In 2020, The Fugitives premiered “Ridge”, a musical storytelling show that examined the WW1 Canadian soldier experience during the Battle of Vimy. It was named a top 10 Globe & Mail Arts Event of the year, and spawned the JUNO nominated album Trench Songs. In “Over the Ridge”, The Fugitives collaborate with choreographer Jacob Williams to expand this narrative through dance. Developed in partnership with the Massey Theatre Society, with help from Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella, “Over the Ridge” adds original contemporary dance to the storytelling and music, resulting in a kinetic ride through history that delves our strong connection to the past, and passionately argues against the exploitation of young lives.
Writer: Brendan McLeod
Music Director: Adrian Glynn
Music: The Fugitives (Brendan McLeod, Adrian Glynn, Carly Frey, Christopher Suen)
Director: Julia Course
Lighting Design: Jonathan Kim
Choreography: Jacob Williams
Dancers: Briana Del Mundo, Pei Lun Lai, Sophia Makarenko, Nathan Coburn
Supported by the City of New Westminster and the Province of British Columbia
About the performing artists
Brendan McLeod
Brendan McLeod is a writer, theatre creator, and musician. He’s the author of a poetry collection, Friends Without Bodies, a novel, The Convictions of Leonard McKinley, and five theatre shows, including Ridge, his award-winning musical on the Battle fo Vimy, and Brain, his comedic monologue on consciousness. His music group The Fugitives has been nominated for a JUNO, as well as multiple Canadian Folk Music and Western Canada Music Awards, including Best Roots Group, Best Songwriter, and Best Vocal Group. He was the Poet of Honour at the 2012 Canadian Festival of Spoken Word and the 2015 Victoria Spoken Word Festival.
Adrain Glynn
Adrian Glynn is a Vancouver, Canada-based musician and actor. Raised in Vancouver, Adrian received a BA in Theatre from the University of British Columbia and studied acting at New York’s Atlantic Theatre School. His first full-length record, Bruise, won him a nomination for Emerging Artist of the Year at the Canadian Independent Music Awards. His fifth solo release, You’re Just A Place That I Know, tracks the story of his Ukrainian grandparents’ flight from their homeland in the 1940s, settling to begin life anew in Montreal.
Carly Frey
Carly Frey is a fiddle player and singer based in Vancouver, BC. Classically trained from the age of five, Carly held leading orchestra and chamber group positions throughout her early career (UBC Youth Orchestra, McGill Symphony Orchestra, Nairobi National Orchestra). While studying at McGill University, she developed an interest in folk and traditional roots music and has since worked with international artists in a range of genres as both a session player and touring performer. Carly was a featured member in the critically acclaimed international theatrical production Barrage (William Morris Agency) and performed with the group throughout their extensive Vagabond Tales world tour. She appears in the Walt Disney/CBC production A Magical Gathering, as well as the Vagabond Tales live concert DVD (PBS, Bravo). Additional theatrical credits include Arthur Miller’s Playing for Time, produced by Glasgow’s Push Bar to Open Productions. Whilst in East Africa pursuing graduate field work (The London School of Economics), Carly performed and recorded with Afro-fusion artists (Gogo Simo, Abbi & Kikwetu) and led culture-based programming and policy development for UN-Habitat. In London (UK) from 2007 to 2014, Carly was fiddle player and vocalist for Sid Griffin & the Coal Porters, an established alt-bluegrass act on both European and American tour circuits (SXSW, Americana Festival, EWOB). She recorded on two of their studio albums – Find the One, produced by John Wood (Fairport Convention, Nick Drake) and Durango, produced by Ed Stasium (The Ramones), featuring Carly’s duet with Peter Rowan. Carly is an awardee of the British Council’s Cultural Leadership International (CLI) program, and from 2011-2015, she was a Cultural Governance Technical Assistance Expert for UNESCO. Carly is currently an active member of Vancouver’s music scene. She performs and tours regularly with bands Echo Nebraska and The Fugitives, and works as a consultant in the arts and cultural sector.
Christopher Suen
Christopher Suen is a banjo player and fiddler, choral director and arranger. He has spent over 20 years teaching privately, leading workshops, conducting and arranging music in a wide range of genres, from folk to sacred choral, touring internationally in acclaimed Canadian bands The Fugitives and Viper Central while maintaining an intensive year-round choral schedule in Vancouver. He is also a tour leader for Christian pilgrimages, directing pilgrim choirs at religious sites in the Middle East and Europe. He is the original banjo player in “Ridge” with Brendan McLeod and The Fugitives, has performed “Ridge” extensively across Canada with the group, and contributed the original banjo parts to the band’s album “Trench Songs”.
Jacob Williams
Jacob Williams is originally from Vancouver, Washington. For many years, he performed in musical theater until he found a love for dance at the age of 16. After high school, Jacob furthered his education at Alonzo King Lines Ballet going on to dance with dawsondancesf and Oregon Ballet Theatre 2 (OBT2). In 2018, he joined the Arts Umbrella Graduate Program under the direction of Artemis Gordon, graduating in 2020. During his summers, Jacob trained at Springboard Danse Montreal, AU International Summer Intensive, and Northwest Dance Project. He has had the honor of performing works by Nacho Duato, Mats Ek, Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, Johan Inger, and Crystal Pite. As a choreographer, Jacob’s quintet, Semble, which premiered as a part of Ballet BC’s TAKE FORM, was selected as a finalist in the International Choreographic Competition Hannover 2021. He is currently collaborating with Canadian folk music and spoken word group The Fugitives on a new show: Over the Ridge. Jacob joined Ballet BC as an Emerging Artist in the 2020-2021 season, and was promoted to full company member for the current 2021-2022 season.
Briana Del Mundo
Of Filipino descent, Briana Del Mundo (she/her) is a native of Calgary, Alberta. She began her early studies at The School of Alberta Ballet and YYC Dance Project and in May of 2023, she graduated from The Juilliard School with a BFA Degree in Dance. During her collegiate years, she has been fortunate enough to perform works by Ohad Naharin, Medhi Walerski, Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, and Jermaine Spivey and Spenser Therberge, among many others. Briana’s time at Juilliard led her to her interest in fashion, where she worked with Juilliard’s costume department, most recently as a stylist, and worked as a movement director for Brooklyn-based fashion designer, Delfina Balda. Briana is now in her first professional season with Ballet BC as an emerging artist and has been honoured to work and perform works by Shahar Binyamini, William Forsythe, David Raymond and Tiffany Tregarthen, and Micaela Taylor. She is grateful and excited to be a part of Over The Ridge!
Pei Lun Lai
Pei Lun (she/her) is from Kaohsiung, Taiwan where she started dancing at the age of 8. In 2021, Pei joined Hung Dance and performed for America Dance Festival premiering her online solo “Equilibrium” by Hung Dance Artistic Director Lai Hung-Chung. In 2022, she performed “Formless Erosion” in Hung Dance. In the same year, the dance creation with the co-choreographer Xiao Annette “Listen, I’ll speak” won the gold medal in the MOC’s Taiwan Creative Competition. Additional performance opportunities include creations by Yu Jin-Wen and Chang Chien-Kuei, etc. In June 2023, she graduated from Taipei National University Of The Arts with a BA in Dance. During her time there, Pei performed repertoire works by Ihsan Rustem, Lo Man-Fei, Zhang Xiao-Xiong, Tsai Hui-Chen, and Tsai Po-Cheng, etc. In 2023, Pei started working with Ballet BC.
Sophia Makarenko
Sophia Makarenko grew up on Bowen Island, BC, Canada and is currently based in Vancouver, BC. From the age of four to fifteen she took classes and trained at dance schools throughout Vancouver. In the summer of 2019, she attended the Batsheva Summer Intensive in Tel Aviv. That same year she joined Arts Umbrella under the direction of Artemis Gordon. Last year, Sophia graduated from Arts Umbrella’s post secondary program as well as participated in the Ballet BC Annex which is under the direction of Medhi Walerski. She has had the opportunity to work with choreographers such as Crystal Pite, Medhi Walerski, Fernando Magadan, Doug Letheren, Aszure Barton, Ethan Colangelo, and Micaela Taylor. She has also performed works by Sharon Eyal, Marco Goecke, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, William Forsythe and many more. She has also participated in the Young Choreographer Mentorship with Crystal Pite at Arts Umbrella. Sophia is passionate about discovery and creation and recently worked on a short film for Petrichor North Records. Aside from performing and choreographing, she also has experience as a teacher. Sophia is currently participating in teaching outreach classes as well as classes within Arts Umbrella’s general school program. Sophia is so grateful to be a part of Over the Ridge and she is excited to dance alongside this wonderful group of artists.
Nathan Coburn
Nathan Coburn was born in Vancouver, BC, and started taking ballet classes before joining the Arts Umbrella Dance Company. He has recently graduated from the Arts Umbrella Graduate Dance Program under the direction and mentorship of Artemis Gordon. During his time at Arts Umbrella, Nathan has been fortunate to work with and learn from dance artists such as Artemis Gordon, Lynn Shepphard, Sabra Perry, Crystal Pite, Eric Beauschene, Fernando Hernando Magadan, and Doug Letheren, among many others. He has also participated in the Young Choreographer Mentorship Showcase, led by Crystal Pite. In 2022, Nathan was a part of the Ballet BC Annex, performing works by Ethan Colangelo and Micaela Taylor, as well as leading community outreach workshops throughout British Columbia. He is thrilled to be a part of Over The Ridge!