Dancers are more than their bodies. Our mind, our goals, our interactions and relationships are fundamental to defining who we are as artists. We are constantly transforming, in search of betterment as creators, but also as humans.
Resident photographer Carol Gandra is responsible for our images.
-
Artistic Director
CAROL MENDES (she/her) is a choreographer, dance filmmaker, and dance educator. A native of Brazil, she began her conservatoire training with beloved Maitre de Ballet Eduardo Bonnis, while also training tap dance with various prominent figures of the field in Brazil. She performed in musical theatre productions by Fernanda Chamma, toured and performed in Brazil and Cuba with Ballet Juliana Omati and the Orquestra Sinfônica de Campinas with choreography by Juan Castiglioni. Additionally, she received a BFA in Dance and her Teaching License (dance pedagogy certification) from the State University of Campinas (Brazil). Her undergraduate close faculty mentors include Professor Dr. Graziela Rodrigues (BPI Method), Dr. Holly Cavrell (Limon and Graham background), and Dr. Julia Ziviano (Somatics). Ms. Mendes then moved to New York to pursue a Master’s in Fine Arts in Dance Performance and Choreography from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts (USA). With extensive connections in the city, a few highlights of Ms. Mendes career were delving into dance composition under the mentorship of legend choreographers Phyllis Lamhut, Deborah Jowitt, and Stephen Petronio, and working as a Producer of the WestFest Dance Festival (2014-16) at the Martha Graham Theatre, the old Cunningham studios at the historic Wesbeth Artist Residency building. Other relevant events include performing choreography by Aszure Barton with the Second Avenue Dance Company, attending the Doug Varone intensive, and creating her first project-based dance company, Carol Mendes & Artists (2012-16), with a rich track of residencies, festivals, and performances during those times. She was a resident artist at Haihatus Art Center (Finland), and a guest teaching artist at Western Wyoming Community College. Ms. Mendes career spans over 25 years of performance, choreography, and teaching. Her artistic journey navigated through Brazil, the USA, and Finland. Her work has been presented at Shadbolt Centre for the Arts (Burnaby, Canada), at La Mama Theater (New York, USA), Judson Church (New York, USA), at Martha Graham Theater (New York, USA), at Alvin Ailey Citigroup Theater (New York, USA), at Dixon Place (New York, USA), and Festival de Danca de Joinville (Brazil), among others. Since finally setting root in Vancouver, Canada, in 2017, Ms. Mendes assumed more of a teaching artist role, while still creating choreography freelance across various dance studios in British Columbia. Ms. Mendes founded the AMOK PROJECT with the ambitious goal to help bridge the raging abysm of communication between dance studios, post-secondary training programs, and dance companies. She is passionate about strengthening the dance community, building long-term collaborative relationships, mentoring dancers, and ultimately she can not stop loving the art of making dances.
-
Dancer
Eirini Smith is an emerging artist from Vancouver, BC. She began her training with Debbie Lee Dance Company and has enriched her technique at intensives with Alberta Ballet, Toronto Dance Theatre, NW Dance Project, Modus Operandi, Move The Company, and Alonzo King Lines Ballet. In 2018, she had the opportunity to work under Joshua Beamish in a repertoire workshop with artists from American Ballet Theatre. Through her training, she has learned works from artists such as Crystal Pite, Wen Wei Wang, Juliano Nunes, and Daryl Tracy. In 2020, she joined AMOK Project for their inaugural season and performed “eko” as a part of the 'Bolt: Hank Pine pre-show in July 2021.
-
Dancer
Emily's dance education began in Kelowna, BC at the age of three, immersing themself deeper at the age of nine as they expanded their training into Ballet, Pointe, Jazz, Lyrical, Contemporary, and Flamenco. Emily has traveled to Los Angeles, Toronto, and Vancouver to train and perform with esteemed choreographers such as Christina Woodard and Alex Little. In 2021, they furthered their Contemporary and Ballet education in Kelowna through the training program The Body Project, all while taking part in the dance on film project titled IN/2 with the Centre for Arts and Technology. Since making the move to Vancouver, Emily has been training and performing under the directorship of Carol Mendes with AMOK Project; dancing on stage in the work titled NOWhere and taking part in a summer artist residency which partnered with NewWorks. Under the direction of Kylah Powell, they have performed in works titled IMPACT and Collabor8 with CollabArtCreations and rising choreographer Sarah Yu. Emily continues to work closely with AMOK and is striving to meet and collaborate with more artists in the Vancouver community as their career grows.
-
Dancer
Jaqueline Ritter (she/her) is an emerging dance artist based in Vancouver, BC. Jaqueline is a graduate of SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts, holding a BFA in dance. During her time at SFU, she trained under many prolific local and international dance artists, and worked with students of all artistic disciplines due to the school’s strong emphasis on interdisciplinary collaboration. In 2021 Jaqueline joined AMOK's training and mentorship program, and has been dancing as part of AMOK ever since. Additionally, she has continued to develop her practice post-graduation through intensives offered by Radical Systems Art and Modus Operandi, and was a recipient of EDAM dance's training scholarship in 2022. Alongside her work with AMOK, Jaqueline is a freelance performer and choreographer whose works have been selected for presentation by The Scotiabank Dance Centre and IGNITE! Youth Festival.
-
Dancer
Ysadora Dias is a Brazilian dance artist currently based in Vancouver. She began her training in contemporary dance and ballet at Escolas de Danças de Caraguá, where she also had the opportunity to train Capoeira de Angola and Brazilian dances with ECARZ group. Upon graduating, she joined CBMC Dance Company and the collective "Pé na Areia" as a creative interpreter, collaborating in the creation and production of several performances throughout Brazil. She then moved to Vancouver to enrich her artistic development with Coastal City Ballet, where she remained for three seasons as a company member. In 2021, she joined Amok Project under the direction of Carol Mendes. Ysadora has also collaborated with other artists and performed in projects such as The Dance Centre 12 Minutes Max (2021), Salon Series Showing (2021), New Works Pop-up Dances (2020, 2023), and Vines Festival (2023). Most recently, she has worked with Co.Erasga and MascallDance. She is currently an artist in residence at Dance West Network's Re-Centering Margins Creative Residency for 2024.
Alumni: Lucie Price, Kylie Miller, Polina Olshevska, Allison Brooks