The artists of Salar have woven their work into Nova Scotia’s artistic tapestry over the past three decades, crossed paths at various intersections along the way, and now come together as the creative collective The Hatch, based in K’jipuktuk/Halifax.
The ensemble includes Benn Ross, Kersti Tacreiter, Cathy Porter and Alexis Milligan. For the production of 'Salar' they are joined by a number of supporting artists who have added their expertise and creative energy to the development of this new work. Click on 'Salar' to find out more about this production, and where we're headed!
The Hatch fosters understanding, inspires action, and creates lasting connections through arts-based practices in knowledge translation and exchange.
The ensemble includes Benn Ross, Kersti Tacreiter, Cathy Porter and Alexis Milligan. For the production of 'Salar' they are joined by a number of supporting artists who have added their expertise and creative energy to the development of this new work. Click on 'Salar' to find out more about this production, and where we're headed!
The Hatch fosters understanding, inspires action, and creates lasting connections through arts-based practices in knowledge translation and exchange.
THE HATCH NS TEAM
A bit about who are and where we are from...
Benn RossHalifax based drummer, instructor, producer, composer and songwriter Benn Ross has been a leader in the Halifax music scene for well over 2 decades. He studied percussion privately and at Dalhousie University and has been playing since 1993. He performs with The Negligents, part-time Mellotones drummer and many other Halifax-based bands and artists. Recording & production credits include projects with Tanya Davis, Rose Vaughan and Cathy Porter, among others. He has also toured and recorded with Joel Plaskett, Matt Mays, Erin Costelo and Amelia Curran. His production on Little Miss Moffat's 'Wild About Nature' won a NSMW award and nomination for an ECMA. Benn has made a dozen solo albums and composed, recorded and produced music for film, theatre and dance, with a notable body of work in collaboration with filmmakers and animators, Siloën Daley and Dylan Edwards. He has provided musical accompaniment for various theatrical and movement workshops and worked as an accompanist at Halifax Dance. Benn enjoys collaborating with interdisciplinary artists and creating new ways of communicating through music. For samples of Benn’s sound and music composition, production and recording in collaboration with animators, film, and visual artists, please visit: Onions https://youtu.be/WPZ7o2V9TXE Sometimes Clouds Get in the Way https://youtu.be/rFJMuT42LtI Further selections of Benn’s work can be found at: https://bennross.bandcamp.com |
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Kersti TacreiterKersti is a performer and creator with over two decades' experience in devised, physical, popular and improvisational ensemble theatre. This, coupled with 10+ years' experience working as a seasonal national park interpreter, sparks her passion for bringing stories about the wonders of nature to life and inspiring a deeper understanding of and connection with nonhuman nature.
Kersti loves to explore and seeks out adventure at every turn, readily donning her hiking boots, life jacket, skis, and sometimes even stilts, to experience natural and cultural wonders across the continents. During her acting career, she has lived and trained in tiny Italian villages high in the hills of Umbria and Campania, performed under the stars in southern New Jersey farmland and amidst the concrete of Manhattan’s East Village, summoned crowds in Kraków’s cobble streets and brought stories to life across Canada. A mother of three, Kersti is a second generation Canadian, still very connected to her Polish, Beskid Highlander roots and immeasurably grateful to have grown up in the incredible, nurturing landscape of Mi’kma’ki. |
Alexis MilliganAlexis Milligan is an acclaimed actor, movement specialist and director, both on stage and film/TV, with a number of awards and nominations to her name: alexismilligan.com. She is a noted artistic collaborator and has created choreography and movement for many theatre companies around the world.
Currently, Alexis is in her fifth season as Movement Director at The Shaw Festival, she was also the movement and puppetry director for the sold out run of The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe at The Stratford Festival, as well as En Julefortelling (A Christmas Carol) with the National Theatre of Norway in Bergen. Alexis’ passion is arts-based communication and she has been a lead project partner in knowledge translation and exchange with The Dalhousie University School of Nursing, the Association of Nova Scotia Museums, and with gender consultant Michelle Raine. Due to the success of these creative partnerships Alexis is now pursuing her Masters in Interdisciplinary Studies, combining the performing arts, curriculum development and neuroscience, at the University of New Brunswick. She also sits on the steering committee for the newly formed Canadian Network for Imagination and Creativity as well as The Atlantic Centre for Creativity, and she is a recurring guest teacher at NYU: The Tisch School for the Performing Arts. |
Cathy PorterA versatile and engaging performer on piano and her signature array of unusual hand percussion, multi-instrumentalist Cathy Porter has been a staple on Canada's East Coast music scene since 1990.
Freelancing as side-musician has taken her on extensive tours throughout the US and Canada, Western Europe, and to Brazil with numerous Nova Scotia-based local and international acts. In 2013 Cathy was the first woman in East Coast Music Association’s history to be recognized with the honorary Musician’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Cathy released two independent instructional videos for an oft-seen but little-used instrument called the cabasa on YouTube in 2013 and 2020. The first continues to be one of the most-watched cabasa tutorials world-wide. http://www.cathyporter.ca/ |