Photo: David Cooper
lossy
lossy is about an inability to take it all with us.
these are bodies at a loss, gathering together in a stream of movement. a state of recovery. seeking and sifting. grasping for an anchor. it is at once real and science fiction, digital and embodied.
this liminal space holds a confrontation with the promise of future, a collision between our inexorable, ecstatic draw towards the limitless new, and a continuous loss — a perpetual state of mourning for what we are leaving behind. there is no answer. It is overwhelming and incomplete. there is only the stream, and the blurring fragments of what we attempt to bring with us.
created collaboratively with the ensemble, lossy is a shared ritual of transcendence. it is a carefree conjuring of a shiny new future “us”, and a collective grieving for what the future may no longer hold, once we finally arrive.
Company 605
Photo: David Cooper
Project Created by: Company 605, created collaboratively with the ensemble.
Key Artistic Collaborators:
Direction and Staging Lisa Mariko Gelley & Josh Martin
Choreography in collaboration with Performers
Creative Collaborator / Dramaturge Marcus Youssef
Sound Design Matthew Tomkinson
Lighting Design James Proudfoot
Wardrobe Design Justine A. Chambers
Performers Kate Franklin, Lisa Mariko Gelley, Josh Martin, Avery Smith, Sophia Mai Wolfe, Shana Ai Wolfe, and Jade Chong (understudy).
Special Thanks Donna Spencer and DOTE Staff, Vancouver Creative Space Society and Progress Lab 1422, and to those that have journeyed with us through this research, including Brandon Alley, Bynh Ho, Jamie Robinson, Jessica Wilkie, and Zahra Shahab.
Performance type: This work is built for a theatre and Full Length Work.
How do you define this work: Contemporary Dance
Length of performance: Approximately 60 minutes
Audience type: General Audience
General Technical Requirements:
PROPS: We utilize a minimalist set design including a small futuristic living room set (furniture, floor rug, lighting practicals). These objects are dispersed and shifted on stage through the performance, reassembled in different configurations.
LIGHTING: The primary lighting feature of the work, both as part of lighting design and scenic practical lighting elements, includes 8-16 wireless DMX Astera Tubes (two kits of Ax-1 or Titan) and transmitter. These tubes would be used both on the floor within the playing space/set and hung into the space on a central small custom rig housing multiple tubes, shaped as a “futuristic chandelier”, programmed for special lighting effects. As this is a new work, a full list of desired lx design components/specials will be determined through the course of the company’s additional technical residencies in early Fall 2023.
SOUND: Recorded music and sound files/cues will be operated by the company show laptop. Basic sound system with sub and onstage monitors.
FLOOR: Current Design includes white marley flooring.
Does the work require tech residency: Completion of the work is anticipated within the residencies planned, however we are open to this opportunity for additional time in studio.
Number of Performers on tour (including choreographer): 6
Number of Support Staff on Tour: 2 (Stage Manager & A/V Technical Support)
Availabilities: 2024/25 season, & 2025/26 season
Led by artistic co-directors Lisa Gelley and Josh Martin, Company 605 is an arts organization based in Vancouver, on the unceded Indigenous territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Producing various dance projects and performances through shared creative process, the artists place emphasis on movement invention and physically demanding works, juxtaposing raw with precision, and highlighting effort, risk and interconnection. 605 is an ongoing exchange between separate people, bodies and ideas, recognizing and celebrating the unique possibilities created in their attempt to co-exist. Valuing collaboration as an essential tool for new directions in dance, Company 605 continues to awaken a fresh and ever-evolving aesthetic, together building a highly athletic art form derived from the human experience.
Performance History & Upcoming Performances
An excerpt of lossy was performed at Dancing on the Edge on July 14 and 15, 2023
PREMIERE: May 2024
Project Details
Community Engagement
PROCESS SHARING & AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT: Rather than design separate community engagement activities, we take our existing artistic activity and ensure there are opportunities for different communities to interact with it. Often this takes the shape of multiple performances and showings of work-in-progress and open rehearsals, where the process is described and viewers can engage in dialogue with us. Partnerships with many organizations locally and on tour has allowed the company to create performances specifically for young audiences and high schools. WORKSHOPS & PARTNERSHIPS: 605 works to connect the pre-professional and professional dance community. We’ve strengthened our partnership with Simon Fraser University, playing a larger role to this end. For example, we’ve brought fourth year students as apprentices in our research processes, hosted work/study students for SFU’s Internships In Contemporary Arts Program (credited), mentored at SFU’s LAUNCH! Festival, and taught workshops for the University’s dance theatre/dance majors. We have similar relationships with Modus Operandi Training Program, and Arts Umbrella. These workshops also take place independent of these partnerships while on tour.
Contact information
Francesca Piscopo, francesca@company605.ca
Website: https://company605.ca/
Facebook: facebook.com/company605
Instagram: instagram.com/company605