Artist Coordinator: Alicia Ward
Curators/Mentors: Mark Hopkins & Charles Netto

Ali DeRegt – Tour Guide

Ali DeRegt is a Calgary-based performer specializing in voiceovers, clown and puppetry. She received her Bachelors in Fine Arts from the University of Lethbridge in 2012. Select theatre credits include Morpheus Theatre’s I Hate Hamlet, the Girls Gone Wilde Cabaret’s Miss Information, Pape and Taper’s Goblin Market and Sage Theatre’s Wihtiko. Most recent voice over credits include Future Card Buddyfight, Little Battler’s eXperience and Cardfight!! Vanguard G.
 

Sarah Wheeldon – Tour Guide

Sarah is delighted to be performing with the folks from Swallow-a-Bicycle again and joining these lovely emerging artists in her first IGNITE! Festival. Born and raised in Calgary, she has traveled throughout Alberta and western Canada for the past 20 years performing in plays, film/TV and singing. She holds a diploma in Theatre Arts from Grant MacEwan University and is enjoying her recent indulgence in Creation Theatre. She has written and directed several works for various Fringe Festivals and enjoys a collaborative creation process like no other. While not performing in some capacity, she can be seen teaching voice, pastry classes, yoga and learnin’ to fly.
Select Theatre credits include: As You Like It, Twelfth Night & Romeo and Juliet (The Shakespeare Co.); i-ROBOT Theatre & Money Matters (Swallow-A-Bicycle Theatre); Sez She (Shhh! Productions); The Sound of Music (Citadel Theatre); The Wynter’s Tale (To The Moon & Back Productions); Awesome Allie (Storybook Theatre).

Joanna Flemming

Joanna is excited to be participating in Ignite! for the first time this year. Having graduated from the Mount Royal University theatre performance program in 2012, Joanna has developed a passion for new work and creation. Joanna is a big advocate for pushing the boundaries of theatre and embracing multi-disciplinary presentation. Select theatre credits include “Like Hell” (Swallow Your Soul Theatre), Shake it Up, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Mount Royal University). When Joanna is not performing in projects she enjoys writing and brainstorming with other artists in the Calgary community.
She would like to give a big thank you to Kyle Hinton for helping her with sound, her family for being so supportive, Justine Westby for helping get the creative juices flowing and Nathanial for always continuing to inspire her everyday.

Danielle Gurr

Danielle Gurr is originally from Lethbridge, currently residing in Calgary. She is a University of Lethbridge graduate, holding a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Multidisciplinary Arts. Danielle holds a great passion for dance and movement and is currently pursuing further education in dance, shifting her focus onto site-specific dance.
“Dance, dance, otherwise we are lost”- Pina Bausch

Kyle Hinton

Kyle Hinton is a multi-disciplinary artist who loves to play with sound and performance. When tinkering, he experiments and explores the boundaries between performance, sound and technology. He also loves to create electronic music and to write. Past sound design: Cowboy vs Samurai 2014 (Chromatic Theatre); Let Down Your Hair 2014 (SaB, Ignite!); i-ROBOT Theatre (Swallow-a-Bicycle); S/Kin 2011-2013 (Mind Hive Collective); i-ROBOT Theatre 2013 (SaB); Soundasaurus 2012 & 2013 (ECPA). He also wrote Absurdable Universe, which was partially read at the Greater Forest Lawn Playwright Lab, hosted by Chromatic Theatre; and Characters and Violence in 2010 for NextFest.

THUGWork Theatre

Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre (THUGWork Theatre) is a tiny theatre group created by sibling duo Caleigh (B.A. Drama B.Ed.) and Colin Dingwall (B.F.A. Drama Performance). We started two years ago as a name to do a fringe show we wrote and performed together (Grow Up) and it has become something else. A group of young artists that want to tell our own stories our own way. We are young, we are new, we might still be finding our feet as we run forward shouting into the abyss: here we are.
And here you are, with us.
Caleigh Dingwall is an educator and theatre practitioner based in Calgary. After completing her Bachelor of Arts (Drama) and Bachelor of Education from the University of Alberta, Caleigh has spent her time travelling and teaching in Europe, before moving back to Canada to work with her brother on their theatre company, Thumbs Up Good Work Theatre. She is excited to be working in a non-traditional theatre space and even more pleased to be performing in a hometown landmark like the Calgary Tower.
Colin Dingwall is an emerging actor/theatre creator based out of southern Alberta, he is a recent (October 2014) graduate of the University of Lethbridge where he earned his B.F.A. in Drama Performance. While Colin currently calls Calgary home, since graduating from the U of L he has been doing work all over Alberta and Saskatchewan. Colin is primarily trained as an actor but has been making forays into playwrighting and directing, primarily through THUGWork Theatre. Other artistic endeavours include baking and gardening.

Alisha VanWieren

Alisha is a multifaceted artist with a passion for acting, performance creation, directing and writing. She is interested in the human body as the subject of any work of art, the creation/development of new works, mask and improv. She also loves to paint, play guitar and make crafts! A recent graduate of the University of Lethbridge with a BFA in Theatre Performance, Alisha is excited to be participating in her first Ignite! Festival. Some select credits include: Gomorrah (Theatre Outré), Bring a Chair Improv (Drama Nutz Productions), Grraggrgghtttaaahho (Beans Theatre), Miracle (THUGWork Theatre), As You Like It (Shakespeare Lethbridge), Feed Me Diamonds (Winner of the 2015 Chinook One Act Festival), Sauce for the Gooose, The Country Wife, The Neverending Story (University of Lethbridge). She is also part of performance duo WhatTheHeck!?!

Alex Cherovsky – Tour Guide

Alex is very excited to be once again working with Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre and is looking forward to working with the emerging artists for his first ever Ignite! Festival. Alex is a 2014 graduate from Mount Royal University’s Theatre Performance program and is headed to Edmonton to start his BFA at the University of Alberta in the fall. When he is not performing, Alex spends his free time reading writing and singing.
Selected theatre credits include: Dog Sees God (Sour Dog Productions); The Hobbit (Storybook Theatre); Money Matters (Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre); Othello, Twelfth Night, and The Winter’s Tale (The Shakespeare Company); The Comedy of Errors (SBTB Theatre Calgary); Dracula (MRU Theatre).
 

Mark Kazakov – Tour Guide

In 1440, Mark was invented by Johannes Gutenberg but more recently you may have seen him as a roving Keystone Cop (clown) at the Calgary International Children’s Festival. His training began in the PVA Program at Central Memorial High with a focus on Improvisation taught by Jamie Northan and Andrew Fung from Loose Moose Theatre. Mark now studies Drama as an Undergraduate at the University of Calgary where he has worked on shows like West Side Story and Samuel Beckett’s Act Without Words I, to doing devised work with Peter Balkwill in the Energetic Ensemble at the U of C’s Taking Flight Festival. Mark also has a passion for working with kids in and out of theatre and has spent four years doing leadership focused on high school kids with Young Life Canada. He thanks you for coming out to the show and looks forward to performing for you again soon in the wonderful array of professional theatre companies around Calgary.

Ryan Reese – Tour Guide

Ryan is an actor and playwright residing in Calgary. Acting credits include The Three Musketeers (Goodger-Pink Productions), A Thought in Three Parts (Theatre Outre), The Hudson Bay Epic (Mudfoot Theatre), Invasion of the Pine Beetles (Evergreen Theatre), Straight On Till Morning (Red Phone Theatre), The Boy’s Own Jedi Handbook, That Men May Fly (Empress Theatre). Ryan is also a two-time recipient of the Alberta Playwriting Competition’s Discovery Prize for his plays Ascending the Blue (2013) and Before the Night Takes Us (2014), the latter of which received its world premiere production with Calgary’s Theatre BSMT this past spring.

Jennifer DeWolf & Daniel Mills

Jennifer DeWolf is a passionate Calgary-based instructor, choreographer and performer adept in many styles of dance who thoroughly enjoys the journey of artistic creation. She has travelled abroad to Cuba, France, Finland and Poland where she took workshops in Afro-Cuban and Contemporary dance. Pursuing this love of travel, Jennifer recently journeyed through Ireland, Hong Kong and Thailand excitedly exploring their diverse cultures. In 2010, Jennifer received her BA in Dance from the University of Calgary, specializing in Choreography and Performance. She then continued her training at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and in 2012 completed their Professional Training Program. Since 2012, Jennifer has been the Artist in Residence at many elementary, junior and high schools, using the rich history of dance to inspire and nurture students’ potential and creativity.
Currently based in Calgary, Daniel Mills is an emerging freelance trumpet player on the Canadian scene. By completing music degrees from McGill University and the University of Ottawa, Daniel has had the chance to study with many of Canada’s leading classical trumpet players. As an orchestral musician, he has performed with the National Arts Centre, Calgary Philharmonic and National Academy orchestras. Daniel has also toured with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for three consecutive summers and was selected to represent the orchestra in a cultural exchange to India in May 2013. As a soloist and collaborator exploring multidisciplinary performance art, Daniel has created and performed less ‘traditional’ material for Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre, The Alberta Dance Festival and La Caravan Dance Company. He also enjoys living a dual-life as an arts administrator, currently working for Honens, and acting as a board member of the Wild West New Music Ensemble here in Calgary.

Chelsea Dwarika & Sidney Knapp

Chelsea Dwarika is an aspiring poet and playwright. She is pursuing her BFA in Drama at the University of Calgary, and has been experiencing site-specific theatre up close with Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre since 2014. She enjoys writing late night free verse, collaging mixed media performance, people-watching and documenting human experiences. Chelsea looks up to Kanye West and Kurt Vonnegut. She believes in staying curious, and is excited to see what stories the Calgary Tower has to share!
Sidney Knapp is a Calgary based artist with a background in performance creation, acting, directing, and vintage jazz and blues dance. A performer, instructor and manager within the Calgary swing dance scene, Sidney’s work often reflects her passion for the jazz era. Her most recent work has been Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, Othello, and Two Gentlemen of Verona with the University of Calgary. Sidney is currently attending the U of C to complete degrees in Drama and Greek & Roman Studies.
 

Judith Mendelsohn

Judith Mendelsohn is thrilled to have audiences venture into the Freight Elevator with Swallow-a Bicycle Theatre as part of this year’s Ignite! Festival. Judith is a Calgary performer who devises and performs clownesque creations and performs regularly with Green Fools Theatre and Soulocentric Performance Society. She has an MFA in theatre from the University of Calgary and a diploma in performance from Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris. She works as an Artist in Residence in Alberta schools with Evergreen Theatre, Trickster Theatre and Quest Theatre. Her most recent work, Belle Paris, will be presented by Green Fools Theatre as part of their 2015-2016 season.

Chenise Mitchell

Chenise is a Toronto-based dancer who loves collaboration; of disciplines, ideas, creation and performance. She is an ‘Outstanding Graduate’ of Cawthra Park Secondary School’s dance program. She has worked with Linda Garneau, Darryl Tracy, Sharon Wong, Nicholas Villeneuve, Michael Trent, and Clarence Ford. She was an interpreter in Dancemakers’ first Emerging Dance Artist Program, where she discovered her passion and confidence for collaborative creation. She further honed her creative writing, voice work and creative processes in Ryerson University’s dance program. At Ryerson she created and performed in physical theatre performances.
She has performed at some of Toronto’s largest theatres, like the Winter Garden Theatre, Dundas Square, Harbourfront Centre the Air Canada Centre for shows like WE Day 2013, Dance Ontario Awards Gala and Much Music MMVAs. Decidedly Jazz Danceworks drew Chenise to Calgary and she has completed their professional training program. She is thrilled to stay in the city to discover more of Calgary’s performance opportunities and share her passion with the city.

These Three

Keshia Cheesman, Vanessa Jetté and Bianca Miranda were drawn to each other in their first year of university because of their great passion for life, laughter, art and flavourful food. Because of their bond and infectious energy, they were dubbed the name “These Three” which stuck with them ever since. They have recently finished their third year at the University of Calgary as drama majors and have since worked together continuously from a scene from Women of Manhattan by John Patrick Shanley to Song of Myself (Taking Flight Festival 2014), Cell Block Tango and performance creation and acting classes. They have also wanted to continuously work collaboratively to create diverse theatre that is inspired by their own experiences and observations of the world at present.
They have also succeeded individually – you may have seen Keshia in The Real Inspector Hound (Inspector Hound), Aesop’s Fables (Ensemble), Storybook Theatre’s Hairspray (Little Inez), Vanessa in The Real Inspector Hound (Moon), Man Equals Man (Widow Begbick), Wagonstage’s High Water Heroes (Ensemble) and Bianca in Bloody Poetry (Harriet Westbrook), The Shakespeare Company’s DiVerseCityyc (Lady Macbeth, Celia, Portia, Jailer’s Daughter) and Measure for Measure (Varrius).
Lastly, they would like to extend their gratitude to their mentors – to Mike Czuba, without whom they wouldn’t have found the curiosity for creation, to their acting coaches – Val Campbell, Dawn McCaugherty and Brian Smith who have continuously encouraged them to strive for authenticity in their work, and of course a huge thanks to Swallow-a-Bicycle for this awesome opportunity!

Alicia Ward – Artist Coordinator

Mark Hopkins – Curator / Mentor

Follow Mark on Twitter at @markchopkins.

Charles Netto – Curator / Mentor

Charles is the Co-Artistic Director of Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre.
Charles works primarily as a writer, director and producer. He has directed, and had a hand in writing and creating numerous Swallow-a-Bicycle productions: i­ROBOT Theatre, Eavesdrop: The Coffee Shop Show, Freak Show: Tall Tales and Terrible Truths, Death of the Freak Show, Wanderlust, Shhhh!, as well as shorts A World Gone Mad, Free Coffee and Sprawl.
Charles co-wrote the play Super 8 with Mark Hopkins. Super 8 won the Alberta Playwriting Contest and premiered at Lunchbox Theatre in 2012. Charles and Mark wrote the screenplay for the short film version of Super 8 that premiered in Calgary in March 2014.
Twitter: @nettocharles