BLOT | Action at a Distance & Tangaj Collective

A social choreography of our microbiome.

BLOT proposes a series of performative situations that explore movement in relation to the bacteria in our body. Bringing together biology, dance, and visual arts sensibilities, the show aims to rethink the body as an interconnected system, which is both strong and fragile at the same time. The body is stripped of the social meanings determined by language and redefines itself through a continuous dialogue about coexistence. The two artists work on stage with seemingly invisible connections, but without which the human body could not function.

This presentation is not suitable for children under 16. For more info, please email marketing@springboardperformance.com

Content Warnings:

• Full nudity

Simona Deaconescu is a Romanian choreographer and filmmaker working across genres and formats. She examines social constructs, at the border of fiction and objective reality, sometimes with irony and black humor. Her work explores future scenarios of the body, creating spaces in which nature, history, and technology meet, and the notion of choreography extends beyond the human body.

Vanessa Goodman respectfully acknowledges that she lives, works and creates on the ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples including the Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish), ̱Stó:lō and Səlílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xwməθkwəyəm (Musqueam) Nations. 

She holds a BFA from Simon Fraser University and is the artistic director of Action at a Distance Dance Society. Vanessa is attracted to art that has a weight and meaning beyond the purely aesthetic and uses her choreography as an opportunity to explore the human condition. She has received several awards and honours, including: The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2013); The Yulanda M. Faris Scholarship (2017/18); The Chrystal Dance Prize (2019); The Schultz Endowment from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019); and the Space to Fail program (2019/20) in New Zealand, Australia and Vancouver. 

Vanessa has been artist-in-residence at Biofriction (Cultivamos Cultura), The Dance Centre, Dance Victoria, Harbourfront Centre, The Shadbolt Centre and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where she was also on faculty. Most recently Vanessa presented work and was a facilitator for Trinity Laban’s 2020 Co-Lab Project (London).

Vanessa’s work has been presented in Vancouver by DanceHouse, SFU Woodwards, The Belkin Gallery, The FirehallArts Centre, The Dance Centre, The Chutzpah! Festival and The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Presentations further a field include the Fluid Festival (Calgary), Kinetic Studio (Halifax), The Dance Made in Canada Festival (Toronto), On the Boards (Seattle), Risk/Reward Festival (Portland), Offset Dance Fest (Brooklyn) and The Bienal Internacional de Dança Do Ceará (Brazil).

✨ Coming to multiple shows? Purchase any 4 tickets to any Fluid Fest shows and you will receive an automatic 15% off, adjusted at check out! See four shows or bring your friends! ✨

For more information about Fluid Fest, visit our website: https://springboardperformance.com/programs/fluid-fest-2025