Dance Week Festival

Urban Ballet dissects our human ability to be adaptable creatures whose incredible resilience is our greatest hope for surviving an uncertain future. Urban Ballet was created during a one-month residency in Zagreb, using material from Carter’s work Ri’zilyent: an Urban Ballet, which premiered in Vancouver, Canada in March 2007.

“So let us move into the next millennium with hope, for without it all we can do is eat and drink the last of our resources as we watch our planet slowly die. Instead, let us have faith in ourselves, in our intellect, in our staunch spirit. Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace impatience and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love.” (Jane Goodall)

Thanks to Mirna Zagar and everyone at New Dance Week who made this production possible;  Normela Krešić-Vrkljan and everyone at the Skola Ane Maletic; Nikolina for all her essential help; Jennifer McLeish Lewis for her commitment to this project; and all the dancers for their hard work and resilience.

Martha Carter

Artistic Director of mmHoP, Martha Carter is a Canadian based director-choreographer-creator of dance, media and music works. Transcending her roots of classical music and ballet, her hybrid creations are an external expression of her vision of dance as a reflection of contemporary life. Carter’s recent choreographies include Xdance at the Canada Dance Festival 2002; iDUB: Vancouver (2004). iDUB:Calgary (2006) and iDUB St. John’s (2006); The Spell Remains (2005) and Ri’zilyent: an Urban Ballet (2007). Each creation is an evolution of her innovative multi-disciplinary style, involving dancers from different disciplines, as well and media, music and lighting artists. Martha is also a respected teacher at universities and private schools, notably Montréal’s Studio 303 that she co-founded in 1989. Since 1993 she has regularly toured internationally with Compagnie Marie Chouinard as rehearsal master and Touring Artistic Director.

Jennifer McLeish-Lewis Dancer

Jennifer McLeish-Lewis is a Vancouver based new-dance artist who has performed works by Peter Bingham, Martha Carter, Susan Elliott, Karl Frost, David Pressault, Felix Ruckert, Helen Walkley and Daelik of MACHiNEONiSEY. She is one of three co-artistic directors of The Tomorrow Collective, and has presented her own choreographies at Dances for a Small Stage, Dancing on the Edge, Signal and Noise, The Dance Center’s DanceLab Series and Lucky Trimmer (Berlin). She has maintained a consistent association with Martha Carter since 2002 as a performer in her stage and film work, as rehearsal director and as choreographer’s assistant. Jen also teaches Hatha Yoga and contact improvisation, writes poetry and likes to sing.

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Director and Choreographer : Martha Carter

Assistant Director and Rehearsal Master : Jennifer McLeish-Lewis

Music : Jacob Cino, François Houle, LaConnor and François Houle Acoustic Quartet

Vocals : Jacob Cino, Sizzla

Violin : Kytami

Costumes : Martha Carter, Davor Klarić and the dancers

Hair and Makeup Styling : Jennifer McLeish-Lewis

Dancers: Sven Bahat, Anja Đurinović, Lana Hosni, Ana Borac, Rebeka Kukolja Cicvarić, Andreja Jandrić, Nataša Mihoci, Monika Posilović, Andrea Pofuk, Sara Piljek, Mihael Miško Regović