12 minute read
Remembering Iris Garland through Tessa Perkins Deneault’s thesis
by Shanny Rann
November 2, 2023 marks the 21st anniversary of Iris Garland’s passing. Twenty years ago, on July 6, 2003, close friends and colleagues from Vancouver’s dance community came together to remember Garland and celebrate her life at Scotiabank Dance Centre. While many of us were not there on that memorable occasion, Garland’s legacy certainly lives on in the arts scene of Vancouver as she continues to touch the lives of many dance artists and dance lovers in the city. This past summer, Tessa Perkins Deneault, whose day job is the Associate Director in Marketing & Communications at the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology at Simon Fraser University, defended her Masters in Liberal Arts thesis, Iris Garland: Modern Movement[1], which is a biography of Garland who joined SFU as a charter faculty member in 1965, started the dance program and served at the university until she retired in 2000. I connected with Perkins Deneault to talk about her thesis, which she plans to develop into a book length biography. Below is a summary of our conversation and some excerpts from her thesis, which will be available online through the SFU Library in the near future.
An advocate for Iris Garland’s legacy
In spite of her quiet persona, sitting down with Perkins Deneault was electrifying. In the short time that we met, she already got my mind churning about the importance of dance writing and left me wanting to know more about the lineage of dance history in Vancouver. Prior to her thesis, Perkins Deneault had been quite familiar with Garland’s work through a life writing course she took and a book project she was working on with the SFU Retirees Association, in which she is contributing a chapter on dance during the early years of SFU. According to Perkins Deneault, it was a unique time at SFU when arts programs were non-credit electives and students were exposed to the arts, regardless of what they were studying. Garland was there from the beginning and started the dance program at SFU.
“Dance at SFU had its beginnings in the Faculty of Education’s Physical Development Centre where Iris Garland was hired in 1965 to teach dance courses that were often theoretical and served as elective courses for student athletes and others interested in learning a bit about dance. Originally hailing from Chicago, and coming to SFU from the University of Washington where she held a faculty position in their physical development department, Garland was determined to create a proper academic dance program at the university” (Perkins Deneault, 1).
“Although the university had no formal dance program or fine arts department, Garland continually advocated for more dance courses and ultimately a dance degree program. She developed courses in the Department of Kinesiology, ran inclusive workshops for dancers of all skill levels, invited prominent guests to give masterclasses and involved her students in her own original choreographies. Thanks to her efforts, and in collaboration with colleagues who would later join the university, the dance program grew into a minor in 1977 and a major in 1980” (Perkins Deneault, 2).
Even till now, there are only a handful of universities in Canada offering dance as a degree (Simon Fraser University, University of Calgary, University of Winnipeg, University of Western Ontario, York University, Toronto Metropolitan University, Concordia University). The first dance degree program was offered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1926 under the leadership of dance educator Margaret H’Doubler. Perkins Deneault, who has since become a determined advocate for Garland, has her goal set on telling the story of Garland. “I want to let people know all of the things that she did to advocate for dance over the years. Without Iris coming to SFU and starting the dance program, so many other things wouldn't have followed from that. So many people who came out of the SFU dance program went on to create companies that were foundational to the arts scene of Vancouver.”
I have always felt that dance was a kind of addiction. Once you’ve had that fatal taste... lessons as a child and especially the fateful ‘recital experience’...you are hooked for life. You may not study dance again formally for years, but there is always that nagging feeling that, if only the opportunity were there, it would be hard to resist. It goes beyond the recapturing of childhood or youth...even beyond the idea that it would be great to ‘get in shape’ again. After all, there are other ways of experiencing nostalgia and there is always jogging for physical fitness. Dancing transcends practical reasons for doing it. It demands total concentration of mind and body — a commitment to the moment.
-Iris Lillian Garland, 1935 – 2002.²
“As a charter faculty member at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Iris Garland provided the opportunity to study dance to a diverse range of students from across campus. Some were experiencing the “fatal taste” of dance for the first time as adults, while others were revisiting or continuing their dedication to the art form. Garland was an influential mentor to many of her students who were inspired to pursue dance professionally and start their own companies” (Perkins Deneault, 1).
Terry Hunter, Savannah Walling, directors of the Vancouver Moving Theatre and Karen Jamieson, who co-founded the avantgarde collective Terminal City Dance with them, were among Garland’s students and interviewed by Perkins Deneault for her thesis. Perkins Deneault’s supervisory committee was composed of Selma Odom, Professor Emerita, founding director of the MA and PhD programs in dance and dance studies at York University, Santa Aloi, also Professor Emerita in Dance at Simon Fraser University, as well as Sasha Colby, who taught Perkins Deneault the “Writing the Modern Self” course at SFU Graduate Liberal Studies program. Both Odom and Aloi knew Garland very well; in fact, Aloi was hired by Garland to teach at SFU and worked together closely to design the dance program. Perkins Deneault described it as being valuable to have them, who knew Garland professionally and personally, on her committee.
“The impact of Garland’s work in establishing and growing the SFU dance program is broad and deep. While she did present some of her own original works at the SFU theatre, her lasting contributions were not in the originality of her choreography but in the way she supported and furthered dance as an art form. The credits of almost every contemporary dance production in Vancouver include at least one student, alumnus or faculty member of the SFU dance program. Most artists working in contemporary dance in Vancouver today have been touched by this program in some way, countless dance companies have been founded by students of the program, and Garland’s mentorship has been felt through the generations (Perkins Deneault, 2).
Importance of Dance Writing
One thing that struck Perkins Deneault when she was looking through the SFU archives was the importance of dance writing. She was able to find a considerable amount of materials about Iris, whether they were reviews of her work or newspaper clippings, a lot of which were donated by her husband, Jim Felter. It is possible for her to write about Garland’s life through the connections with other people she had worked with and the history of dance in Vancouver because of the writings on dance at that time. In her thesis acknowledgements, she thanked all the critics and writers who documented dance happenings—“their work enables research like this to come to life” (Perkins Deneault, v).
There is less writing about dance now, “A lot of it is online, and not archived in the same way. In the future, if someone is going to look at a dancer from our time, the rich archival materials that are available to me might not be there.” Perkins Deneault claims we don't write about the arts in the same way or amount that we used to. Through her writing on Iris Garland, it solidified the importance of writing about dance, something she is evidently passionate about. Perkins Deneault is a regular contributor to The Dance Current and Dance International, and has taken a course on dance writing with Kaija Pepper, an esteemed dance researcher and editor of Dance International Magazine.
In Perkins Deneault’s words, “I feel I got to know Garland through looking through the archives and talking to people who knew her. She was very determined, and she's inspiring in the way she always stood up for what she thought was right. She really pushed for dance and thanks to her, a lot of things happened [for dance].”
“Aside from all of Garland’s contributions in creating the SFU dance program and mentoring countless students, her service to the dance community included administrative roles in organizations such as Dance in Canada. She was president of the association in 1978 and a member of the steering committee for that year’s national conference which was held in Vancouver. In August 1986, their 14th annual conference, “Dance on Track” was in Vancouver in conjunction with Expo 86, held at UBC, and Garland served as the chair of the daily programming committee. Her course Dancing in Cyberspace: Creating with the Virtual Body was ahead of its time and attracted international interest, while her work with LifeForms computer software furthered the possibilities of integrating digital technology with choreography. Later in life, Garland took up flamenco and studied the history of Spanish modern dancer Tortola Valencia, writing a biography of her ” (Perkins Deneault, 43).
Tracing the lineage of Iris Garland
“It’s hard to imagine how many lives must have been influenced by Garland as a teacher, choreographer, and researcher. Iris Garland continues to impact the lives of dance artists in the community through awards established in her name” (Perkins Deneault, 44).
The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award was established by Felter to support young dance artists engage in a choreographic practice, and keep Iris Garland's legacy alive. The Dance Centre in Vancouver manages and administers this award, which provides $5000 every two years to an emerging dance artist to assist with the costs of presenting their original work in the Faris Family Studio at Scotiabank Dance Centre. The award’s recipients to date are Amber Funk Barton (2005), Chengxin Wei (2007), Sara Coffin (2009), Shannon Moreno (2011),
Vanessa Goodman (2013), Deanna Peters (2015), Julianne Chapple (2017), Jamie Robinson (2019), Shion Skye Carter (2021), and Anya Saugstad (2023).
Other than the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award, Felter also established the Iris Garland Guest Artist fund at SFU to provide financial support for visiting dance artists to engage with the students and faculty of the university’s School for the Contemporary Arts. Both of these funds in Garland’s memory serve to continue the work she dedicated herself to — providing opportunities for young dancers to enhance their skills, present their choreography, and learn from visiting artists. “What Iris was interested in,” says Felter, “and what I'm interested in, is instilling creativity — not to teach only a theory, but to teach how to be creative, and that allows a whole lot of things to happen” (Perkins Deneault, 45)
Hearing Perkins Deneault talk about the pivotal role Garland played in being a mentor makes me wonder if Iris is the grandmother of modern dance in Vancouver! Even though I have never met Iris Garland in person, I am myself a benefactor of her legacy through the dance program at SFU. Something in me tells me that she would be very proud of what the dance program at SFU has grown into— from the quality of dance graduates to the world-class dance studios at the Woodward's building, and especially how dance continues to blossom in this city called Vancouver where we live, work and play.
Tessa Perkins Deneault is an arts journalist and freelance writer who regularly contributes to publications including The Dance Current and Dance International. She is the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications in the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology at Simon Fraser University and holds an MA in Liberal Studies, BA in English and French literatures, and Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in communication from SFU. In her spare time, she takes ballet and tap dance classes and spends as much time as she can watching live theatre and dance. She recently published her MA thesis, Iris Garland: Modern Movement, and has contributed a chapter on dance for a forthcoming book (Harbour Publishing, 2024) on the early years of the arts at SFU.
Article Cover Image: Garland on campus at Simon Fraser University © Simon Fraser University Archives. School for the Contemporary Arts fonds. F-109-12-7-0-26.
1 Perkins Deneault, T. (2023). Iris Garland: Modern Movement (master’s thesis). Simon Fraser University.
2 Simon Fraser University Archives. Iris Garland fonds, F-197-3-0-0-2. “Centre for Communications Resident Artists Fall ’74.” The Peak. 11 September 1974.
