This One Goes to Eleven: Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg

Tara is a theatrical force of nature, busy hammering out a viable niche for dance-theatre in Vancouver. She’s been dancing since the age of 3, went to ballet school and theatre school, and earned a degree in dance from Simon Fraser University. She worked with Green Thumb Theatre as a dance/actor. She is now the Artistic Director of Tara Cheyenne Performance, where she develops her own dance-theatre creations along with director Sophie Yendole and composer Marc Stewart. Tara has been nominated for several Jessie Richardson Awards and an Ovation Award for her choreography in theatre.

Click here to see Tara talk about her upcoming work Goggles on a promo I shot for her recently. It was a one-take wonder she came up with on the spot after finding a piece of chalk on the ground. Like I said, a force of nature.

1. In one word, describe your present condition.

Excited…tired…nervous…repeat…

2. In as many words as tickles your fancy, describe the present condition of the Vancouver stage arts scene.

The scene is one I am proud to be involved in. I’d say that we are just now getting some of the notice I think we deserve. The fact that we are hanging out here on the West Coast and have been partly dismissed for a while has actually been beneficial in that we’re just doing what we feel like without the pressure of being Toronto or Montreal. Our challenges are stuff like “sorry man I can’t make it to your show, I’m climbing the Chief in the morning”.

3. What is the relationship between our theatrical stage community and our dance stage community? Is there a middle ground?

Not enough yet… but I think with so many progressive theatre artists and companies doing interdisciplinary work with strong movement elements, and dance artists and companies doing work with text or using dramaturges etc. we are seeing each other in closer creative proximity. I’d like to see more audience cross pollination. We are all doing the same thing on a basic level making the west coast performing arts landscape a rich one. I love the fact that there isn’t a definable type of Vancouver dance or theatre.

4. Would you categorize our stage industry as ‘risk-taking’? Why or why not?

I’d say definitely yes and definitely no, and every point in between. Because we might not have had the infrastructure/$ other centres have, but we’ve made inventive choices that we may not have made with more resources. It is good on the other hand that we have some bigger establishments doing maybe less risky projects and getting lots of bums in seats. This is important because I believe some of those folks will choose to go alternative once they feel comfortable as a ‘theatre patron’.

5. What is your niche’s biggest marketing challenge?

Dance is always tricky because people read the word ‘dance’ and assume they won’t understand it, or they’ll be bored without words and story. But I know that once people come to Dances for a Small Stage or The Edge just once they almost always come back. I think we are still relying on outdated or less effective marketing tools and need to expand into groups of people that never get further than So You Think You Can Dance. Most people can imagine themselves acting but few can imagine themselves dancing. The more we get people moving in schools and everywhere the more they’ll feel comfortable coming to see professional dance…well that’s my theory.

6. If I gave you a million dollars to improve the industry of dance theatre here, how would you spend it?

I’d get people dancing and making dances. Community outreach style. And I’d try to make the dance artist more of a celeb/ “star” like  musicians or actors are. We have a few but most people don’t know who Pina Bausch was.

7. What questions do you wish people would ask about your work?

That’s a hard question. I’m happy answering any questions people might have. If the work doesn’t say what I’m intending and people have to ask then I need to work on that aspect.

8. Who are your great influences?

Steve Martin, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Denise Clarke, Pina Bausch, Robert LePage, Harold Lloyd.

9. Given a time machine, what would you tell a young Tara just starting out on her career?

There is no one way to do things. Trust your seemingly crazy instincts even if you think they are obvious, too silly, too easy, done before, undefinable.

10. What are your top 3 inspirational reads?

A New Earth – Ekhart Tolle, The Creative Habit – Twyla Tharp, Excuses Be Gone – Dr. Wayne Dyer

11. What’s next?

I’m going into the final phase of creation to finish my latest solo, Goggles, which will premiere at the Cultch Nov. 17-21. Then I’m going to continue working on a group piece (working title Highgate) dealing with Victoria funerary obsessions. I’m excited to work on other artists. I’m also excited about getting into this gothic creepiness. Its so compelling. I’m looking forward to seeing where my work will lead me, creatively and globally. I never thought making a piece about a teenage headbanger boy would lead me to perform bANGER at the South Bank Centre London last summer, so ya never know what’s gonna happen or “who” might show up…