Dana Michel specializes in creating situations governed by their own logic. She lives in a worldof objects to which she gives new meaning and purposes, away from binary and linear thinkingand doing. She breaches social norms from a position of curiosity rather than provocation, gentlyushering supposed “marginal figures” to the centre of the conversation. With humour andsensitivity, she questions our very modes of existence.MIKE asserts the nomadic aesthetic that has become Michel’s calling card over the course of hercareer. In an open space, during three hours, MIKE invites the audience to spend time inside itsuniverse. It revolves around work culture and self-respect, and puts forward a burning question:is it possible to live public lives that reflect our inner selves? Put your faith in Michel’s hands, oneyes at a time.

ABOUT ARTIST
Ottawa native, based in Montreal since 2000, Dana Michel is a Canadian of Caribbean descent whose family hails from the island of Saint Lucia. She describes herself as a live artist. Exploring the world of nuance, Dana caused a stir from the start with her first creations. Since then, she has been refining her exploration of time and improvisation, finding her own way into concepts such as identity, sexuality, and work—in other words, looking for ways to expand her relationship to existence. Each of Dana’s projects exposes her vulnerability and her quest to create more vital space for us all.
MIKE is her fourth major piece after YELLOW TOWEL (2013), MERCURIAL GEORGE (2016), and CUTLASS SPRING (2019). In this last decade, her creations have garnered some remarkable accolades. In 2014, she received the ImPulsTanz Award in recognition of creative excellence. In 2017, she was awarded the Silver Lion for Innovation in Dance at the Venice Biennale. In 2019, she received the International Prize for Live Art from the ANTI Festival (Kuopio, Finland). In 2022, she was awarded the Jacqueline Lemieux Prize by the Canada Council for the Arts for her significant contribution to dance in Canada.

CREDITS
Created and performed by: Dana Michel
Artistic activators: Viva Delorme, Ellen Furey, Peter James, Heidi Louis, Tracy Maurice, Roscoe Michel, Karlyn Percil, Yoan Sorin.
Scenographic consultant – Technical direction: Romain Guillet
Sound consultant: David Drury
Production: SCORP CORPS – Viva Delorme, Dana Michel
Distribution: neon lobster – Giulia Messia & Katharina Wallisch
Coproduction: ARSENIC – Centre d’art scénique contemporain (Lausanne, Switzerland / Suisse), Centre national des Arts (Ottawa, Canada), Festival TransAmériques (Montréal, Canada), Julidans Amsterdam (Netherlands / Pays-Bas), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium / Bruxelles, Belgique), MDT (Stockholm, Sweden / Suède), Montpellier Danse (France), Moving in November, (Helsinki, Finland / Finlande), Wexner Center for the Arts of The Ohio State University in Colombus (United States of America / États-Unis d’Amérique).
Creative residencies: Alkantara (Lisbon / Lisbonne, Portugal), ANTI Festival (Kuopio, Finland / Finlande), Centre national des Arts (Ottawa, Canada), Kinosaki International Arts Center and Kyoto Experiment (Japon / Japan), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium / Bruxelles, Belgique), Künstler*innenhaus Mousonturm (Frankfurt, Germany / Francfort, Allemagne), Montpellier Danse (France) résidence de création à l’Agora, cité internationale de la danse, avec le soutien de la Fondation BNP Paribas / creation residency at Agora, cité internationale de la danse, with support from BNP Paribas Foundation, RIMI/ IMIR SceneKunst (Stavanger, Norway / Norvège), Shedhalle (Zürich, Switzerland / Suisse) with the kind support of Tanzhaus Zürich and the Embassy of Canada to Switzerland / avec
l’aimable support de Tanzhaus Zürich et de l’Ambassade du Canada en Suisse, The Chocolate Factory (NYC, United States of America / États-Unis d’Amérique)
Premiere presented on May 19th 2023 at Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels, Belgium)
The creation of this work is being made possible thanks to the financial support of Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie and Conseil des Arts de Montréal