Winner of the 2022 DMCA
Photo Credit: Val Boulet
Gillian Seaward-Boone
Live Art Dance is pleased to announce that Halifax-based dancer Gillian Seaward-Boone is the winner of the 2022 Diane Moore Creation Award (DMCA). This annual award honours Live Art Dance’s founder Diane Moore and is inspired by her passion for dance creation and her support of Atlantic Canadian Artists. The DMCA was initiated to stimulate and sustain the creation of contemporary dance in the Atlantic Region. Administered by Live Art Dance, the award is adjudicated by an independent arm’s length jury of three individuals who have an extensive knowledge of dance in the Atlantic Region.
2022 Diane Moore Creation Award
The amount of this year’s award is $3,000 with 50 hours of free studio space at Danspace-on-Grafton. The DMCA is the largest non-governmental award for dance creation in Atlantic Canada. These funds have been raised through dedicated fundraising on the part of Live Art Dance, a partnership with Dance Nova Scotia and the generosity of Neal Livingston. The 2022 award will go to support a new solo work performed by Gillian Seaward-Boone, created by Sharon B. Moore.
“I am extremely honoured and excited to be the 2022 recipient of the Diane Moore Creation Award. Diane’s support of Atlantic Canadian artists, and the subsequent creation of this award, has created incredibly important opportunities for an impressive roster of artists in our region to make excellent work here at home. This new creation with Sharon Moore is my first self-produced solo piece and it marks a significant new chapter in my professional career. The work is physically and mentally demanding and challenges me to my core. It represents so much of what I love most about dance. To feel the support of the community at my back while building something so deeply personal is incredibly uplifting and humbling.” – Gillian Seaward-Boone
“Live Art Dance is proud to offer this annual award in memory of our founder, Diane Moore,” said Artistic Director Randy Glynn. “Each year the quantity and calibre of the applications we receive indicate what a vibrant, creative and growing dance community we have in Atlantic Canada – and we are delighted to be a part of it.”
About Gillian Seaward-Boone
Gillian Seaward-Boone pursued professional dance training at l’Ecole de Danse Contemporaine de Montréal (EDCM). Upon graduating, she worked with Sinha Danse, Pigeons International and Sasha Ivanochko before joining O Vertigo Danse as a full company member under the direction of Ginette Laurin. During her time with the company, Gillian performed across Europe, Asia and North and South America. In 2013, Gillian returned to Halifax and has since performed with Mocean Dance in works by Serge Bennethan, Marie-Josée Chartier, Sara Coffin, Sharon Moore and Parts+Labour_Danse. Gillian has served as Rehearsal Director for the creations of Destins Croises, Danielle Desnoyers, Heidi Strauss, Sara Coffin and Lydia Zimmer. Gillian frequently collaborates with local artists Jacinte Armstrong, Alexis Cormier, Sarah Murphy, Lisa Phinney Langley and Lydia Zimmer and is a founding member of the Home Ex Artist Collective. She is currently in creation for new works by Jacinte Armstrong, Liliona Quarmyne, Lisa Phinney-Langley, Sharon Moore and Rebecca Lazier (in collaboration with Janet Echelman). Gillian and the Home Ex collective have recently launched into an artistic research partnership with IOTA Art Institute. In addition to her roles as dancer and rehearsal director, Gillian is an experienced project and production manager. A passionate dance educator, she is a senior member of the modern dance faculty of Halifax Dance’s Intensive Training Program and regularly teaches technical training classes to the professional community of Halifax and beyond.
About the Project
“This new creation represents a significant shift in my professional trajectory. I have established my career as a contracted artist, hired to contribute my artistry in collaborative group works, navigating the dynamics of a cast, and embodying the nuances of a choreographer’s style and vision. With this new creation, I step into the role of soloist presenting work created in collaboration with me from its initial seed and represents what I consider to be my individual artistic voice. To date, I have never produced my own work, nor commissioned a choreographer to create on me/with me. Instinctually, I trusted that Sharon was the choreographer who could call on my experience, my physicality, and my strengths as an interpreter, and carve space in the work for my artistic voice to drive the narrative…This new solo project is the culmination of research into our respective connections to Viking lineage and our fascination of the strong roles of women within that culture and historical era.”