ARTISTIC ASSOCIATES

Alison Neuman                            Kaylee Borgstrom
Alison is a dancer, emerging choreographer and author. Alison has trained in 
musical theatre with Stephen Heatley and mentored in playwrighting with Conni 
Massing, Stephen Heatley and Jann Taylor. Alison wrote and co-choreographed 
(with Kelsie Acton) Searching for Normal the Musical in the 2013 Edmonton 
International Fringe Theatre Festival. She has performed in the following CRIPSiE 
productions, Assembled, Sum of Our Parts, New Constellation, Awakening, (Dis)quiet 
in the Peanut Gallery, and Vacuum/Bloom. Choreography includes Shelter (co-
choreographed with Kelsie cton), People Like You, Prisoner of the Mind, Hidden in 
My Heart, For You, from Searching for Normal the Musical 2013(co-choreographed 
by Kelsie Acton) and In Transition. Alison has the following published book titles 
"Ice Rose - Young adult Spy Novel", "Searching for Normal: Memoir" and "Don't 
EAT Family". She has a Bachelor of Applied Communications and is an Athabasca 
University graduate student with an interest in equality and major in Educational studies.
Kaylee Borgstrom is a dancer, actor, director, writer, and teacher. She graduated from the 
University of Alberta with a Bachelor of Education degree, with a Fine Arts Minor. In 2010, she co-founded the performance group The Kazoodles, and has since performed in the Edmonton International Fringe Festival in 2011 and 2012, with performances encouraging audiences to think creatively and use their imaginations. Since joining CRIPSiE in 2010, Kaylee has performed in Orchesis Dance Motif, Kaleido Festival, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, and the FEATS Festival of Dance. Kaylee has performed the following pieces with CRIPSiE: es Étoiles, Tooth and Nail, Assembled, Some of Our Parts, New Constellation, Awakening, (Dis)quiet in the Peanut Gallery, and Vacuum/Bloom. As a teacher, Kaylee works to educate her students about issues surrounding accessibility. She also teaches a comprehensive creative dance unit that not only encourages students to express themselves through movement, with their bodies and further understand themselves and how their bodies work. She integrates arts-based educational practices often and strives to get her students to think independently, creatively, and critically. 

Alexis Hillyard
Photo and Bio coming.

Nicolle Pilon
Photo and BIo Coming.

Erin Newman
Photo and bio coming.

Lindsay Eales  Past co-artistic  Director

Picture of Lindsay Eales - Co-Artistic Director - smiling with flowers behind her
Lindsay Eales - Co-Artistic Director
Lindsay studies, choreographs, and performs integrated dance, as well as disability and Mad performance art. As co-artistic director of CRIPSiE (formerly iDance), she has spent the last ten years creating vibrant movement communities that appreciate diversity and re-imagine (dis)ability. Lindsay’s choreographic work has been featured in such venues as The Alberta Dance Alliance FEATS festival, and The Works Art & Design Festival. Lindsay has also made several films, and is currently doing a PhD on dance, disability, and madness. Lindsay’s artistic and Ph.D. research interests emerge from her lifelong passion for dance, her training as a certified occupational therapist, her experiences with madness, and her involvement in communities of activism and social justice. 

Kelsie Acton  Past co-artistic  Director

Picture of Kelsie Acton - Co-Artistic Director- smiling with flowers behind herKelsie Acton - Co-Artistic Director

Kelsie has been a member of the CRIPSiE Community for seven years. She graduated with a BA(Hons) in Drama from the University of Alberta in 2006, followed by an MA in Theatre Studies from the University of Guelph. While in Guelph she began to study with DanceTheatre David Earle. As part of CRIPSiE she has danced in work such as Awakening, Sum of Our Parts, (Dis)connection and Tooth and Nail. Her choreography for CRIPSiE includes Help!, Assembled (co-choreographed with Lindsay Eales), and Revue. Her choreography has been presented by Dancefest@Nextfest, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, Latitude 53 and the Expanse Movement Arts Festival. 

Danielle Peers
(Past Administrator and Artistic Associate)

Picture of Danielle Peers, smiling in front of flowers


Danielle Peers is a filmmaker, curator, dancer and artistic associate with CRIPSiE. Danielle’s creative work influenced by disability-related political and aesthetic movements. As a CRIPSiE artist, she has produced and directed dance-on-films (Other-wise, Unfurl, Dazzled, and Pieces of Us), and one documentary (New Constellations: A Dance-umentary). Danielle co-choreographed and danced in CRIPSiE’s inter-relationcrips, commissioned by Stage Left for their 10th anniversary show Women’s Work and recently performed in Tooth and Nail and Les Étoiles. Danielle has produced and directed two short videos (GIMP Bootcamp and Bill 44: Smaller Classes, Smaller Minds) and one documentary video (And the Rest is Drag) with KingCrip productions, a collective she co-founded. Her videos have collectively shown at over twenty-five film festivals, including: Frameline: San Francisco LGBT Film Festival; Out On Screen Vancouver Queer Film Festival; Global Visions Film Festival; and Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival. In addition, Danielle has curated two visual and performance arts exhibits, the Trudeau Foundation’s Communicating Otherwise, and CRIPSiE’s Crip Tease: An Evening of Irreverent Art, which was subsequently remounted by The Works Art and design Festival. 
Heath Birkholz (Past Artistic Associate)
Picture of Ian in front of flowers


Heath Birkholz is a dancer, choreographer and the former community liason with CRIPSiE. He has performed in pieces such as New Constellations, Sum of Our Parts, (Dis)Quiet in the Peanut Gallery, Assembled and Tooth and nail. Ian had his choreographic debut in FEATS Festival, presenting De/construct, co-choreographed with KatarzynaRychlicki. He. has a BA in Communication and Culture minors in History and a minor in Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies from the University of Calgary.
Katarzyna Rychlicki
(Past Artistic Associate)
Katarzyna Rychlicki was born and raised in Poland. Being a part of integrated dance 
community in Edmonton for the last 7 years helped her navigate a world of marginalization.  With CRIPSiE over the years she has performed at : Orchesis Dance Motif, Kaleido festival, iDANCE community dance recitals, Body Language , Feats Festival of Dance, and many more. As an emerging community choreographer, she explores movement behind the idea of individual differences as an advantage to community. Most recently she choreographed De/construct with Ian Gordon. Currently one of her major responsibilities as an artistic associate of CRIPSiE is to manage social media sites online. Outside of the dance community she works on GoodVibes workshops that go into details of healthy relationships.