Recent press features
The Bulletin magazine (Vancouver, BC/online)
Dec 2023
Interview of Shion and Miya Turnbull by John Endo Greenaway about the Omote (面) Photo Book, published in The Bulletin/Geppo: a journal of Japanese Canadian Community, Heritage and Culture.
Dual Perspectives podcast (Victoria, BC/online)
Oct 3, 2023
In this episode, Yukari Peerless talks with Shion Skye Carter about her career through the pandemic, realizing her Japanese Canadian identity, and more.
Stir Magazine (Vancouver, BC/online)
Sept 14, 2023
Cobalt + Crone preview
“For me the colour of cobalt blue, and that vibrancy, that lusciousness—and almost this sense of regality, because that bright blue reminds me of royalty a little bit—represents where I strive to get to in how I feel in my body… [This] work has come at such a pivotal time for me to explore myself as a gender-fluid person more outwardly—and to feel what it’s like to walk through not only just everyday life, but also my life as a dance artist with that a bit more at the forefront. And that’s really scary for me. So the fact that I’ve been able to explore that part of myself through this work has been very therapeutic.”
Sur les Pas du Spectateur (Montreal, QC/online)
May 10, 2023
Omote (面) review
“Omote (面), une œuvre créée par la danseuse Shion Skye Carter et l’artiste visuelle Miya Turnbull", mon coup de coeur de la soirée! …Je découvre une illustration de ce que nous avons été, de ce que nous sommes, de ce que nous voulons montrer de nous, de ce que nous espérons être et de ce que nous espérons devenir tout au long de notre vie… Courts moments durant lesquels, je me réjouis de ma place et je me retiens de dire tout haut "wow"!”
Arts et Culture (Montreal, QC/online)
May 9, 2023
Omote (面) review
“Les masques faits à la main, de différentes formes et expressions, deviennent des extensions du corps. Un kaléidoscope d’images comme dans une chambre de rêve, où les danseurs essaient de se débarrasser de leurs masques.”
Le Petit Septieme (Montreal, QC/online)
May 8, 2023
Omote (面) review
“Both artists question the influence of cultural expectations and ancestral history on what one shows to others and what one conceals. This is a real favorite. Omote offers incredible staging. The result is a performance that is somewhere between dance and theater. I have rarely seen dance that had such a heartfelt atmosphere. At times, I felt like I was in a cinematic work on the edge of reality, only to suddenly switch to an inspiring choreography.” (Translated from French)
Nikkei Voice (Toronto, ON print + online)
May 4, 2023
Omote (面) preview
“In the dance piece, Turnbull and Carter reflect on the metaphorical masks they wear throughout their lives. The artists explore how physical attributes, cultural expectations, and ancestral history influence how they present and express themselves to others and the parts of themselves they keep hidden. Turnbull and Carter wear layers of masks, representing the layers of themselves and their ancestors before them. As they shed these layers, they explore what lies beneath and within themselves.”
Stir Magazine (Vancouver, BC/online)
Nov 7, 2022
Residuals (住み・墨) review
“As Shion Skye Carter’s Residuals (住み・墨) opens, a ray of light cuts through the dark to illuminate a strange box at centre stage, made from translucent paper. Slowly, one and then two hands reach out from the box, stretching in the light, gradually reaching in to pull out crinkly sheets of calligraphy.
It’s just one of several striking, surreal images in the emerging choreographer-dancer’s new solo, which mines her memories of Japan, and relationship with the Japanese half of her heritage, in dreamlike, associative ways.”
Nikkei Voice (Toronto, ON print + online)
Nov 2, 2022
Residuals (住み・墨) preview
“As Carter moves across the stage, she embodies her grandparents in the different parts of the home. Her grandmother’s bent back as she cooked in the kitchen, or her grandfather’s deep squat as he worked and smoked in the garden.”
Vancouver Magazine (Vancouver, BC print + online)
Nov 2, 2022
Residuals (住み・墨) preview
“I feel like calligraphy and embodiment are innately related,” says Carter, who describes setting up her workstation as a “calming collection of gestures”: laying down the felt mat, sliding the paperweight to smooth out the paper, preparing the inkwell…”
CBC: North by Northwest interview (online)
Oct 29, 2022
Interview with Sheryl McKay for CBC Radio’s North by Northwest, discussing solo project Residuals (住み・墨) and integrating movement with calligraphy and memories of home in Japan.
The Dance Centre blog (online)
Oct, 2022
Iris Garland Emerging Choreography Award
“Over the last few years, as exemplified through my projects like Flow Tide, Residuals (住み・墨), and Threading Echoes, I’ve been fascinated by how choreography can be hybridized with art forms that connect to heritage and encourage a slower, more thoughtful way of living day to day life, such as Japanese calligraphy and ‘shifu’ (cloth woven from ‘kami-ito’ or paper thread). Experiencing old art forms from a contemporary perspective is something I hope to continue doing with my work.”