Assembly Hall
Kidd Pivot (Vancouver)
Created by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young
World Premiere
2025 Olivier award winner for “Best New Dance Production”
A group of medieval re-enactors have come together for an Annual General Meeting in their local community hall.
As the Board of Directors, they oversee an event called “Quest Fest” that has fallen on hard times:
membership is dwindling, debt is mounting, and the hall is falling apart. Unless something drastic happens,
the Directors of this venerable order will be facing dissolution. As the meeting progresses,
the line between real and re-enactment begins to blur, ancient forces are awoken, and it soon becomes clear
that there is something much more at stake here than a mock-medieval tournament.
From the team that brought you the ground-breaking, award-winning productions of
Betroffenheit
and
Revisor,
comes Kidd Pivot’s latest offering: a dance theatre hybrid that promises the company’s signature wit and invention.
Fuelling Kidd Pivot’s work is a fascination with story and the role of language as an animating force.
Presentation Supporters
Anndraya Luui
Sonya Wall
Top image: Kidd Pivot, Renée Sigouin in Assembly Hall © Michael Slobodian.
October 25-28, 2023 | 8pm
Preview on October 25 & World Premiere on October 26
Vancouver Playhouse
600 Hamilton Street
Running time: approximately 90 minutes
Pre-show Talks: October 27 & 28, 7:15pm (Upper Lobby)
Guests: Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young
Moderators: Marcus Youssef (Oct 27), Carmen Aguirre (Oct 28)
“Pite is an image-maker of rare distinction.”
The Australian
“Jonathon Young is radiant. This guy always looks like he’s lit from within.”
The Georgia Straight
“Utterly compelling…one of the most visually memorable and emotionally powerful performances of the festival.”
Chris O’Rourke, The Examiner (Dublin)
“The choreography and performances…were enthralling, I was so engrossed I nearly forgot to breathe…an evening of dance/theatre that’s as thrilling as it is affecting.”
Mooney on Theatre
Sometimes these things begin with a concrete premise or proposition, but we were starting from scratch. It was early spring, and we were meeting over coffee one bright morning for the first conversation about our next project. Neither of us knew what the other was thinking and both had come with only the faintest inkling about what terrain we might want to explore next.
By the end of that meeting though, a group of individuals had assembled in our imagination. They were gathered around the remnants of an old story – a story, it seemed to us then, that they were caring for and keeping alive. Were they Historians? Folklorists? Conservators? How had this story drawn them into its orbit? What was the connection? Perhaps these people needed this story as much as the story needed them. Or perhaps the story itself was secondary to that age-old human need to congregate; to participate in a communal activity; to be recognized and feel a sense of belonging. Then Spring became Summer, and Summer, Fall. Then Winter came and before we knew it, a year had passed.
A quick scan through our various exchanges over the course of that year reveals something of the meandering route we took to arrive at Assembly Hall. Although many signposts were left along the way, with headings written in bold above paragraphs of what seemed essential information at the time, the truth is, many of the paths we so eagerly blazed are now overgrown. Here are some examples from the trail:
The Shirt of St. Louis. The Lund Astronomical Clock. An Automated Display of Two-dimensional Figures. A Collection of Fragile Artifacts. An Unexpected Reunion, by Johann Peter Hebel.
“The spirits that I summoned I now cannot rid myself of again.” Goethe
The Quest to Fail, the Medieval Presence in Modernist Literature, by Jonathan Ullyot.
From Ritual to Romance, by Jessie Weston. Perceval, by Chrétien De Troyes.
The Chapel Perilous. The Harrowing of Hell. The Hour of Recollection.
“Absence is the form God’s presence takes in this world.” Simone Weil
The Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. A History of the Elks.
The Society for Creative Anachronism.
“There is no death.” Guy W. Ballard.
Roberts’ Rules of Order. Ten Laws for Great Governance. A Bunch of Amateurs by Kim Hopkins.
A small community hall used by a variety of different groups.
Was there a more obvious, more direct route to get here? It may have been more efficient to avoid the forest and stay on the road. Then again, if we’d taken a different route, with a different group of people, this particular hall might never have been found. Despite its many mysteries, Assembly Hall emerged from familiar memories. It’s as though we spent some of our childhood here attending recitals, or fundraisers, or ceremonies, or pageants, or potlucks. It was built by a group of people who came together on a common quest; A group of people who sat together, hour after hour, conjuring it, sketching it, speaking it into existence, listening for how it sounded, and for what it might say. A group of people who struggled to maintain and restore it when it seemed on the verge of falling apart; A group of people who believed in it and fought for it at each twist and turn. A group of people who, through the passing of seasons, filled this little hall with life. Welcome. We’re grateful you’re here.
– Jonathon and Crystal
Kidd Pivot
Integrating movement, original music, text, and rich visual design,
Kidd Pivot’s
performance work is assembled with recklessness and rigour, balancing sharp exactitude with irreverence and risk. Under the direction of internationally renowned Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite, the company’s distinct choreographic language — a breadth of movement fusing classical elements and the complexity and freedom of structured improvisation — is marked by a strong theatrical sensibility and a keen sense of wit and invention.
Kidd Pivot tours extensively around the world with productions such as
Betroffenheit (2015),
The Tempest Replica (2011),
The You Show (2010),
Dark Matters (2009), and
Lost Action (2006).
Since 2015, Kidd Pivot has measured its touring carbon footprint and offset over 400 tonnes of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), enabling Kidd Pivot to be one of the first dance companies to tour carbon neutral.
Crystal Pite
Artistic Director, Co-Creator, Choreographer, Director
In a choreographic career spanning three decades, Crystal Pite has created over 50 works for companies including The Royal Ballet, The Paris Opera Ballet, Nederlands Dans Theater I, Cullberg Ballet, Ballett Frankfurt, The National Ballet of Canada, Ballets Jazz Montréal (resident choreographer 2001–04), and Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet. Pite is a Member of the Order of Canada, and is the recipient of numerous awards including the Benois de la Danse, Canada Council Jacqueline Lemieux Prize, Grand Prix de la danse de Montréal, two UK Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, four Laurence Olivier Awards, and the 2022 Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. She began her dance career as a company member of Ballet British Columbia (Ballet BC), then William Forsythe’s Ballett Frankfurt, and is currently Associate Choreographer of Nederlands Dans Theater I, Associate Dance Artist of Canada’s National Arts Centre, and Associate Artist at Sadler’s Wells in London. She holds an honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University and is a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2002, she formed Kidd Pivot in Vancouver.
Jonathon Young
Co-creator, Writer and Director, Voice Actor
Jonathon Young is playwright-in-residence at Kidd Pivot and a core artist and co-founder of Electric Company Theatre, where he has created and performed in over 20 original productions since the company was formed in 1996. He has worked as an actor on stages across Canada including Soulpepper Theatre (King Lear), Coalmine Theatre (Knives in Hens), Luminato Festival, Vancouver Playhouse (Full Light of Day), Necessary Angel (All but Gone), Theatre Calgary (No Exit, The Great Gatsby), Bard on the Beach (Hamlet). Assembly Hall is the third full-length work created with Crystal Pite after Betroffenheit (2015) and Revisor (2019). In addition, he wrote the text for two projects at Nederlands Dans Theater (Parade and The Statement). Jonathon is the recipient of the UK National Dance Award.
Owen Belton
Composition and Sound Design
Owen Belton lives in Vancouver, Canada and graduated from Simon Fraser University with a degree in Fine and Performing Arts (concentration Music). He has been composing for dance for the last 25 years as well as creating sound design and music for live theatre for the past 15 years. Owen has created pieces for The Paris Opera, Ballet Nuremberg, Electric Company Theatre, The Arts Club, as well as Nederlands Dans Theatre and of course Kidd Pivot.
Alessandro Juliani
Composition and Sound Design, Voice Actor
Alessandro is a Vancouver-based multi-disciplinary artist. He has previously collaborated with Kidd Pivot as a composer and sound designer on Revisor, Betroffenheit, and Tempest Replica. Other credits include: The Lady from the Sea, Trifles, Prince Caspian, On The Razzle and Middletown (Shaw Festival/Crow’s Theatre), To Kill A Mockingbird (Stratford Festival); The Great Leap, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, Saint Joan, Master Class, The Penelopiad (Arts Club); Coriolanus, Timon of Athens, The Tempest, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Troilus and Cressida, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Bard on the Beach; King Lear, NAC; All the Way Home, Palace Grand, Electric Company; Vigil, Mark Taper Forum, A.C.T., Theatre Calgary; You Used to Call Me Marie, Savage Society; Bunny, Search Party; Little Women, Theatre Calgary; The Madonna Painter, Centaur Theatre; The Miracle Worker, Equus, Vancouver Playhouse. Film and TV credits include: Donkeyhead, Netflix; Big Trees, NFB; Wait for Rain, Motion 58.
Meg Roe
Voice Direction, Composition and Sound Designer, Voice Actor
Meg’s work as an actor, director, composer, sound designer, and dramaturg has been seen across Canada at Crows Theatre, Shaw Festival, Theatre Calgary, Canadian Stage, Factory Theatre, PuSh Festival, Alberta Theatre Projects, SoulPepper, Bard on the Beach, Theatre Junction, Citadel Theatre, Ruby Slippers Theatre, Electric Company Theatre, Blackbird Theatre, Theatre Aquarius, Arts Club, Belfry, Theatre SKAM, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Catalyst Theatre, RealWheels, Intrepid Theatre, Elbow Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse, Western Canada Theatre, National Arts Centre, Centaur Theatre, The Banff Centre, Yukon Arts Centre, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Why Not Theatre, Savage Society, vAct, Theatre Replacement, Rumble Theatre, The Cultch, Prairie Theatre Exchange, Luminato Festival, and internationally with the American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco), Center Theater Group (Los Angeles), and as a collaborator with Crystal Pite’s Kidd Pivot. She scored Esie Mensah’s short film Tessel, and Why Not Theatre’s feature What You Won’t Do For Love.
Jay Gower Taylor
Scenic Design
As a scenic designer Jay Gower Taylor has collaborated with Crystal Pite since 2008, creating onstage environments for works such as Figures in Extinction [1.0], The Statement, Parade, Plot Point, Frontier, Solo Echo, In the Event and Partita for 8 Dancers, for Nederlands Dans Theater 1; Emergence and Angels’ Atlas (a co-production with Zurich Ballet) for the National Ballet of Canada; Polaris for Sadler’s Wells; The Seasons’ Canon and Body and Soul for The Paris Opera Ballet; and Flight Pattern / Light of Passage for The Royal Ballet. For Kidd Pivot, he designed Dark Matters, The Tempest Replica, Betroffenheit, and most recently, Revisor.
Nancy Bryant
Costume Design
Nancy Bryant works widely as a designer in dance, theatre, opera and film. Her home is on the west coast of Canada in Vancouver. Previous collaborations with Pite include Body and Soul and The Seasons’ Canon (Paris Opera), Flight Pattern (Royal Ballet), Figures in Extinction, Partita, Parade and Plot Point (Nederlands Dans Theater), Revisor, The Tempest Replica (Kidd Pivot) and Betroffenheit (Kidd Pivot/Electric Co.), Angels’ Atlas (National Ballet of Canada / Zurich Opera House), and most recently, Light of Passage (Royal Ballet / Norwegian National Ballet). Bryant’s work has brought her together with various teams of designers, directors, writers and choreographers to theatres and workshops across Canada, the USA, the UK and Europe. Her approach to costume design has been influenced by her visual arts background and years of exceptional collaborations with Canada’s most innovative theatre artists.
Tom Visser
Lighting Design
Tom Visser grew up in the countryside of west Ireland. At the age of 18 he started working in music theatre through his theatrical family and in dance through the Nederlands Dans Theater. Since 2005 he has created original designs for choreographers including Crystal Pite, Alexander Ekman, Johan Inger, Stijn Celis, Lukas Timulak, Sharon Eyal, Hofesh Shechter, and more.
Cybèle Young
Video Design
Cybèle Young is a multidisciplinary artist and author best known for her intricate Japanese paper installations and children’s books. More recently, her practice has encompassed photography, ceramics, stop-motion film, video, and kinetic works. Young’s works form relationships where the mundane coincides with the surreal, and the ebb and flow of growth and regression reside on equal planes. Sculptures manifest as one-act plays, and large tableaux map clues to epic stories. She studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design, has mounted over twenty solo and thirty group exhibitions, and has received multiple grants and awards, including Canada’s Governor General’s Award. Cybèle is represented by Forum Gallery NYC, and her books are published worldwide, currently with Penguin Random House.
Eric Chad
Show Control and Sound Programmer
Eric Chad is a lighting/projection artist and show control/integration specialist based in Vancouver, B.C. Eric’s work blends interactive elements, generative design, and live tracking into his love for natural forms. Recent credits include works with Emma Portner, Electric Company Theatre, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Crystal Pite, Action at a Distance, Joe Ink, Plastic Orchid Factory, Shay Kubler Radical System Art, Kidd Pivot, and Chuthis. Eric is a founding member and current Technical Director of Lobe Studio in Vancouver, the first permanent 4DSOUND venue in North America. He was also a primary designer on Sanctuary: The Dakota Bear Ancient Forest Experience, and The Canadian Pavilion at the Dubai Expo. Eric received his MFA from the University of British Columbia, and a BSc from McGill University.
Eric Beauchesne
Assistant to the Creators
Born in Québec, Eric has been on stage with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Badisches Staatstheater Karlsruhe and Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal, as well as with Canadian contemporary dance icons such as La Fondation Jean-Pierre Perrault, Paul-André Fortier, Louise Lecavalier and Crystal Pite. Company member since 2004, Eric now collaborates with Kidd Pivot as associate artistic director, and stages Pite’s work on companies worldwide. He has served as guest teacher for several organizations as well as rehearsal director for Nederlands Dans Theater. He currently resides in Holland and devotes his spare time advocating for climate action in the dance world.
Brandon Alley
Performer
Born and raised in North Carolina, Brandon Lee Alley is a multi-hyphenate artist residing on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish Peoples: Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. Brandon began his professional career with Hubbard Street 2 followed by one year with BODYTRAFFIC in LA. In 2015, he joined Ballet BC. After 5 seasons, he continued to perform and collaborate with numerous companies and artists within Vancouver such as Company 605, Idan Cohen and Rachel Meyer. In 2022, Brandon joined Kidd Pivot for Revisor and was a member of the final global tour. In 2019, Brandon co-founded Dance//Novella – a contemporary dance company based in Vancouver. In addition to creating dance, Brandon is also an Audio Engineer with a diploma from SAE North Vancouver. He has made several original scores for dance and is excited to continue developing his musical journey.
Livona Ellis
Performer
Livona Ellis was born in Vancouver on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəyə̓m (Musqueam), Sḵwxw̱ú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She has performed with Ballet BC (11 seasons), Buhnen Bern, Mascall Dance and Rachel Meyer. Livona has created works for Dances for a Small Stage, Dance Deck, Public Salon 2019, Contemporary Art Gallery Gala 2018, Arts Umbrella Season Finale, and Ballet BC Take Form. In 2017 she received the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award for Emerging Artist and in 2023 received the inaugural Louise Bentall Biennial Award for Emerging BC Choreographers.
Livona joined Kidd Pivot in June 2023 and is currently collaborating with NYC based artist Rebecca Margolick on the creation of their full length duet “Fortress”.
Rakeem Hardy
Performer
Rakeem Hardy (they/them), originally from Toronto, Canada, received their BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase College. In 2020, they were the recipient of the Thayer Fellowship Award. During their time at Purchase, they performed works by Ohad Naharin, Doug Varone, Sidra Bell, Norbert De La Cruz III, and Roderick George. Rakeem has had the pleasure of performing with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Loni Landon Dance Projects, and Gallim Dance. Rakeem joined Kidd Pivot in 2022.
Gregory Lau
Performer
Gregory Lau was born in Honolulu, Hawaii where he began his training at Mid-Pacific Institute School of the Arts. After attending The Juilliard School, he moved to join Nederlands Dans Theater 2 in 2013 and went on to join Nederlands Dans Theater 1 in 2016. After leaving the Nederlands he went on to join Kidd Pivot in 2019. Gregory was featured in Doja Cat’s 2021 VMAs performance. During his career he has helped to stage ballets for NDT2 and The Norwegian Opera & Ballet. He has been a recipient of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Award in both Modern Dance and Ballet. He has also worked with choreographers such as Jiří Kylián, Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Sharon Eyal, Camille A. Brown, Marco Goecke, Paul Lightfoot & Sol Leon, Hans Van Manen, Johan Inger, Medhi Walerski, Alexander Ekman, Imre & Marne Van Opstal and Bobbi Jean Smith.
Doug Letheren
Performer
Doug is from New Hampshire, USA, and is a graduate of The Juilliard School. He danced with Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Hell’s Kitchen Dance before joining the Batsheva Dance Company, where he worked with Ohad Naharin and Sharon Eyal from 2007–2012. Doug was then a founding member of Sharon’s company, L-E-V, until 2015, and danced with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch from 2016–2019. He has also performed with GoteborgsOperansDanskompani, Alan Lucien Øyen’s Winterguests, Aszure Barton, Adam Linder, Ella Rothschild, and in films such as Georgia Parris’ Mari for the BBC, and Apart and Voyeur, collaborations with dancer Silas Henriksen, filmmaker Cecilie Semec, and the Norwegian Opera and Ballet. Doug has been a choreographic assistant to Sharon Eyal, Adam Linder, and Bobbi Smith for companies such as Nederlands Dans Theater, Royal Swedish Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, and Ballet de Lorraine. He is a recipient of the 2007 Movado Future Legends Award, nominated by Mikhail Baryshnikov, and a 2019 “Der Faust” German Theater Prize nominee for Dancer of the Year. Doug joined Kidd Pivot in 2018.
Rena Narumi
Performer
Rena Narumi was born in Japan. She trained at Centre d’art chorégraphique Franco-Japonais in Paris and the Arts Umbrella Dance Graduate Program in Vancouver under the direction of Artemis Gordon and Lynn Shepard. After graduation, she performed with ProArteDanza, Hessischen Staatstheaters Wiesbaden, Royal Swedish Ballet (RSB), and Nederlands Dans Theater 1 (NDT1). She has worked with renowned choreographers such as Mats Ek, Crystal Pite, Ohad Naharin, Sol Leon/Paul Lightfoot, Johan Inger, Alexander Ekman, Orjan Andersson, Sharon Eyal, Franck Chartier/Gabriela Carrizo (Peeping Tom), Emily Molnar, and more. With RSB she performed the main role of Juliet in Juliet and Romeo by Mats Ek in theatres including Paris Opera Garnier and Sadler’s Wells in London. With NDT1, she toured globally. She was an apprentice with Kidd Pivot for season 2010/2011, part of the artistic team for The You Show. Rena is delighted to be rejoined with Kidd Pivot.
Ella Rothschild
Performer
Ella Rothschild was born in Israel and is a choreographer, multidisciplinary artist and dancer. Since 2010, Rothschild has been creating her own works in collaboration with artists from different disciplines. Her works include: Acord, 12 Postdated Checks, Judah, Jesus with Soy, Sal, Flood, Dood, IMO the mouth is redundant, Feed, Timeline, Futuristic Space, Unpair, and Formula. Rothschild received the Rosenblum Performing-Arts Award by the city of Tel-Aviv for Promising Creator (2016), and the Israeli Ministry of Culture Award for Best Solo Performer (2017). From 2013 to 2023, she created and performed twelve works in Israel, Europe, Japan, and the US. In 2020 she received a residency at Baryshnikov Arts Center (NYC) and was named an artist-in-residence in the Suzanne Dellal Centre’s inaugural residency program, where she created Pigulim. In 2021 she created Summer Snow, On the Edge of Nowhere, and A Year Without Summer (a trilogy for Batsheva Dance Company). In 2023 she created Milk Teeth for Kammerballetten Festival (Copenhagen) and is creating a new work for Royal Ballet of Flanders, set to Stravinsky’s Petrushka.
Renée Sigouin
Performer
Renée was born in Saskatchewan and moved to Vancouver in 2008. Since graduating from Modus Operandi contemporary dance program in 2012, she has performed in several works with Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY, Company 605, Wen Wei Dance, Mascall Dance, Kinesis Somatheatro, and EDAM. She joined Kidd Pivot in 2018.
Ryan Beil
Voice Actor
Ryan Beil is a comedian, actor and writer based in Vancouver, BC. He holds a BFA in acting from the University of British Columbia and has become a fixture on local stages. He has won two Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards. Selected Theatre Credits: Angels In America, Parts 1&2 – Arts Club; Twelfth Night / Comedy of Errors – Bard On The Beach; Billy Bishop Goes To War – Arts Club/Belfry; Undeveloped Sound – Electric Company. Ryan is also involved in the world of film and television, with two Leo Awards to his name. Selected Film/TV Credits: iZombie – The CW; Mech X4 – Disney; The X-Files – FOX; Trial & Error – ABC; You, Me, Her – eOne; Are You Afraid of the Dark, Nickelodeon; Turner & Hooch, Disney. You can also catch Ryan every Sunday at the Fox Cabaret in Vancouver, performing with The Sunday Service: the legendary improv comedy troupe he co-founded.
Marci T. House
Voice Actor
Marci T. House is an American/Canadian (Canerican) actress of stage, voice, film/TV, and also a producer. Hailing from the south side of Chicago, she now makes her home in Vancouver, BC. Marci is a NAACP Theater Award (Los Angeles) and Jessie Theatre Award (Vancouver, BC) nominated actress and set designer, and now works as a professional actor in both the U.S. and Canada. A graduate of Louisiana Tech University (B.Arch.) and the University of Illinois Chicago (MUPP), she not only studied acting, but also architecture, urban planning, policy and design. Marci has also trained with Diane Hardin (Young Actors Space-LA), Bill Duke (Actor’s Boot Camp-Miami & LA), Miche
Carmen Aguirre
Carmen Aguirre is an award-winning theatre artist and author, and an Electric Company Theatre Core Artist. She has written and co-written over twenty-five plays and the #1 international bestseller Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter (2012 CBC Canada Reads winner), and its bestselling sequel, Mexican Hooker #1 and My Other Roles Since the Revolution. Her new play Fire Never Dies: The Tina Modotti Project will premiere at the 2024 Chutzpah! Festival. She is currently directing Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding at Studio 58. Carmen is a 2020 Siminovitch Prize finalist, and a graduate of Studio 58.
Marcus Youssef
Marcus is a playwright and theatremaker. His fifteen or so plays have been produced in more than twenty countries across North America, Europe and Asia, from Seattle to New York to Reykjavik to Venice, London, Vienna, Hong Kong, Athens and Berlin. Marcus is a recipient of Canada’s largest theatre award, the Siminovitch Prize for Theatre, for his body of work as a playwright, as well as the Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award, Berlin, Germany’s Ikarus Prize, the Rio-Tinto Alcan Performing Arts Award, the Chalmer’s Canadian Play Award, and the Vancouver Critic’s Innovation Award (three times). Marcus co-founded the artist-run production centre Progress Lab 1422, where he led Vancouver’s Neworld T
