Returning for its eighth annual edition, Night Shift brings three thrilling nights of innovative, thought-provoking dance to The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance from October 15 – 17, 2026 at 10PM.
Get to know some of the artists featured in this year’s festival! We got the privilege to speak with the artists about their process and the work they will be presenting.
October 15 – Teagan Ariss | Kemora Manning | Takako Segawa
October 16 – Kimia Farokhzad | Yvonne Ng | Buyi Philip
October 17 – Jayden Gigliotti | K.H. Kanna | Winterhawk
What was the initial seed or movement idea for this piece, and how has it evolved as you brought it into the studio?
Yvonne Ng | tiger princess dance projects: The initial seed was my curiosity about different viewpoints, how what we see, or think we see, can change when we shift our position or look through a different lens. Beginning with three distinct dancers, each moving along their own path, sometimes brushing past, crossing, converging, or moving away from the others. This developed into a much more propulsive conversation. The dancers brought their own physicality, and ways of responding, and the work evolved through the relationships that emerged among them. I became interested not only in what each dancer was doing, but in how one person’s movement could alter the direction, timing, or intention of another.
Takako Segawa: Passages is inspired by my own experience: walking the Shikoku 88‑temple pilgrimage with my great grandmother when I was 6-8 years old, along with the idea of my life as a journey. It started with simple walking, resting, and then encountering rhythms translated into movement with mature sound.
In the studio, it evolved from basic travel patterns to layered phrases that mixed everyday gestures (ritual pattern of cleansing, looking, bowing) with abstract movement. Ultimately Passages shifted from a solo, internal journey to a shared, relational one as another dancer added singing, prayers, and Noriko’s own paths and connections.
What core physical practice, concept, or inquiry guided your creation process for this work?
Teagan Ariss: Improvisation is the core practice of this work – both in the process and the performance itself. Through the creative process, I’ve been working to structure the energy and vocabularies of the improvisation to shape different boundaries within the piece. Often when improvising, I’ll set an intention of trying to abandon tendencies and habits to generate new pathways. But with this process, I was guided by the inquiry of how can I actually lean into my habits and tendencies to shape something specific, which also feels like asking: how can I dance more like myself?
Yvonne Ng | tiger princess dance projects: I really wanted to explore the physicality of giving and taking weight. What happens to another body when weight is offered, received, resisted, or withdrawn? How does that exchange change both people? The dancers are not simply moving beside one another; they are continually affecting and being affected by each other. This requires a great deal of attention, listening through the body, sensing when to move toward someone and when to make space. I was interested in allowing the movement to be energetic and physically demanding while still making room for subtlety, breath, and responsiveness.
If you had to describe the world or atmosphere of your piece in just three words, what would they be?
Takako Segawa: Grounded, Reflective, Transcendent
Teagan Ariss: Conversational, Confrontational, Silver