Robin Poitras

Robin Poitras (née Wiens) is a Canadian dancer, performance and installation artist based in Regina, Saskatchewan, who has been actively engaged in contemporary dance practice since the early 1980s.[2]

Robin Poitras
Born
Robin Wiens

1958? (58 in 2016)[1]
Regina, Saskatchewan
NationalityCanadian
EducationB.F.A.
Alma materYork University
Known forDance, performance art, installation art, curation
Spouse(s)
Awards
Websitehttps://www.newdancehorizons.ca/

One of Saskatchewan's most prolific dance and performance creators, Poitras co-founded New Dance Horizons in 1986 with Dianne Fraser.[2] Through her research in diverse fields of artistic and somatic practice, Poitras developed a unique interdisciplinary approach.[2][3] Her works have been presented across Canada and internationally.[2][3]

Early life and education

Robin Poitras is the second child of architect Clifford Wiens and artist and educator Patricia Wiens.[4] The family visited art galleries, attended powwows, and played music at home.[4] She said she began her artistic life studying the cello but always loved to dance.[5]

In her twenties, Poitras completed a B.F.A. (Special Honours) in dance at York University,[6] where she came to feel disillusioned and discouraged with her program, until the day Paul-André Fortier made an appearance:

I was getting really frustrated. I felt I wasn't getting enough of the "art" of dance... One day Paul-André came to guest-teach, and all we did was walk. I thought, "Wow, this is so exciting." It became a real turning point for me, and I decided to stay in the program based on that experience. I remember saying, "Can you imagine dancing with someone like that someday?"[1]

Poitras undertook further studies at Duke University, the American Center in Paris, and the Bill Evans Summer Institute of Dance in Winnipeg in 1984.[7] She also studied in Montreal and Zurich.[6]

Career

Poitras began her professional dance career with Regina Modern Dance Works in 1984.[4][6]

New Dance Horizons

In 1986, Poitras co-founded Saskatchewan's only professional dance company, New Dance Horizons, with Dianne Fraser, a nationally recognized project-based company mandated to support the creation, development, production and presentation of contemporary dance and related performing arts in the province featuring national, international, regional and local Canadian artists, often contracting with visiting dancers.[8][9] Over time, the not for profit company developed a relationship with a local hotel providing sponsorship, allowing the organization to do unplanned events.[9] New Dance Horizons was consciously organized into three distinct "strands".[4]

Rouge-gorge

Originally called Intempco (a short form of In Temporary Company),[10] Rouge-gorge (French for "robin") is a project-based company dedicated to the original work of the two artistic directors (now of Robin Poitras alone).[4]A foundation for creation, production and touring, it also supports co-productions with local and national dance artists. At least one new original work has been produced each season, including the Pelican Project, a series of processional performances by youth as well as established and emerging artists.

In the mid 2000s, the company moved into its own building on Harvey Street, including a box office, fifty-seat theatre and administration space.[11]

Philosophy

Influences and aesthetics

Poitras, who believes the purpose of art is to "make the invisible in our lives visisble", has read the ancient Greek philosopher Plato and draws on his ideas of being and becoming ("static perfection" versus "the flow of things, the transformation from one state to another", as developed in the Republic, but unlike Plato, her utopian ideal "would be characterized by change, development and exploration"; utopia in the usual sense would "never be achieved, because it is always evolving and never finished. Utopia is not a thing, a place, or a state but a process."[11] For her, this notion is represented in dance by the concept of "centre arch", as developed by Amelia Itcush, a founding member of the Toronto Dance Theatre: a "nowhere place" or "moving place" in the foot, "that place where the weight of the body moves downward into the ground and the force of the body moves upward into space", a notion underscoring the idea of dance "as a flow or a process of movement rather than a series of fixed positions."[11]

My practice is rooted in a physical world comprised of choreography, dancing and actions/acts.

Robin Poitras[2]

Creative process and practice

Poitras contrasts other forms of the utopian Platonic idea reflected in the history of dance, citing the Romantic classical ballet in which the ballerina sought to "float" above the floor "as though gravity did not exist" with her own practice, which involves "working with the forces of intentionality and gravity to discover what the limits of action might be."[11]

I am curious about relationships and resonance among the worlds of art, science and nature and in exploring how these worlds feed back and forth in mythical, mysterious, elusive and sometimes obvious ways.

Robin Poitras[2]

Eschewing an ideal body type along with other traditional facets of classical dance, Poitras selects dancers solely based on their skills, and likes to work with children and older people as dancers, "mixing the professional and the amateur", and often makes use of improvisation,[11] found or formed objects, texts, images, sound and/or other media.[2] She constantly explores what might be possible to achieve.[11]

Poitras once said that incorporating somatic movement in her practice probably extended her career. "I think that that work really allowed me to be able to dance longer," she said.[5]

Critical assessment

Alex MacDonald reported that some observers find certain pieces by Poitras "challenging", which she believes is a "legitimate function" of art, and that some could also be interpreted as being "political", to which she responded that she does not "set out to make political statements."[11]

Accolades

Robin Poitras is a recipient of the 2016 Saskatchewan Lieutenant Governor Lifetime Achievement in the Arts award,[12][2] the 2006 Mayor's Awards for Business & The Arts' Lifetime Achievement Award,[2] and the 2004 YWCA Women of Distinction Award for the Arts.[2][6]

Personal life

Family

The Wiens had six children.[13] The family visited art galleries, attended powwows, and played music at home.[4] Robin Poitras is second of the six children.[14] She inherited all of her father's books as well as a violin and mandolin.[15]

Her brother Nathan Wiens is a naturalistic designer, best known as a craftsman of custom wood furniture pieces based in Vancouver.[16][17]

Marriages

Robin Poitras collaborated with her Métis artist husband Edward Poitras in several performance-based works as early as 1984 with Das Cheval Dance.[18] These collaborations have continued since the couple's divorce.[19]

She is married to Tim Murphy.[13][20]

Pastimes

Poitras is a birdwatcher, but says she does not know the birds' names.[21]

gollark: I'm implementing a thing in which I expect users will want advanced features like "headers" and "the ability to have links".
gollark: ... no?
gollark: ÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆÆ why is Markdown so annoying to parse?
gollark: Everyone knows the correct measurement for speed is parsec-meter-Hertz per furlong.
gollark: No.

References
  1. Harris, Holly (26 January 2016). "All aboard the emotional roller-coaster". The Winnipeg Free Press. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  2. "Rouge-gorge". New Dance Horizons. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  3. Irwin, Kathleen (2009). Sighting, Citing, Siting: Crossfiring/Mama Wetotan : Theorising Practice. [Regina, Sask.]: Candian Plains Research Center (University of Regina). p. 14. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  4. Martin, Ashley (27 May 2015). "Wider Dance Horizons". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  5. "Dancer Robin Poitras 'delighted' with lifetime achievement honour". CBC News. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  6. "2016 Lieutenant Governor's Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient". Saskatchewan Arts Board. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
  7. Enns, Victor Jerrett (2002). Loss: the principle of dance and performance in Regina (PDF). [Regina]: New Dance Horizons. p. 4. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  8. "New Dance Horizons". The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  9. "Business and the Arts: Case Study #3, New Dance Horizons". artsalliance.sk.ca. Saskatchewan Arts Alliance. 2 February 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
  10. Enns, Victor Jerrett (2002). From war (he)art to war (PDF). [Regina]: New Dance Horizons. p. 13. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  11. MacDonald, Alex (2007). "Robin Poitras and New Dance Horizons". Cloud-capped Towers: The Utopian Theme in Saskatchewan History and Culture. Canadian Plains Research Center (University of Regina). pp. 58–59. ISBN 9780889772045. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  12. "Brian Webb Dance Company presents two renowned artists in a world premiere performance" (media release). Wire Service. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  13. "Patricia Elizabeth Wiens". Regina Leader-Post. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  14. Tousley, Nancy (Summer 1995). "The Trickster" (PDF). Canadian Art: 37–45. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  15. Martin, Ashley (7 May 2020). "Creative Isolation: Robin Poitras's world has got 'tiny' amid COVID-19". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  16. Mackie, John (3 July 2009). "From fir and butternut to elegant dining room tables and beds". Vancouver Sun. Retrieved 24 January 2020.
  17. Thuncher, Jennifer (29 May 2014). "The Eastender: A home for art in 'real Vancouver'". Vancouver Courrier. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  18. "Poitras, Edward (1953–)". Indigenous Saskatchewan Encyclopedia. University of Saskatchewan. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  19. Citron, Paula (29 April 2013). "Performance art, Poitras-style: Swept away in a kaleidoscope of images". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 17 February 2020.
  20. "Clifford Donald Wiens". Regina Leader-Post. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 7 February 2020.
  21. Martin, Ashley (26 January 2016). "Make a date with dance during New Dance Horizons' 30th anniversary year". Regina Leader-Post. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
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