About

POCKET ALCHEMY [ˈpä-kət ˈal-kə-mē]

craft | costume | choreograph | (c)repeat

Pocket Alchemy is the Ontario, Canada-based company of contemporary artist Susan Kendal. It serves as an umbrella for her various and sundry adventures contemporary dance, craft and textiles.

ABOUT SUSAN KENDAL: 

I created Pocket Alchemy in 2002 as a vehicle for my various creative projects. I do many things to fulfil my living and curiosity from dance to stitching. The common thread (ha!) is that it’s all creative, I cannot have it any other way!

SusanKU13I choreograph and teach contemporary dance and costume contemporary dance and theatre. I make felt matryoshka dolls. I sew quilts and burping cloths for babies. I knit things both flat and 3-dimensional. Lately all I want to do in embroider. I edit and write about dance and for dancers. I am drawn to texture and nuance and am simply inspired to create. I appreciate the care and love inherent in hand-made work.

EdithandEliza06ByTedZier-VogelAs for the company name of Pocket Alchemy: creating, performing and witnessing art is alchemical to me: a bit of back-alley, sleight-of-hand magic that even when my own retains a dust of surprise, an element of the fantastic. So Pocket Alchemy it is.

There are 2 little boys who make me mom – a creative/inventive/improvisational journey at every moment! I attended Waldorf school as a child, which inspired early knitting adventures, a wide imagination and a firm appreciation of wonder. Eventually I found my way to The School of Toronto Dance Theatre’s Professional Training Program in the late 1990s where I studied contemporary dance. SewingGumiDressI worked in various capacities at The Dance Current magazine – from news editor and writer to circulation and advertising to managing editor – over 10 years and I still work as an independent arts administrator. I current work as an administrator for the inspiring Tad Hargrave and his company Marketing for Hippies.

I am surrounded both personally and professionally by a wealth of creative, excellent folk who help keep me grounded, silly, inspired, edited and generally filled with goodness.