Where Dance and Music Meet

Co-production with 1313 Music Association

March 31st, 8 pm
April 1st, 3:30 pm + 8 pm
St. Andrew's United Church, 6036 Coburg Rd.
Livestream + ASL: April 1st, 8 pm

BUY TICKETS NOW!

We are thrilled to announce this season's production, Where Dance and Music Meet, a spellbinding evening of new music and dance directed by Susanne Chui, Mocean's Co-Artistic Director and faculty member of the Creative Music Workshop (CMW). This full-length performance blurs the boundaries between dance and music, dancer and musician, as a cast of 19 artists explore the limitless potential of spontaneous composition.

Originally planned as a collaboration between Chui and the late Jerry Granelli, a world renowned musician, artist, and educator, the work continues in honour of his legacy of interdisciplinary practice and improvisation. Six fellow CMW faculty members join Chui as co-creators: J. Anthony Granelli, Ross Burns, Doug Cameron, Nick Dourado, Andrew MacKelvie and Nicholas Maclean. This group has worked closely together for nearly a decade, and each has their own deep connection to Jerry Granelli and his teachings. Together, improvisation -- the act of meeting in the space of the unknown and composing with what’s present -- is their shared path to learning and a way of life. Along with the powerhouse creative core, the show features 12 additional dancers and musicians, the next generation of artists continuing the evolution of this interdisciplinary practice.

Collaborating with each core composer, Chui has created a series of “forms” for dance and music pieces. These frameworks for improvisation provide a starting point for the performers to  improvise, interact, and develop each piece together in the moment. Movement is considered as visual music and music becomes sonic visuals in the performance, inviting the artists to freely switch between dancing and playing music.

Where Dance and Music Meet is the creative blossoming of this dedicated group of improvising artists, united by a shared creative vision: to ignite the spaces where dance and music meet.

Ticket availability is limited due to venue seating - so get your tickets early!
Adult: $28  |  Senior: $25  |  Student/Artist: $20  |  Youth/Underwaged: $15  |  Livestream: Pay What You Can
*Eventbrite ticket tiers reflect base prices listed above, plus taxes and fees

 Can't make it to the live performances? Click here for tickets to our livestream!

Click here to learn about our venue's accessibility.
If you require accessible seating, or other access support, please contact us in advance at [email protected]

Media contact:
Sheila Duggan: [email protected]

While Susanne Chui is most known as Mocean’s Co-Artistic Director, at her core she is an improviser. Her love for improvisation began when meeting Lin Snelling at the age of 19.Since then she’s continued to hone her practice through study, research and creation projects.  She has studied with a variety of improvising artists across Canada, the USA and Europe, including Simone Forti, Nina Martin, Andrew Harwood, Marc Boivin, Chris Aiken, Angie Hauser, KJ Holmes, Ruth Zaporah (Action Theatre), Stephanie Skura and Eryn Dace Trudell (Skinner Release Technique).

Upon moving to Halifax in 2007, she found camaraderie working with fellow improvising musicians, writers and visual artists. She has performed extensively with and groups like Upstream Orchestra, and has created several works including a series of dance/music duets with Doug Cameron, Anne Davison and Janice Jackson. Her full length work, Threnodies, created with Geordie Haley, was supported by the Diane Moore Creation Award and presented at the TD Halifax Jazz Festival. In 2014 she self-produced Rewriting Distance with Lin Snelling and Guy Cools, and again through Mocean in 2021.

When Susanne met the late Jerry Granelli in 2012, her practice expanded into new realms of mindfulness and movement. As a faculty member of the Creative Music Workshop (CMW), Halifax Jazz Festival’s flagship education program, Susanne has worked closely with Jerry and members of that CMW for the past 9 years, teaching workshops, performing, and leading dance and music ensembles that explore where dance and music meet.

Another major influence and inspiration in Susanne’s life has been working with Erin Donovan (Hear Here Productions). Together they have created three interactive works based on outdoor collaboration: Burnwater (2013), inspired by the life of blacksmith/sculptor John Little; Woodlight (2021), a series of dance films combining dance, music, and poetry in response to the land near Mahone Bay, NS; and Chui and Donovan's most recent project Becoming Old Growth, a new collective with poet Basma Kavanagh. Their work includes a film based on their 2021 residency on West Ironbound Island, and their performances at the 2022 Multiplier Festival and the Atlantic Arts Symposium.