Board of Directors
Present — Javier Vilalta-Lopez
Secretary — Thea Patterson
Treasurer — Ivy Su
Executive Director — Jaqueline Russell
Executive Director — Vanessa Chu
Our Team
Léda Davies, Co-founder and Creative Lead
Originally from Calgary, AB, Léda has been an active member of Canada's professional theatre, dance, and circus scene for over a decade. Léda has performed across Canada and worldwide with some of Canada’s leading theatrical companies, including touring to Japan with Green Fools Theater, and across Canada and the US with The Old Trout Puppet Workshop and Quest Theatre. Léda spent 6 years in Montreal, QC training with renowned coaches from Cirque du Soleil and the National Circus School. Her aerial skills have been featured in music videos, stage productions and outdoor festivals in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Edmonton. In 2020, Léda completed her MFA in Theatre Practice at the University of Alberta, with a focus on aerial circus movement in theatre. Since then has taught performance analysis at the University of Calgary’s School of Creative and Performing Arts and currently teaches performance creation and movement in Drama at the University of Alberta.
Whether on stage at the National Arts Centre, in a freight elevator for a site-specific performance, or hanging off of a 5-story building, Léda tenaciously blends physicality and storytelling in everything she does. For more information visit: www.ledadavies.com or follow her blog https://circusmonsterleda.wordpress.com/
Jed Tomlinson, Co-Founder
Jed Tomlinson is a Montreal based Clown, Teacher, and Drummer. Jed is one half of the Screaming Goats Collective whose inaugural show Persephone Bound, an aerial circus theatre show exploring issues of sexual consent and the role of the judicial system in cases of sexual assault, was recently nominated for 5 Metas (Montreal English Theatre Awards).
He is also the Co-Founder of Sizzle and Spark Productions whose two shows, The Sama Kutra and Hushabye, have enjoyed over 90 performances across the country. Other clown credits include: The Island (Hectik Theatre), The Lost and Lost Department (The Pie Factory Collective), The Sleep Over (The Pie Factory Collective). As a Director: Mme. Brulée and At Home with Giselle (EL Productions), Ashes (Sage Theatre’s Ignite Festival).
Jed began his training in Pochinko clown in 2010 at the Manitoulin Conservatory for Creation and Performance (MCCP), primarily under the tutelage of John Turner of Mump and Smoot. Jed has toured both nationally and internationally in various capacities, and has taught clown for The University of Regina, Bishop’s University, The University of New Mexico, Dawson College, Tricklock Theatre (Revolutions International Theatre Festival and the Manoa Project), The Montreal Clown Festival, Imago Theatre, Cirque Hors Piste, Momo Dance, and Dancing Sky Theatre and at the MCCP.
Jed has also worked extensively in technical theatre as a production manager, technical director, carpenter and tour director. Favorite credits include: Nix (2010 Cultural Olympiade) Elephant Wake (Cultural Olympiade, Carrefour, Magnetic North) Mesa (UK Tour), Project: Whooping Crane (Japan Tour). Most recently he was the technical director and an artistic associate for Le Festival des Clowns de Montréal and has spent the last few years as Director of Scenic Operations for C2 International.
Commitment- 35//50
In August 2020, in response to the Black Lives Matter movement and acknowledging the realities within the arts sector due to COVID-19, a group of artists in Alberta created the 35//50 Initiative. This initiative asks organizations to commit to representing Calgary's civic landscape by hiring a minimum of 35% BIPOC & 50% female and non-binary folks in paid, professional positions by 2025.
We are grateful to these artists for leading this initiative and are thankful for the opportunity to challenge systems of oppression, use our voice to create change in our community and move toward a theatrical landscape built upon equality and justice.
Upholding our values of activism, inclusion, community, and leadership, we acknowledge that as of 2021, the Screaming Goat Collective’s racial and gender representation is as follows:
Artists — 17% BIPOC, 68% Female/non-binary
Board — 60% BIPOC, 80% Female/non-binary
Staff — 0% BIPOC, 100% Female/non-binary
We understand that these statistics do not yet reflect the representation within our city. To hold ourselves accountable to this promise we aim to:
- Ensure future programing includes include Indigenous, Black, and racialized artists and artists with diverse genders and mental/physical abilities;
- Advocate for the voices of all identities to combat the range of discrimination in the arts and the broader community;
- Work towards reconciliation to create a more inclusive future for the theatre community;
- Continue to track demographic information and make that information public.
