the conditions

Lucy M. May • DIRECTION + DANCE + VOICE + VISUAL ART + VIDEO 

Lucy M. May (she/they) is a dance artist born in Eqpahak/Wolastokuk/Fredericton and based in Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal since 2003. Her choreographic projects explore the materiality of human attention and our relationships to place and to each other. Improvisation resides at the heart of their work as a dancer, creator, and teacher, nourished by experiences performing with Marie Chouinard, Margie Gillis, Mouvement de passage, and practicing since 2018 the street dance Krump. She battles as Pluto and Ravage Grouch. Moonlighting as an illustrator, Lu explores links between dance and drawing practices.

Franz Chudnoff • DANCE + VOICE + VISUAL ART + FILM

Fran also known as Franz (they/them), is a Tkaronto based millennial, with a BFA in performance, and paying rent as a multidisciplinary artist. They are a dancer, dance maker, video artist, photographer, and a beginner at 3D sculpting and digital illustration. Across mediums, their work is in conversation with post internet aesthetics, gender deviance, and shaping a “social aura” through aspirational imagery. Their most personal and urgent project these days is sharing as many meals as possible with their Lola, Yolanda.

Patrick Conan • COMPOSITION + MUSIC

Montréal-born Patrick Conan (he) is a drummer and percussionist who has been playing music professionally for more than 25 years. Since 2013, he has composed music for contemporary dance works by Nate Yaffe, Sarah-Ève Grant-Lefebvre, and longtime collaborator Lucy M. May. His compositions use software manipulation and field recordings. Patrick has played as a musician in numerous projects and toured Canada, the United States, and Europe with Tricky Woo, Sackville, and The Carnations amongst others. Current projects include Sam Shalabi’s Land of Kush and The Air Contains Honey Orchestra. He completed his studies in Classical percussion at Vanier College in Montréal.

Ja James Britton Johnson, aka Jigsaw • DANCE + VOICE + FILM

Ja “Jigsaw” Britton Johnson is an artist with an extensive knowledge of various street styles, with a focus on hip hop and Krump. He began working in hip hop with 2marvelous, then ventured into Krumping in 2006. He has dedicated 15 years to his art, and with determination and dedication Jigsaw has become one of the new generation of leaders of Krump in Canada. He is also part of MKA (Montreal Krump Alliance) a not-for-profit dance organization and now dances for Ebnflōh Dance Company.

Amy Macdonald • MUSIC

Amy Macdonald (she) is a guitarist, songwriter, and composer who has recorded and performed in genres from folk to hardcore to improvised noise. Having cut her teeth in Edmonton’s all-ages hardcore scene, her primary project Nennen combines the ferocity and weight of metal and experimental influences with evocative folk songwriting that brings clarity to elusive emotional and relational landscapes. Nennen’s self-released full-length debut, Two Mountains, garnered glowing reviews from Chart Attack, AUX, and Grayowl Point. Nennen has honed its sound opening for artists like Tess Roby, Kee Avil, Ought, King Woman, Faith Healer, and Thus Owls.

Maisie O’Brien • VISUAL ART + LIVE PROJECTIONS

Maisie O’Brien is a Philadelphia based shadow caster, and educator.  She has toured and practiced her original storytelling with communities including Studio 34, Black Cherry Puppet Theater, The Baltimore Crankie Festival, and Asian Arts Initiative, as well as developed shadows, short films, and costumes for collaborations with fellow artists in film, dance, music, and theater.  Maisie has studied puppetry with Bread & Puppet Theater, The University of Connecticut, The O’Neill National Puppetry Conference, and the Chicago International Puppetry Festival Workshops.  They also work to foster young voices via puppetry and narrative arts workshops, summer camps, and festivals.

Jon Cleveland • LIGHTING + TECHNICAL DIRECTION

Jon Cleveland (he) is a Montreal based Lighting Designer/Visual Artist. Working in theatre and dance he has worked with The Segal Centre for The Arts, The National Arts Centre, The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, Tangente, Cabal Theatre, Scapegoat Carinivale, Susanna Hood, Lucy M May, Rabbit in the Hat, Malik Nashad Shapre,Rubberband Dance, Dave St-Pierre and Kim-Sanh Châu among others. His design for Tragic Queens with Cabal Theatre was nominated for a 2017 META award for outstanding lighting design.

Hanako Hoshimi-Caines • ARTISTIC ADVICE + DRAMATURGY

Hanako Hoshimi-Caines (she/they) is an experimental dance artist, curator and dramaturge who works in solo and collaborative formats. Her material and embodied performance practices have been shown in theatres, art galleries and community spaces in Canada and internationally, notably at the MAI (CA), Portland Institute for Contemporary Art/TBA festival, On the Boards (US), Moderna dansteatern (SE) and Fierce Festival (UK). She is the outgoing artistic co-curator at the Centre de Création O Vertigo (2020-2023). Hanako’s involvement in dance is rooted in critical practice and particularly values working across age and culture.

PAX • ARTISTIC ADVICE + DRAMATURGY + COSTUMES

PAX (she) is a multidisciplinary performing artist and creator. She has been an innovator of the hip hop & street dance community locally and internationally. Her work has been presented on various platforms, notably at the V&A museum (London,U.K). She is the founder of A.MUSE, an interdisciplinary company whose mission is to showcase culture and art through various artistic mediums. She is continuously committed to education and community building, focused on creating platforms for self expression.

Concept, Creation & Direction : Lucy M. May

Dance & Voice: Fran Chudnoff, Ja James Britton Johnson, Lucy M. May

Live Projections: Maisie O’Brien

Music: Patrick Conan, Amy Macdonald

Composition: Patrick Conan

Visual Art & Filmmaking: Ja James Britton Johnson, Fran Chudnoff, Lucy M. May, Maisie O’Brien

Lights: Jon Cleveland

Sound design: Paul Scriver

Scenography & Exhibition Design : Lucy M. May

Costumes: Pax

Artistic Advice & Dramaturgy: Pax, Hanako Hoshimi-Caines

Technical Direction: Jon Cleveland

Consult & Coaching: Eroca Nicols, Judith Koltai, Susanna Hood, Katrin Heimann, Ola Maciejewska, Alanna Kraaijeveld

Writing: Patrick Leonard, Erin Hill

Outside Eye: Helen Simard, Marie-Reine Kabasha, Sasha Kleinplatz, Nindy Banks, Angie Cheng, Eroca Nichols

Photography: Fran Chudnoff, Kinga Michalska, Antea Chintoh, Anna Semenova Kozak

Videography: Ja James Britton Johnson, Giordano D’alonzo, Fran Chudnoff, Do Phan Hoi, F. Chris Giles

Video Editing: Lucy M. May, Fran Chudnoff, Ja James Britton Johnson, F. Chris Giles

Administrative Assistance: Margarita Herrera-Dominguez

Communications & Touring Assistance: Éléonore Emond-Fontaine

Participants in the Research and Creation: Peter Jasko, Marie-Reine Kabasha, Vicky Mettler, Sovann Rochon-Prom Tep, Camille Huang

Creation Residencies: The Beaverbrook Art Gallery, Studio 303, Circuit-Est, Gallery TPW, Maison de la Culture Marie-Uguay/Le Sud-ouest, Musée d’art contemporain des Laurentides, Maison de la culture Claude-Léveillée

With the Support of: Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal, Festival Transamériques, Studio 303, Circuit-Est, Stephen May

Sincere Thanks: Danse-Cité, Catherine Lavoie Marcus, Charles Brécard, Émile Pineault, Iele Paloumpis, La Serre arts vivants, Le Patro Villeray, La Porte Rouge, Eastern Bloc, Siwar Soria, Angie Cheng, Julie Scriver, Stephen May, David Drury

Production: Lucy M. May | Looumms

We would like to express respect and gratitude to the Indigenous peoples, nations, and confederacies who are the traditional stewards of the stolen lands upon which this work was created: the Kanien’kehá:ka, the Anishinaabeg, the Wolastoqiyik, the Mi’kmaq, the Peskotomuhkati, the Wabanaki, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Wendat. In this moment of great destruction and rupture, we thank them for creating and sharing ways of knowing and technologies that preserve life-giving relationships with the earth, living beings, and with each other. Creating art and performance relies on funding and resources, and all wealth comes from the earth. Land back.