Thomas Lehmen/Sara Coffin
Vancouver, BC

Please be advised this performance contains some nudity.

Three choreographic teams from Halifax, Vancouver and New York interpret the work ‘Schreibstück’ by one of Berlin's most innovative artists, Thomas Lehmen.  Schreibstück is a choreographic score that toys with interpretation and reveals the essence of human existence in a fast-paced, carefully crafted, series of dance intensities.  

About the Directors and Performing Companies: 

Vancouver Director and Project Catalyst   

Sara Coffin originally from Halifax, is now a Vancouver based choreographer,dancer, instructor and dance arts do it all.   

Sara is the recipient of the Iris garland Emerging Choreographers Award (200and the 2005 BC Emerging Dance Artist Award.  She completed her BFA in dance at Simon Fraser University's School for the Contemporary Arts, and herKinesiology degree (BSc K) from Dalhousie University. CurrentlyCoffin teachescontemporary dance at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and acts as assistantprogrammer for the dance program. 

Sara has worked as an apprentice/understudy with The Holy Body Tattoo in their work "monumental." Notable artists she has worked with include Daelikof MACHiNENOiSY, Claire French, Mascall Dance, Susan Elliott, Kinesis Dance,Susan Lee, Lesandra Dodson, Deborah Dunn, Peter Chin, and the TILT sound +motion dance company. Sara has been supported by the Canada Council for the Arts and the BC Arts Council for professional development and in-studio research/creation.  

Coffin's work has been presented throughout Nova Scotia, in Toronto, Victoriand Vancouver; including Dancing on The Edge (Vancouver), ROMP! (VictoriaDances for a Small Stage, 12 Min Max, Toronto's 808 series.  Sara is s co-founder for SINS dance (sometimes in Nova Scotia), a dance collective that traverses Canada. As a choreographer Sara is interested in thevulnerability of the human body and our connection and function to technology as a society.  www.saracoffin.com  

Halifax Director 

Cory Bowles originally from Truro, NS, Cory is the principle choreographer and director of the companies Verve Mwendo and Black Rabbit Films, and has created over 40 works for the stage and film. He has a strong passion for his cultural background, and finds his home in storytelling traditions of the African Diaspora.  A sought after teacher and instructor, his workshops take him throughout Canada, from northern communities, to the Banff Centre for the Arts, mentoring  youth and professionals alike. He is an instructor at the Bishop’s University Drama Program, and a frequent mentor and facilitator with Viewfinders International Festival for Youth, He has received a Gemini for his role of “Cory” in the hit television series Trailer Park Boys, provides the voice for the animated series Poko, and wrote and directed the award winning short film “The Scavengers” which has enjoyed screenings worldwide. He is currently in postproduction with his next short film, the Linda Joy Media Arts winning story, “Righteous”, and the development of a theatrical performance of Buck 65’s celebrated album “Secret House Against the World”.                              www.vervemwendo.com  

Performed by SINS Dance  

SINS (Sometimes In Nova Scotia) is a collective of dance artists that strives to create and bring innovative contemporary dance work to Nova Scotia. Cofounded in 2005 by Jacinte Armstrong, Susanne Chui and Sara Coffin. Sometimes in Nova Scotia, and sometimes not, Armstrong, Chui and Coffin now endeavour to build collaborative opportunities between Nova Scotia and abroad. Describe as thought provoking and fulfilling, the work of SINS dance has been performed throughout Nova Scotia, in Vancouver, Toronto, and Victoria. 

Combing their diverse backgrounds, the SINS artists create a unique collection of skills and experiences. Our language collides and redefines what is dance, what theatre is and what is performance?  The collective’s influences stem from such companies and choreographers as The Holy Body Tattoo, Susan Elliott, TILT sound + motion, Yvonne Ng, Lesandra Dodson, Kaeja D’ dance, Verve Mwendo, Chris Aiken, Andrew Harwood, Rebecca Lazier (New York), and Barbara Mavro Thalassitis (Brussels).                                          www.sinsdance.com  

New York Director 

Dan Safer Artistic Director, originally hails from the wild suburbs of New Jersey, and has directed / choreographed / adapted every Witness Relocation show. His work has been presented all over, including Off-Broadway, La MaMa, Dance Theater Workshop (four consecutive seasons), The Ontological Theater, Patravadi Theatre (Bangkok), Theater Krudttonden (Denmark), the CUNY Prelude Festival, Dixon Place, Danspace Project; he has choreographed operas, rock videos and fashion shows, and wrote a seven episode serial play with Pulitzer winner David Lindsay-Abaire. Performer with Ridge Theater, Jane Comfort, John Moran, Mabou Mines, the Blacklips Performance Cult, Hong Kong choreographer Dick Wong, and others. He founded and directed the Bangkok Performance Boot Camp, is faculty at NYU, and teaches workshops across the US and Internationally. He was a 2007- 9 recipient of the Six Points Fellowship (Performance) from the Foundation for Jewish Culture, and the winner of two NY Innovative Theater Awards. Artforum Magazine called him "pure expressionistic danger". He used to be a go-go dancer, and once choreographed the Queen of Thailands Birthday Party.  

Concept 

Thomas Lehmen is a freelance choreographer, dancer and teacher based in Berlin. He studied 1986-1990 at the School for New Dance Development in Amsterdam.
His productions for example "distanzlos"(99), "mono subjects"(01), "Schreibstück"(02), "It’s better to ..."(04), and "Lehmen lernt"(06) are touring worldwide. His latest work “Schrottplatz” premiered in Germany in May 2010.
In the stage pieces as well in projects like "Funktionen" (Toolbox) (04), he is interested in communications, cybernetics and the status of human beings in correlation with structures as a conceptual approach. 

He is teaching at universities for example in Amsterdam, Reykjavik, Berlin, Hamburg, Gießen, Arizona and gives workshops worldwide.