World Premiere July 22, 2022, in Sointula, BC; presented by BC Movement Arts Society

CHOREOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCE: Amber Barton
VIDEOGRAPHY AND FILM DIRECTION: Cameron Anderson
MUSIC & SOUND COMPOSITION: Marc Stewart
LIGHT DESIGN: Alexandra Caprara

Special thanks to: Mary-Louise Albert and BC Movement Arts Society, Heather Redfern and The Cultch, Michael Margolick, Dayna Szyndrowski and Lena Artist Research and Residency Centre, Marc Stewart, Cameron Anderson, Alexandra Caprara, David Raymond, Tiffany Tregrathen and the students of Modus Operandi, and Chris Barton.

Running Time: MEDITATION: 30 mins, IN MEDITATION DOCUMENTARY: 30 mins

The creation of this solo was supported by Lena Artist Research and Residency Centre, BC Movement Arts Society and The Cultch.

Presenting Partner: Dancehouse

I didn’t plan to make this solo.  It just sort of happened.  It happened as a result of many generous people creating a space for me and seeing me in a way I didn’t see myself.  As a result, the creation of this solo has been a tremendous gift and a way for me to process the accumulation of work I have experienced as an independent dance artist and a former artistic director of a dance company that I founded.  

Although this solo is deeply personal for me, I am hoping that it will resonate with anyone who sees it.  We all know what it means to struggle; to feel lost; to feel as if we are going around in circles with no clear end in sight.  And at the same time, this is what it means to be human: to accept that there are some questions that we will simply never receive the answers to.  How do we reconcile with that in addition to our past experiences and our fears of the future?

I don’t have the answers.  I don’t think anyone does.  All I know is that I feel incredibly privileged that I can make art when the world is and continues to experience so much chaos.  I want to offer that however the solo makes you feel?  That’s what it’s about.  And I hope that this work will also resonate with any and all performers, art makers and creators; this is my love letter to you all.

I hope you enjoy MEDITATION because my collaborators and I worked really hard on it.

Thank you.

With Love,

—Amber Barton 

I was fortunate enough to shoot a couple of promo videos for Amber and her company, back in my freelancer days. I only knew her by reputation, which described a fiercely talented and adventurous performer and choreographer. I only learned later that Amber is also one of the warmest, most generous, and encouraging people I’ve met in the arts. A true collaborator. Of course I jumped at the chance to work with her again on this project. 

MEDITATION unfolds slowly, tentatively, painting a world in strange, delicate strokes, before bursting into bold chaotic splashes of movement and colour. The performance is split into passages, each informing the other, the distinctions sometimes becoming blurry. The music is a companion to the choreography, intertwined to the point where I never could tell which came first. The camera work and editing attempt to reinforce the themes of the piece, allowing the image to change and mutate based on the world Amber is inhabiting. As her world grows, so does our perspective, building a kind of visual vocabulary. So much of what I love about Amber’s choreo and performance is that it is elemental, rooted in dream logic, and deeply personal. My hope is that the visual presentation will help you feel more connected to the world Amber is creating. I can’t tell you what language she’s speaking, but I can try to interpret. 

Watch on the biggest screen you can. Turn off your phone. Build a pillow fort. Get comfy, and let your mind drift. 

I love this piece, and I hope you do too. 

—Cameron Anderson

As a filmmaker, he has collaborated on several short documentaries, co-directed the short film Dust, and directed the short film Do Not Go. He is the current in-house video director of The Cultch. He has collaborated with several dozen local arts organizations, including Music on Main, Theatre Replacement, and Green Thumb Theatre. He has also built promotional videos for the Vancouver Green Party, and current BC Green Party leader Sonia Furstenau.

He is a graduate of the University of Victoria, and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts, with distinction. His film training includes a diploma in documentary filmmaking from In Focus Film School, and a year long videography practicum with the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. 

Amber was born and raised in Vancouver and continues to live on the unceded and ancestral lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.  

She has spent the majority of her life working in the arts as a professional contemporary dance artist, performing, choreographing, producing and teaching dance for the past 21 years and received her professional dance training with Goh Ballet Academy, Arts Umbrella, Ballet BC’s Mentor Programme and the Banff Centre for the Arts.  Amber has worked with choreographers and companies such as Joe Laughlin (Joe INK), Gail Lotenberg (LINK dance), Judith Marcuse (Judith Marcuse Projects), Lola MacLaughlin (Lola Dance), Martha Carter (Marta Marta Productions), Jennifer Mascall (Mascall Dance), Day Helesic (MovEnt), Lee su-feh (battery opera), Karen Jamieson (Karen Jamieson) Dance Company), Josh Beamish (MOVE: the company), Dana Gingras (Animals of Distinction), Ruckus Company Productions, Adam Shankman, Mark Godden, Marla Eist, Jennifer Clarke, Emily Molnar, Wen Wei Wang, Cori Caulfield, Lina Fitzner and Heather Laura Gray. She has also been featured as a guest artist with Company 605 and performed in Neworld Theatre’s King Arthur’s Night.

As a choreographer, her work has been presented in various venues in Vancouver, across Canada, and internationally at the Chapter Arts Centre (Wales), the NW New Works Festival (Seattle), and the BAAD!ASS Women Festival (Bronx, New York). Her work has also extended into theatre choreographing for Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, collaborating with theatre director Mindy Parfitt of Search Party Productions, Studio 58, Alley Theatre and Electric Company Theatre.  She is also one of the few Canadians to receive a full danceWEB scholarship to study at the ImPulsTanz festival in Vienna, Austria and she is the inaugural recipient of the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award awarded via The Dance Centre in Vancouver, BC. 

Amber was also the artistic and managing director of her own contemporary dance company, the response. from 2008-2021.

Alexandra (she/her) is a queer multidisciplinary artist from Tkaranto, Ontario, whose practice focuses primarily on devised processes, projection and lighting design, and installation work. As a theatre maker her work has been staged internationally at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2018), and has worked alongside companies such as Canadian Stage, Starvox Entertainment, Workman Arts, and Electric Company Theatre. She is currently pursuing her MFA in interdisciplinary arts at Simon Fraser University, with a research focus on interactivity between performers and design technology. www.alexandracaprara.com

Marc is a composer, sound designer, musician and songwriter making music for theatre, contemporary dance, and film. Productions of which have been performed or screened throughout Canada, Europe, Asia and Mexico. In addition to collaborating with Amber Funk Barton for many years he has worked with Neworld Theatre, Tara Cheyenne Performance, Peter Bingham / EDAM, The Contingency Plan, Presentation House Theatre, Donna Spencer / Firehall Arts Centre, Alvin Tolentino / Co. Erasga. Marc graduated with a Music Technology Diploma from Douglas College and is also a podcast producer, creator and a member of Beatles tribute band “The Day Trippers”. He lives, works and plays with his family on the unceded and traditional territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), səlil̓wətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation)  / East Vancouver. www.marcstewartmusic.com