Anya Saugstad / Body of Memory Collective
Ocean Roaring
Photo credits: Aaron Hemens
Anya Saugstad
Anya Saugstad is a dancer and choreographer living and working on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh' (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səlílwətaʔ/ Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xwməθkwəyə̓ m (Musqueam) First Nations, colonially known as Vancouver BC. Anya trained at ArtsUmbrella, and holds a BFA with honours in Dance from Simon Fraser University. Anya and her collaborators create live and digital performance works that foster space for women to tell their stories through movement. She has been able to grow her choreographic work through mentorships with the Performance Research Program, The San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, and Dance West Network Dance on Tour. Anya has choreographed works for Simon Fraser University, The Rotary Centre for the Arts, Vines Art Festival, SplitScreen (Boombox), F-O-R-M, and Mt Pleasant Collective, among others.
Ocean Roaring
‘Ocean Roaring’ is a site specific live dance and violin performance that follows the stories of six women on the shore of the ocean at dusk. ‘Ocean Roaring’ was created on the beach in Vancouver BC in 2019, was made into a film in July 2020, and then toured live to Kelowna in 2021. ‘Ocean Roaring’ has been supported by Dance West Network Dance on Tour, The Rotary Centre for the Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts, New Works, and Vines Art Festival. This no tech, environmentally conscious work, focuses on tireless and urgent movement as a means to describe distance and longing between people and the land, and directs attention to the ocean as a scarce and vital resource. It duets the power of women’s bodies dancing with the power of the water.
Photo credits: Aaron Hemens
Performance History of Ocean Roaring
‘Ocean Roaring’ was created on the beach in Vancouver BC in 2019, was made into a film in July 2020 (premiering in Vines Art Festival 2020, Made in BC, and ArtsStarts), and then toured live to Kelowna in 2021. Ocean Roaring is tentatively booked for residence and presentation on Bowen Island BC for one week in summer 2022.
Project Details
Project created by: Anya Saugstad and Collaborators
Key Collaborators: Cindy Kao, Daria Mikhaylyuk, Eowynn Enquist, Sabine Raskin, Samantha Priya Wright, and Shion Skye Carter.
Audience: General Audience
Length in minutes: Currently 30 minutes and ideal for a mixed program. However, with a residency, it can become a full-length work.
Space required: Ocean Roaring is built specifically for beaches, or any type of shore of bodies of water such as beaches, lakes, ponds, and calm rivers. We are also open to performing this work in any place with dense foliage such as fields with long grass, and forests. The work can be adapted to alternative venues or a theatre setting, but would require a tech residency if so.
Preparation required: No tech required, although having a day or two in advance with the location is ideal.
General technical requirements: No technical requirements. This work is performed outside, with live music and dance. If it is past sunset, we require a basic lighting setup.
Availabilities: April, May, July, and August 2022, Spring and Summer 2023, Spring Summer 2024
Number of performers on tour: 7
Number of support staff on tour: 0
Community Engagement Activities
Outreach activities that can be a part of the tour of Ocean Roaring include dance and choreography workshops, talk backs, and collaboration with participating film, dance, or music artists. Dance workshops would be centred around learning about creating for site specific work, and learning choreography from Ocean Roaring. These workshops could be for any age group, ideally one or more workshops for children ages 5-8, and one or more workshops for teens, or young professionals. These workshops would be taught by myself, with the live violinist, and would be $150/hr (based on CADA East Rates and Standards) I am also interested in engaging with young professional artists (film, visual, dance, theatre, production, and music artists) who are interested in collaborating in rehearsals while we are in residence preparing for the performance.