The Dance Centre presents the Global Dance Connections series
Ebnflōh Dance Company
La Probabilité du Néant – Prospect of the Void
December 7-9, 2023
Scotiabank Dance Centre
The Dance Centre acknowledges that it is located on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the 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.
EBNFLŌH DANCE COMPANY
LA PROBABILITÉ DU NÉANT – PROSPECT OF THE VOID
Choreographer and Artistic Director: Alexandra ‘Spicey’ Landé
Dancers and creative collaborators: Nindy Banks, Ja James ‘Jigsaw’ Britton Johnson, Jaleesa ‘Tealeaf’ Coligny, Kosi Eze, Junior ’DJüngle’ Dorsaint, Christina ‘Hurricane Tina’ Paquette, Alexandre ‘Bibiman’ Philippe-Beaudoin, Elie-Anne ‘Rawss’ Ross
Dancers who participated in the creative process: Mukoma-K ‘JStyle’ Nshinga, James-Lee ‘Kiddi’ Joseph
Composer, performer, sound designer: Richard ‘Shash’U’ St-Aubin
Trapped – A song composed and performed by Vladimir ‘7Starr’ Laurore, produced by Richard ‘Shash’U’ St-Aubin
Rehearsal director and coach: Frédérique ‘Pax’ Dumas
Set designers: Alexandra ‘Spicey’ Landé, Leticia Hamaoui
Costumes: Polina Boltova, Frédérique ‘Pax’ Dumas
Lighting: Leticia Hamaoui
Artistic advisor: Helen Simard Dramaturgy: Mathieu Leroux
Video director: Alexandra ‘Spicey’ Landé
Video assistant and director of photography: Frédérique ‘Pax’ Dumas
Camera, editing and colorization: Ja James ‘Jigsaw’ Britton
Video advisor: Marlene Millar Acting coach: Étienne Lou
Outside eyes: Frédérique ‘Pax’ Dumas, Natasha ‘Tash’ Jean-Bart, Jean-Edouard ‘Sangwn’ Pierre-Toussaint
Technical director: Jurjen Barel
Premiere: 2021 | Danse-Danse, Montreal, Quebec
Creative residencies: Danse Danse (MAC and Cinquième Salle); CCOV; Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique; Agora de la danse; Danse à la Carte chez Par B.L.eux; Zab Maboungou/compagnie danse Nyata-Nyata; Mandoline Hybride-Salon58
Supported by: Canada Council for the Arts; Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec; Conseil des arts de Montréal. Ebnflōh is represented by Yaelle Azoulay of Agence Résonances. Ebnflōh is a member of Circuit-Est centre chorégraphique, and supported by Parbleux. Ebnfloh receives the support of Parbleux as an associated artist.
Ebnflōh Dance Company was founded in 2015 by dancer and choreographer Alexandra ‘Spicey’ Landé from Montreal. Her mission is to create, produce, and present engaging, authentic, and original work. By putting forth a novel choreographic language that is deeply rooted in the spirit of Hip-Hop, the company presents its creations throughout Québec, Canada, and abroad.
ALEXANDRA ‘SPICEY’ LANDÉ Choreographer and Artistic Director
Montreal choreographer and a major figure in hip-hop dance in Quebec, ‘Spicey’ began her career as a choreographer in 2005. She first developed a passion for hip-hop as a young girl in the 1980s. That symbiotic connection to dance and hip-hop culture is a dominant presence in her choreography, and constitutes the very essence of her artistic style.
‘Spicey’ began her career as a performer and teacher. As an independent choreographer she presented three pieces in Quebec prior to 2015, including Retrospek (2008, 9 performers), which influenced a generation of Montreal street dancers. She was awarded the Rideau-Entrées en Scène Loto Québec bursary in 2009, and Retrospek was then presented in twenty different venues across the province. At the same time the Bust A Move Festival that she founded (2005-2015) became the biggest street dance competition in Canada, attended annually by 3500 spectators and participants. The TOHU circus arts venue became its co-presenter in 2010.
Eager to further expand her artistic aspirations and to actively promote street dance and its performers, ‘Spicey’ founded the dance company Ebnflōh in 2015. With the support of collaborators and peers, her approach to hip-hop as choreography evolved, becoming more exploratory, radical and authentic. Faithful to intention and form, she continued to pursue research and experimentation. Music, theatre, cinema and visual arts have been sources of inspiration for her choreography, as has her degree in psychology. Her works powerfully probe our social and intimate relationships. In recent years, she has trained in filmmaking for dance.
‘Spicey’ created Complexe R in 2015, a piece for five female dancers inspired by our existential obsessions. Presented at the MAI (Montréal, arts interculturels), it was performed in Quebec, Ontario, New York and Amsterdam. In-Word, her 2019 piece featuring six dancers, was awarded “Prix Révélation” at Les Prix de la Danse de Montréal. The jury emphasized “the power of the choreography” and “an artistic style imbued with depth”. The piece was a finalist for the 35th Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal and was presented 50 times in Canada, Scotland and Germany from 2019 to 2023.
During the pandemic she created two works for webcasting: Hanging by a Thread (8 dancers) presented by DanceWorks in Toronto, and the duo Ever Endeavor – a piece commissioned by the National Arts Centre (#DansEnvol). In 2021 ‘Spicey’ was captured in a moment of freestyling in Esie Mensah film TESSEL, which featured the stories of 14 black artists from across Canada. Danse Danse presented her most recent work, La Probabilité du Néant (8 dancers), in October 2021 at Place des Arts in Montreal. It will be presented in Vancouver at the end of 2023. She is currently working on a new piece that will be featured at Théâtre La Chapelle in spring 2024, in a co-production with Danse-Cité. She is also directing and choreographing her first dance film entitled Le Néant.
A performer and teacher of hip-hop for the past twenty years, ‘Spicey’ is regularly asked to teach classes (TransFormation Danse, Concordia University’s Focus on Dance Research, École nationale de cirque de Montréal, Circuit-Est, Studio 303, RQD, etc.), and to judge street dance competitions both here and abroad. She has also worked as a dance coach for Cirque du Soleil (Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour), and as a choreographer she has collaborated with the Festival Mode & Design (Montreal) and with Radio-Canada. She has been a movement consultant for several theatre productions (Black Theatre Workshop, the Arrivals Legacy Project Chokola presented at La Licorne in 2023, etc.), and a guest curator for MAI working with the artists Lara Kramer and Angie Cheng from 2021 to 2025.
Deeply committed to supporting street dance, ‘Spicey’ designs and directs B-Side, an event produced by Ebnflōh since 2019. She also teaches workshops and mentors emerging artists. She has served on the boards of several organizations, including Jack of all Trades (JOAT Festival) since 2021, and the Regroupement québécois de la danse as vice-president from 2020 to 2022.
THE DANCE CENTRE
The Dance Centre was established in 1986 as a resource centre for dance professionals and the public in British Columbia, and offers a range of activities unparalleled in Canadian dance. The Dance Centre offers programs and resources supporting the professional development of artists, presents public performances and events, manages Scotiabank Dance Centre, one of Canada’s leading dance facilities, and works to promote BC dance. www.thedancecentre.ca
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 Michelle Johnstone; Comptroller Elyn Dobbs; Technical Director Darren John; Dance Central Editor Shanny Rann
Board of Directors
Jason Wrobleski (Chair); Andrea Reid (Vice-Chair); Annelie Vistica (Treasurer); Tin Gamboa (Secretary); Judith Garay; Linda Gordon; Arash Khakpour; Rosario Kolstee; Anndraya Luui, Rachel Maddock; Jennifer Aoki; Katia Oteman
The Dance Centre is grateful for the generous support of The Choreographer’s Circle, Anndraya Luui and the BC Arts Renaissance Fund.
The Corporate Leader’s Circle
Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP – Ingrid M. Tsui, Partner; The Holiday Inn and Suites Vancouver Downtown – Angela van den Byllaard, Sales Manager; Jarislowsky, Fraser Limited – Beau Howes
The Choreographer’s Circle
Impresario: Charles and Eve Chang Foundation, Anndraya Luui;
Choreographer: Anonymous, Anonymous, Beau Howes and Genieve Burley, Tony Giacinti (in memory of Lola MacLaughlin), Stephen Jarislowsky, Anne Hildebrandt;
Artistic Director: Linda Blankstein, Marnie Carter, Yosef Wosk OBC, Moh Faris, David Matte; Jackson McViee;
Principal Dancer: David Cousins, James Felter, Mike and Kathy Gallagher, Ken Gracie and Philip Waddell, McGrane – Pearson Endowment Fund, Jean Orr, Patrick Shea, Don and Jane Shumka, Janet and Ron Stern;
Dance Artist: Anonymous, Anonymous, Ken Alexander, Santa Aloi, Rosario Ancer, Mary and Herb Auerbach, Gary R. Bell, Andrew and Andrea Benzel, Noel Best and Barbara Shuman, Matthew Breech and Shino Watanabe, Richard Cavell and Peter Dickinson, Kirk Chantraine, Amanda Collinge, Norm and Dorothy Cross, Count and Countess Enrico and Aline Dobrzensky, Tom Donaldson, Jason Dubois and Clayton Baraniuk, Nicola Follows, Judith Garay, Peter Harmon, Linda Johnston, Emily Klukas, Gail Lotenberg, Peter Maloff, Jean Millar, Amy Millar, Andrea Reid, Kathy Scalzo, Kemo Schedlosky and Mark Gatha, Betty Scheltgen, Kaelin Sheaden, Ingrid Tsui and Matthew Heemskerk, Annelie and Dan Vistica, Denis Walz, Michael Welters, Mirna Zagar; Max Wyman and Susan Mertens, Jason Wrobleski.
The Artist’s Circle
Linda Aristizabal, Brent Belsher, Denis Blais and Paras Terezakis, Val Brandt, Carol Carr, Deborah Dragon, Lorna Froidevaux, Lynn B. Johnston, Lorita Leung – The Lorita Leung Dance Association, Barry McKinnon, Dubravko Pajalic, Dr. Mary Robertson, Frank Salisbury, Selma Savage.
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.
Media sponsors: Stir, The Georgia Straight
The VDC Dance Centre Society is a registered charity no. BN 11925 8754 RR0001