Founded by award-winning dance artists James Gnam and Natalie LeFebvre Gnam, plastic orchid factory emerged as a non-profit, artist-run, performance company in 2008. The organization is committed to creating, supporting, and advocating for diverse art forms that embrace a pluralistic approach in practice and form. Our focus is on inclusive methods that blur genres, foster collaboration and exchange, and result in distinctive frameworks for making and experiencing live art.

We offer seasons of activity that support artists at all stages of work – from inquiry to presentation. Artist-led initiatives for research, experimentation, and dialogue sit alongside dynamic in-house creation/production cycles and platforms for connecting local audiences with underrepresented and/or underresourced dance artists who make work on the periphery of the mainstream.

Works

As a producing company, plastic orchid factory collaboratively devises interdisciplinary performances that place an embodied, thinking and feeling human at the centre of the proposition. Known for creating innovative work that incorporates new technologies, our performances build distinctive environments that push the boundaries of what dance can express.

We have created more than 20 original works that have been presented in galleries, theatres, studios and community halls across Turtle Island and beyond. Recent highlights include presentations of: Entre Chien et Loup at The Citadel (Tkaronto/Toronto), The MAI (Tio’tia:ke/Montréal) and The Fluid Festival (Mohkínstsis/Calgary); Digital Folk at Omineca Arts Centre (Lheidli T’enneh/Prince George), Mile Zero Dance (Amiskwaciy Waskahikan/Edmonton), Swallow-a-Bicycle (Mohkínstsis/Calgary) and Crimson Coast (Snuneymuxw/Nanaimo); and The Door Project at Left of Main.

This body of work has been supported by Lake Studios (Berlin), LEÑA (Hul’qumi’num: Swiikw/Galiano Island), Opera Estate (Bassano del Grappa Italy), Circuit-Est (Tio’tia:ke/Montreal), The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (Burnaby, land of the Halkomelem and Squamish speaking peoples), and Centre Q (Adawe/Ottawa).

Presentation Series

As a presenting vehicle for other artists’ programming, plastic orchid factory values projects that are singular and unapologetic. The company invests in long-term relationships with creators, performers and community partners who are energetically and philosophically aligned to drive the work forward through a shared sense of responsibility and authorship.

Since 2015, plastic orchid factory has presented the remarkable work of local, national and international artists. Recent highlights include: Ivo Dimchev’s Selfie Concert, Clara Furey/Bent Hollow’s DOG RISING, Jaques Poulin-Denis/Grand Poney’s Punch Line, Melanie Demers/MAYDAY Danse’ Confession Publique, Aisha Sasha John’s DIANA ROSS DREAM, Andrea Nann/Dreamwalker Dance’s Firehorse and Shadow, and Hanako Hoshimi-Caines, Zoë Poluch and Cherokee/Muscogee artist, Elisa Harkins’ ᎦᏬᏂᏍᎩ ᏦᎢ Radio III.

Left of PuSh

Left of PuSh (LoP) is plastic orchid factory’s festival platform intended for dance makers working in the margins to share “experiments-in-process” with a public. Established in 2018, and running parallel to the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Left of PuSh offers a responsive and meaningful opportunity for dance artists to introduce their work and practice to peers and networks of curators, programmers and visitors to PuSh from around the globe.

Resident Artists

Our residency program offers free, unfettered access to our shared performance space, Left of Main, for dance artists to research and develop new work without the pressure of creating a finished product.

plasticorchidfactory.ca