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Thursday, March 28, 2024

20 questions with Jennifer Mascall

Meet Vancouver-based choreographer and Artistic Director of MascallDance, Jennifer Mascall.

Meet Jennifer Mascall

Jennifer Mascall has dedicated her artistic practice to investigating the full potential of the human body as it moves in space, with the aim to expand preconceived notion of contemporary dance. Not only does she create dance, but she also lectures, teaches, edits, and engages in dialogue about the present and future state of the art form. With MascallDance, Jennifer has built a reputation for pushing boundaries, by creating innovative, challenging, and often humourous work. She enjoys cross-disciplinary experimentation, developing connections with collaborations from diverse artistic fields. Jennifer was one of the first graduates of the dance program at York University, she headed west as a solo dancer, to first co-found the collective EDAM, and then establish MascallDance in the late ‘80s.

20 Questions with Jennifer Mascall

1. Your first job.

Writing fortunes for fortune cookies..

2. The job you always wanted as a child.

Butcher.

3. Your pet peeve.

Parking in the city. My studio is in the West End which means I have to stop working every two hours to move my car.

4. Your hero.

Toni Morrison.

5. Your biggest indulgence.

Lavish bouquets of flowers.

6. One thing no one knows about you (and you’re willing to share).

When I was a young dancer, I was the movement coach at the Stratford Festival for the summer, I had to teach all the actors a minuet. Only problem was, I had never learnt to do one myself!

7. Three things you would want with you on a deserted island.

My three children.

8. The one word your best friend would use to describe you.

Lionhearted.

9. If you were not a choreographer what would you be doing right now?

A homeopath or midwife, an architect or doctor.

10. Hero or villain.

Hero.

11. Your life’s motto/mantra.

If I can’t dance, I don’t want to be part of your revolution!

12. Your favourite type of dance.

Tap dance.

13. The last book you read.

Thinking the 20th Century, by Tony Judt.

14. If you were a cartoon character which cartoon character would you be?

Cruella de Vil.

15. What will it say on your grave marker?

She danced, everyday.

16. Who would you most like to have dinner with?

Peter Brook.

17. Your idea of happiness.

Riding my bicycle, heading to the library to scout out new books.

18. If you could go back in time, what would you tell your twenty year old self?

A leopard can’t change its spots.

19. The one thing in your life that makes you most proud.

That I’ve been able to make my living as a dance artist for 40 years.

20. Pirouette or fouette?

Fouette, because art often takes a quick turn in the opposite direction!

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