Danielle Sturk is a multi-disciplinary dance artist, choreographer, and independent filmmaker creating in documentary and experimental forms. Since 2004, her combined short films have been screened at over thirty film festivals and broadcast on CBC, Radio Canada, Aboriginal People’s Television Network, MTS TV, l’Office national du film du Canada (NFB), TVA (Quebec), and TFO (Télévision française de l’Ontario). Danielle began her career as a dance artist and choreographer, performing nationally and internationally from 1986-1997. A graduate of the University of Winnipeg’s Theatre/Film department, Danielle is based in her home town of Winnipeg with her partner and their four daughters, where she continues to mine inspiration from her immediate surroundings with their support.
Major Arts Grant Project: Dance for Camera & Animation Research
Danielle’s Major Arts Grant will support research and experimentation combining dance, film and animation. Danielle will explore new ways of visually and instinctively expressing how the sensation of the act of dancing can be portrayed on screen. She will also be learning and experimenting with animation and postproduction treatments to further develop her visual language for her documentaries. One project in particular that Danielle will work on is ‘El Toro’, a story about the truck stop diner her grandparents owned in industrial Saint-Boniface. This work-in-progress is a media based work that will involve documentary source story and voice, fiction writing, live-action and animation hybridism. In support of her creative research process, Danielle will collaborate with local dance, film and media arts professionals Natasha Torres-Garner, Brian Rougeau, Freya Olafson and Alain Delannoy.
