Léda Davies is a multidisciplinary theatre, movement, and circus artist with a penchant for new creation and a unique lens to her storytelling. Her artistic journey began at a young age through dance and gymnastics, adding theatre and film to her experience as a teenager. Léda used the decade of her 20s to complete a BFA at the University of Calgary, explore site-specific and collaborative work through her role as artistic associate with Swallow-A-Bicycle, while also garnering Betty nominations for her work as an actor in the Calgary theatre community. Leda also honed her artistic esthetic during this time through her training with One Yellow Rabbit, using the Summer Lab Intensive to combine her broad background and explore storytelling through movement and the body. From there, Léda moved to Montréal to study circus arts in deeper way and also trained at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance, adding the Art of Clown to her repertoire. These experiences culminated in the birth of The Screaming Goats Collective (co-founded with her most awesomest of ex-husbands Jed Tomlinson) and the creation of Persephone Bound, a theatrical retelling of the myth of Persephone using, text, poetry, percussion and aerial circus to explore issues of sexual consent. The show was nominated for five Meta’s (Montreal English Theatre Awards) winning two and was the catalyst for the development of a new pedagogy in multidisciplinary creation and physical storytelling. Léda further developed this pedagogy while completing an MFA from the University of Alberta and applying it to her current project, Fish at the Bottom of the Sea. Léda is a visionary in her field and has worked tirelessly to explore, understand, and push the limits of the physical body as a tool for storytelling and a fertile ground for tapping into emotional honesty. All while supporting Canada’s artistic community, embracing a social conscience, and changing the way we see live performance.
-Written by Jed Tomlinson, former collaborator
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Which neighbourhood are you in?
Renfrew
What do you do?
I am a circus artist and the creative lead of The Screaming Goats Collective, a non-profit circus company in Moh’kins’tsis, Calgary.
What are you currently working on?
I’m in the process of rehearsing for my show Fish at the Bottom of the Sea, which will be part of Free Falling: A Contemporary Circus Double-Bill that explores the depth of loss and hope through the powerful mediums of circus and storytelling.
Where can we find your work?
Free Falling will be presented at cSpace Marda Loop, Calgary, AB on November 28–29 at 7:30 pm & November 30 at 2 pm, tickets here.
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