Suddenly Dance Theatre founding artistic co-director David Ferguson of Victoria has won his second Chrystal Dance Prize in the past five years, courtesy of Dance Victoria.
Ferguson, who also won the Projects prize in 2016, was this week awarded $20,000 for his project Lucky Maybe, a collaboration with South Korean artist Hoyeon Kim. The current project actually evolved out of a series of words, gestures and sounds communicated between Korean dancers, technicians and Ferguson during rehearsals for We Are Diamonds, the project for which he won the 2016 Chrystal Dance Prize.
The Lucky Maybe project is a multi-faceted undertaking that will see Ferguson work with Victoria filmmaker Daniel Carruthers to create short dance episodes and a 24-minute film, plus longer gallery installation versions for release in Canada and South Korea and internationally through film festivals.
The funding will support production and filming in Victoria and Seoul, as well as two-week residencies and in-studio performances in both locations.
Ferguson is also currently working on In A Nutshell, a new play starring Victoria dance maven Lynda Raino commissioned by the Belfry Theatre.
Vancouver-based choreographer and multidisciplinary artist Julianne Chapple was awarded $10,000 for her Pathways Project, a collaboration with Palestinian artist Sahar Damoni. The project explores individuality, freedom and intention from a female perspective in two vastly different cultures: Chapple as a multidisciplinary artist living in a liberal, urban centre and Damoni as an Arab feminist living in repressive Shafamer in the Galilee.
The Chrystal Dance Prize is funded through a bequest from Dance Victoria patron, Betty “Chrystal” Kleiman, to the Victoria Foundation. It supports exceptional dance research and/or creation between a Western Canadian dance artist, collective or company and an international dance artist (interpreter or choreographer).
Follow Ferguson and company at suddenlydance.ca, and follow the latest dance performance news at dancevictoria.ca.