Olivia Shaffer is a Vancouver based choreographer, performing artist, and movement teacher. Her passion lies in the creation of organic, embodied performance rooted in structured improvisations. Her choreographic practice speaks to the human condition and is inspired by tensions between the tangible and the ephemeral. Olivia is inspired by diverse artistic collaboration which has led her to interpret the work of more than 20 choreographers. She is a performing company member with EDAM Dance, where she also teaches and is the assistant to the Artistic Director, Peter Bingham. Olivia’s formative training was in contemporary dance at Simon Fraser University; her ongoing training includes Contact Improvisation, somatic movement practices, and Grotowski physical theater. Olivia regularly teaches classes at EDAM and is currently an Adjunct Professor at UBC; she has taught abroad in Europe, the United States, and Asia. / oliviashaffer.ca

Alex Mah is a composer and interdisciplinary artist whose scores use verbal notation to deal with ideas of indeterminacy, performer choices, and the sensing body. He has collaborated with The Biting School, EDAM Dance, All Bodies Dance Project, Antoine Beuger, Emmanuelle Waeckerlé, Dance West Network, Julie Lebel, Rob Kitsos, Turning Point Ensemble, TorQ Percussion Quartet, Richard Reed Parry, Quasar quatuor de saxophones, and Quatuor Bozzini. His compositions have been presented by Music on Main, Bath Spa University Porthleven Prize, the University of Cambridge, Copper Sounds, and Wandelweiser Collective. He has participated in festivals, workshops, and performed across Canada, and in Germany, the U.K., and Denmark. In 2018, he completed a Master of Research Composition under James Saunders at Bath Spa University (U.K.). cargocollective.com/alexmah