Chutzpah! is proud to present the premiere of an original multi-disciplinary work by award-winning dancer and choreographer Marla Eist.

Inspired by the British Kindertransport of 1938 — when an estimated 10,000 Jewish children were taken out of Germany, Austria, Poland and Czechoslovakia to Great Britain, as most of their families perished in the Holocaust — Eist integrates the personal histories and survival stories of the kinder (children) and their families in a meaningful and powerful fusion of memory, cultural history and movement. For Kinderstransport Stories, Eist has collaborated with three of Vancouver’s top professional dancers, Amber Funk Barton, Karissa Barry and Shannon Moreno and music and video artist, Dave Smith, while working closely with Kindertransport survivors through the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre

Eist is an New York-trained independent choreographer, performing artist and dance educator who has performed throughout the US and Canada with more than 50 independent contemporary dance artists over the years. She is currently an Associate Professor of Dance in the School for Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University.

If you've never seen Marla Eist's work, you probably should. She is an exciting performer...”
The Peak

Amber Funk Barton
Born and raised in Vancouver, Amber trained with Goh Ballet Academy, Arts Umbrella, and Ballet BC's Mentor Program. Upon completion, she has worked with various Vancouver companies and choreographers, such as Joe Ink, Judith Marcuse Projects, Mascall Dance, MovEnt, Lola Dance LINK Dance, Marta Marta House of Pride, Wen Wei Wang, Cori Caulfield, and Emily Molnar. AMber also aspires to grow as a choreographer and has had her work presented in various Vancouver venues, such as the Dancing on the Edge Festival, the Dances for a Small Stag series, Bloom, and the Vancouver International Dance Festival. Amber has also been named the inaugral recipient of the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award which resulted in her first production, Threefold, at The Scotiobank Dance Centre in June of 2005. Her second production, 5ive solos later..., which featured commissioned and Funk Barton's own choreographed work was presented shortly after The Firehall Arts Centre in December of 2005.

Shannon Moreno
Shannon was born in Vancouver and studied ballet with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Professional School and the Rudra Bejart Ballet in Switzerland. Upon graduation, Shannon worked with the Gothenberg Opera Ballet in Sweden and the Deutsche Operam Rhein in Germany, offering opportunities to work closely with several international choreographers, such as Christopher Bruce, Mats Ek, Richard Wherlock, Maurice Bejart, Youri Vamos and Robert North. Now based in Canada, Shannon is a member of the LINK Dance Company, Wen Wei Dance and is an instructor at Simon Fraser University. She is a vital contributor to dance in British Columbia as a performer, choreographer, adjudicator and educator

Karissa Barry
Born in Edmonston, Karissa trained at the Edmonton School of Ballet, Cecchetti Dance Theatre, the Banff Centre and the Impulstanz workshops in Vienna as well as graduating from the Ballet BC Mentor Program. As an independent dancer she has worked with choreographers Wen Wei Wang, Day Helesic, Amber Funk Barton, Science Fiction, and Marla Eist. A talented and versatile dancer with supurb technical ability we're lucky Karissa now calls Vancouver home.

Vanessa Goodman
Born and raised in Toronto, Vanessa Goodman began contemporary dance at Etobicoke School for the Arts. In Toronto, Vanessa was a company member with PBJ Dance Projects and an associate company member with Canadian Children's Dance Theatre. Vanessa is currently completing her final year at Simon Fraser University in Dance, where she has had the pleasure of dancing in works by faculty and choreographers such as Paul Andre-Fortier, Serge Bennathan, Wen Wei Wang and Jennifer Mascall. Most recently Vanessa premiered 'innerhouse' with Meghan Goodman at MACC studio theatre, danced in a work by Natasha Lutz and apprenticed with dancersdancing. Vanessa is pleased to have this opportunity to work with Marla Eist and her dancers.