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Help a queer contemporary ballet get to the stage

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The collective Out of Body Physical Theatre will be working with local dancers and visual artists to produce an immersive and multimedia dance production of the contemporary ballet Coppéli-A.I. for live and virtual audiences. 

We would like to fund the production of Coppéli-A.I., to give the show a professional and immersive atmosphere. Since the choreography is already completed, our next step is to glue all of the artistic elements together with the choreography to create a cohesive dance performance for live or virtual audiences to enjoy. Coppéli-A.I. applies feminist theory to a classical piece of ballet by toying with the genders of the characters and showing the downsides of the objectification of women.  The choreography of Coppéli-A.I. demonstrates how a teenage lesbian couple completely overturns an old inventor’s wedding to his automaton bride, Coppelia. We would like to teach this choreography to paid Edmontonian dancers and work with them in furthering a strong dance quality to showcase their characters and the story. The inventor, Dr. Copellius, will have his mindscape presented through the lighting, set, visual art, and costumes. We would like to showcase the innovative visual artists in our collective by having them give these traditionally static elements of performance the medium of dance and have them evolve alongside Dr. Coppelius’s character. This immersion into his world means that we can have the utmost control over what the audience feels about him as his character unfolds, and how they are viewing the other aspects of the story through his artificial lens. As Dr. Coppelius’ grandiosity is dismantled and his misogyny is challenged by the teenage hooligans, Swanhilda and Franz, so too will the lighting, sets, visual art, and costumes subtly begin to rot until, much like Dr. Coppelius, its abhorrent core shines through.

Coppéli-A.I.  is a reclamation of a piece of art that has aided in the objectification of women and explores the actual damage this dehumanization causes. We also wanted to explore queer representation in a piece without tokenism. The piece asks the audience to look a layer beneath the art they consume and ask if the message within is rooted in misogyny. 

This show, being our flagship as a new collective, would help provide the foundation for us to grow as artists and to continue to explore boundary-pushing work in future projects. It would help us be able to form a community of artists and a network that we connect with in the future as well. As emerging artists in Edmonton, Out of Body Physical Theatre does not have any revenue to draw from, we are paying for this show out of pocket, and we need this show to be successful so that our collective can produce more art in the future. 

We are creating a piece specifically for Edmontonians, commissioning local artists, giving other local artists a platform for their works and we are putting the show up in a revered local venue. This, in conjunction with an active social media and promotional presence, we think can draw an audience in.
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Donations 

  • Anonymous
    • $50
    • 3 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $30
    • 3 yrs
  • Anonymous
    • $100
    • 3 yrs
  • Nikki Koppang
    • $40
    • 3 yrs
  • Sharellen Hutlet
    • $25
    • 4 yrs
Donate

Fundraising team (2)

Baird Duncan
Organizer
Sherwood Park, AB
Jackson Thompson
Team member

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