Members of the Performance Ensemble are improvisers of mixed ability with more than one year of experience. Ensemble members have made a commitment to the group and the ongoing process of physical and vocal exploration leading to innovative and distinct performance.
Tom Brisbin
Tom is in his seventh season as a performing member of MoMo’s ensemble, performing in every spring show since the beginning. A Tuba player for 30 years and long time member of two community bands, he will be especially remembered in MoMo’s 2007 The Tuba Man. Tom has also been a committed self advocate with the Disability Action Hall for many years.
Michael Ho
Michael has been dancing with MoMo since its inception in 2003 and has been seen in all three of the spring shows. He will be most remembered for his solo performance, Big Naught: Memory of a Brain Injury.He enjoys the free spirit of improvisational dance, an art form accessible to all abilities and welcomes all artistic challenges and adventures.
Frances Maleske
Frances has been a committed member of the MoMo ensemble since 2006 and made her stage debut in MoMo's 2007 show, Dancing in Tongues. As a long time member of The Disability Action Hall, Frances is a self advocate, committed to raising awareness around issues of increasing AISH pensions and affordable housing. Frances has also been working with InDefinite Arts for many years and enjoys expressing her artistic talent through crafts!
Thomas Poulsen
Thomas has been with MoMo Dance Theatre for six years and was delighted to create a solo piece for this Crossing The Line. In the fall of 2006 he traveled to London to study with internationally renowned improvisation teacher, Adam Benjamin. Thomas is also a committed member of the Disability Action Hall and has been working professionally with people with developmental disabilities for many years. He would like to explore choreography with MoMo in the following years.
Brenley Shatz
Brenley has been performing music on and off for over 40 years. As a voice student of Elaine Case, Brenley has achieved her Grade 8 certificate with the Royal Conservatory of Music and has been wowing audiences with her comedic timing in Musical Comedy Recitals since 1989. Brenley joined MoMo in January 07and was seen in The Matilda Stewart Show in Dancing in Tongues, singing in Freak Out 2007 and 2008 and in Crossing The Line.
Jennifer Stewart
Jennifer is enjoying her fifth year with MoMo Dance Theatre. She has almost ten years experience working in a variety of projects in the Calgary theatre community. In September 2007, Ms Stewart took part in The Leading Edge workshop with Mind The Gap Theatre Company in England and is eager to return to the UK and perform there, herself. She has been seen in Dancing In Tongues and Crossing The Line.
Loretta Young
Loretta has been very happy dancing with MoMo Dance Theatre since 2005. Last summer Loretta took a teacher training workshop with Axis Dance in San Francisco and this summer will be travelling to Finland to study with Alito Alessi, founding director of DanceAbility. She enjoys working with people of all abilities and is a member of MoMo’s ensemble and teacher training program.
- Pamela Boyd is the Artistic Director at MoMo and a well known member of Western Canada’s independent dance and theatre communities. A professional theatre artist for over forty years, Pamela is a performer, teacher and writer, as well as a certified Danceability teacher and yoga instructor. In 1997 Pamela began working with adults with disabilities and quickly found her home among people of mixed abilities in the arts. She passionately believes that creating a mixed ability arts community in her home city of Calgary, Alberta is a vital link in the continuing growth of a mature society, at home and beyond. Pamela is also an award winning playwright well known for her plays Inside Out, Odd Fish, and I Love Mondays, performed throughout Canada.
Naomi - Originally from Toronto, Naomi has been an occasional teacher and dancer with MoMo for two years and recently choreographed for the 2009 show, Crossing The Line. As an independent choreographer, dancer and teacher she has worked with EKO Dance Projects, the Urban Dance Company, kloetzel&co, M-Body, and is the co-curator of E Merge. Naomi's choreographic works have been presented in Calgary, Toronto and Poland and her writing published in The Dance Current magazine. She graduated from the University of Calgary's program of dance with a BFA in 2006 and an MFA, in choreography and performance, in 2009.
Yvonne Anderson
Yvonne was born in Calgary, raised in British Columbia and life’s experiences have made it possible to say, “I have swum in both the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans” Yvonne is a practical nurse who began participating in MoMo classes with a client in 2007. She was immediately hooked and is now in both the ensemble and the MoMo teacher training program.
Jade Benoit
Jade moved to Calgary one year ago from Kenora, Ontario. She is the small town girl come to the city to pursue theatre and performance opportunities and to live the big city life with her boyfriend. Jade has been taking acting classes at Theatre Calgary and is honoured to be working with MoMo. She joined the MoMo ensemble in December 08, loved working and performing in Crossing The Line, and is now part of the teacher training program.
Marja Cantell
Marja moved from spectator to dancer in September 2008 when she participated in MoMo’s U of C, Dance Montage piece Another Life and then in May 09, Crossing The Line. She loves the unpredictable nature of the creative process – how with openness and practice the unknown and chaotic takes a shape and has a dynamic flow of its own. Marja works as a research psychologist and dance movement therapist at the University of Calgary & Alberta Children's Hospital.
Stephen Henry
Stephen joined MoMo during the 2007/2008 season and made his performance debut in Dance Montage at the University of Calgary. He was memorably featured floor spinning, leaping and vocalizing with a group of hip-hop dancers. The opportunity to explore different forms of movement and meet others who share this interest greatly appeals to Stephen. He is an active member of Calgary's Disability Action Hall and has been a particularly vocal advocate around issues of housing and freedom of choice.
Choreographers/Teachers/Directors 2009
Naomi Brand
Naomi - Originally from Toronto, Naomi has been an occasional teacher and dancer with MoMo for two years and recently choreographed for the 2009 show, Crossing The Line. As an independent choreographer, dancer and teacher she has worked with EKO Dance Projects, the Urban Dance Company, kloetzel&co, M-Body, and is the co-curator of E Merge. Naomi's choreographic works have been presented in Calgary, Toronto and Poland and her writing published in The Dance Current magazine. She graduated from the University of Calgary's program of dance with a BFA in 2006 and an MFA, in choreography and performance, in 2009.
Valerie Campbell
Valerie is a performing artist and teacher working in actor training and performance creation with a specialization in movement.
She is ever grateful for her dream job as a faculty member in the Department of Drama at the University of Calgary. She is grateful to MoMo for the opportunity to work with this inspiring performance community.
Nicole Mion
Artist and Curator, Nicole Mion is a sought after director and contemporary choreographer specializing in contemporary performance, new media, dance, and installation. For MoMo she has choreographed Tuba Man and the 3 solos in Crossing The Line. She is Artistic Director for Sprinbgoard and Co-Artistic Director for Road Pictures. For Springboard, Nicole curates Interrarium - a multi-disciplinary creative residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts and the Fluid Movement Arts Festival in Calgary. Nicole won the Paula Citron award for most outstanding choreography at fFIDA Toronto.
Board of Directors
Suzanne Gibson, President
Suzanne, PhD, has had a variety of jobs so far: she was a camera operator at a tv station, a dancer, a truck driver, an aircraft dispatcher, a messenger, a bartender and an Associate Professor. A couple of years ago she finally stopped her wandering ways and retired in Calgary. She now spends her time writing, playing music, working with non-profit organizations and being very, very glad to be home.
Thomas Poulsen, Vice President and Performer
Sarah Empey, Director
Sarah, 34, has been on the Board of Directors for MoMo for the past two years. After becoming legally blind 8 years ago, Sarah has embraced her "new life" by being an advocate for the rights of people with disabilities as well as a public speaker promoting understanding and awareness. Currently, she sits on the Board of Directors for CNIB (AB/NWT Division) and is involved with the Advisory Sub-Committee on Accessibility (ACA) and The Calgary Foundation. Sarah's passion is to be a director of film work and she has made 5 films to date.
Pamela Boyd, Artistic Director and Director
Patricia Okahashi, Secretary and Director
For over 10 years, Patricia has been a member of the Disability Action Hall (DAH). At DAH, Patricia works along side of people with developmental disabilities in order to achieve social justice for all. In fact, social justice has been a goal of Patricia's since the early days of her university career. Although Patricia has worked in the field of services to people with developmental disabilities for over 20 years, she is now retired. Patricia suspects that she will always be working towards social justice unless the world makes drastic changes.
Gloria Toole, Director
Gloria, BEd, M.A, is a freelance writer and retired teacher. She completed her 35 year teaching career as an advisor in special education for the Calgary Board of Education but continues to work for those with special needs as a volunteer in several non-profit organizations. She meditates, reads, writes, cooks, attempts to garden and hangs out with her friends, family and dog, Cricket in her “spare” time.
