TorchLit Series

“TorchLit” is a series of occupations of the CCOV studio to allow artists to question, research and work on practices identified as important by the dance community, and whose development is needed and a priority of the moment.

The artists who have participated in a Torch-lit studio occupation:
Ja “Jigsaw” James Britton Johnson – July 27 to 31, 2020
Justin de Luna – August 3 to 7, 2020
Ivanie Aubin-Malo – September 28 to October 2, 2020
Danielle Davidson – January 23 and 24, 2021

Ja “Jigsaw” James Britton Johnson

During his week at the CCOV, Ja “Jigsaw” James Britton Johnson will work around the concept of video capture, light and lighting of black and brown skin for dance on film with other members of the Outfit Mob: Alexandra “Spicey” Landé and Frédérique “Pax” Dumas, and also with performers Mecdy Jean-Pierre and Mukoma “J. Style” Nshinga, visual artist Jules de Niverville, lighting designer Olivier Duplessis and makeup artist Gérardine Jeune.

Danielle Davidson

Located at the intersections of trauma informed therapy, somatic healing practices and performance practices, this collaborative transdisciplinary research project explores questions like: What are the relationships between artistic practices and therapy; between performance and trauma? How might art therapy and mindfulness practices transform pathways in the body, the mind and in somatic experience, and how is this navigated within performance practices, arts spaces and artistic relationships? How does an artistic community hold space for trauma, and healing? Shedding new light on the multidimensionality and flexibility of selfhood via the dissolution of the sense-boundaries, we aim to uncover the possibilities for transformative healing experiences within the framework of artistic practice as collective embodied healing. In the research process myself and collaborators – Susie Showers, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, and Angélique Willkie – will explore these questions through discussions and inside a play-practice experimental laboratory at the CCOV.