Mary Louise Albert is based full time in Sointula, British Columbia and is actively growing the BC Movement Arts Society (that she co-founded in 2015 and is the Artistic & Executive Director/Producer of) producing and facilitating a professional contemporary dance series, artist creation residencies, community outreach and digital dance projects in rural and remote coastal communities of British Columbia.

Albert previously held a 15-year position as the Artistic Managing Director of the Norman Rothstein Theatre (NRT) and the multidisciplinary international Chutzpah! Festival.

A former professional dancer, choreographer and teacher, she worked for 20 years nationally and internationally as a solo dance artist and as a company member with the Judith Marcuse Dance Company, Anna Wyman Dance Theatre, Karen Jamieson Dance Company as well as apprenticing with Les Grands Ballet Canadiens. Albert has performed work by choreographers such as Mark Morris, Crystal Pite, Lar Lubabvitch, Robert North, Serge Bennathan, Allen Kaeja, Judith Marcuse, Grant Strate, Peter Bingham, Tedd Robbinson, Judith Garay and Christopher House, to name a few.

She has an extensive teaching background that includes ArtsUmbrella, Sessional Positions at Simon Fraser University School for the Contemporary Arts, Harbour Dance Centre, Goh Ballet and the Portside Academy in Port McNeill, as well as adjudicating for dance festivals throughout Western Canada.

Transitioning from professional dance at the age of 45, Albert won the nationally awarded Eric Bruhn Memorial Award from the Dancer Transition Resource Centre to attend Capilano University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT), School of Business, graduating with a Post Diploma of Technology in Business Administration and an Advanced Arts and Entertainment Management Certificate, respectively.

Albert is the recipient of the 2011 Canada Council for the Arts’ John Hobday Award for Excellence in Arts Management, one of two awarded nationally annually. She was an appointed member of the City of Vancouver’s first Arts and Culture Policy Council, was an Executive Board member of Temple Sholom, and was a five-year member of a Program Advisory Committee for the BCIT School of Business. She is a member of the Board of the Gate House Theatre in Port McNeill and a member of the Board of the Sointula Museum Historical Society.

About Tara:

Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg, is an award winning creator, performer, choreographer, director, writer, and artistic director of Tara Cheyenne Performance, working across disciplines in film, dance, theatre, and experimental performance. She is renowned as a trailblazer in interdisciplinary performance and as a mighty performer "who defies categorization on any level". Along with her own creations Tara has collaborated with many theatre companies and artists including; Zee Zee Theatre, Bard on the Beach, ItsaZoo Theatre, The Arts Club, Boca De Lupo, Ruby Slippers, The Firehall Arts Centre, Vertigo Theatre (Calgary).

With a string of celebrated solo shows to her credit (including bANGER, Goggles, Porno Death Cult, I can’t remember the word for I can’t remember, Body Parts, Pants), multidisciplinary collaborations, commissions and boundary bending ensemble creations Tara's work is celebrated both nationally and internationally. Tara is known for her unique and dynamic hybrid of dance, comedy and theatre. She is sought after for creating innovative movement for theatre and has performed her full length solos and ensemble works around the world (highlights: DanceBase/Edinburgh, South Bank Centre/London, On the Boards/Seattle USA, High Performance Rodeo/Calgary etc.). Recent works include a collaboration with Italian dance/performance artist Silvia Gribaudi, empty.swimming.pool, (Castiglioncello, Bassano, Victoria and Vancouver), ensemble creation, how to be, which premiered at The Cultch, and her solo I can’t remember the word for I can’t remember, toured widely, and her newest solo Body Parts has been made into a stunning film which is currently touring virtually. Tara lives on the unceded Coast Salish territories with her partner composer Marc Stewart and their child.

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