Vancouver-based Artists in Residence
Alexis Fletcher – A dance artist, creator, and producer, I have danced with Ballet BC for 14 years under the directorship of both John Alleyne and Emily Molnar, and subsequently have been a guest artist and Artist in Residence. Now independent, I hold the position of Artist in Residence at Vancouver’s Chutzpah! Festival. My creations have been supported by Dancing on the Edge, InFrinGing Festival, New Works, Vernon Performing Arts Centre, The Gordon Smith Foundation, BC Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts. In 2019 and 2020 I was in residence at Dance Victoria and am thrilled to be back again this season.
As a producer, I have co-created an outdoor, site-specific multidisciplinary performance space and series with my husband, Sylvain Senez, at our home in Vancouver, called The Dance Deck.
As a dance artist I am fascinated by how exploring the movement potential of the human body becomes a way of accessing the inner landscapes of our spirits and psyches, and this is the primary motivation behind my physical practice and choreographic interests. I believe that dance is a unique vehicle with which to share, research, and discuss our humanity.
I acknowledge, with gratitude, my privilege to be working and creating on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
Originally from Tehran and based in Vancouver, Arash Khakpour is privileged to be a dance artist who has immigrated to the ancestral and unceded Coast Salish territory.
Arash’s practice is concerned with the reveal of the complexity of the human experience, and of having a body. He investigates how thoughts influence the body and how the bodily states and sensations influence thoughts. This leads to his ever-evolving and intense interest in experiencing what it feels like to be a body without any direct focus on intellectual thinking and concerns. How can I just be a body? He is interested in dance as a language that researches the human condition through historical, social, political and existential interpretations.
Arash’s choreography has been presented at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Montreal, Arte Interculturel (Montreal), Dancing on the Edge, Art for Impact, Dance Days Festival (Victoria BC), Dance In Vancouver, rEvolver Festival and Vines Art Festival.