Mocean Dance Engages the Community at the Marigold Cultural Centre March 31 – April 5, 2019

NSTT’s 75th Anniversary Ambassadors, Mocean Dance celebrate creativity in Truro with their second creation residency series in the development of Sara Coffin’s Wild Within.

The residency runs from March 31- April 5 2019 at Marigold Cultural Centre in Truro, and culminates with an artist talk and community workshop. 

Throughout the residency, Sara Coffin, Georgia Skinner and Lydia Zimmer - past program alumnae, will be acting as ambassadors of the Talent Trust program, inspiring and informing young students, dancers and community members of the NSTT's scholarship program. 

Guests are invited into a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of dance and choreography. On April 4, the Truro community will hear a talk about Sara Coffin’s work-in-progress Wild Within. On April 5, students and community members are will partake in movement workshop, a short performance and a second artist talk focused on the creativity within Nova Scotia. 

Mocean Dance will also be hosting a benefit event on April 11 at Alderney Landing called “Heart of the Wild” in support of Wild Within. 

Mocean Dance is an award-winning contemporary dance company based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. View their video compilation of past works. 

Meet Mocean Dance NSTT's 75th Anniversary Ambassadors in Annapolis Royal on Thursday, Feb 14, 2019

Talent Trust scholarship alumni: Sara Coffin, Lydia Zimmer, Georgia Skinner

King's Theatre
Annapolis Royal
Thursday, February 14 at 6:00 p.m. 
the public is invited to an Artists’ Talk and Mini-Performance.

Halifax-based contemporary Dance Company MOCEAN DANCE will be in residence at King’s Theatre from February 10-15, creating a new work.

The Mocean creation residency series is part of the Nova Scotia Talent Trust’s 75th Anniversary celebrations. Coffin, Skinner and Zimmer - past program alumnae, will be ambassadors of the Talent Trust program, to help inspire young dancers across the province, inform students of the training scholarship program, as well as offer workshops for the local high school and community members to take in a behind-the-scenes look at the creative process of Inside Wild.

From King's Theatre website:

King’s Theatre is pleased to announce the creation residency of Atlantic Canada’s leading contemporary dance company, Mocean Dance from February 10-15, 2019. 

During this time, Mocean’s Co-Artistic Director Sara Coffin will work on a new creation, Inside Wild, while experimenting with new multimedia elements and set design possibilities for the new, original work.

Joining Sara are dance artists Anastasia Weibe, Julie Robert, Lydia Zimmer & Georgia Skinner as well as collaborators multimedia artist Nick Bottomly & composer/multidisciplinary artist Brian Riley as they experiment with multimedia elements and set design for the new work.

King’s Theatre patrons are invited to join some of Nova Scotia’s most innovative dance and theatre artists for a work-in-progress sharing for an intimate behind-the-scenes look at how contemporary dance is made along with an artist talk that will explore the working progress when incorporating multimedia elements to help tell a story.

King’s Theatre, 209 St George Street 

PO Box 161, Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia, B0S 1A0
Box Office I 902.532.7704
24-hour Info Line I 902.532.5466

Email:
General Manager
gm(at)kingstheatre(dot)ca

Sara Coffin in Public Showing of Next Wave presented by Mocean Dance, December 1-2

Sara Coffin is in Next Wave. Mocean Dance photo by Michelle Doucette.

Sara Coffin, Susanne Chui, Jessica Lowe, Julie Robert, Liliona Quarmyne, Anastasia Wiebe, and Lydia Zimmer will be joined by special guests for a public showing of Next Wave.

Presented by Mocean Dance, Next Wave is a new creative incubator program for contemporary dance artists. 

Sara Coffin. Photo: Joshua Sugiyama.

Sara Coffin received a Talent Trust scholarship to support her studies in dance. 

She’s been Co-Artistic Director of Mocean Dance since 2011, and recently received a 2018 Arts Nova Scotia Established Artist Recognition Award, which recognizes professional mid-career artists.

Mocean Dance is a Halifax-based contemporary dance company that creates new work rooted in collaborative process, stretches physical & emotional boundaries and finds authenticity.

In Next Wave, seven of Halifax’s next wave of dance artists will share their creative practices and explore new ideas and working methods in emergent and generative ways toward the creation of new works. 

Next Wave provides a framework for collaboration, experimentation, dialogue, peer learning and support. These two events open the process for public view.

Event details:
Decebmer 1 - 8:00 p.m.
December 2 - 3:00 p.m.

DANSpace
1531 Grafton Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia B3J 2B9

Tickets available at the door:
$20/$15 students, seniors, artists 
Kids under 12 by donation

For event updates, watch the Next Wave Facebook event page.

Sara Coffin Wins Arts Nova Scotia Established Artist Recognition Award

Sara Coffin, 2018 Established Artist Recognition
Award winner. Photo: Joshua Sugiyama.

Sara Coffin has received a 2018 Arts Nova Scotia Established Artist Recognition Award, which recognizes professional mid-career artists.

Sara is a dancer, choreographer, dance educator, and Co-Artistic Director of Mocean Dance since 2011. 

She received Talent Trust scholarships from 1999-2002, and the Talent Trust Pat Richards Award in 2000.

She received her MFA in Choreography from Smith College, BFA (Dance) from Simon Fraser University and Bachelor of Science (Kinesiology) from Dalhousie University. 

Sara Coffin on stage. Photo credit: Joshua Sugiyama.

An award-winning choreographer and dance educator with 20 years experience, Sara’s choreographic work has been presented in many prominent Canadian dance festivals and in the United States. 

Her teaching work has led her to become a regular visiting lecturer at Holland College, PEI, and NSCAD University in Halifax. 

She held an Adjunct Faculty position at the five-college consortium in Massachusetts teaching at Smith College, and Hampshire College (2012-14) and has recently taught at Universidad Rafael Landívar in Guatemala City.

We'd like to extend our congratulations to all the Arts Nova Scotia award nominees and winners.

For more information about Sara, visit her website at saracoffin.ca.

To learn more about the Arts Nova Scotia Awards, visit the Arts Nova Scotia website.

Mocean Dance wins 2016 Masterwork Arts Award

Photo credit: Kelly Clark

Congratulations Mocean Dance on winning the 2016 Masterworks Arts Award! 

Their production Canvas 5x5 becomes the first win for “Dance” in the history of the Award.

Congratulation to all and especially to the following dancers and former NSTT scholarship recipients: Jacinte Armstrong, Sara Coffin, Rhonda Baker, and Ruth Ellen Kroll Jackson. 

For more please visit their website at moceandance.com

Sara Coffin, Rhonda Baker, and Lisa Phinney Langley, dancers (former NSTT scholarship recipients) at Improvathon

A Benefit for suddenlyLISTEN and Feed Nova Scotia

Saturday, September 20th

Sara Coffin - MoceanDance.com
Photo: Joshua Sugiyama 

12 PM – 12 AM
1313 Hollis in Halifax

$10 / $5 with non-perishable food item for Feed Nova Scotia. Tickets available at the door, and allow all-day access.

Celebrate Nova Scotia’s vibrant improvising community at the Improvathon! 

Featuring 12 hours of performances by Nova Scotian musicians and dancers.

Mocean takes the stage from 

7:00 to 7:45 PM featuring dancers Susanne Chui, Sara Coffin, Rhonda Baker, Gillian Seaward-Boone, Kathleen Doherty, Lisa Phinney Langley, Tammy McLeod, and Elise Vanderborght.

Also on the Roster: 

Members of the Creative Music Workshop, Andrews MacKelvie and Jackson, 

Students from Dalhousie Music’s jazz, and creative music programs, 

Ryan Veltmeyer from Mother of Girl, 

Lukas Pearse from the Crofts Adams Pearse Trio, 

Members of the suddenlyLISTEN Improvisation Workshop, 

Scott MacMillan and many more!

For more information and a schedule of events, go to: suddenlyLISTEN, or call  902.221.0428.

http://www.moceandance.com