Silent Auction Items

Here is a guide to some of the items that will be available in the silent auction at Aqueous on May 31 and June 1.

.	Au feel de l'eau 2 one-way cruises in aqua taxi from Ottawa to Casino Lac-Leamy
.	Black Squirrel Books $50 gift card
.	Carolyn Carrothers Heart frame
.	Cineplex - SilverCity Gloucester Cinemas Four general movie admissions
.	Cosmic Adventures Pass - 1 child, 1 adult
.	DavidsTea Gift bag
.	East Side Mario's Gift certificate
.
.	Empire Theatres Limited 4 General Admission Passes
.	Great Canadian Theatre Company Double pass for the theatre
.	H'Art I am an Artist
.	H'Art Ada - How do you dance in your own way
.	Haunted Walk of Ottawa Admission for two people for any tour
.	Heart Art Hand crafted water pearl and lapis lazuli necklace by local artisan Erin Scullion
.	Liz Claiborne purse
.	Keg Steakhouse and Bar $50 gift certificate
.	'Mermaid' signed limited edition print (35/100) Windows by Kaitrin
.	Madeleine Meilleur (MPP for Ottawa Vanier) Tour of Queen's Park and lunch in the cafeteria
.	Friday and Saturday night at the Hampton Inn
.	Midway Family Fun Park Gift certificate
.	National Art Centre - Dance 2 tickets to attend a dance presentation during the 2013-14 season
.	Octopus Books $25 gift certificate
.	Ottawa Dance Directive 2 Adult Tickets to Series Dance 10 #12
.	Papanack Zoo Family pass for four
.	Pasticceria Gelateria Italiana $39.95 gift certificate
.	Paul's Boat Lines Family pass for a river cruise
.	Pine View Golf Course Two green fees on the Executive or Championship course
.	Red Lobster Gift certificate
.	Renu Massage Therapy & Spa Essentials package (facial and pedicure)
.	Splash Wave Pool 4 passes to Splash Wave Pool
.	Starbucks Coffee Company Two mugs and two 1lb bags of Pike Place Roast Coffee
.	Stella Luna Gelato Café 2 $25 gift certificate cards
.	Teal Mind Body Wellness Two gift certificates: each for a 15 minute infrared detox session

Aqueous: May 31 and June 1 at Centrepointe Theatre

It is our annual big show!

A full evening of new contemporary dance works performed by professional integrated dance artists in the Propeller Dance Company, and student dancers in our community dance training programs.


The evening will be further enhanced by a silent auction event pre-show and during intermission. Bid on unique items all in support of our innovative and inclusive dance programs for people with and without disability.

Get tickets soon. They sell out.


Tickets: Adult $29.50,
Student/Senior/Low-income $18.75

T : 613-580-2700 / 1-866-752-5231
T.T.Y.: 613-580-2715
centrepointetheatre.com


Centrepointe Theatre
Ben Franklin Place
101 Centrepointe Drive
Ottawa, ON K2G 5K7


Co-Artistic Directors:
Renata Soutter & Shara Weaver

Artistic Collaborators:
Melissa Addison-Webster (Toronto), Kirsten Andersen, Mike Essoudry, Freewheeling (UK), Mark Rehder, Benoit Roy, Dominique Saint-Pierre

Performance starts at 7:00pm
Silent Auction opens at 6:00pm

• May 31 

• June 1 

Aqueous is sponsored by VLN Advanced Technologies Inc., Dentons Canada LLP, RBC and BFTA.

Warm Ups

You’re probably wondering what we do in our dance rehearsals. While we are in rehearsal we like to have some time where we like to get into our body and stretch. It keeps each and every one of us in tune to our body, and stretching and warming up is really good stamina to stay in shape and to get fit so we, as professional dancers, can give the best performance. In our warm ups we like the idea of using a technical warm up, or we sometimes use different topics like, for example using isolation. Isolation is when you isolate one part of your body, or to move that one part of your body. 

In Propeller we like to think that our bodies are our instruments. And in our warm ups we like to work on our core strength, balance, and our abs, and sometimes in our warm ups we do sit ups and push ups. We really love working on our core strength because it helps us with our balance.

There’s a lot to know when working out and staying in shape. You need to eat the right food and choose healthy alternatives so that way you can see the results. If any of you want to be a dancer and performer, remember to warm up.      

The Creation Process: Renata's Choreography

Our rehearsals at Routhier and at Arts Court are going really well, and in our rehearsals we work with lots of improvisation, exploration, and right now, circles and spirals. We use the floor for when we do rolling, and we also work on giving our weight to the other person. We really work on sensation. 

One exercise that we do is stop and go: It’s basically where one person moves and then we all move; when one person stops we all stop. And in this exercise we’re becoming aware and we’re sensing the other people in the room with our peripheral vision.

Another thing that we also work on is duets. In Renata’s piece, there is a duet with Rob and I where we roll, we spin, and we work a lot with physicality. Rob is really strong, so we do a lot of leaning and giving weight.

The beginnings of this duet are rooted in Greek mythology and we are working with a water theme. Rob is the God Poseidon and I’m Goddess Amphitrite—one of Poseidon’s many wives, so I have to dance seductively and it is something that I’m trying to get used to. It’s a challenge for me because this is out of my comfort zone but I know I can do it.

Guest Artists Arrive!

Propeller is now in rehearsal for our end of year show in May and June at CentrepointeTheatre. Some of us are rehearsing and creating at Arts Court and it’s our first time in a new space! The space is pretty big, it has mirrors, sprung wooden floors and it is very spacious.  Arts Court is also the home of the Ottawa Dance Directive (ODD), and other arts organizations.

For this year’s end of year show, Propeller will present four pieces. The company is creating two new pieces and then we have the community classes on Monday and Wednesday, so it’ll be really fun. The first company piece is being created and choreographed by Renata. The dancers are Rob, Liz, me, and two guest artists—Kirsten Andersen from Ottawa and Melissa Addison-Webster from Toronto.

Kirsten teaches at Dance Educators and is the dance outreach coordinator for the National Arts Centre (more details in the next blog!) And Melissa traveled by train from Toronto to Ottawa to collaborate with us on this piece. (She is coming for a series of one-week intensives every month.) I was really happy that Melissa was coming into town; we met her in Kingston at the AbleArtists Forum and we really connected.

Monday, after our rehearsal, I had the pleasure to talk to Melissa about working Propeller. She said, “I was really excited to work with all of you, and the creative process here, is un-hierarchical and it honours all of our opinions.” She also said that traveling from Toronto to Ottawa was exiting because she was getting out of the city and collaborating with all of us. We are so happy to have her here. We just want to say “Welcome Melissa.”     

Taking Off: Propeller Dance Children's Show at the Aviation Museum

Ever wonder what’s going on in the children’s program? I’m glad you asked, we are really busy rehearsing dance pieces based on airplanes, balls, and insects for the kid’s end of year show at the Space And Aviation Museum. I had the pleasure to talk to Ximena Puente about her piece that she created and choreographed herself. She said that her choreography has very bold and extended movement, her choreography works with a lot of long lines and extensions.

Shara is also co-creating a piece with Kathy and Jon from Rag and Bone Puppet Theatre about airplanes and balls, which is really exiting for us. There are also other dances about arctic animals and penguins, which will be super fun. This show will blow you away, hope all of you can come out and see this performance.

Come to the show on Sunday May 5^th, at the Canada Space and Aviation Museum at 1pm. See you there!

Community Day 2012

It seems like Community Day gets to be more fun every year.

Here is a Flickr slideshow of yesterday's program from my camera:



And here's a video from the Ottawa Citizen: