FakeKnot

FakeKnot is the umbrella entity for collaborative performance works that play with the complexities of identity and culture through costume, sound, technology, and movement. FakeKnot is grounded in street, commercial, and contemporary dance techniques that honours the queer, POC identity of artistic director Ralph Escamillan. Collaboration as a practice of knowledge co-creation is essential for FakeKnot in the ways it can bring differences together.

Ralph Escamillan is a queer, Canadian-Filipinx performance artist, choreographer and teacher based in Vancouver, BC. Ralph started his training in street dance styles and is a graduate of Modus Operandi, a Vancouver-based contemporary dance program. He has danced/toured/created with Vancouver-based companies, film and TV, as well as been a beacon for the Vancouver ballroom scene since 2017 through his other nonprofit, VanVogueJam. As the artistic director of FakeKnot, he develops collaborative performance works that have been presented both nationally and internationally. Having ancestral roots in the Philippines, he’s fascinated by inquiries into what it means to be North American, especially within the context of cultural traditions, dance, music and costumes in an increasingly interconnected global community. The exploration of how culture is created through the accumulation of ideas and concepts is at the centre of his work. He has found the body to be a powerful vessel through which these ideas can be investigated, incorporating music, costume, and new media.

Danah Rosales, also known as Maldita Siriano (she/her/siya), is a Tkaronto-based queer millennial, a second-generation Canadian-Filipinx, a daughter, a dawta, a cister, a solo mama of two little humans, a legendary women’s performance motha of the kiki house of siriano, and a Dora-nominated dance artist whose work encompasses active community building, teaching, collaborative and interdisciplinary choreography and performance. Danah emerges as a choreographer, bringing ballroom arts to the stage with ballroom-specific works that have been presented by Fall for Dance North and Toronto Dance Theatre. She is also the co-chair of the Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance.

Justin Calvadores (they/them) is a second-generation Filipinx-Canadian freelance dance artist based in Vancouver BC, the lands of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Musqueam First Nations. They are a graduate of the Arts Umbrella Dance program. In 2017/18, they apprenticed for Ballet BC under the directorship of Emily Molnar and, in 2019, joined Ballet Edmonton under the leadership of Wen Wei Wang and Karissa Berry. They have worked with companies such as Dumb Instrument Dance, Mile Zero Dance, Inverso Productions, Wen Wei Dance, and FakeKnot. Justin’s own work centres around their queerness and identity as a second-generation Filipinx-Canadian. They are grateful for dance as a catalyst for enriching their perception of the world and are motivated by the practice of embodied dance and self-determination.

Tin Gamboa is a Filipina dance artist who currently resides on the traditional homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, in a place now commonly known as Vancouver. As an artist and researcher, she begins with the body as the centre, conduit and catalyst for self-reflection and change. Intrigued by the reciprocal cycles within and between the self and larger social culture, her personal practice focuses on patterns, habits and behaviours that either change or permeate through multiple generations, and how these impact societal common myths and group cooperation.

Denisa Reyes holds an impressive line of works, ranging from classical ballet, modern and contemporary dance, musical theatre, video and dance, dance documentaries and full-length feature films. A former member of Ballet Philippines, Denisa finished a BFA degree in Dance with Honours at the State University of New York and joined several modern dance companies while in New York City. During her 9-year-stint as artistic director of Ballet Philippines, she introduced the Neo-Filipino Dance Series, her most significant contribution to Philippine contemporary dance. It served as a platform for Filipino choreographers to make dance the central force, the impetus, the muscle in collaborating with other art forms: music, visual arts, literature, theatre, and film.

A first generation Filipino-Canadian, Jill Laxamana has been working in fashion since 2002. Mainly focused on custom-made bridal and evening wear, her skills in couture details and fit are an important part of bringing Ralph’s visions from concept to piece. Since 2020, they have collaborated on multiple projects, including whip and BLUSCRN, each offering unique challenges and ideas that keep her evolving and growing as an artist. For PIÑA, they also worked alongside fellow Filipinx artist July Nieto, drawing on their shared cultural heritage to create a visually dynamic element to compliment each movement.

Gabriel Raminhos holds a BFA from The School for the Contemporary Arts SFU in Theatre Production and Design Program. He is an active Vancouver freelance technical director, production manager, lighting designer, stage manager, technician, and member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 118. Past projects include associate lighting designer for THIS & The Last Caribou (New Dance Horizons, PuSh 2023); technical director/stage manager for The Outliner (Mascall Dance); and lighting designer for Vidya Kotamraju’s Longing (VIDF 2021). Additionally, he has worked on a few film projects as an electrician and camera operator, and is co-technical director and facilities manager at KW Studios.

Kimmortal aka Kim (they/them) is a multi-hyphenate artist and musician. They are a second-generation settler who grew up in Surrey and is currently living on the unceded traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Their ancestry is from Pangasinan and Negros Occidental, Philippines. Their last album, X marks the Swirl, was long-listed for the Polaris music prize in an announcement by Buffy St. Marie and their most recent release is a self-produced track, “This Dyke”, which aired on The L Word: Gen Q. PIÑA is their first opportunity to produce the full soundscape for a contemporary production.

Kayleigh Sandomirsky is a stage/production manager, producer, curator, and performer. She is also starting to dabble in design and building, and loves to constantly shake things up artistically. Recent touring credits: 003_playback by Caroline MacCaull (Chimerik), BLUSCRN by FakeKnot, New Societies by Re:Current Theatre, Ying Yun by Wen Wei Dance, and Departure by The Falling Company. Production management credits: Family Room by The Falling Company, and Dancing to Remember by Aeriosa Dance and Butterflies in Spirit. Stage management credits: Black and Rural presented by Pi Theatre, Matriarchs Uprising and Maamawi by O.Dela Arts, Double Happiness: Detour This Way by Nancy Tam and Robyn Jacobs, The Array by UpintheAir Theatre, The Sun and The Moon by Crimson Coast Dance, In Response to Alabama by Little Thief Theatre, and Kwê by Jeanette Kotowich and collective. Curation credits: two live (rEvolver Festivals) and two digital festivals (eVolver Festivals) with UpintheAir theatre, and the 2022 Conversation Series for Peek Fest by Impulse Theatre.

It was empowering to build an all-Filipino creative team for PIÑA. Having this common cultural thread allowed for meaningful connection and understanding, which otherwise isn’t always possible.

The catalyst for this work was a fascination with the lore of the piña textile, but I was not prepared for the personal and profound discoveries to come. The research process turned into what felt like a master’s degree on the iconic pineapple fibre, synthesizing the expertise of knowledge holders with whom I built relationships during the creation of this work. In the Philippines, I was able to connect with weaving communities who bring into the future traditional methods of fibre extraction and weaving, a kinesthetic journey that informed the movement language used in PIŃA.