FURIOUS GRACE DANCE THEATRE
PAPER MOUNTAINS
Anya Saugstad / Furious Grace Dance Theatre
May 10th, 7.30 pm
“ The forest dies and dies and dies again, and so it lives”.
Paper mountains is a work that embodies times of emergence, evolution and growth.We have been asking ourselves throughout this work “what does it mean to burn down and regrow again?”
Paper Mountains premiered at The Scotiabank Dance Centre for Dance in Vancouver in November 2024 and will be touring throughout BC in 2025 and 2026. We are thrilled to be sharing this work with the bowen Community where Anya grew up.
Anya Allegra Saugstad is a dancer and choreographer based in Vancouver BC, on the unceded territory of the Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh', Stó:lō and Səlílwətaʔ/ Selilwitulh, and xwməθkwəyə̓ m First Nations. Anya trained at ArtsUmbrella, and has a BFA in Dance from Simon Fraser University. As a dancer, Anya has toured with Action at a Distance / Vanessa Goodman through the USA, Canada, and Germany performing “Graveyards and Gardens” and “Core/Us” (2021-2023).
Anya Saugstad is the Artistic Director of Furious Grace Dance Theatre, (originally Judith Garay’s company Dancers Dancing). Furious Grace / Anya Saugstad create live collaborative performance works in theaters and outdoors. Anya builds vigorous and physical ensemble choreography to express stories that encompass strength, celebration, and yearning. Her work is often inspired by nature and animals.
Anya has created works for Ballet Edmonton, ArtsUmbrella, LamonDance, Simon Fraser University, Method Dance Company, and Coastal City Ballet. Anya’s work has been presented through The Scotiabank Dance Centre (Dance in Vancouver), Dance Deck (Belle Spirale), Dance West Network, Crimson Coast Dance, The Rotary Center for the Arts, and has had her work presented throughout BC, in Montreal, Edmonton, and Toronto.
In the Undercurrent
Paper Mountains: a must see dance show at the Bowen Theatre
By Gail Lotenberg
How we arrived at the upcoming presentation of Paper Mountains at the new Bowen Theatre on May 10 is a classic Bowen story. It starts with a child from our island who emerged to become one of Vancouver’s most celebrated choreographers. Anya Saugstad’s work entitled Paper Mountains soon will be the first dance piece to grace the stage of the Bowen Theatre. The piece will take your breath away. But how it ended up here is totally Bowen.
It began in early 2021 (during the pandemic) when I was sitting in a theatre to see my first dance performance in nearly a year. Suddenly a screen appeared on stage and a dance film was projected. Two dancers appeared and performed a piece by a choreographer I admire, but one dancer utterly captivated me. She was exceptional; full of power and conviction and thrilling abandon in her movement. I was riveted for the whole film. Then the credits rolled and there it was: “Anya Saugstad” appeared boldly on the screen. With a jolt, I realized that she was that mesmerizing dancer, and she had been the girl I knew as a young dance student on Bowen Island. And then the young determined teen who trekked off Bowen for years to attend Arts Umbrella for the full-day dance program.
Since that film, Anya has had my attention (and my support) as she has gone on to be featured in national and regional arts presentations, publications, and has won awards recognizing her excellence as a choreographer. As a dancer, Anya has toured with some of Vancouver’s most prestigious dance companies in Canada, Europe and the US, treating audiences to her signature style of vigour and grace, precision and yearning. You will not soon forget her movement, her language.
Now Anya Saugstad is coming back to Bowen Island with her most celebrated choreographic work to date. Anya’s company of 5 dancers will perform Paper Mountains at the new Bowen Theatre on May 10 at 7:30pm. Tickets and information are available at the Hearth Arts on Bowen website.
And if you have a young dancer in your world, bring them to the show. It is important that they believe that some dreamers dream big enough to make it through to the world of professional arts. And Bowen today may have many kids who, like Anya, make it through, thanks to the excellence of the Kelly Konno Studio to give them the right head start.