Blog

2018 has been a fantastic year for The Dance Centre! From dances on the street to youth programs and ballet barres, here are some of the staff’s most memorable moments:

Cristina Bucci from OURO Collective created a hip hop routine with 50 students from Windermere High School, which they performed on International Dance Day on Robson Street outside Vancouver Art Gallery. We broadcast it on Facebook Live (and the rain held off!) – Raquel, Programming Coordinator

Francesco Scavetta/WEE’s piece Hardly Ever in April involved hand-carrying a couch from an apartment near the Vancouver Public Library, a month-long wild goose chase to find the Monstera Deliciosa plant you now see in the lobby, and a mad rush at the end of the show to fold over 6000 square feet of builder’s paper into pieces small enough to be recycled. Even Mirna had to chip in! – Chengyan, Lead Technician

Daina Ashbee’s Pour has been seen around the world and we presented it as part of our Global Dance Connections series, with our longstanding partners at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival. Daina was also one of the artists in our Yulanda M Faris Choreographers Program, which concluded this summer. Artist support programs, partnerships and presentation all came together. – Mirna, Executive Director

Scotiabank Dance Centre’s studios are busy and equipment needs to be constantly maintained and occasionally replaced. We invested in new ballet barres: they are stable but also light and portable, which our renters are happy about! – Robin, Venue Services Administrator

Craft Development workshops for professional dance artists covered topics including theatrical playmaking and working with a lighting designer. We had great feedback from the artists. – Hilary, Member Services Coordinator

Artist-in-Residence Colleen Lanki of TomoeArts presented a performance and lecture-demonstration of Japanese classical dance featuring the work of her revered teacher Fujima Yuko, with guest artists from Japan. It was informative, beautiful and inspiring. – Heather, Marketing Manager

Almost 150 donors and supporters came out in September for our annual donor appreciation event and season launch, it was a wonderful evening celebrating dance and The Dance Centre. – Gemma, Development Coordinator

The Corporate Leader’s Circle is a new program for businesses who want to give back to the community by supporting the work of The Dance Centre. Our founding members are Alexander Holburn Beaudin + Lang LLP, Jarislowsky, Fraser Limited, and Holiday Inn Vancouver Downtown Hotel & Suites, and I look forward to welcoming new members in 2019. – Sheri, Development Director

Our noon series Discover Dance!  featured West Coast Indigenous dance company (and Artists-in-Residence) Dancers of Damelahamid. We had a full house with seniors, high school students, and all ages in between! – Lindsay, Digital Marketing Coordinator

Through our Power of Dance program  we offer free dance workshops for immigrant and refugee youth. The youth come from all over the world – China, the Philippines, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and El Salvador, and it’s so inspiring to see their courage, creativity and energy. We also launched our first program for elementary schools. – Linda, Associate Producer

Thank you to everyone who supported us and came out for our performances and events this year. We look forward to seeing you again in 2019!

Please consider contributing to our year-end fundraising campaign  to support The Dance Centre.

Photo credits top to bottom, L to R: Cristina Bucci, Francesco Scavetta, TDC staff, Daina Ashbee/Alejandro Jimenez, TDC staff, Chris Randle, Trevan Wong, TDC staff, TDC staff, Yasuhiro Okada.