The Inspired List
Guinevere Last of Halifax Circus
Guinevere Last is an aerial instructor and director of creation at Halifax Circus. Most recently she directed and choreographed Turas Mara: A Journey by Sea (2019). She also directed and performed in the awardwinning Fringe show Nautica: A Circus Sea Journey (2016). Last has performed at Halifax’s city-wide festival Nocturne: Art at Night, in 2015, 2016 and 2019. She is the artistic director of the mixed-media collective Ankura Arts.
Last shared with The Dance Current what inspires her.
My urban “farm”
On a little less than a quarter of an acre right off a busy road in the city, our space is more than just a garden; it is a source of food, a laboratory for cross-pollination, a haven for many creatures. It has taught me so much about the rhythms of life, about movement and pace and interconnectivity.
Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
A backcountry hiking trip deep into the canyon in 2009 has left an indelible mark on my subconscious. I was there during monsoon season, and we were hit with an incredible deluge of water one night that ate into the dry earth and crumbled rock, reshaping the landscape as we watched. It was wild, it was uncontrolled and it was beautiful. If I could capture even a fraction of that unrestraint in my art, I would be satisfied.
Yoann Bourgeois’ 2017 performance piece La mécanique de l’Histoire
This mesmerizing, genre-bending performance made me realize that the combination of dance and circus is not limited by scale, location or cultural expectation. It speaks to history and to a deep humanness. My goal with the incredibly diverse artists I work with in our collective is to create work that combines mediums and rethinks what constitutes circus, dance, theatre or animation. Bourgeois illustrates the breadth of what’s possible.
My kids
The enormity of parenthood acts simultaneously as inspiration and roadblock. When I was young, I thought I would never have children because it would keep me from my art. There are days that it does, that it’s difficult to find time for it. Parenthood has changed my priorities, my body and my tolerance for wasting time. But my children have also taught me about what it means to let someone be themselves rather than trying to shape them according your own ideas. I am especially inspired by my oldest, who is non-binary and whose little body is filled with a certainty about who they are that I wish I could embody every day and in every performance I create.