PRESENTING
THE MURKY PLACE
AT WINNIPEG FRINGE 2023

Kayla Jeanson (she/her) @kayla.jeanson choreographs and creates films and videos, motivated by her desire to navigate the lines between artist and audience, thought and movement. She works with the languages of documentary cinema, contemporary dance, and circus arts, especially turning her lens to artists who question boundaries and limits. Kayla is a graduate of the University of Manitoba with a BA in Film Studies (2011), having attended the School of Contemporary Dancers simultaneously. Her collaborations have included work with numerous artists including Luca “Lazylegz” Patuelli, Nicolas Montes de Oca, Abadi Al-Obaidi, Silvia Gertrudix Gonzalez, Danielle Sturk, Meghan Athavale, Zorya Arrow, and Ming Hon, and she has worked for Cirque du Soleil as video documentalist for the creation of Alegria, Axel, and Drawn to Life (2019-2020). Kayla has been involved with YLDE as a videographer, as a Research Series participant, and now as co-chair of the board of directors.

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Photo credit Damian Siqueiros

Oriah Wiersma (she/her) is a choreographer, dance artist, and CranioSacral therapist living, working, and creating in Toronto. Her artistic practice is process led and physically responsive, rooted in discovery of sensation and somatic autobiographical sourcing. She works in the mediums of movement and sound, creating sonic environments in which she moves. She is drawn to art as a way to explore the beauty and dissonance of the human condition. 

Oriah works in collaboration with musicians regularly through music videos and live performances, such as with the band ZINNIA at Pop Montreal and the Basement Review Series. She connects with her home community, Cobourg, through her work with the organization SONG (Songs for the Next Generation). She created five choreographic works and was movement director for R. Murray Schafer’s musical drama The Spirit Garden. A site specific outdoor production with close to 100 performers. Oriah has presented her work in New Brunswick, Winnipeg, Toronto, and Montreal. She was an artist in residence this year at Young Lungs Dance Exchange, Open Space at the National Ballet, Music Gallery Toronto, and will be heading to Good Women Dance Collective in Edmonton this fall. 

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Photo credit Kayla Jeanson

After performing her own work in New York, Alexandra Elliott and Hurricane Sandy came face to face. Physically demanding and emotionally charged, her work made it back to her hometown of Winnipeg and beyond. Her dances have been produced in New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, and Halifax. Alex thanks Tedd Robinson for his ecstasy charged commission Logarian Rhapsody. She is the Director of Art Holm, a multidisciplinary performance series in Winnipeg.

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Photo credit Adrian Berry

With a multi-faceted and distinct style, jaymez has been working in the visual art, dance, theatre and music communities for well over a decade. He has created lighting, video and sound designs for a wide and diverse range of companies, choreographers and musicians. He has designed internationally and his work has appeared in theatre, dance, film and art festivals worldwide. He is currently based in Winnipeg, Canada and sits on the board of directors for IATSE Local ADC659.

Photo credit Karen Asher 

Tanner Manson (he/him) is a queer artist specializing in devised performance creation, physical theatre & playwriting. He grew up in rural Manitoba and currently resides in Winnipeg, Treaty 1 Territory. Ever-curious about how to beautifully & hilariously explore big questions about our tiny world; he is passionate about nurturing relationships & long term collaboration while also creating new & exciting work. He does a little bit of everything and loves everything a lot- from performing, to collective creation, to producing, to administration, to constructing sets, to constructing scripts. Tanner is co-founder of the award-winning Walk&Talk Theatre Company, along with his best friends and collaborators, where they create new music-theatre.

This fall you can catch the world premier of his new play THE LAST GARDEN running November 3rd - 5th, 2023 AND next spring you can catch the world premier of Walk&Talk’s massive new musical END OF THE LINE - co-produced by Theatre Projects Manitoba, running May 3rd - May 12th, 2024, where Tanner will be the Choreographer & a Performer. 

Recent creation / performance credits include: The Woman & The Whale (Co-Playwright, Theatre Projects Manitoba (TPM) – Climate & Main), Variations of a Patchwork Heart (Creator/Performer – TPM – Chautauqua: The Interlake Trail), The Ballad of Johnny Boy, End of the Line – Staged Reading (Co-Creator/Performer – Walk&Talk Theatre Company), In the Dark (Dancer – Weather Parade Dance Theatre – Nuit Blanche 2022) and Florist Follies (Creator/Performer – One Trunk Theatre – Knock Knock Ginger Series).

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Photo credit Shayna Pollock