__NOTOC__ bluemouth inc. is an

experimental theater Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu plays as a rejection of both the age in particular ...

company known for creating immersive performance works. It holds split residence in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and is an intersection of dance,

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

, visual media, electronic music, lyric poetry, and psychological realism. Collaborative and interdisciplinary in its approach, its hosts traditional theatrical and event-based performative productions.

History

The company started in 1998, with the presentation of their first work, ''Mapping Currents'', which was presented as part of Edgy Women Festival in Montreal. In 2000, the company relocated from Montreal to Toronto, the same year the collective of artists officially incorporated the company. In 2002, the company started work on a new project called ''Something About a River'' which took place at three locations along the buried Garrison Creek in Toronto. This work was eventually presented as a complete five-hour performance entitled ''Something About a River'' and was nominated for six

Dora Mavor Moore Awards The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, Dance in Canada, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, ...

. It received the award for ‘Outstanding Independent Production’. ''The Memory of Bombs'' was developed the following year through a residency at the Theatre Centre in Toronto and workshopped at the 2004 Summerworks Theatre Festival. This project was then revised and presented under its new title – ''How Soon is Now'' – the following year during the Theatre Centre's site-specific season. It was subsequently nominated for five Dora awards. At the same time, the company began disseminating its work internationally by remounting a number of projects in New York City. From 2005 to 2009 the company remounted ''Lenz'', ''What the Thunder Said'', ''American Standard'', ''Death by Water'', and ''How Soon is Now''. In 2008, the company was awarded a Fresh Ground New Works commission from Harbourfront Centre for the creation of ''Dance Marathon'', a duration-based immersive performance inspired by the dance marathons of the Great Depression. This piece was developed in Toronto and at Montreal's Place Des Arts and premiered at Harbourfront's World Stage Festival in February 2009. ''Dance Marathon'' has been presented by The Cork MidSummer Festival, Ireland (2009), the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

in Vancouver (2010), APAP Festival, New York City (2010),

Dance Massive Dance Massive is a festival for Australian contemporary dance. It is held in Melbourne every two years, generally in March. Dance Massive was first held in 2009, originally established by Arts House, Dancehouse and the Malthouse Theatre. It has sin ...

, Melbourne &

Ten Days on the Island 10 Days on the Island is a biennial cultural festival held in Tasmania, Australia. The first was held in 2001. It is Tasmania's premier cultural event, and presents exhibitions, performances and community events in 50 locations around the island. ...

, Tasmania (2011), The Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Traverse Theatre, Scotland (2011),

Dance Umbrella Dance Umbrella is an annual festival of modern and contemporary dance in London every October, founded by Val Bourne and Jeremy Alliger. First held in 1978, companies such as London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Merce Cunningham Dance Company, Si ...

, BITE Barbican Centre, London (2011), World Stage,

Harbourfront Centre Harbourfront Centre is a key cultural organization on the waterfront of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated at 235 Queens Quay West. Established as a crown corporation in 1972 by the Government of Canada to create a waterfront park, it became ...

, Toronto (remount 2012), Norwich Norfolk Festival, Norfolk-Norwich, UK (2013), Magnetic North Festival, Halifax, Canada (2014), Mayfest, in Bristol, UK (2015) and the fabrik Festival, in Potsdam, Germany (2015).

Founding members

* Ciara Adams * Stephen O’Connell * Sabrina Reeves * Lucy Simic * Richard Windeyer

Awards and honors

bluemouth inc. has been nominated for 13

Dora Mavor Moore awards The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, Dance in Canada, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, ...

, and won 2, the first was in the category "Outstanding Independent Play" for Something About a River (2004), and second was for "Outstanding lighting design" by Patrick Lavender, for It Comes in Waves (2016).

References

Notes Further reading * Barton, Bruce. “Coherent Confusion and Intentional Accidents: bluemouth inc.'s Dance Marathon”, Forum (2011) * Barton, Bruce. “Subjectivity culture communications intermedia: A Meditation on the "Impure Interactions" of Performance and the "In-Between" Space of Intimacy in a Wired World”, Theatre Research in Canada, Vol. 29, No. 1 (2008)

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.bluemouthinc.live/ Experimental theatre