MAINSTAGE 2025-2026
LiKEWiSE
Jennifer McLeis-Lewis
Photographer: Martin Knowles
LiKEWiSE
~ LiKEWiSE ~
Rumpus room memories meld together in a dream like fog of two women’s journey as life long best friends. LiKEWiSE is an interdisciplinary Dance Theatre work about what it means to feel seen. Dance, song, music and words slide sideways as layers of dream fragments unfold, showing us that we are more the same than different.
LiKEWiSE, a duet for two female dancers, is a twenty minute contemporary dance theatre piece about love, loss and what it means to be a woman. This interdisciplinary show features live piano music, speaking, singing and dancing.
On April 4, 2025, LiKEWiSE was shown as a work-in-progress at the The Dance Centre as the culmination of a four day technical residency awarded to me by the centre. The hosted talkback session that followed has shaped the research of the work and the piece continues to evolve.
I am seeking presentation of this work throughout BC.
The completed piece is 20 minutes long with an incredible lighting design by Victoria Bell (rider attached). The dancers names are Denise Chan and Samantha Buss.
This work requires a piano with piano bench, a basic festival lighting plot, and a sprung performance floor (hardwood or marly).
Jennifer McLeis-Lewis
My work straddles traditional training and the ephemerality of improvisation. I am keen to destroy the artificial separations between dance and other forms of live performance by melding dance with singing, live instruments and acting. Cross-pollination and collaboration between different performance forms are crucial to my work. In my choreographic process I create strong characters using the dancers’ multi-disciplinary skills, capturing the audience’s attention in an accessible and captivating way to bring the public into the worlds I create. Socially, my context revolves around my identity as a queer intersectional feminist, aiming to transform the portrayal and the perception of women both inside and outside the dance world. I believe that the more personal the work, the more universal its impact. In its exploration of interdisciplinary elements and its fearless confrontation of discomforting subject matter, my work doesn't resemble that of my pears, but instead has a provocative and arresting quality that is all my own.
Performance History & Upcoming Performances
I am currently fascinated by the impact of borders and limitations on thought and creativity, and how to demolish those false boundaries.
I listen to the unconscious score of a body, the systems that ground it and I create the choreography in response. This way I aim to make the familiar strange and the strange familiar, allowing the body to get caught in a glitch - slower or faster than normal - or call attention by changing the sequence and scale.
The humour in my dance language often comes from surprise, allowing for awkwardness over perfection. People aren’t always graceful in real life and when imperfections are brought to the surface they can be beautiful. I am drawn to the near- misses.
The last few pieces I have created are as follows:
Art Market - SKAMpeed Outdoor Performance Festival July 2025 (Victoria)
topic: commodification of performance/ lack of affordable spaces
To Fetch a Pail of Water - Remount: Dancing on the Edge June 2025
topic: the war of the sexes
LiKEWiSE - work in progress showing at The Dance Centre April 2025
topic: sisterhood
Lungs - Premiere: Fluid Festival November 2024 (Calgary)
topic: masculinity
New Skin - Premiere: Vancouver International Dance Festival March 2024
topic: auto eroticism
To Fetch a Pail of Water - Premiere: Open Stage - The Dance Centre February 2024
topic: war of the sexes
Here's a quote from a recent review of my work from Dancing on The Edge 2025
"Then, after a small break - the "To Fetch a Pail of Water" dancers took the stage. The performance itself was a masterclass in physical storytelling. To Fetch a Pail of Water was bold, poetic, and at moments, deeply uncomfortable in the best way possible. It tackled complex themes of female vs male power and control, showcasing both standpoints with powerful role reversals. The choreography was intentionally raw and emotionally honest, yet the synchronization between the dancers was so precise and seamless, it felt like watching energy itself move across the stage.
One of the most striking elements of the evening was the live cello accompaniment. The rich, haunting sound of the cello provided a stunning emotional landscape for the dancers to move through. It added an elegance and intimacy to the performance that elevated the entire experience. You could feel every note resonating through the theatre which elevated the whole experience."
Full review here: https://www.outletnews.ca/article/4322deea-c36b-4433-a7e4-20013d5d5422
Project Created by: Jennifer McLeish-Lewis
Key Artistic Collaborators: Choreographer/Director: Jennifer McLeish-Lewis
Dancers/Performers: Denise Chan & Samantha Buss
Lighting Designer: Victoria Bell
Performance type: THIS WORK IS BUILT FOR THEATRE
How do you define this work: Contemporary dance, dance/theatre, multi-disciplinary, live music, acting, singing, all ages, families
Length of performance: 20 minutes
Audience type: General Audience, Family and Children
General Technical Requirements: -basic festival lighting plot
-a piano and piano bench
-wireless mic
-sprung floor performance venue
Required amount of time for tech set up: 1 hour
Alternative Venues: space must have a piano and area to dance
Number of Performers on tour (including choreographer): 3
Number of Support Staff on Tour: 0
Availabilities: 2025/26 Season, 2026/27 Season
Project Details
Community Engagement
2SLGBTQIA+ Community Sharing Circle
Along side my artistic practice, I am also a Professional Registered Counsellor. I am looking for opportunities to lead group sharing sessions; not counselling sessions, more art based transformational community coaching, for those folks who see the show and would like to engage with the creator, performer, and other audience members afterwards.
Outreach Activities
Contact Improvisation Workshop - All Levels
No prior dance experience is required, but a strong level of focus, concentration, physical rigour, and commitment to staying present are required. We will start on the floor with a gentle somatic based warm-up that will help the body to feel gravity. Growing from the floor to standing, we will practice smoothing out our transitions into upright dancing. The goal is an aware, alert, and embodied presence that uses the full capacity of the mover as a human being awake in the world. More sensitivity is reached through relaxing the nervous system. More alertness is reached through waking up the mind with moment-by-moment choice making. More embodiment is reached through a deep listening to the relationship to the earth, each other, and the space around us. All genders, abilities, and experience levels are welcome. This workshop is LGBTQ inclusive.