Interview with Giselle Clark-Trenaman
Giselle Clark-Trenaman is the Board Secretary of Nova Dance
We spoke with Giselle from her home in North Vancouver in March 2021 where she works as a Stage Manager as well as the Production Coordinator/Facilities Manager at Presentation House Theatre.
What inspired you to join the board of Nova Dance?
That was 10,000 years ago, first of all. And I think – I don’t even remember the story. I think that Nova and I and my husband Brad, we were all in the same circle of friends and he had worked with Nova and Menaka [Thakkar] for another 10,000 years. (When someone’s been with you for your entire adult life, it feels like that.) I think Nova just asked me. And I asked, “what’s the commitment, what would I have to do” and she said, “We’re really looking for a secretary.” And I thought, Oh, I can do that. It’s taking notes. It’s what I do all day every day, I can totally do that.
But what made me stay, was the commitment that Nova has to bringing her hybrid of dance to Toronto, and to Canada, and to the world. When I was in town I loved going and helping her set up for [Date with Dance]. I would load the dance floor into the car and drive it out to the library and set it up and watch her dance and it was beautiful. Watching Nova dance is like… you just want to weep, right, because it’s so beautiful. It truly is. And I’ve been around dance for a very long time. I worked for a dance company in Sweden for two and a half years, and – I know dancers. And I can tell when it comes from the soul and when it just comes from the mind, and Nova’s comes from the soul, with a mixture of mind, because she’s aware. She’s super aware of her surroundings and how her movements impact others and you can tell she gets lost in it sometimes, which is also beautiful to watch. That’s why I stay. I love to watch dancers dance.
In the time you’ve been with the company, what would you say the biggest shift has been?
When we got that [first Operating grant], that was the next step. That was next level. It felt like the company had arrived, and it hadn’t just arrived in Nova’s mind, and it hadn’t just arrived in our minds, but it had arrived in the world of dance and the world of Toronto. And Toronto has such a small memory – everybody knows, because there’s so much art happening, then people can forget about you – but when we got that grant, that was the next level. We had arrived. We had a decent business plan that somebody else believed in, and we were able to continue and maintain. And not only maintain but thrive, which are two different things. For any artistic company, to have that nod of the hat like, yes we recognize you, yes you’re going somewhere, all of those things, I think that was a huge hurdle that we were able to pass.
Do you have an artistic practice that you’ve (re)connected to through the pandemic?
I think it’s an artistic practice, some people might challenge me, but I’ll go to the bat for it. I would say sewing. I’ve always been a knitter. But knitting takes a really long time. To knit a sweater takes 2-3 months. Whereas sewing, you can make a hoodie in an afternoon.
I get these patterns, and I print them off, cut them out, and it’s like putting a puzzle together – it’s like a 3D puzzle that you get to wear, and it is so so cool. If you actually break down your clothes – a t-shirt is made from three items: the front, the back and the sleeves. And the collar. But that’s it!
So I would say I’ve reconnected with sewing. Because I was gifted a sewing machine in order to make masks. And I was like… what else can I make? I wouldn’t have even thought of doing this again. I would have just sat on the sofa and knit forever. Now I have a sewing machine, surger, and then my daughter got her own sewing machine for Christmas because she was starting to use mine so much.
Is there anything you’re doing specifically to cope with stress at this time?
I got an e-bike last year and being able to get on the bike and go has been great, because these hills are not so fun in North Van.
And I spend a lot of money on fabric. My mind’s always going, so concentrating on a sewing project really helps. You have to concentrate. You have to have the right tools and you have to figure out your patterns, all of that. You can’t freestyle it – it won’t fit.
What is inspiring you these days?
I’m going to give you three examples and you can choose whichever one you want.
1. We are working at the theatre to decolonize our practices and decolonize our ways of being. That’s hard work, but at the same time it makes me open my eyes and see things in a different way so that’s one thing that’s keeping me going.
2. I’m working on my Black History program and that is a program where I go – either physically or virtually – into schools and teach the kids about Black History. Here in BC, it’s not a thing. It’s just not a thing. The school system and teachers are more connected to the wrongs that were done to our First Nations people. And that is important. 100%. However, I think that Black History is also really important. So what inspires me is the conversations I’m having with kids when I do my presentations. They’re inspiring because they’re not as disconnected as adults think they are. Especially around grade 4/5. They have very interesting questions, they want to know the truth, and they are determined not to repeat injustices. So that is very inspiring.
3. The third thing, I would say, is the mountains. I love looking outside and seeing my mountains. My mountains – the mountains. I love to see the mountains and immediately feel small. I love that because it checks the privilege immediately. I grew up in Toronto – you’d go to Collingwood, but that’s not a mountain, that’s a hill. When you’re here, it’s awe-inspiring.
So those are three things.
How did you start running the workshops on Black History?
It started when Bree [her daughter] started kindergarten because I went to the parent/teacher thing, and asked, “What do you do for Black History?” and she said, “Well, we welcome parent involvement.” Right? So as soon as she hit grade one, I’d go into her class and went in every year. BC has such a rich Black History and nobody knows about it.
That’s how it started. Then with the murder of George Floyd I decided to step up. And Presentation House Theatre was so great, they just asked me what I needed. I said, “I want to be able to go into the classroom, I want to be able to provide them with books, I need books to do more age-appropriate research, and I need time to be able to work on this during the day instead of at 10 o’clock at night.” They were like, “absolutely”. It was amazing. So during the fall I made a template for each grade, and then in January I refined it to pivot online. So far we’ve reached over 350 kids, between kindergarten and grade 7.
The conversations with these kids have been amazing.
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If you’d like to get to know even more about Giselle, she’s featured in The Museum of North Vancouver’s Living Stories project, where she discusses her experience of 2020. It’s a powerful piece of storytelling, definitely worth checking out!