March Monthly & Member Feature
Photo by: Millissa Martin Photography
Dive In!
Tune in The Dance Centre Podcast here, Spotify, Apple or wherever you get your podcasts. Hear Marissa speak about her career journey and the philosophy that led her to The Falling Company, the importance of facilitating inclusive and sustainable art spaces, and the personal inspiration behind Family Room.
Family Room (world premiere)
April 19 & 20, 2024 | 8pm
@ Scotiabank Dance Centre
*Save 20% on regular price tickets, enter discount code ARTISTFAM at checkout
Photo by: Lula-Belle Jedynak
Raïna von Waldenburg
Photo by: Tony Funk
Former full-time faculty at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, adjunct at SFU and UFV, currently teaches workshops in Grotowski-based physical performance. Raïna is a dramaturg, writer, director and performer in Vancouver and the experimental downtown NYC theatre scene. She has been facilitating artists in the development of original performance material for thirty years.
Raïna has worked creatively with EDAM, O.Dela Arts, The Biting School, Fight With A Stick, Kinesis Dance, The Falling Company, Generous Mess. Raïna recently served as assistant-director and dramaturg for Ne.Sans Opera and Dance’s I Capuleti e I Montecchi at Teatro Massimo in Palermo, Italy. Raïna received a Distracted Globe Grant Award and the 2012 New York Innovative Theatre Award nomination for “Outstanding Solo Performance” for her one-woman show at LaMaMa Experimental Theater (NYC). Raïna received her MFA in creative writing from Goddard College, and her BFA in acting from New York University.
What has been your experience working with The Falling Company?
Three years ago, Marissa invited me to serve as dramaturg for her auto-biographical dance-theatre project Family Room.
What an honour to be a part of this fertile and courageous journey.
I witnessed Marissa’s growth as an artist and facilitator--- and how bravely she navigated honest, deep investigations of the material with her performers. As Family Room became less conceptual and more intimate, Marissa’s primary concern was to create safeguards for herself and the company. I truly admire Marissa’s vigilance in attending to these issues and her courage to keep moving ahead in ways that are artistically poignant, real, risky, safe, and deeply caring. Marissa has created a respectful open space for communication and a vibrant company!!!!
