Resonance // Ecology // Joy
WAIL is a choreographic poem for our fractured moment.
Six performers move through a shifting landscape of sound, light, and breath, their bodies echoing the patterns and distortions of the natural world. Drawing from botanical forms and auditory illusion, the work becomes a living ecosystem where motion and vibration feed each other—fragile, unruly, and alive.
WAIL immerses audiences in a multi-sensory meditation on coexistence. Amid contrast and chaos, the work finds its rhythm in the act of collective joy: a wail that is both grief and celebration, a sound that gathers us back into the body of the world.
Action at a Distance is based on the West Coast on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. The company is led by Artistic Director Vanessa Goodman and Artistic Producer Hilary Maxwell. Their work carries meaning beyond aesthetics, using choreography as a means to explore liminality within humanity. This exploration questions the boundaries of the human experience, emphasizing the interconnectedness of bodies, technology, and the natural world.
Their choreographic practice weaves together generative movement and sonic embodiment, creating immersive performative environments that aim to expand notions of identity, post-humanism and agency. Through their work, they seek to cultivate intimacy between the body and its surroundings, examining how these relationships redefine what it means to be an individual in a rapidly changing world. The company challenges conventional forms of performative hierarchy through collaborative approaches, inviting varied voices to reshape narratives around corporeality and existence.
Goodman has received several awards and honours for the Company’s works, including The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2013), The Yulanda M. Faris Scholarship (2017/18), The Chrystal Dance Prize (2019 and 2024), the Schultz Endowment from the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019), The Isadora Award (2025) and participation in the Space to Fail program (2019/20) through Hyde Productions (NZ), Critical Path (AU), and The Dance Centre (CA). Longstanding collaborations include Graveyards and Gardens with Caroline Shaw, BLOT with Simona Deaconsecu, and multiple works with Loscil (Scott Morgan), Brady Marks, and James Proudfoot. Their works have toured Canada, the United States, Europe, and South America.
Vanessa Goodman (Canada)
Vanessa Goodman is the Artistic Director of the Action at a Distance Dance Society. In her work, she uses dance and choreography to explore humanity in all its complexity—and to expand the range of possibilities for artistic inquiry.
Vanessa Goodman lives on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Coast Salish peoples.
CREATED AND DIRECTED BY Action at a Distance/Vanessa Goodman
Co-authored with performing artists: Anya Saugstad, Ryan Jackson, Shion Skye Carter, Hayley Gawthrop, Allison Lang, Natalia Martineau
Sonic Mentor: Brady Marks
Lighting Designer: James Proudfoot, Jack Chipman, Vanessa Goodman Dramaturge: Fay NassTechnical Director: Jack Chipman
Co-producers: The Dance Centre, Music on Main + PuSH International Arts Festival
CREATED WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM The Dance Centre and Canada Council for the Arts
SAT, FEB 7TH, 2026
Doors open 6 pm / ARTIST TALK: 6.45 PM
PERFORMANCE: 7.30 PM