The founding of Co.ERASGA in 1999 was my boldest
step towards fully committing to crafting my vision and
voice in the creation of contemporary dance in Canada.

Taking the risk, facing my fears and listening to my gut
instinct, | followed the surge of inspiration and energy to
make bigger dance creations. This surge led me forward
into a new dance career and a fully fledged directorship
of Co.ERASGA dance.

Key individuals, close friends and community members
have been integral to the forming of the society, and
supporting the early developmental stages of the
company. Brigitte Potter-Mael, Brian Dedora, Tarig
Adam, Lea Paulson, Garry Smith and Marie Cheong were
the founding board of directors.

By 2000, Co.ERASGA was an official registered
non-profit arts society based in Vancouver in the
province of British Columbia, Canada. The company
moved diligently into the challenging pathways of build-
ing infrastructure and administration, developing
funding, forming partnerships and launching seasonal

creative programming endeavors.

The community played a significant role. Over the
course of a decade, friends, family, administrators,
funders, other arts organizations, my dance peers and
other collaborators at home, nationally and abroad have
been instrumental in realizing my vision over the course
of a decade of making dance creations and performing
for the company.

Each dance work has brought a creative discovery
paramount to the growth of the company, a life-chang-
ing and memorable experience that sustained my quest
to dig deeper as a performer and creator of contempo-
rary dance.

One year after Co.ERASGA was formed, | gave myself a
time frame of up to seven years to work and establish
the company. | decided that if things did not go well, |
would disband the society and move on to something
else. As | write this, Co.ERASGA is moving into its
thirteenth season. Hard work and persistence seem to
have paid off.

Revealing is a compilation of images of Co.ERASGA’s
collective choreographic works. For the first time, this
book brings together eleven full-length dances | created
for Co.ERASGA, covering a span of just over a decade,
from 1999 to 2010.

The dance creations of solo and ensemble works have
been seen by diverse audiences and have graced
Vancouver, national and international stages, touring
four continents and over forty towns and cities globally.
The works include: SOLA, BATO/Stone, Minori, VOLT, She
Said, Field, OrienTik/Portrait, BodyGlass, PARADIS/Para-
dise, ADAMEVE/Man-Woman and Shadow Machine.

Gathering the materials for this book project has been a
nostalgic journey for me. | have pieced together archival
notes, press clippings, program notes and photographic
images to represent each work. This process of looking
back has yielded an important inventory of, and reflec-
tion on, how these works came into being and evolved.

Each work contributed to and shaped my artistic pursuit,
evolution and craft as a dancer and choreographer. The
passing of time was irrelevant as | was consumed by
working on each dance creation and each season for the
company. Re-encountering these works, reflections and
remembrances, | realize the significance of legacy, of
acknowledging an important time well spent. This book
honours a decade of being immersed in creating each
work and of committing to the form. Blindly surrender-
ing to the tasks of the creative void, | have followed the
thread of faith, trust and discovery to realize each work.
Each dance represent hundreds and thousands of

rehearsal and dancing hours —the rigour, pain, efforts
and ecstasy of the dancing bodies and the gifted talents
of the many artists who have participated with their
integrity and determination. To them, | express my
humble gratitude, then and now.

A vanishing act, dance is ephemeral, a live performance
uniquely of its own, delivered in a moment, in seconds,
minutes to hours, passing. A movement execution can
never be repeated but is solely given for each particular
time and event. Every dancing moment delivered in
each work has been a gift soulfully transmitted and
executed to the lived space and those who witness.

The intangibility of these acts and performances are
mere history now, vibrating with collective artistic
resonance. Dancing to me brings resonance of infinite
ideas and wisdom, an aid and guide to my ongoing search
on this path of creativity.

Revealing these works once again in book form captures
a spectrum of visual representation for each work,
re-living each dance’s significance and impact, testifying
to the work’s realization, history and relation to the
community and the contribution of my choreographic
works to the contemporary dance performing arts milieu.

Revealing is a testament to the collective work and
contribution of many individual players who have been
involved in a decade of dances for Co.ERASGA. These
repertoires form a body of work accomplished and
offered to the world, continuing to inspire me to dance.