Simon Fraser University

Soon after it opened in 1965, Simon Fraser University became well known for the eclectic and radical activities regularly occurring on top of the mountain throughout the 1970s. It was a frenetic time of experimentation and exploration, and that vitality spanned across disciplines and departments to create a unique “scene” that had “a lively art vision,” in the words of Jennifer Mascall. Practitioners of music, theatre, film, visual arts, writing, and dance sought out opportunities to blend art forms together, and this creative energy drew people in as active participants and audiences for events, classes, and workshops which pushed against the boundaries of academic departments and the institution itself.  

The dance program, initially an uncredited program that began in 1965, consisted of a dance club and a series of non-credit workshops run by Iris Garland that welcomed registered students and the general community.(6) Classes were held in the basement studio of Simon Fraser University theatre on the mountain. Iris Garland was a faculty member in the Physical Department Centre at Simon Fraser and she pushed hard to develop a dance department, which eventually established under the for-credit program and came to fruition in 1975 under the Centre for Communication and the Arts, known simply as “The Centre.”(7)

The Dance Department (via Iris Garland and administrator Nini Baird) invited many artists and dancers to do semester-long workshops and to do performances for the non-credit program. Garland, herself an American hailing from Chicago, regularly brought in international and American guests who went on to inspire and influence the emerging generation of dance students:

Savannah Walling also highlights key facilities for emerging practitioners at the university, specifically the Mainstage Theatre:

“Simon Fraser University’s theatre stage was an ideal venue for dance and it was accessible for emerging choreographers. You didn’t have to pay for the cost of the lighting equipment, technicians, and the venue. There was a willingness to try anything, and a formidable rigour brought in by dance artists like Phyllis Lamhut, exciting and very challenging.”

The Political Environment & the American Influence at SFU

The social and political ideologies of the ‘60s and ‘70s had a profound impact on the intellectual and creative activities that were occurring at Simon Fraser during this time, especially due to the strong presence of American students and teachers (many of whom were Draft Dodgers) that were present on campus.

“At that time, the Dance Department at SFU [Simon Fraser University] was starting as well and that was important. There were people working in the community that did come out of the SFU Dance Department. Certainly through SFU, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, a lot of the professors were American, so they brought that American story to Vancouver. I don't think there was too much sustained support for the Vancouver history of dance coming from SFU back then. Peter Dickinson might be changing that now, through his writing and interests, but in the past, historically, there hasn't been because I guess the early professors were from America, they knew American history, they didn't know Canadian history. They didn't know Vancouver history, so that's too bad. I can tell you even in the ‘60s and ‘70s that our artists were worthy of being talked about. Vancouver has always been known as a hotbed of dancers.” - Kaija Pepper

As a student himself during this era, Terry Hunter recognized the power of choreography and the body as a charged and symbolic site to make political and social statements: 

People & Companies

Many other notable individuals were contributing to the dynamic environment at Simon Fraser during this period and many went on to establish acclaimed careers, collectives, and companies across the city and beyond:

• Jennifer Mascall: “SFU was up on the hill in Burnaby at that time [1979], and Murray Farr had developed an international performance series that had no competition so everybody went there to see new work.”
  

• Max Wyman: “There were certainly the theatre groups at Simon Fraser doing their own thing. John Juliani was the head of Theatre there and he was trying to develop a kind of elemental style of form, of movement – sort of [Jerzy] Grotowski crossed with Peter Brook. People lived their art. John [Juliani] lived his art. He and Donna, his wife, got married at the end of a performance at one of their shows.”
  
  

• Savannah Walling: “The marriage of theatre director John Juliani and Donna Wong in January 1970 was both theatre and living ceremony: the story of their lives from conception to wedding day.”
  
  

• Barbara Bourget: “Well, Iris Garland was involved in the actual Burnaby Mountain Dance Theater, but when it became Mountain Dance Theater, it was Freddie Long and Mauryne Allan. Mauryne Allan came out of Simon Fraser, she had trained there. Simon Fraser had [a dance program there], I think it started in 1975? So that opened up possibilities for people in this area of the world.”
  
  

• Kaija Pepper: “Mountain Dance Theater came out of SFU, and they were very important at the time too. They didn't last long. There’s also Mauryne Allan, who was one of the founders, and won the first Clifford E. Lee choreographic award. That company [Mountain Dance Theatre] is under the radar now. Again, why? Because probably no one's written about them recently. One of the people involved in it [Mountain Dance Theatre] returned to the States. I think she was an American.”
  
  

In 1980, Grant Strate, who had developed Canada’s first dance program at York University in 1970, took over as the Director of the Centre for the Arts (now known as The School for Contemporary Arts, or SCA) at Simon Fraser. In the words of Jennifer Mascall, a graduate of the first program year at York University: “What an amazing impresario Grant has been for forming the choreographic life in Toronto and in Vancouver and in Canada.”

Creature (1981) and Drum Mother (1982)

The musical presence at the Terminal City Dance studio was particularly influential for Terry Hunter who began exploring the combination of movement and percussion, which led to him developing “percussion-based characters,” such as Creature (1981), and later Drum Mother (1982). These pieces would eventually bring his work out beyond the walls of the studio into the streets below.

Hunter describes the development of Creature and Drum Mother in more detail: 

“Drum Mother (1982) led me to going outdoors so I became very inspired – this is when we were in Terminal City Dance – by the cultural traditions that were happening outside our door in Chinatown, on Pender street, and in the neighborhood where the line dancers are coming out, and the dragons are coming out, and there was hundreds and hundreds of people out there, and there were these mythical characters that were hundreds and hundreds of years old. I became really fascinated by cultural traditions that were embedded in the community and had been there for a millennia… a long time. At that time, we were doing a lot of work within the studio [as Terminal City Dance] and a lot of the work that we were doing was performing for other dance artists. Our audiences were very insular and small – it was a hot house, and it was very creative, but we were essentially performing primarily for other artists. I became very interested in the idea of taking art out into the community, so Drum Mother (1982) became a vehicle to do that, and Drum Mother (1982) actually appeared for the first time in the Chinese New Year's parade in 1982. Ahmed Hassan played the character. It [Drum Mother] was an unmasked character, but with this skirt and the drums in it, and we realized from there that it didn't quite work. We needed to cover the face up [laughs], because it didn't look mythical enough. It just looked strange. So, that character was developed. Drum Mother (1982) which then led to the creation of other characters (1983), which then led to appearances at the Children's Festival, and traveling across Canada to other festivals, and going international, and really doing work outdoors. That whole explosion of all that work, within the container of Terminal City Dance, grew out of that hothouse, but the hothouse became too small to contain all the visions and all the directions that the creative personnel within the organization were coming up with, right?”

 Western Front

Synergy Movement Workshop classes were initially held at a studio space on Granville Street and Robson Street in Downtown Vancouver. Later on, Synergy relocated to Western Front, an artist-run centre that opened in 1973 in the former Knights of Pythias Hall, just off of Main Street on 8th. Western Front served (and continues to operate) as an active interdisciplinary live-work space for artists. It was home to a large dance studio on the main floor, as well as The Luxe, a historic 120‐seat concert hall upstairs that was often used by resident, local, and visiting artists for performances, workshops, productions, dinners, etc. Western Front was well-known for bringing in artists from abroad. Indeed, Linda Rubin recalls Western Front creating “a public program [that] centred on bringing in international artists, musicians, and dancers, like Deborah Hay, to Vancouver. During the days when Synergy was located in Western Front, Synergy dancers would participate in these events as much as possible.”

“The Western Front, to me, because that's where I went and where I did contact [improv], seemed to be the centre of the art world. The curators and programers there seemed to know artists from all over the world, they had a vision. It [was] like, they're really doing things!” - Jennifer Mascall

Lola Ryan and Peter Bingham

It was around this time, during the mid-1970s, that Lola Ryan and Peter Bingham, two future members of Coming Out of Chaos, got their start in dance by attending Synergy classes with Linda Rubin. Kaija Pepper and Savannah Walling also attended Rubin’s classes. 

Linda Rubin recalls Lola Ryan and Peter Bingham in her classes: 

• Linda Rubin: “Lola Ryan joined Synergy before Peter Bingham. Lola was an athlete and she was deeply involved in running and competitive rowing before joining Synergy. She taught high school English and she would often adjust some of my language choices... a good thing. She was energetic, a leader, and highly analytical. In group discussions, and other conversations with me, she would instigate productive conversations surrounding the artistic and physical intricacies of the work. She worked diligently in the body work classes and became more physically released, flexible, and articulate. In the improvisation work, she was a positive contributor in advancing and evolving the main focus scenes. She had the patience to actively observe the work, as well as boldly make offers. Lola was fortunate to be a member of a group of dedicated dancers in Synergy at that time. In the late ‘70s, Lola began teaching contact workshops in the Synergy workshops schedule.”
  
  

• Linda Rubin: “Peter Bingham joined Synergy during the Weekend Workshop Projects. He had an influential introduction to Synergy’s body work, improvisation, and philosophy via his participation in that weekend. I believe his exposure to the strong dancers in the project was deeply influential and there was no turning him off. Peter began his training with challenges to develop his physical flexibility and articulation. Peter would throw himself into the work without many intellectual or imagistic restraints. He had abundant desire. Peter possessed a natural movement-loving physicality, and he expanded his abilities quickly. He nurtured and evolved a resourceful circle of colleagues through the workshops. The work made total sense to him, he was excited, and I think he could sense his future directions. In the late ‘70s, Peter began leading contact improvisation, and children’s movement workshops in the Synergy workshop schedule.”
  
  

• Linda Rubin: “I believe that both Lola and Peter were inspired, in large part, due to being able to dance with an adult group of generous people, with similar talents, and dedication to advancing the work. These people also wanted to be a part of new directions, and that created a sense of excitement, security, and comraderie. Similar to Peter and Lola, many other people had a deep level of commitment in advancing the work, translating Synergy concepts into their own voices, and creating their individual career paths.”
  
  

Similarly, Peter Bingham and Lola Ryan describe their entries into dance via Linda Rubin, Synergy, and improvisation: 

Linda Rubin adopted values and formal elements from Contact Improvisation into Synergy workshops and classes. For example, Linda Rubin ​recalls prioritizing “free experimentation” and attracting untrained dancers of all genders and skill-levels to her classes. This approach was closely aligned with her desire “to develop a non-threatening, and caring style of teaching - non-competitive,” which was “quite the opposite” from her traditional training background.

• Linda Rubin: “In the ‘70s – and I am not exaggerating – there were beginning level classes with thirty-five people registered, with approximately half women and half men participating. People were able to easily access, and find success in the work, and they really enjoyed dancing with each other. Many people formed enduring bonds.” 
  
  

• Linda Rubin: “The participants in the classes and many of the people who were performing “In Studio” were not traditional dancers. Some people created careers in dance, but generally most folks were living an active, healthy lifestyle, and wanted to engage in more artistic / expressive physical activities other than sports and fitness. Participants included professional people, students, performers, adults of all ages, and abilities. There was a time when Rajneesh devotees would participate in the classes, but most participants were from the general public.”
  
  

• Linda Rubin: “I believe that because one could move freely and you could use your natural abilities – especially in the improv work, and you could advance your abilities with studying technical body work and dance training, the workshops inspired more men to become involved in this style of dancing. The workshops were filled with very, very interesting people….all keen on dancing together.”
  
  

Linda Rubin would later move Synergy Movement Workshops from Western Front to the Arcadian Hall (which would later become Main Dance Place in the ‘80s, operated by Gisa Cole), located close by at 2214 Main Street and 6th Avenue. Linda Rubin eventually relocated Synergy to Chalmers Church, near South Granville, before she left Vancouver to return back home to Saskatchewan in the Spring of 1982. In Saskatchewan, Linda Rubin continued to host workshops, choreograph, and teach students:

• Linda Rubin: “After I moved to Saskatchewan I continued to run my own workshops and teach and choreograph for theatre and dance. A very special memory was when I was teaching workshops at 25th Street Theatre School, and one of the young actors was Shawn Hounsell. His talent was obvious and he was deeply interested in modern work. He was considering shifting career directions from theatre to dance. I encouraged him to study in my contemporary dance classes in the Department of Physical Education at the University of Saskatchewan. At that time he was also studying ballet and loving it. I gave him free classes in my privately run Synergy workshops as well. Soon, he was auditioning to attend the Royal Winnipeg Ballet summer school and then he moved to Winnipeg to study in the professional program at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Fast forward… Shawn is recognized as one of Canada’s internationally acclaimed choreographers.”
  
  

In 1993, Linda Rubin accepted a tenure-track position at University of Alberta teaching in the BFA Conservatory for Performing Actors program. She retired in 2009 and continues to work in professional theatre and dance in Edmonton, Alberta.