Constance Cooke: is a Canadian Dance Artist who enjoys the privilege of living and creating on the unceded Coast Salish Territory of the Lekwungen and W̱SÁNEĆ nations, in Victoria B.C. Cooke has attracted and cultivated curious, open and intelligent audiences for contemporary and experimental work for over 30 years
Her works for stage and screendance have been presented by Dancing on the Edge, Th
e Reel Film Festival, The American Dance Festival, Romp, Dance Matters, Fleck Dance Theatre- Dance Ontario, Dance Victoria and more. . Her first solo work was created on dancer Mary-Louise Albert, her first ensemble work created with members of Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers. Cooke has self-produced her work for over 25 years mounting 10 full length-works and numaerous mixed programmes, she has been commissioned to create work for both Independent Dance Artists and Canadian Dance Companies. Cooke is a guest choreographer, teacher, and mentor with Professional Training Programmes, Intensives and Mentorship Programmes across Canada. She has been the recipient of numerous awards, scholarships and grants from The Canada Council of the Arts, BC Arts Council, The Manitoba Arts Council, The Vancouver Foundation, BC Hydro and Dance Victoria. Cooke leads screendance intensives, workshops and mentorships with artists from across the globe. She has taught screendance for Professional Training Programs, Dance Presenters and Festivals including The School of Contemporary Dancers, The Dance Centre, The CanAsian Dance Festival, D4 The Camera International Intensives and more. Cooke has curated screendance events for The Reel Film Festival, Media-Net and D4 Camera and been on selection committees with Dance Camera West, and Utah Screendance Festival. Cooke has had the absolute delight to co-teach with screendance legends David Hinton and Ellen Bromberg and in 2015 was awarded support to attend the first Symposium of Teachers of Screen Dance hosted by the American Dance Festival and lead by Douglas Rosenberg and Katrina McPherson. In March 2020 Cooke began teaching movement for the frame online and continues to virtually mentor both video and dance artists during these times of COVID. In January of 2021 Cooke taught an online screendance workshop in conjunction with Dance Victoria that attracted over 100 participants from across the Globe.
