THE SKELETON DANCE

THE SKELETON DANCE is a play for all ages about DEATH (YAY!)

It is a highly physical, energetic, and light-hearted play with elements of creative movement, clown, and puppetry. It is created and performed by Emma James (they/she) and Ella MacDonald (she/her).

It runs approximately 50 minutes, invites structured audience participation, and is always followed by a meet-and-greet or talk back.

In THE SKELETON DANCE, two young children, Emma and Ella, process the news that their Great Uncle Trout has suddenly passed away.

They consider the implications of this in an entertaining, irreverent way, where the audience is privy to their many whimsical theories about death.

Despite the subject of death being widely perceived as inherently difficult subject matter, The Skeleton Dance is playful, light-hearted and irreverent. The children in the play do not feel social pressure to discuss death as a somber event and are not inhibited in sharing their opinions.

The goal of THE SKELETON DANCE is to provoke thought about the ways in which we respond to hardship and comfort one another.

THE SKELETON DANCE guides audiences through grief through the lens of a child:

all feelings are okay, there are no bad questions, and we must process through connection and play.

Emma James

Emma James (they/she) is an emerging queer neurodivergent theatre artist and arts administrator based in K’jipuktuk/Halifax. Acting (Selected): A Sapphic Affair (STAGES Theatre Festival 2023); THE SKELETON DANCE (Ella + Emma); Mary Stuart, Ephemera, Concord Floral (FSPA); Somebody to Love, Back to the East Coast, No Clue (Grafton Street Dinner Theatre). Directing (Selected): Sappho’s Garden (The Spare Key Collective); Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche (Dalhousie Theatre Society). Honours: Concept to Realization Grant - THE SKELETON DANCE, Research and Creation Grant - Sappho's Garden (Canada Council for the Arts); AFBS / Ferne Downey Scholarship in Acting (ACTRA Fraternal Benefits Society); Stephen Graham Bird Award (Theatre New Brunswick). Education: BA Hons. In Theatre - Acting, Certificate in Dance & Movement (Dalhousie University '21); Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership (NSCC ‘23).

Photo by Riley McGill (@rilecam)

Ella MacDonald

Ella MacDonald (she/her) is a queer, neurodivergent theatre artist based in Mi'kma'ki [Colonially known as Nova Scotia, Canada]. She is a graduate of Dalhousie University (B.A. Hons. In Acting with a Certificate in Dance & Movement) and the recipient of the 2020 Hnaytshyn Developing Artist Grant for English Theatre. 

Ella is a trained puppeteer and recently returned from an international tour with Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia. She is an Intimacy Director/Coordinator and currently a mentee of Principal Intimacy Professions. Ella is also a celtic musician. Select Young Audience Credits include: THE SKELETON DANCE [original co-creation], The Rainbow Fish [Mermaid Theatre]; Birds of a Feather, Mischief [Neptune Theatre].

Photo by James MacLean (@jamesarthurmaclean)

CONTENT NOTICE:

THE SKELETON DANCE is an all-ages show that talks about death.  If talking about death and dying is hard for you, that’s okay! These things can be hard to talk about. We invite you to participate at your own discretion. That could look like taking deep breaths, stepping away for a minute, or even deciding that this show isn’t for you. That’s okay, too!

Click here to read about supporting a young person through grief and loss, and click here to read about how to process and find support if you’re grieving.

Audiences can’t get enough of THE SKELETON DANCE!
See what they’ve had to say:

CONTACT US

Questions? Send us an email at theskeletondancehfx@gmail.com

This project has been made possible thanks to the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

OUR SUPPORTERS

We would like to express our sincerest gratitude to our incredible supporters, including:

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THE SKELETON DANCE

The Skeleton Dance began development in 2019 as a vocal masque assignment in theatre school between emerging artists Ella MacDonald (she/her) and Emma James (they/she). Thanks to the support of their faculty and many other community partners, The Skeleton Dance is able to take on new life while it explores death in a new way.

This project is possible thanks to the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

The creation, development, and presentation of The Skeleton Dance has taken place in K’jipuktuk, the ancestral and unceded land of the Mi’kmaq people.

Find us on Instagram: @theskeletondancehfx

© 2022  Ella & Emma

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