Double Bill: basin/Urge

Kate Stashko

Kate Stashko is a dance artist currently based in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan / Edmonton. She has worked with artists including Peggy Baker, Justine A. Chambers, Mélanie Demers, Marynia Fekecz-Mangan, Mile Zero Dance, Lin Snelling, and Heidi Strauss, and was a member of Good Women Dance Collective from 2012-2022. In 2016, she co-founded KnK Collective with Krista Lin. Kate has performed throughout Canada, including collaborations with musicians, poets and spoken word artists, and she loves travelling to train around the world. After studying at the School of Alberta Ballet, Kate graduated from the School of Toronto Dance Theatre. She is currently completing her Master’s degree in physiotherapy, collaborating on projects with MFM Dance, and working on a new thing that lives somewhere between the dance studio and the club. Kate teaches dance and Pilates, and is an avid cyclist, climate activist, gardener and coffee drinker.

Molly McDermott

Molly McDermott is a dance artist, gratefully performing, creating, and teaching movement in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan.  She is a graduate of Grant MacEwan College, and Simon Fraser University, receiving a BFA in dance in 2007.  She has since interpreted work by a variety of inspiring artists and companies including, Kokoro Dance, Co. Erasga Dance, Les Productions Figlio, Mascall Dance, Billy Marchenski, Deanna Peters, and Justine Chambers, among others.

Molly is a collective artist with Good Women Dance Collective alongside her independent projects. She has presented her own choreography at Vines Art Festival, 12 Minutes Max., Nextfest, Mile Zero Dance’s cabaret series, the Magpie Collection and Expanse Festival. She had the pleasure of curating the dance presentation at Expanse Movement Arts Festival in 2023. Alongside dance, Molly is a mother of two small humans and welcomes the gentle chaos that comes with balancing motherhood and everything else.

Raylene Campbell

Raylene Campbell (she/her/they/them) is a sound artist who’s embraced various creative practices including improvisation, composition, performance art, sound and image, public intervention, and Deep Listening. She studied/worked as a freelance artist in New York and Montreal from 2000 to 2009, has a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College, and taught in the Department of Music at Concordia University. The focus of Raylene’s creative process involves explorations of acoustic ecology, psychogeography, computer interactive technology, and audience interactivity in both performance and installation environments.

Even Gilchrist

Even Gilchrist is a queer and trans theatre designer and creator based in Treaty 6 territory. He recently graduated from the University of Alberta’s MFA Theatre Design program and is sometimes a creator and producer with his scrappy company, Donkey Dog Theatre. Feel free to check out other collaborations on his website evengilchrist.com. Previous select design credits include: The Adventure of Young Turtle (So.Glad Arts), El Funeral (Diaspora Diaries), Robot Girls (Shadow Theatre), I Don’t Even Miss You (Tiny Bear Jaws), Cinderella (Alberta Musical Theatre Company), The Innocence of Trees (Theatre Network), and Boy Trouble (Amoris Projects)

Alison Kause

Alison Kause is a founding member of the Good Women Dance Collective. She works with the collective and independently, and is a teacher with Edmonton Public Schools. Alison’s dance experience is based in several years of studio, Cechetti, ballet and modern dance technique to the Good Women Dance Collective. She is a graduate of the Grant MacEwan Dance Program and the School of Contemporary Dance at SFU, as well as the Education program at the University of Alberta.

Alison has trained and performed across Canada and been inspired by work with local and international colleagues. She has worked with Justine Chambers, Melanie Kloetzel, Peggy Baker, Shasha Ivanochko, Melanie Demers, Mile Zero Dance, Heidi Bunting, Brian Webb, Jen Mesch Dance Conspiracy, AM Choreography, Krista Posyniak, Richard Lee, Isabelle Rousseau, Katherine Semchuk, Jessica McMann, Marynia Fecekz and GWD Collective artists. Alison has performed in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary, Vancouver and Edmonton.

Alison is inspired by the challenge of finding an intersection between being an artist, mother and teacher – these roles constantly demand attention, inform one another and provide diverse perspectives.

Tia Ashley Kushiruk (亚 女弟)

Tia Ashley Kushiruk (亚 女弟) is a Chinese-Ukrainian Queer dance artist based in ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Amiskwacîwâskahikan) Treaty 6/Métis Territory of Edmonton AB. Since 2013 she has been affiliated with the Cirque Du Soleil and is artistic producer at Toy Guns Dance Theatre. Her work has been presented by Festival Internacional Nomada, the Beijing International Dance Festival, Dancing on the Edge, Fluid Festival, commonGround Arts Festival, Found Festival, and Mile Zero. She is the first recipient of the Catalyst Theatre Confluence Fellowship, a 2023 EATF recipient and completed a mentorship with Toronto-based performance artist Bridget Moser.