UNIQUE, HILARIOUS & FEARLESS.
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DONALD NORMAN
1952 – 2003 After experiencing a stroke in 2001, Donald became an active member of Calgary's disability community. He had a very active recovery and rehabilitation with the Southern Alberta Brain Injury Society, the Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre, as well as Foothills Medical Centre. In 2003, he participated in the annual Speak Out Disability Rights Rally with Calgary's Disability Action Hall. Shortly thereafter, he acted in two original productions with Stage Left Productions, and he also represented the disability community on the company's Board of Directors. |
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FRANK STANLEY
1937 – 2009 Frank was born in Calgary and lived a very happy life as a senior member of Calgary's Persons with Developmental Disabilities community. Frank took many years of drama classes with us, and performed in some of our Forum Theatre performances that we used for disability rights activism in Calgary. Frank loved the Nickelodeon Music Club and was a member of the Rocky Mountain Ramblers Association for almost forty years. He volunteered at the Calgary Folk Festival and was a member of the Calgary Folk Club. He also enjoyed The Calgary Stampede; especially the breakfasts. Frank left something special in every life he touched. |
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MEG TORWL
1967 – 2013 Meg Torwl was an artist and activist who worked in video, new media, audio, photography, writing, performance and arts advocacy. Her work has been exhibited, broadcast, published and performed in her native New Zealand, Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Meg's solo-performance work, That's So Gay, was commissioned by Stage Left in 2008. In 2012, she participated in Stage Left's national dis arts gathering, Beyond Access. Shortly thereafter, she collaborated with Stage Left to create DDMAAC. Her digital portfolio can be found here: Integrial Media. |
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LISA BUFANO
1972 – 2013 Lisa was an American interdisciplinary performance artist whose work incorporated elements of doll-making, fabric work, animation and dance. It was our great pleasure to present Lisa's dance/theatre performance, called five open mouths, in our 2008 Disability Arts Festival. Especially because her show was an aesthetic representation of the relief and joy she felt when she discovered that she would be disabled instead of dead. Photo credit: Lisa in her world renown work, called fancy | Photo by Gerhard Aba |
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NAOMI SAULTEAUX-GEORGE
1974 – 2014 Naomi Saulteaux, of Carry the Kettle First Nation, was a loving mother to Lakota, beloved wife of M. Leigh George and cherished daughter of Pat Saulteaux. Naomi was a fierce Indigenous Rights advocate and community organizer, who put in a lot of labour at Mount Royal College as co-Chair of 4 Directions Lodge. Which is where she and our AD first collaborated on Truth & Reconciliation, over 30 years ago. Naomi went on to support the co-creation of many of our on-reserve Forum Theatre performances, with Indigenous youth members of Treaty 6, 7 and 8 Nations. |
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LORETTA YOUNG
1958 – 2015 Loretta passed away peacefully on March 5, 2015 at the age of 56 years. She was amazingly resilient with a sense of humor that sustained her through more than most people could have endured. She enriched the lives of many with her warmth, generosity and desire to help others. Loretta spent the latter part of her life enjoying and participating in both dance and art. She was inspired by many people and also inspired many people with her love and dedication to the arts: In addition to producing visual arts with Studio C, Loretta performed in several originally created productions with Stage Left and MoMo Dance Theatre. |
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GEOFF MCMURCHY
1955 – 2015 Geoff was an accomplished dancer and visual artist, and, more prominently, the founding Artistic Director of Kickstart Society for Disability Arts & Culture in Vancouver. In that role, Geoff produced Canada's first professional disability arts festival in August 2000. Stage Left had the privilege to include Geoff in our national Disability Arts & Culture Presenters' Network, present his dance work in Balancing Acts: Calgary's Annual Disability Arts Festival, and commission a contribution from him for High Art: Drugs, Disability & Dastardly Deeds, a national digital narratives project. |
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DARLENE MURPHY
1955 – 2017 Darlene lived her passion for creativity and helping others through In-Definite Arts, where she worked for over 30 years. She brought to life her vision for a creative arts facility for those with developmental disabilities. Darlene excelled at her role which included supporting artists with disabilities and advocating for inclusion. From 2004 - 2010, Darlene joined forces with Stage Left to become the Visual Arts presenting partner for Balancing Acts: Calgary's Annual Disability Arts Festival. |
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TROY EMERY TWIGG KAAYO'OHKITOPII (BEAR RIDER)
1972 – 2023 Troy was raised by Donald and the late Beatrice Big Swallow. He loved his dad/grandpa Donald so very much and treasured all of the things that he taught him as he was growing up. Troy knew from the day he was born that he was going to be an artist and a choreographer. He established his artistic career in Theatre and Dance, in the early 1990s and was one of the first Indigenous artists to be presented in the High Performance Rodeo, in an original performance creation called Assimilating Richard. It was our great pleasure to walk and work alongside him for 20 years. |
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CHERYL MARIE WADE
1957 - 2015 Cheryl was the global disability arts movement's "Queen Mother of Gnarly". A pioneer in the movement, Wade’s in-your-face style of writing and performing challenged disability-related stereotypes and misconceptions. She advocated for disabled people, specifically disabled women, through her art and performances. We're proud to have presented Cheryl's work in our Disability Arts Festivals. |
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MICHAEL GREEN
1957 - 2015 Michael passed away suddenly on Tuesday, February 10, 2015 in a tragic car accident, leaving an unexpected void in our family and community. His accomplishments and contributions to the theatre community include his visionary work as co-founder of One Yellow Rabbit, writer, director, and actor with the One Yellow Rabbit Ensemble, founder/curator of The High Performance Rodeo, creative director of Calgary 2012 and creative producer of The Making Treaty 7 Project. He was a patron of Stage Left's, giving us his theatre and team to co-present our Disability Arts Festivals and mentoring us on the co-creation of a national network. |
