MEET HEIDI
Heidi graduated top of her class from the Randolph College for the Performing Arts in Toronto, where she received the prestigious “Triple Threat Award”. Musical theatre credits include Drayton Entertainment’s Annie Get Your Gun, Capitol Theatre’s My Fair Lady, Stirling Festival Theatre’s Singin’ in the Rain, Moonpath Productions’ Annie, and the Canadian Premiere of Mel Brooks’s The Producers, choreographed by Susan Stroman. Since moving back home to Victoria, Heidi has worked as choreographer for Victoria Operatic Society’s Miss Saigon, and performed with Broken Rhythms in their Spoken Word Festival collaboration as well as their Lash Bash fundraisers. Heidi is a yoga teacher and proud mama bear.
What about the show specifically drew you in and made you want to perform it?
“When I first learned about Broken Rhythms I was in the thick of some pretty scary postpartum depression and anxiety. Reconnecting with dance was incredibly therapeutic for me; dance provided a gateway back to my sense of identity. Performing in this show is an ideal opportunity to share my experience with mental health and identity struggles.”
Why do you think the art of dance is the most effective in portraying such sensitive material?
“Humans have a habit of classifying everything with words. Words alone are so incredibly limiting, scraping only at the surface layer. Dance is a holistic and accessible approach to portraying sensitive material. It can access our mental, emotional and energetic layers in a way that mere words cannot.”
If you could give advice to any young person, or indeed, anybody in general suffering with social anxiety or mental health, what would it be?
“Reach out to someone you can confide in and know that you are not alone.”
ThySelf – is the newest piece from Victoria’s innovative indie dance company BR explores anxiety, self-sabotage and identity through dance.
This show is for anyone who has felt lonely in a crowded room or at peace in a moment of solitude.
March 16&17 @7:30 March 17 @2pm
Metro Theatre (1411 Quadra Street)
Get Tickets: http://www.ticketrocket.co/Event/Season/239
interview: by Sivert Das
Broken Rhythms 