Contemporary dance artist Christine Birch began her formal training in ballet at The Oakville School of Dance’s Professional Training Program. As time progressed she joined the Oakville Ballet Company where she had the opportunity to work and perform with National Ballet of Canada first soloist Etienne Lavigne.
Upon graduating high school, Birch traded her pointe shoes in for bare feet making the transition into contemporary dance. She recently graduated from The School of Toronto Dance Theatres’ Professional Training Program where she had the pleasure of working with notable choreographers such as James Kudelka, Peggy Baker, Sasha Ivanochko, and Danny Grossman.
In the past year Birch has been able to once again work with Peggy Baker and perform Tino Sehgal’s Kiss at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Birch also represented Team Ontario in the 2009 Canada Summer Games National Artists Program, where she co-founded the collective One Trunk with Andraea Sartison. They recently performed their multi-disciplinary work Puberty: A Memoir as a part of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival and The Bride in association with aceartinc.
Andraea Sartison is a multi-disciplinary performance artist with a special interest in performer-created theatre. Upon completing her Bachelors of Theatre at the University of Alberta in 2009 she assisted with design and direction for Hello, Hello(Kill Your Television) in Edmonton.
Last summer, she wrote, produced, directed and performed in Winnipeg Fringe hit Just One Spark, followed by her artistic residency at the Canada Summer Games in PEI. Across the country and, most recently, at the High Performance Rodeo (One Yellow Rabbit) in Calgary, she performed as Ruthie Ann in PIG(Cowgirl Opera). Most recently she has performed in Puberty: A Memoir at the 2010 Winnipeg Fringe or in The Bride in association with acearctinc. Sartison also produced and co-wrote both productions with her cooperative One Trunk.
Sartison works part time at the West End Cultural Centre and teaches at Manitoba Theatre for Young People in Winnipeg. Her upcoming performances include Chloe (a one woman show she began developing in 2007) at Sarasvati's FemFest in Winnipeg, and Liars with Manitoba Theatre for Young People. She is also developing an adaptation of "The Big Gravel Sifter" for the Manitoba Theatre Centers Master Playwrite Festival: Strindberg Fest for production in January.
