MSP 191: Mocean Dance with Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui

About this episode

Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui discuss their artistic partnership and the evolution of Mocean Dance.

Some creative partnerships do more than grow over time; they help shape an entire artistic landscape. In this episode of The Movers and Shapers Podcast, we meet Sara Coffin and Susanne Chui, co-artistic directors of Mocean Dance, whose long shared history and collaborative vision have transformed contemporary dance in Nova Scotia. Sara begins by tracing her path from early choreography to training across Canada and the United States, and how returning home eventually led her into a leadership role with Mocean Dance. Susanne shares her parallel journey, from a childhood in community dance to professional training in Toronto and the decision to return to Halifax, where she built an independent career before joining the company. Together, they reflect on the evolution of Mocean Dance from a dancer-centered company to a community-focused hub for creation, training, and sector-wide collaboration. They discuss how their friendship, complementary strengths, and improvisational ethos shape their working relationship, and they offer a look at the ambitious interdisciplinary and land-based projects that will define their next chapter. Listen in for a thoughtful conversation about…

People in this episode

Host: Erin Carlisle Norton

Guests: Sara Coffin, Susanne Chui

Topics covered

• creative partnerships
• contemporary dance
• collaboration
• place-based artistry
• dance ecosystem

Keywords

• dance
• choreography
• artistic collaboration
• Mocean Dance
• Nova Scotia
• interdisciplinary projects
• community-focused

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mocean Dance

Places: Nova Scotia, Halifax, Toronto, Canada, United States

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