Presented through The Dance Centre’s Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award 2025
CONTRA (world premiere)
Choreography by Eric Cheung
November 28 & 29, 2025 (Talkback November 29)
Scotiabank Dance Centre
Warnings:
Strobing Laser Lights
Haze
We are located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. It is an honour and a privilege for us to be guests in their lands. We are grateful.
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Contra merges dance with interactive technologies into an ever-changing environment. This work is a testament to Eric’s remarkable artistic journey and vision to date – a creative achievement made possible, in part, through the vital support of the biennial Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award which has been administered by The Dance Centre since its launch in 2004.
We offer our deepest and most heartfelt gratitude to James Felter, whose generosity makes the Award possible. His commitment is a tribute to Iris Garland who dedicated her career to nurturing emerging choreographers. The Award continues this legacy and has a profound impact on the development of artists like Eric, and on the broader dance community supported through The Dance Centre.
Awards and programs like this are essential in giving rising artists the resources, time, and encouragement they need to innovate and take bold risks, imagine, experiment, and bring extraordinary new creations to life.
Thank you for joining us this evening and for supporting dance.
Mirna Zagar
Executive Director, The Dance Centre
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Concept
Set within an ethereal world, Contra navigates the endless human journey of self-actualization, revealing the contradictions and complexities of the human condition. A pursuit that exposes the dissonance between opposing extremes of our identities—extremes that emerge fully in response to the striving for this innate human desire for elusive fulfillment.
Contra investigates these extremes through a trio dance, incorporating interactive technologies, multi-laser projections, and a sound-resonant water installation into an ever-changing environment and mental state.
Team
Choreographer + Artistic Direction: Eric Cheung
Dancer(s): Kinui Oiwa, Tegvaran Sooch
Technical Director: Jack Chipman
Creative Technologist / Interactive Artist: Cristian Gonzalez
Composer: Matthew Tomkinson
Lighting Designer: Jack Chipman
Laser Programmer: Sean Gregor
Costume: Aenrmous, Jiacheng Liu, Bahar Kianpour
Stylist: Yiying Fan
Fabricator: Ole Michel Vezina
Apprentice: Trent Kaiser
Mentors/Dramaturgy: Maiko Miyuachi, Cristina Bucci
Support
Presented through The Dance Centre’s Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award
Grant Funding Support by The Canada Council
Administrative Support by New Works – Dance
Artist in Residence at Q7 Out Innerspace Theatre
Early Research Residency Support by Vivo Media Arts Centre
Special thank you to everyone who has supported, guided, and generously given their time and care to this extensive work. Without your unwavering support, this work would not have been possible.
Biographies
Eric Cheung is an interdisciplinary street dance artist and choreographer based in so-called Vancouver, on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh Nations. Originally from Calgary, Alberta, Eric Cheung is interested in developing movement-derived works in various forms, aiming to create contemplative experiences, using choreographic and movement systems.
Eric has been a company member of Ouro Collective since 2018, a street dance contemporary company, partaking in the creation process of HAKO, SOTTO51, Fire06, 7y98D (Theatre / Film) in collaboration with RubberLegZ, Ouro Excerpts and Ouroboros.
Individually, Eric explores and creates work across different mediums, including film, theatre, new media, and interactive installation art. Films such as E_GO (2018), I(n)finite (2023), and Null (2025). Stage works such as iye (2018), Re:1974 (2021), Flux (2024), and Contra (2025). New media works and installations such as iyeism (2022), Diverge (2023), Liminal (2024), Everlasting (2024), Array (2025) and Converge (2025).
Furthermore, Eric Cheung is the current recipient of the City of Vancouver – Artist Studio Award in 2022 and was awarded the Chrystal Prize Award by Dance Victoria (2025) and the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award by The Dance Centre (2025).
Kinui Oiwa is a Japanese contemporary dance artist. She began ballet at 11 in Japan, continuing her training at PNSD Rosella Hightower in France and earning a dance diploma with the Cannes Junior Ballet Company. In 2018, Kinui joined Balletto di Roma, touring Europe and performing works by Davide Bombana, Itamar Serussi, Fabrizio Monteverde, and Andrea Costanzo Martini. In 2022, Kinui joined OURO Collective, performing 7y98d by RubberLegz and Ouroboros for OUROFEST 2024. Beyond OURO, Kinui has worked on motion capture, commercials, and music videos, and has collaborated with OCIN, Lululemon, Vancouver Opera, and Canon Japan. In 2024, Kinui, along with collaborator Eric Cheung, won the 2024/25 Chrystal Dance Prize.
Tegvaran Sooch Representing the illest illusionz crew, Tegvaran Sooch is a versatile artist from Surrey, BC, training in styles such as Hip-Hop and Krump. For Teg, dance is a way of storytelling and emotional expression. He draws inspiration from the energy of the people around him. His artistic approach involves the fusion of experimental concepts with foundational elements of dance in unconventional ways, resulting in distinctive and captivating movement.
Jack Chipman is a Vancouver-based projection designer and technologist. His work integrates physical elements into digital spaces through the use of cameras, digital props, and image filtering. He is excited by the merging of different mediums to create an immersive experience. Jack’s past credits include The Flying Dutchman (Vancouver Opera), The Door Project (plastic orchid factory), An Undeveloped Sound (Electric Company Theatre), Szepty/Whispers (Rumble Theatre), Romeo and Juliet (Vancouver Symphony Orchestra), Dance Craft (Joe Ink), and Ghost Forest (Simon Fraser University) jchipman.com
Cristian Gonzalez is a Creative Technologist and Technical Designer who uses code, software, and machines as craft to design immersive experiences and interactive installations that probe the boundaries between digital and physical space.
With a foundation in Electronics Engineering and creative coding, and over 10 years in the creative technology industry, his practice spans real-time computer graphics, audiovisual systems, physical computing, and generative media. His projects—ranging from interactive installations to large-scale public artworks—transform cultural spaces through the integration of light, media, and technology. He currently works as an AV Designer for an award-winning design firm in Canada.
Beyond his professional work, his independent practice explores dance through technology, generative visuals, and expanded animation—investigating how digital and physical realms can merge to create new forms of creative expression and audience engagement. His work bridges technical precision with artistic experimentation, driven by a curiosity about the evolving relationship between bodies, spaces, and computational systems.
Sean Gregor is a Vancouver-based light and laser artist whose work explores how music, motion, and atmosphere can reshape space. As the founder of LaserLight.house, he designs laser shows and installations for domes, planetariums, and public events, including Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon laser experiences at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre. With years of hands-on experience in multimedia production, Sean approaches each project like a score, balancing precision and emotion to create immersive environments that feel alive and responsive.
Matthew Tomkinson is a composer and sound designer based in Vancouver. He holds a PhD in Theatre Studies from the University of British Columbia, specializing in disability arts. Working across film, theatre, and contemporary dance, his music has been presented widely throughout Canada, the United States, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Austria, Ireland, India, Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the United Kingdom — in collaboration with companies such as Ballet BC, Company 605, Raven Spirit Dance, Théâtre la Seizième, Kinesis Dance, Magazinist, the All Bodies Dance Project, and many solo artists. His debut album as Mathoms, The Woe Trumpets, was recently featured on Bandcamp’s “New and Notable,” as well as Perfect Circuit’s “Bandcamp Picks” list. Matthew lives on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Musqueam people.
Ole Michel Vezina Vancouver based fabricator and stage technician. Ole has worked in the film and television industry since 2008. He has worked with Art Waste, on Oddfellows Productions, Ballet BC, and recently with Backhaven Studio and Eric Cheung.
Yiying Fan is a stylist whose work moves between fashion, performance, and installation. Drawn to unfamiliar forms and quiet textures, she explores spaces where the everyday slips into the surreal. In collaboration with dancers and artists, she shapes visual worlds that blur the boundary between body, clothing, and atmosphere.
Jiacheng Liu (known as Jason) is a multidisciplinary designer based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. He specializes in clothing design and garment construction, and is also deeply involved in visual and set design. His work often explores the interplay of textures, materials, and form, bringing tactile depth and conceptual clarity to each project.
Bahar Kianpour is a Vancouver-based fashion designer who specializes in creating ethereal, dreamy, and elegant clothing that exudes a sense of whimsicality that transports wearers to a dreamy world. Born and raised in Iran, Bahar’s upbringing immersed her in the rich tapestry of Persian art and culture. She studied at Blanche Macdonald Centre in Vancouver and was rewarded with the Blanche Macdonald Centre Award of Excellence. She was recently honored with the Nancy Mak Award and showcased her work internationally in Paris.
Cristina Bucci has been a dynamic force in the arts community for over two decades. She received the 2023 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize for her outstanding contributions to dance in Canada. She founded “Nutrition for Dancers” and OURO Collective, has worked with the Yarita Yu Ballet Company (Japan) and, most recently, as rehearsal director for Ballet BC Annex. She has performed at the Frei Art Festival (Germany) and the Quinzena de Dança de Almada (Portugal), with her work Project Inizi presented at the dance: made in canada Festival. Project Inizi will premiere in August 2026 as her first full-length creation.christi
Maiko Miyuachi began her dance education at the Ecole de Ballet Classic in Kumamoto and the Tokyo Junior Ballet, under the direction of Asami Maki. After graduating from high school, Maiko moved to Canada to pursue her training at Goh Ballet Academy in Vancouver, and then began exploring other dance forms. She immersed herself in jazz, hip-hop, and contemporary dance, continuing her studies while teaching in both Canada and Japan. Over the years she has developed a strong passion for connecting the two cultures, working with youth dancers from both countries.
As Co-Founder of OURO Collective, Maiko continues to explore vastly different realms of dance. As a performer, she has worked with contemporary companies and choreographers including Company 605, the response, TentacleTribe, Mariko Kakizaki(L-E-V), Rubberlegz, as well as major film and television projects like Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Sucker Punch, and Once Upon A Time. As a choreographer and movement coach she has worked with global brands like Uniqlo, New Balance, EA Sports, Honda, Lululemon, and Aritzia. In 2019 she received the Outstanding Choreography Award at the Youth America Grand Prix.
THE DANCE CENTRE
Staff
Executive Director Mirna Zagar; Associate Programming Director Raquel Alvaro; Associate Producer Linda Blankstein; Membership Coordinator Kaia Shukin; Director of Marketing Heather Bray; Outreach Coordinator Yurie Kaneko; Digital Marketing Coordinator Lindsay Curtis; Development Manager Catherine Butler; Venue and Services Manager Christopher David Gauthier; Comptroller Elyn Dobbs; Dance Central Editor Shanny Rann.
Board of Directors
Yvonne Chartrand, Mique’l Dangeli, Mirjana Galovich, Linda Gordon (Chair), Selim Hasan (Vice-Chair), Anndraya Luui, Sujit Vaidya, Wen Wei Wang, Mark Weston (Treasurer)
The Dance Centre is grateful for the generous support of The Choreographer’s Circle, Anndraya Luui and the BC Arts Renaissance Fund.
THANK YOU
The operations of The Dance Centre are supported by the Government of Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council, and the City of Vancouver.
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