Libby Leshgold Gallery

 

Please remember that face covering is required while visiting the gallery and the rest of the Emily Carr University campus.Check the University's guidelines for more information.

 

This fall, the Libby Leshgold welcomes Ralph Escamillan, Kevin Fraser and Ross Wirtanen, of queer art collective The Coven, for a residency in the gallery. The Coven will occupy the Libby Leshgold’s Media Gallery for seven weeks, hosting weekly events and dance-based programming throughout the University that builds upon Escamillan, Fraser, and Wirtanen’s respective multidisciplinary, community-oriented practices as dancers, choreographers, directors, and mentors. Through a series of Vogue Jams and classes, open rehearsals, and performances, The Coven invites an expanded field of collaborators and participants, including local dance organizations Van Vogue Jam and Immigrant Lessons, and members of the Emily Carr University community, to take part in this collaborative creation residency.

The Coven program schedule will be available in the Gallery and on the Gallery’s website. Programs are free and open to all and prioritize members of the LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC communities.

The Coven’s residency runs concurrently alongside Tom Hsu’s Around the Corner, which occupies the main gallery space. For more information visit our website.

The Coven’s residency is part of a series of exhibitions and programs at the Libby Leshgold Gallery organized by guest curators Phanuel Antwi, Jenn Jackson, and Christian Vistan.

Ralph Escamillan is a queer, Canadian-Filipinx performance artist, choreographer, teacher, and community leader based in Vancouver. He is trained in a multitude of street dance styles such as Breakdancing, Popping, House, Waacking, Ballet, Modern, and Contemporary, to name a few. He has danced with companies throughout Canada and currently dances with Wen Wei Dance and Mascall Dance. He performs and creates his own inclusive performances that play with the complexities of identity and culture using sound, costume, technology, and the body with his own company, FakeKnot.

Escamillan is also an active participant and organizer in the Vancouver and Canadian Ballroom scene, opening his own Kiki House of Gvasalia and founding Van Vogue Jam (VVJ), a non-profit organization that helps support and develop platforms for Vogue and Ballroom in Vancouver. VVJ offers accessible and open Vogue and Ballroom educational sessions and Balls. VVJ strives towards building a culture of dance and competition with accessibility and the safety of the LGBTQIA2S+ BIPOC community at its core.

Kevin Fraser is a Jamaican-born dancer, performance artist, actor, and creative director currently residing in Vancouver. Fraser is versed in many dance forms including Hip hop, Vogue, Waacking, Dancehall, House, Ballet, Jazz, Modern, and African dance. Through movement, fashion and music, he investigates and reorients high and low binaries that exist in traditional dance frameworks. He seeks to hold space for and reflect the lived experiences of his collaborators and aims to create work and opportunities for LGBTQIA2S+ BIPOC communities. He has performed, instructed, and competed professionally throughout North America, Europe, and Asia.

Fraser is the founder and director of art collective Immigrant Lessons. Existing in multiplicity as an arthouse, research/creation lab, youth artist incubator, and interdisciplinary performance troupe, Immigrant Lessons utilizes and explores many mediums including dance, theatre, film, photography, spoken word, creative writing, music, and fashion. Its core artistic associates include Sophia Gamboa, Sevrin Emnacen-Boyd, Simran Sachar, Joshua Cameron, Tegvaran Singh, and Hayden Pereira. Recently, Immigrant Lessons has been exploring different avenues to give back to their community through youth engagement and workshops.

Ross Wirtanen is an artistic director, choreographer, educator, and dancer currently based in Vancouver. Wirtanen has danced and trained intensively throughout North America and the UK, under some of the most renowned street-dance teachers and choreographers. He has won numerous awards for his choreography and performances in festivals and competitions in Canada and the USA. With such diverse and extensive knowledge of pop culture and movement, Ross strives to expand his versatility as a dancer and push the boundaries in his choreography and artistic direction in both performance and film. Wirtanen is the director of RiaToss Productions, a theatrical and performance art company known for their fashion forward and cutting-edge multidisciplinary work.

SCHEDULE
Please see our website for more information, additional events, and up-to-date event times. All events are free, but may require advance registration.

Tuesday, Sep 7, 2021
Van Vogue Jam
Libby Leshgold Gallery
8-10pm
Register here.

Tuesday, Sep 14, 2021
Van Vogue Jam
Libby Leshgold Gallery
8-10pm

Thursday, Sep 16, 2021
Immigrant Lessons
With Joshua Cameron and Sevrin Emnacen-Boyd
Libby Leshgold Gallery
4-8pm

Friday, Sep 17, 2021
HINKYPUNK
Performance by FakeKnot/Ralph Escamillan
Integrated Motion Studio
4pm

Tuesday, Sep 21, 2021
Van Vogue Jam
Libby Leshgold Gallery
8-10pm
Register here.

Tuesday, Sep 28, 2021
Van Vogue Jam
Libby Leshgold Gallery
8-10pm
Register here.

Thursday, Sep 30, 2021
Immigrant Lessons
With Sophia Gamboa
Michael O’Brian Exhibition Commons
4-8pm

October 4-10, 2021
Immigrant Lessons Open Rehearsal
Michael O’Brian Exhibition Commons
10am-1pm

Tuesday, Oct 5, 2021
Van Vogue Jam
Libby Leshgold Gallery
8-10pm
Register here.

October 11-17, 2021
Immigrant Lessons x Athena Open Rehearsal
With Katherine Burrowes
Michael O’Brian Exhibition Commons
10am-1pm

Tuesday, Oct 12, 2021
Van Vogue Jam
Libby Leshgold Gallery
8-10pm
Register here.

Thursday, Oct 14, 2021
Immigrant Lessons
With Simran Sachar
Michael O’Brian Exhibition Commons
4-8pm

Tuesday, Oct 19, 2021
Van Vogue Jam
Libby Leshgold Gallery
8-10pm
Register here.

Saturday, Oct 23, 2021
The Coven Residency Closing

Performance by House of Gvasalia and House of Andromeda
SW Plaza
5-5:20pm

Origins/How Do We Co-exist
Performance by Immigrant Lessons
Reliance Theatre
5:30-6:30pm

Screening of new video work by Ross Wirtanen
Throughout the evening
Libby Leshgold Media Room

 

Canada Council for the Arts


 
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