40th Anniversary - The Dance Centre

2026-2027 marks the 40th anniversary of The Dance Centre celebrates and 25 years in our landmark building.

Throughout the season we will be featuring exhibitions, installations, special edition collections, and activations including a collaborative event animating The Dance Centre, neighbourhood, and downtown core. More details to be announced this Fall

“This year is truly extraordinary: we celebrate 40 years of The Dance Centre and 25 years of our landmark building in the heart of downtown Vancouver! It’s a season that honours our past, celebrates our present,
and continues boldly into the future.”
– Mirna Zagar, Executive Director

An audience watches a Greeting Ceremony in a black box theatre. A man in traditional Indigenous clothing and hat stands on the stage in front of a podium. He has one hand up in front of him and the other is holding a drum.

AT A GLANCE

History

The Dance Centre’s building opened in September 2001.
A purpose-built facility designed for the use of a diverse dance community, it is believed to have been the only one of its kind in North America at the time.
It was spearheaded by The Dance Centre, a non-profit resource organization for dance in BC founded in 1986, which operates the facility in addition to running artist residencies and support programs, presenting performances and offering outreach activities.
The site, donated by Scotiabank, was formerly a branch of the bank built in 1930. The building retains its heritage façade on Granville Street.
Its objectives are: to provide professional quality space for dance artists to work; to provide a central home for the dance community; to increase visibility for the art of dance in the city and beyond; and to provide a place for the public to connect with dance.

Building

Designed by Architectura (now Stantec) in collaboration with renowned Canadian architect Arthur Erickson.
Located in the heart of downtown Vancouver, on the corner of Davie and Granville Streets.
Seven floors, seven studios, ranging in size from 630 sq ft to 2944 sq ft.
Studios have specially designed sprung floors, and air conditioning. The seventh, the Faris Family Studio, is an intimate, fully-equipped black box theatre space with retractable seating for 154, for production and presentation activities.
Other facilities include a lounge, change rooms with lockers and showers, physiotherapy clinic, laundry, board room, and canopied rooftop patio.

Impact

Scotiabank Dance Centre is more than a building – it has become a cultural hub, bringing together people from diverse communities to create, share and experience dance.
Studios are used for rehearsals, classes, performances and events in all dance styles: ballet, bharata natyam, bellydance, capoeira, contemporary, flamenco, hip hop, salsa, tap, tango and many more.
In providing affordable space to artists in an increasingly unaffordable city, it has dramatically changed the community and the way that artists work together.
It is an internationally-recognized facility for dance with connections to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asian, the US and South America.
The 2018-19 season (the last full season pre-COVID) saw:

87,000+ visits
450+ studio renters
1561 rehearsals
792 classes and workshops 128 performances, presentations and special events
468 meetings

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