Lee Frketich
2025–2026 Artist-In-Residence

ARTIST BIO

Lee Frketich (he/they) is a contemporary dance artist originally from Hamilton, ON and currently based out of Winnipeg, MB. They are a graduate of the The Professional Program of the School of Contemporary Dancers affiliated with the University of Winnipeg, where they are currently completing their Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Dance and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science.

Lee has performed with Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers in “Game On” and “Elusivity”, NAfro Dance Productions in “Semba”, Stephanie Ballard’s “Landscape Dancing” and New Dance Horizons in “Secret Gardens.” As well as participating in performances in the Multipla Dança Festival in São Paulo, Brazil.

In 2022, he founded Wind Flower Dance Co., a performance collective of emerging artists looking to explore collaborative processes. Through Wind Flower Dance Co. they have produced, choreographed for, and performed in “field notes from this side of nowhere” at Vancouver Fringe and “Twenty Four” at Winnipeg, Kingston and Guelph Fringe Festivals.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Lee Frketich and Sontje Skabo are collaborating on a shared residency project titled Body Heat.

This work will explore body heat as both a physical experience and as a symbolic and emotional connection between people. We want to investigate the contrast between the exact ability to measure and display the change in body heat as a result of various actions and the emotional implications of these actions as an intangible experience. The work is going to investigate how warmth equals presence, using temperature as a measure of closeness and contact.

We are interested in heat, a medium we constantly feel, but rarely see, becoming visible as a form of expression and communication. The project will explore the traces we leave behind through our body temperature, on objects, in our environment, and on each other. We want to experiment with materials that respond to temperature, like thermochromic pigment, to add a visual layer to this invisible concept.

“Body heat” is currently in the research and experimentation phase. We have been researching thermal imaging from art and science, as well as the symbolic use of temperature in literature and myths. Our next steps include testing different materials and their reaction to heat, as well as getting into a studio and exploring the body heat shared in movement, through partnering.

RESIDENCY DATES AND EVENTS

Residency:
November 24 – December 5, 2025

Open Studio:
Saturday, November 29, 2025
1:00 – 3:00pm
Space to Create – 2B-468 Main Street
Pay What You Can
TICKETS

Accessibility Information:
17-step staircase
Gender Inclusive Washrooms
ASL Interpretation offered upon request

Public Sharing:
Friday, December 5, 2025
7:00 – 8:30pm
The Output – Artspace – 100 Arthur Street
Pay What You Can
TICKETS

Accessibility Information:
Physically Accessible
Gender Inclusive Washrooms
ASL Interpretation Offered

This residency is made possible with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Arts Council, and the Winnipeg Arts Council.

Photo credit:
Tse Luk

Choreographer Credits:
As Sparks Fly — Photos by Gaile Petursson-Hiley
George — Photos by Stephanie Ballard