Co-Productions
In 2025/26 we supported a number of co-productions developed with artists we’ve built relationships with through past work, many of which include a community engagement component.
To learn more about our other community engagement projects led by DWN Community Dance Connectors, click here: Community Engagement
Dance West Network and Festival Accès Asie present
Crosscurrents
Jolin Lee, Simran Sachar and Severin Emmacen-Boyd
In May 2026, Crosscurrents brought together three emerging choreographers—Juolin Lee, Simran Sachar and Sevrin Emnacen-Boyd— presenting two powerful pieces exploring memory, identity, and rebirth.
Crosscurrents was the result of a successful off-off-showcase produced by Dance West Network at the May 2025 Festival TransAmerique.
Juolin Lee – Soup of Forgetfulness
Inspired by a Taiwanese myth, this solo traces the passage between memory and rebirth, where forgetting becomes a liberation from the past. Juolin Lee is a Taiwanese-Canadian emerging dance artist who is fascinated by the transformative power of dance.
Simran Sachar and Sevrin Emnacen-Boyd – We’ve been here before
Harmony persists whether intentional or accidental. An outside lurks beneath the performance of harmony, and a discordant harmony emerges in the event of an unlikely encounter. What can expose the finitude of time?
Photos by Jonathann-Alexandre Gibault
Photos by Jonathann-Alexandre Gibault.
A conversation with the artists followed the performances, facilitated by Mariko Tanabe, with ED Jane Gabriels and translation by Gabrielle Bertrand-Lehouillier. The showing took place at the Maison de la Culture - Janine Sutto with over 200 audience members
Photo: Jordi Rosen
Artists were supported with a residency and a studio showing for local presenters and artists at Studio Mariko Tanabe. Thank you Mariko !
Josh Oncol, Mar Cortez and James Cabrera with one of the youth participants - what a night!
Roald & Shy. Photo Geoff Brown
Energy Never Dies - Kapwa Street Dance Workshops
Josh Ongcol, James Cabrera and Mar Cortez
with Students from John Oliver Secondary School
Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish),Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations in so-called Vancouver
Adele, Shy, Roald Photo Geoff Brown
"It changed how I show myself to people. Like I can stand tall and from that point it shows who I am."
"This program made me feel safe and wanted, it felt like a missing piece to my life to add more peace in it."
"It made me feel a lot. Happy, excited and proud but also awkward and embarrassed. Even during the lower points, I felt grateful to be a part of it all."
"I learned to think more creatively and find joy in my little wins. It taught me to be less afraid of messing up because everyone was so supportive."
Youth Participants from the Kapwa House Jam
Candace and Prince. Photo Geoff Brown
Aishley. Photo Geoff Brown
In early 2026, Josh Oncol and James Cabrera offered a series of workshops in house dance for IBPOC and queer youth and community members impacted by the Lapu Lapu Day Festival tragedy.
Created through a partnership between Dance West Network, John Oliver Secondary School, led by community artists Josh Ongcol, James Cabrera, and Mar Cortez, this program offered an eight week + program offering youth training with local artists in Breaking, Hip Hop, Vogue, and Waacking to explore how movement, music, and performance as tools for increased wellbeing, creativity and confidence. Mental health support given to students by Mango Mental Health
The program centered on youth mentorship through street dance culture. Rooted in Filipino values of kapwa (shared self) and bayanihan (collective care), this project creates space for expression, connection, and collective healing. Guest Artists include: Jojo Zalina, Katria McKinnon, Jamal Ali, Daylin Willis, Sevrin Emnacen and Jamal Ali.
The work culminated in a Kapwa House Jam / Energy Never Dies: Community Sharing and Celebration on March 20 at 333Energy Studio, featuring students from John Oliver Secondary School with lead artists: Josh Ongcol, James Cabrera and youth coordinator Mar Cortez.
Dance West Network supported the artists and youth program through project administration. Funded by United Way BC Kapwa Strong Fund.
Vee Sparvier-Wells/Wild Mint Arts
POW WOW Dance Style and Hoop Dancing
Unceded Sinixt Territory (Slocan Valley)
In late February 2026, Artist Vee Sparvier-Wells of Wild Mint Arts offered 5 days of classes in Hoop Dance and Powwow to Indigenous community members of all ages. These workshops were designed specifically to be inclusive for Two-Spirit community members to participate. Participants travelled from Rossland. New Denver, Winlaw, Nelson, and Crescent Valley to join the classes!
They created a welcoming and safe space and their teaching style was rooted in history, community, personal experience, culture and spirituality. Daystar
"My experience with Vee as a teacher was really special. It was an incredibly enriching experience, one of which I left feeling more connected to my community and culture. Alex
Opportunities like this workshop are so rare in our community. This workshop gave me something I had been deeply missing: permission. Permission to move, to explore, and to exist in that space as I am. Raven
Thanks to the Hamber Foundation for their support of this project
Tempo Dance and Visual Art
Camino y Despedida (Walking Farewells)
Camino y Despedida, an interdisciplinary performance embracing culture, language, and identity, co-created by six Latin American artists from Mexico, Brazil, and Colombia which interweaves dance, live music and multilingual text to explore the emotional landscapes of migration and hope.
Photo Adrian O/ @Zabandija photography.
“The human struggle of identity drowned out by lifes busyness. A familiar series of stories depicting the back & forth of journeying along lifes Camino. With subtle notes of Indigenous culture of Mexico & Musqueam, different, yet our soil is interconnected. Exquisite experience. These stories resonate - for everyone here in Vancouver - I sincerely thank you for bringing back so many of my recessive memories back to life” - Audience member
“Camino y despedida touched every part of my body and souls. All the performances were so profound and full of emotion. Thank you Marco and all your wonderful team. It gave me a lot to reflect on and at the same time made me feel less alone. “ - Audience member
A vibrant, multilingual talk back after the performance.
Photo Adrian O/ @Zabandija photography.
Co-presented by TEMPO Dance & Visual Art and the Vancouver Latin America Cultural Centre (VLACC).
In Partnership with The Roundhouse and Rice & Beans Theatre.
With the support of Dance West Network through the CASC Grant from the City of Vancouver in addition to support from Migrant Journeys and the Vancouver International Dance Festival.
Isaac Gasangwa/Izo Dreamchaser’s Elite Squad
Unceded Coast Salish territory of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish),
Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations.
On December 7 2025, Isaac Gasangwa/Izo Dreamchaser’s Elite Squad shared their full length work GEOMETRY OF POWER with an engaged and enthusiastic audience at the Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver!
GEOMETRY OF POWER explored the 1884 Berlin Conference's lasting impact on Africa, connecting historical divisions to contemporary global issues like unity and self-determination. Exploring these issues through dance, and followed up with a lively audience talk back, the work allowed the audience to contemplate on how do we promote a sense of unity among people from all places and walks of life, and work towards a more equitable future for all.
