A dynamic artist of diverse talents, Brandy is a pioneering Choreographer, Director and an engaging Performer. Her work has been called “soulful and sensual” by John Rockwell of the New York Times, “impressive” by EYE weekly, “fascinating” by NOW Magazine, and “the real deal” by master puppeteer Ronnie Burkett.
Seamlessly combining the ancient and the innovative, she integrates a mature use of various performance styles, combining them skillfully to create highly experimental and poignant performance experiences.Hailing from a diverse artistic background, Brandy’s training includes theatre, dance, puppetry and mask, and martial and aerial arts. She holds a BA Honors from York University where she specialized in Direction and Asian Theatre.
Over the past decade Brandy has split her time between Canada and India to continue artistic training, performance and collaboration. She is an exponent of the Chhau dance form in both the Seraikella and Mayurbhanj styles. She has studied Seriakella Chhau under the guidance of Padamshree Guru Kedar Nath Sahoo at his Institute in Seraikella and Mayurbhanj Chhau at the Natya Ballet Centre in New Delhi and the Mayur Art Center in Bhubaneshwar. She was awarded the prestigious Shastri Indo Canadian fellowship twice to continue training with Guru Kedar Nath Sahoo and acknowledged by the Institute for her groundbreaking research work.
In addition to her Chhau studies, Brandy has explored the South Indian martial art of Kalarippayattu at the esteemed Hindustan Kalari Sangam in Calicut, Kerala. She has more than a decade of experience with the practice of Hatha Yoga and integrates both these physical languages into her innovative creations. Her varied artistic background gives her work a hauntingly unique quality that blurs the line between dance and theatre as it explores the spaces between east and west, contemporary and traditional. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Anandam since 2000. Under the umbrella of Anandam, she has presented work in Canada, the USA and India.
Performer
Amy Hampton is a graduate of L’Ecole Superieure de Danse du Quebec, affiliated with Les Grandes Ballets Canadiens de Montreal, where she was a member of Le Jeune Ballet de Quebec. Since moving to Toronto in 1999, she has been a featured member of the Chimera Project, performing with the company at many venues including the Canada Dance Festival.
As a member of CORPUS, Amy had the opportunity to tour extensively throughout Europe and to Singapore performing in an array of festivals. She has worked with Kaeja d’Dance as both a performer and a teacher of the company’s Express Dance method. Independently, she has originated roles in works by Robert Desrosier, Kathleen Rea, Yvonne Ng, Keiko Ninomiya, Nicole Fougere, Lincoln Shand, Lydia Wagerer and Brandy Leary. Her film credits include the dance films Old Country and A Day at the Office. In addition to her work as a performer, Amy is active in the community as a teacher and rehearsal director. She is Co-Artistic Director of AKA Dance in Toronto.
Performer
Marie F. Forcier is the Artistic Director of Forcier Stage Works. Born and raised in Montreal, Marie gained a Sociology DEC degree and is a scholarship recipient from CEGEP de Saint-Laurent’s dance program. In 2001, she co-founded the award winning collective Si pailles Si rondes with which she toured throughout France and Quebec until 2003. She is also a graduate from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre.
Marie has created works that have been presented in: Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, Montreal, Quebec City, New York City, Shanghai and Kolkata. In the last year she created and produced Nucleus, as part of DanceWorks CoWorks 2006-7 and has been re-invited to be part of the CoWorks programming for 2007-8 with a new production. Marie has also worked as a performer for several choreographers and taught modern technique at McMaster University. She has directed and performed extensively with the Canadian based company KOBA (Children’s dance theatre productions) in Dubai, UAE, Beirut, Lebanon and across Canada and the USA. She is a member of the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists, Dance Ontario and DTRC.
Performer
Holding an Honours BFA from York University, Jennifer Robichaud has had extensive dance training in many disciplines, specializing in jazz and contemporary forms. Jennifer co-founded Larchaud Dance Project in 2004, and currently holds the position of Artistic Director.
Her performance/choreographic credits include LDP Productions (CAUTION/07, SHINJIRU/06, Stript Bare/05), Nuit Blanch, Junction Arts Festival, Dans/ce Kapital Festival ( Anandam), The Revue, Fringe Shanghai, TIDF/06, Wintercity Festival/06, Series 8:08 Finale/03 (Tracey Norman), Dusk Dances/03 ( Suzanne Miller), fFIDA04/05, Choreographer’s Ball One Year Anniversary/08/04 and numerous corporate events and video work. Most recently Jennifer was a featured choreographer on the documentary series Freedom.
Resident Dramaturge / Director
Audrey Dwyer has been working as in Canada's theatre community for over ten years as a writer, actor, dramaturge and director. She began to focus on her work as a dramaturge in 2002, after graduating from the National Theatre School of Canada's Acting Department. She has worked with companies such as Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, Volcano Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People and Roseneath Theatre.
Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People and Roseneath Theatre. In 2005, Factory Theatre selected Audrey to be the dramaturg and director of their CrossCurrents Festival opener. She guided award-winning novelist Nalo Hopkinson into transforming Money Tree from a novel into a five-hander play. During 2007-8, she was the Associate Artistic Director of Nightwood Theatre under Kelly Thornton (Artistic Director) and Maja Ardal (Interim Artistic Director). There, she developed her leadership, theatre creation and dramaturgy skills with both mentors. She is presently working alongside Governor General Nominee, Lisa Codrington on her new piece, Jane, which will be presented at Nightwood Theatre's Groundswell Festival. She is also working with Michael Miller on his new piece for Factory Theatre's Cross Currents Festival.
Presently, she is the Resident Dramaturge and Assistant Director for Anandam. This unique theatre company is focused on creating avant-garde dance theatre that employ mask, movement, aerial arts, puppetry, and nonlinear text. Frida and Herself received stellar reviews in the New York Times and had sold-out shows in Toronto. Dangerous Women, Anandam’s most recent production, was awarded with an Honorable Mention in Ottawa’s XPress Newspaper
Set and Costume Design
Prashant is a senior visual artist in the mediums of painting and photography, as well as a Designer for stage and film in New Delhi. Born and raised in Kolkata (Calcutta), he attended the prestigious Academy of Fine Art there, specializing in painting in the mid seventies. He relocated to New Delhi in the early 80’s and made a strong reputation as an experimental artist with numerous group and individual shows both in Delhi and Mumbai.
His paintings are found in national and international collections both in private and corporate holdings. In the mid nineties Prashant was invited to teach at the National School of Drama in Delhi, India’s premiere institution for theatre training. As Visiting Faculty he has taught Design and Composition for Set, Costume and Prop Design as well as Mask and Puppet Construction.
Prashant has worked with Anandam since its inception. He has provided research support and documentation for all of Artistic Director Brandy Leary’s work with Seraikella and Mayurbhanj Chhau in the Villages or Jharkhand and Orissa and he has Designed Puppets, Costumes and Sets for her productions of “Le Cirque Burlesque” (2001), “Devi”(2004) , “Frida and Herself” (2004-06), “relative gravity” ( 2005), Angikam (2007), “Tirtha” and “Anchored”(2008).
Lighting Designer
Siobhán is a Toronto based lighting designer with credits in both theatre and dance. She has worked with Anandam for a number of years now and has lit numerous dance pieces for the company including: Tirtha and Anchored for Ganakrishti Natya Utsav Festival 2008 in Kolkatta, India; Dandi, Peacock, Triple Concerto and Angikam for the DANse/ce Kapital Festival in Ottawa; Frida and Herself performed both in Toronto and at the New York Fringe Festival and Liberation for fFida in Toronto.
Other recent lighting design credits include: The Famous Remains of Piggie Palace (18 Hands Productions), In Akbar’s Palace (Bageshree Vaze), Bluebeard (GromKat Production Ltd.), Fat Pig (Geek Girl Productions), Disciples (DMT Productions), Bye Bye Birdie (South Simcoe Theatre), Anowa (AfriCAN Theatre Ensemble) and King Lear (Toronto Art Theatre). For Nuit Blanche 2008, Siobhán collaborated with New York based artist Brendan Fernandes, designing the lighting score for his exhibit entitled Future (…---…) Perfect. Siobhán has also worked two seasons as Assistant lighting designer at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival on numerous productions including Romeo and Juliet, The Taming of the Shrew, To Kill a Mockingbird and My One and Only. Siobhán is a graduate of the York University Theatre program.
ArtisticProduction Intern
Shauntel is a dancer trained at Rosedale Heights School of the Arts. She is a budding aerialist and the Artistic Production Intern at Anandam. Currently Shauntel is embarking on a career in production for theatre and dance and has been with Anandam since the fall of 2008.
Photographer
Walter Lai is an imagery-based digital artist. He studied photography in Vancouver and moved to Toronto in the mid 1990's to pursue the digital arts. He applies his extensive understanding of visual composition and layout to web, prints, and motion graphics, and continues to build on 10 years of strong technical skill in photographic post-production.
A professional in visual arts, his talents are in developing creative approaches and solutions for communications in photographic media. He embraces challenging projects and enjoys sharing the perspective from his viewfinder with all of his audiences.
