Live art in a gallery was a great choice for this work. It was exciting to disrupt what is normally a quiet and clean gallery environment. We animated the space in a way that was apropos to parenthood. The chaos/disruption within a gallery was a metaphor for parenting—the improvisation and adaptation of parenting…Sounds of children became part of the soundscape.
Kimberley de Jong
Kimberley de Jong
Artistic Project with On-Site Childcare
Level UP! Strategy Area: Care Solutions
Pilot Project: Researching and creating the dance work, (M)other, with on-site childcare at Saturday gallery performances
Project Duration: 2021 – 2024
Continuing to Implement: Looking for future presentation opportunities
Resources Shared: Project Field Notes
About Kimberley de Jong
Location: Quebec
Artistic Discipline: Dance
Operating Budget: Less than $100,000
Kimberley is interested in the potential of the body; its capacity to hold and sustain presence and generate movement and sound from a deep and visceral place. She draws on themes such as climate change, human empathy, and love as source material for creation.
Kimberley was born in Australia and grew up in B.C. She went to school at Arts Umbrella, Vancouver, first starting as a tap dancer, then learning from mentors Emily Molnar and Artemis Gordon. She’s been performing professionally for 18 years starting in the Netherlands with Itzik Galili, followed by Montreal’s Marie Chouinard, Frédérick Gravel, Dana Gingras with live band GY!BE, Alan Lake, Martin Messier and Caroline Laurin Beaucage. Kimberley is also a mom of two girls and is a birth and postpartum doula.
Kimberley de Jong‘s Level UP! Project
(M)other is an in-depth research and creation dance project that examines the lived experiences of parents. This project was supported by the McConnell-Université de Montréal Chair in Research-Creation on the Reappropriation of Motherhood, which aims to create new spaces for the construction and reappropriation of birth, liberating women’s voices and establishing new modes of representation and demonstration of pregnancy and motherhood in all its forms.
For the research component, beginning in 2021, Kimberley de Jong surveyed 50 individuals with mothering roles. The work was eventually created and performed in collaboration with six dancers/parents, a composer, and a videographer, culminating in a gallery exhibition and performance series from January to April 2024. On-site childcare was available at the gallery for the Saturday performances.
Project Highlights:
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- Learning and negotiating the university code of ethics for research.
- Creating space for often untold experiences surrounding birth or the transition to becoming a parent.
- Disrupting (in a good way) a gallery space that normally doesn’t house live performance and childcare.
Resources
Kimberley de Jong | Project Field Notes
About This Resource These Project Field Notes are based on writings and conversations with Kimberley de Jong as part of the Balancing Act Level UP! Project.
Related Resources
More Information
For more information about Kimberley de Jong visit www.kimberleydejong.com.
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