Blog
Find out more about our work and read guest posts from artists, and learn about our community.
We’ve come to the end of another busy and productive season! Here’s a look back at some of the highlights that stood out for the Dance Centre team in 2022-2023:
Performances
We were honoured to open our Global Dance Connections series with the world premiere of Indigenous dance artist Jeanette Kotowich’s Kisiskâciwan on, fittingly, National Truth and Reconciliation Day. This was a particularly packed series as a number of presentations delayed by the pandemic finally reached the stage!
Schools and Youth
We welcomed back school groups for our Discover Dance! series this season: they returned in force to experience companies including VanVogueJam and Aeriosa. In April our Artists-in-Residence Virginia Duivenvoorden and Kay Huang worked with students from Gladstone Secondary School for International Dance Day.
In the Lobby
Two of our favourite lobby exhibits were the stunning paintings by Anishinaabe artist Sharifah Marsden from the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, part of Matriarchs Uprising Festival in February; and the delightful display of textiles programmed for the premiere of Ralph Escamillan/FakeKnot’s new work PIÑA.
International Connections
The Dance Centre attended Tanzmesse in Germany – the biggest contemporary dance festival in the world – and brought a dozen artists to present their work and make invaluable connections, extending the reach of BC dance! We were also the Canadian partner for The Roots of Dance/Korzenie tanca, an international cultural exchange with artists from 10 countries from North America, Asia and Europe, exploring how traditional dances and folklore can enrich contemporary dance: local flamenco artist Jhoely Triana travelled to Poland for the festival.
Collaborations
Partnerships are always at the heart of our season and this year we had many, both recurring and new: PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, Théâtre la Seizième, New Works, Dancing on the Edge, and the Vancouver International Dance Festival, to name a few.
In the Theatre
Our intimate theatre was buzzing with activity, not just Dance Centre presentations but partnerships and rentals. Matriarchs Uprising Festival, plastic orchid factory, Mozaico Flamenco, Lamondance, Viscera, Modus Operandi and The Happening Dance Studio are just some of the companies who appeared on our stage.
Awards
It’s always wonderful to announce awards 😊 This year Anya Saugstad received the Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award, and the Isadora Award went to Raven Spirit Dance for Confluence. And the previous Iris Garland recipient, Shion Skye Carter, premiered her work Residuals.
Supporting Artists
Through our artistic programs, including residencies, labs, 12 Minutes Max and Reboot mini grants, we supported over 50 artists this season to create work and further develop their careers. Kudos to our amazing members, who continue to get into the studio and make work that inspires us all and brings our community together.
___
A shout-out to all the wonderful artists and companies who participated in our 2022-2023 season:
Artist-in-Residence: Danny Nielsen | Lee Su-Feh/Battery Opera | Marissa Wong/The Falling Company | Olivia C. Davies/O.Dela Arts | Virginia Duivenvoorden and Kay Huang/VDCM DanceLab: Ayasha Guerin | Isabelle Kirouac | Kait Ramsden | Sammy Chien and Caroline MacCaull/Chimerik 似不像 Digital Dance:; Avery Smith and Jamie Robinson Discover Dance! series: VanVogueJam + Friends | Karen Flamenco Dance Company | Dancers of Damelahamid | Lamondance | Aeriosa Global Dance Connections series: Jeanette Kotowich | Justine A. Chambers & Laurie Young | Compagnie d’Autres Cordes/Franck Vigroux | Corporeal Imago | Arash Khakpour and Emmalena Fredriksson | Smaïl Kanouté/Compagnie Vivons! | Hillel Kogan | FakeKnot International Dance Day: Anusha Fernando/Shakti Dance Society | Gladstone Secondary School with Virginia Duivenvoorden and Kay Huang/VDCM | Kinesis Dance somatheatro | Carla Alcántara & Kaili Che | Dance//Novella Open House: Shiamak’s Bollywood Jazz | Alaia Movement & Dance | christine stoddard | Andi McLeish/Andi McLeish Creative | V’ni Dansi | TomoeArts | Noam Gagnon | South Asian Arts | Dovbush Dancers | DAYONE DANCE | Anderson Performance Clinic | Danny Nielsen Open Stage #3: Lili Flamenco/Liat Har Lev | Kiruthika Rathanaswami & Malavika Santhosh | Shilpa Shankar | Voirelia Dance Hub Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award: Shion Skye Carter Projects and Partnerships: Alessandro Sciarroni | Anusha Fernando/Shakti Dance Society | Dancer Transition Resource Centre/on the MOVE | Daina Ashbee | Damarise Ste Marie | Kristen Lewis/Gull Cry Dance | Lesley Telford/Inverso Productions | Mandala Arts and Culture | Matriarchs Uprising/O.Dela Arts | Raven Spirit Dance | Training Society of Vancouver 12 Minutes Max: Fiana Kawane | Ashvini Sundaram | Alyssa Favero | Rachel Maddock | Jaqueline Ritter | Kaili Che
And thank you to our many generous donors who have made the above possible, along with our funders: Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Heritage, the Province of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council, and the City of Vancouver.
___
Our 2023-2024 season details are coming soon. Meanwhile please consider supporting our work by making a donation.
Photo credits top to bottom L to R: Jeanette Kotowich/Yvonne Chew; PIÑA exhibit/TDC; Gladstone Secondary School/TDC; Sharifah Marsden exhibit/TDC; Hillel Kogan, Mourad Bouayad Mirna Zagar, and Cory Haas, Artistic and Managing Director of Théâtre la Seizième/TDC; Raven Spirit Dance/Chris Randle
Explore dance performances currently presented by The Dance Centre. Each season, you’ll find new dance shows. See what’s on today.