as dancing and supporting the facilitation of Dancing the Parenting.

During production periods, Foolish Operations works closely with Karen La and Mandy Huang, for the production of Grande Ourse – Petite Ourse.

Xin Xuan Song was instrumental in supporting the production of Moving Resting Nesting during the pandemic. She also supported in our first post-pandemic tour of Paper Playground.

Marie-Pier Gilbert is crucial when we present Tricoter in Québec or Ontario.

During the pandemic, Isabelle Rousseau often facilitated Foolish Operations’s online core program of Dancing the Parenting.

This list is not exhaustive, each person is essential to our work, it’s just hard to keep up with this page 😉