Sabrina Naz Comănescu, curator
Photo: Suzanne Nolan
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Fearsssome is an interdisciplinary dance and puppetry piece based around challenging fear through the perspective of the artist's very deep and real fear of snakes. Incorporating a live jazz trio, this 40 min piece pulls from the artist's exploration of storytelling through jazz dance, puppetry, mask, clown work and costuming.
Kaja Irwin
Kaja Irwin is a dancer and artist who loves to explore movement and collaborations across art forms, including mask, puppetry, clown and character work, as well as collaborating with Calgary jazz musician Nate Chiang developing improvised jazz pieces for the stage. After deciding to pursue a career in dance after completing her B.A. in Political Science, Kaja studied in the Professional Training Program offered at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD), developing her love of both jazz and the Calgary dance community. Kaja is a company member with DJD in her tenth season, touring nationally and internationally, most recently performing at the Newport Jazz Festival in August 2024. She continues to be inspired by teaching both youth and adults while sharing her love of dancing. Kaja is an accepted artist in the Festival of Animated Objects (FAO) Incubator program and is in the midst of creating an interdisciplinary dance and puppetry piece, Fearsssome, to be premiered in the 2025 FAO. Kaja was a part of the Arts Commons TD Incubator Program in 2023/2024 and found great joy in connecting with other artists within Calgary. Irwin enjoys finding new ways to express her creativity and play within her work while engaging the imagination and focusing on the connection of music, movement and human spirit.