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 honour 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.

Justin Calvadores (they/them) is a second-generation Filipinx, queer contemporary dance artist based in Tiohtià:ke. They grew up on Treaty No. 1 territory, so-called Winnipeg, MB. At the age of 16, they where introduced to dance through a Filipino-led hip hop dance community. Justin completed 2 years of training with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet and is a graduate of the Arts Umbrella contemporary dance program. Justin has danced with Ballet BC as an emerging artist under the direction of Emily Molnar and continued their contemporary dance career with Ballet Edmonton under the leadership of Karissa Berry and Wen Wei Wang. As a freelance performer, Justin has worked with companies and artists such as Action at a Distance, Alyssa Favero, Daria Mikhaylyuk, Dumb Instrument Dance, FakeKnot, F.O.R.M., Heather Myers, Inverso Productions, Isak Enquist, Kelly McInnes, Kinesis Dance Somatheatro, Mascall Dance, Mile Zero Dance, Nicole Von Arx and Guests, The Falling Company, The Vancouver Poetry Society, and Wen Wei Dance. Currently, Justin is an artist with Compagnie Marie Chouinard, as well as Andrea Peña & Artists.

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.

Elyza Samson (she/her) is a Filipina interdisciplinary dance artist based in Vancouver, BC, on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations. Academic studies include Arts Umbrella’s Dance Diploma Program and a Bachelor in Fine Arts from Simon Fraser University. Professional credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bard on the Beach, 2022) and Attuning Flesh and Bone (SFU thesis project by Tin Gamboa, 2022). Taking interest in exploring the world between movement and film, Elyza aspires to take the simple, subconscious art of “people watching” and convert it into (gestural) movement in her own dance practice. Drawing inspiration from her recent trip to the Philippines, she found the busy, condense traffic and walking patterns visually appealing, and plans to play with the topography and transpose it into flow of movement. Elyza is excited and grateful to work alongside the FakeKnot team and is eager to further explore her Filipino heritage through dance.

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, as well as the operations coordinator for The Chop Theatre. Kayleigh works in both theatre and dance, and has toured with productions across Canada. She is also starting to dabble in design and tour management, and loves to constantly shake things up artistically. Recent stage and production management credits, among others: TechniCowlour (PM – The Biting School), Dance in Vancouver (PM – The Dance Centre), EMPTY-HANDED (PM/SM – The Biting School), Agrimony (PM/SM – Sophie Dow and Laura Reznek), Lip Service 3 (PM/SM – Pulsive Party), DBLSPK – Olivia Etey’s Emberré Váltam (PM – rice and beans theatre), All Over the Map 2024 (PM/SM – New Works), Family Room (PM/SM – The Falling Company), Disability Tour Bus: A Radio Play (SM – Realwheels), Medicine (ASM – Pi Theatre), and Sunrise Betties (SM – ITSAZOO Productions).

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.