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Event | Community Programs
International Dance Day 2025
The Dance Centre presents a program of events celebrating the art of dance for International Dance Day. Highlights include Vanessa Goodman’s innovative stairs-inspired project between the landings, a film examining a landmark project by Karen Jamieson Dance, and an ensemble work by Dance//Novella.
Initiated in 1982 by UNESCO, International Dance Day is marked annually on April 29 with events across Canada and around the world. The date commemorates the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), regarded as the founder of modern ballet.
NOTE: new location for events at Robson Square – Lower North Plaza (in front of the ice rink)
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Ongoing to April 30 at Scotiabank Dance Centre
Installation: between the landings | Vanessa Goodman/Action at a Distance
This installation evolved from an innovative 2024 creation where two dancers simultaneously performed in stairwells in Vancouver and New York City, using the liminal spaces of stairs to explore transition – the moment between rise and fall, descent and ascent. A looping video in the main lobby is paired with subtle, immersive sound and lighting in the stairwell, with live activation events taking place on April 29.
Free admission
Capture Photography Festival Participating Event
Sunday April 27 at Scotiabank Dance Centre
Workshop: Cultural and Migration Stories | Kay Huang/Crossmaneuver
This workshop is based on Kay Huang’s new work which uses text, words, and physical movement to explore culture and identity. Participants will be gently guided through embodied activations of their cultural heritage and stories, in a creative process which generates movement through playing, imagining, and reflecting on memories. Suitable for ages 16+, no prior experience required.
1-3pm
Free: register in advance, drop ins also welcome
Film Screening: Gluk | Karen Jamieson Dance
Gluk focuses on Karen Jamieson’s seminal dance work Stone Soup and its British Columbia tour in 1995-1997. Central to Stone Soup is the Gitxsan concept of Gluk: a ceremony of redoing a wrong. Doreen Jensen, Hahl Yee, Gitxsan elder and a beloved friend and mentor to Jamieson, proposed the concept to create a dance that would fulfill a Gluk by asking permission to enter and dance on each of the First Nations territories they came to. Through archive footage and new interviews, the film recounts this groundbreaking project which sought to build bridges of understanding and to advance truth and reconciliation, decades ahead of its time. Followed by a reception and light refreshments.
5-6.30pm
Tickets: Sliding scale $0/$15/$25
Tuesday April 29 International Dance Day
Events at Robson Square – Lower North Plaza (in front of the ice rink)
Artemis’ Embrace | soma anima arts
This vibrant dance experience brings together a group of professional, student and community dancers of all ages to explore strength, courage, and self-expression through movement. Conceived and directed by Artistic Director Rachel Helten in collaboration with the dancers, it’s a joyful celebration of creativity and connection, accompanied by live music from East Van’s funky brass dance orchestra Balkan Shmalkan.
High School Hip Hop
Students from Burnaby Central Secondary School’s dance program perform a short hip hop routine created with Sophia “Sosa” Laurio.
Supported through the Power of Dance program.
landings for six | Vanessa Goodman/Action at a Distance
Vanessa Goodman uses the liminal spaces of stairs for an exploration of transition — the moment between rise and fall, descent and ascent. Six dancers invite us to reflect on the stories etched into walls and support structures, and the relationship between time, emotion, and transformation.
Repeats at Scotiabank Dance Centre at 6pm and 8pm.
Dancers: Natalia Martineau, Ysadora Dias, Simran Sachar, danielle Mackenzie Long, Alder Mauria Orest Graye, and Alison Lang.
12-12.45pm
Free
Events at Scotiabank Dance Centre
Studio Showing: Borrowed Time (excerpt) | Inverso Productions/Lesley Telford
Borrowed Time is an intergenerational dance performance bringing together professional and community dancers to explore strength and vulnerability through different phases of our lives.
2-2.30pm
Free admission
Performative Lecture: The Brutal Joy | Justine A. Chambers
Justine A. Chambers speaks, gestures and dances around and with her hotly anticipated new choreographic project, The Brutal Joy. The work unfurls Black vernacular line dance and sartorial gesture as intellectual discourse, reverie, and devotion to Black-living.
5-6pm
Free admission
Event: landings for six | Vanessa Goodman/Action at a Distance
Vanessa Goodman uses the liminal spaces of stairs for an exploration of transition — the moment between rise and fall, descent and ascent. Through movement and sound and a team of six dancers, it invites us to reflect on the stories etched into walls and support structures, and the relationship between time, emotion, and transformation.
6-6.30pm + 8-8.30pm
Free admission
Performance: Chrysalis | Dance//Novella
Chrysalis spotlights 12 emerging dancers and choreographers, exploring themes of transformation and shifting identities. Featuring adaptable set pieces by Vancouver-based molo design, the work combines a sense of playfulness with new perspectives and dynamic possibilities for both artists and audiences.
Includes partial strobe lighting and haze.
7-7.45pm
Tickets: Sliding scale $0/$15/$25
*landings for six and between the landings are Capture Photography Festival Participating Events.
Photos: Dance//Novella by David Cooper Photography; Chris Randle; soma anima arts/Kinesis Dance; Karen Jamieson Dance/courtesy of the artist