Topography of Dance in Canada, convo with Sophie Dow, Audrey Gaussiran
Dec
14

Topography of Dance in Canada, convo with Sophie Dow, Audrey Gaussiran

Topography of Dance in Canada (online convo)

Responding to reflections from rural/remote dance artists in BC, we are offering this conversation with professional and touring dance artists: Sophie Dow and Audrey Gaussiran specifically for dance artists working outside Vancouver .

IMPORTANT:  Registration is limited to 12 spots.*. To register, click HERE

Conversation également disponible en français.

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A Studio Provoked: A Dancer’s Response
Nov
3

A Studio Provoked: A Dancer’s Response

A Studio Provoked: A Dancer’s Response 
Sunday, November 3, 2024, 1-2:30 pm

with dancers: Nick Miami Benz, Isaac Gasangwa, Vidya Kotamraju, and Ana Sosa.

Join us for a unique performance where dancers interact with works in the exhibition and the historic setting of the Burnaby Art Gallery. In this informal event, four individual choreographies will be presented, each responding to the artwork and the gallery's history. After the performance, guests are invited to a reception from 1:30-2:30 pm. This event is a collaboration between Dance West Network and the Burnaby Art Gallery.

Drop-in, free, no pre-registration required.

Click HERE for more information

Image credit: Gordon Smith, Untitled (detail), c.1965, serigraph on paper, 49.0 cm x 47.0 cm, City of Burnaby Permanent Art Collection, Gift of the Estate of Harry Locke

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Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency Showcase Oct 12
Oct
12

Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency Showcase Oct 12

OCTOBER 12 MATINEE: 5 Residency Artists:  Ysadora Dias, Shahir Qrishnaswamy,  Punti Singh, Tegvaran Sooch and Perelandra Waddle

OCTOBER 12 EVENING : Vancouver Artists Ysadora Dias, Shahir Qrishnaswamy and Perelandra Waddle

TICKETS for BOTH OCT 12 Shows here

This residency is funded by Canadian Heritage and in part by the City of Surrey Cultural Grant and BC Arts Alliance and the City of Vancouver, and co-produced by MORROW and Surrey Civic Theatres/Arts Centre.  The project is also supported by The Black Arts Centre 

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Luna Arts Festival presents Simran Sachar "Act Twenty Five"
Sep
21

Luna Arts Festival presents Simran Sachar "Act Twenty Five"

Arts Revelstoke and Luna Arts Festival presents Simran Sachar "Act Twenty Five”

Secwepemc homelands (Revelstoke)

"Act Twenty Five blends Waacking and Contemporary dance to explore grief and connection with the ghost of a familiar presence in a South Asian household.

Act Twenty Five is a choreographic work incorporating Waacking and Contemporary dance forms, complemented by live music. The piece unfolds during the final act of love, named Grief, depicting an entity moving across the stage in search of reconnection with a familiar ghost. It examines the duality of relief and grief within a South Asian, intergenerational household. The work explores how acts of service and connection persist even after the passing of loved ones, offering a poignant reflection on the enduring ties between the living and the departed.

For more info

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Dance Workshop - Wacking with Simran
Sep
20

Dance Workshop - Wacking with Simran

Dance Workshop - Wacking with Simran

At THE STUDIO DANCE AND WELLNESS

Secwepemc homelands (Revelstoke)

Join Simran Sachar in an open class for all ages and abilities! Simran's classes offer a heavy emphasis on one's' unique self expression in the dance.

The class will cover:

Waacking/Whacking foundation, musicality, posing, physical pathways, individuality, storytelling, and applying the foundation into the artists' unique expression.

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Re-Centering/Margins 2024 Residency Artists at Dance Victoria
Jul
6

Re-Centering/Margins 2024 Residency Artists at Dance Victoria

Re-Centering/Margins 2024 Residency Artists at Dance Victoria

See short works by four of the selected residency dance artists Ysadora Dias, Punit Singh, Tegvaran Sooch, Perelandra Waddle plus two special guests, emerging artists: Sevrin Emnancen-Boyd, Jullianna Oke. Post performance talkback.

For more info on the artists: https://dancewest.net/2024-re-centering-margins

Total dance perf: 60min with 20-30 min talkback immediately following the performance.

To register at Dance Victoria, click HERE

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Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency 2024 artists & guests at Antler Ridge Dance studio
Jul
5

Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency 2024 artists & guests at Antler Ridge Dance studio

Antler Ridge Studio, Salt Spring Island is hosting 7 emerging dance artists as part of the RE-CENTERING / MARGINS RESIDENCY 2024 and the 2nd annual Gulf Island tour.


Launched in 2019, Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency is an annual project which offers professional development for emerging IBPOC dance artists to create contemporary works with mentoring support, performance opportunities and documentation. 

JULY 5TH,  4 PM-5:30pm (approx 60min dance with short pieces by seven individual artists & 30min for post-perf talkback)

Antler Ridge Dance studio

211 Horel Rd, Salt Spring Island

FREE admission

LIMITED SEATING

Please reserve your spot at: antlerridgedance@gmail.com or text: 250-537-6537

PARKING IS LIMITED. PLEASE Car-pool  or park on Horel Rd and walk up driveway (211 Horel Rd) to the studio

Performers :

Ysadora Dias
Shahir Qrishnaswamy
Punit Singh
Tegvaran Sooch
Perelandra Waddle

For info about the performers click HERE

PLUS emerging artists/special guest performers:  Sevrin Emnancen-Boyd and Jullianna Oke

There will be a post-performance conversation with the artists.

This residency is funded by Canadian Heritage and in part with the support of a City of Surrey Cultural Grant.

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Rupture and Re-Rooting
Jul
2
to Jul 7

Rupture and Re-Rooting

Rupture and Re-Rooting

Created by  Earthen Bodies/ Her Tribal Roots  with Kwantlen storyteller Joseph Dandurand


Residency: July 2nd - July 5, 2024 

Showing: July 6th, 2pm-4pm 

Workshop July 7th, 1pm - 3pm 

Bear Creek Gardens 13750 88 Avenue, Surrey BC

From July 2nd - July 7th the artists of Earthen Bodies/ Her Tribal Roots along with Kwantlen storyteller Joseph Dandurand will be exploring, creating, and performing an interdisciplinary dance, music, poetry, and theatre piece around the theme of "Rupture and Re-Rooting,"  in collaboration with the land at Bear Creek Park, presented by Surrey Civic Theatres with support from Dance West Network.. 

On the first day, the artists will join in ceremony and ritual through songs (led by Joseph), meditations and breaking bread. Over the next three days, the artists will meditate on the land and move through dance explorations (ex. creating sequences of movement where each artist contributes one gesture), song explorations (jamming and using the loop pedal), and sharing writing prompts/ exercises. 

Through these explorations, the artists will compose a score/ theatre piece to be presented for a show open to all at Bear Creek Gardens on Saturday July 6th at 2pm. The show will end with celebratory jam and an invite to a workshop on Sunday July 7th where the artists will facilitate a session to anyone interested in participating in Earthen Bodies/ Her Tribal Roots creation process.

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Dancing the Medicine
Jun
23

Dancing the Medicine

Led by Indigenous and non-Indigenous facilitators, participants will be guided through multidisciplinary entryways into dance making and movement based story telling. Using land based embodiment teachings and tools, participants will explore various creative processes that deepen awareness and connection to land, place and identity. This work centers reclaiming the body through an Indigenous lens and prompts participants to engage in the transformative process of rupture and repair in conflict. 

Our creative team is made up of multi-faceted individuals who uphold the importance of creating multi-age community spaces that center and affirm people of the global majority,  2SLGBTQIA+, womxn and femme participants.

Lindsey Delaronde - lead artist and facilitator

Natu Bearwolf - co-facilitator and consultant 

Robin Lough - co-facilitator 

Katie Wertz (BVCA) - co-facilitator and organizer 

Myriad Dance projects - organizer and project partner 

Kayla Mitchell - organizer and consultant 

This project is supported and presented by Dance West Network and Bulkley Valley Concert Association, and in partnership with Myriad Dance Projects.

Workshops are FREE and designed for participants to attend one or both.  No prior experience necessary. Please wear comfortable clothing that you can move in and bring a water bottle. Ages 12 - 99 encouraged to attend! How to Register: https://forms.gle/1RiuUwbnmTcWa5QQ9

Sunday June 23rd Workshop ‘Dancing the Land’

11:00am-3:30pm (lunch will be provided)

Witset campground/Centennial Hall 

This workshop will be led by artists Lindsay Delaronde and Katie Wertz.

Participants will be guided in embodiment practices that focus on land, movement, sound and transformation. Together, we will explore personal storytelling. Participants will be prompted to find gestures and build movement phrases inspired by the land. The stories of the participants will emerge through their own intrinsic wisdom, thereby creating new pathways of inner knowing. This workshop aims to guide participants to discover and establish a deeper sense of place and belonging within their own bodies and territories. Participants will have an opportunity to share their creations and reflections in a closing circle/smudge. 

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Dancing the Medicine
Jun
22

Dancing the Medicine

Led by Indigenous and non-Indigenous facilitators, participants will be guided through multidisciplinary entryways into dance making and movement based story telling. Using land based embodiment teachings and tools, participants will explore various creative processes that deepen awareness and connection to land, place and identity. This work centers reclaiming the body through an Indigenous lens and prompts participants to engage in the transformative process of rupture and repair in conflict. 

Our creative team is made up of multi-faceted individuals who uphold the importance of creating multi-age community spaces that center and affirm people of the global majority,  2SLGBTQIA+, womxn and femme participants.

Lindsey Delaronde - lead artist and facilitator

Natu Bearwolf - co-facilitator and consultant 

Robin Lough - co-facilitator 

Katie Wertz (BVCA) - co-facilitator and organizer 

Myriad Dance projects - organizer and project partner 

Kayla Mitchell - organizer and consultant 

This project is supported and presented by Dance West Network and Bulkley Valley Concert Association, and in partnership with Myriad Dance Projects.

Workshops are FREE and designed for participants to attend one or both.  No prior experience necessary. Please wear comfortable clothing that you can move in and bring a water bottle. Ages 12 - 99 encouraged to attend! How to Register: https://forms.gle/1RiuUwbnmTcWa5QQ9

Saturday June 22nd Workshop ‘Dancing the Medicine’

11:00am-3:30pm (lunch will be provided)

Witset campground/Centennial Hall 

This workshop will be led by artists Natu Bearwolf, Robin Lough, and Lindsey Delaronde. Participants will be guided through a multidisciplinary creative process that culminates in the creation of masks and/or shields using spruce trees and various upcycled materials. This process involves learning teachings around the medicines of the spruce tree as well as the important practice of making an offering when harvesting. Through movement explorations, participants will be prompted to discover the embodied story behind their props, as well as their offering to the medicine. Participants will have an opportunity to share their creations and reflections in a closing circle/smudge.  

We may weave in masks and shields created into the Dancing the Land workshop (on Sunday).

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Being a Forest
Jun
22

Being a Forest

Workshop Details:

  • Date: Saturday, June 22nd

  • Time: 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM

  • Location: Antler Ridge Dance Studio and surrounding property, 211 Horel Rd W, Salt Spring Island, BC V8K 2A4

  • Free admission

What to bring:

  • comfortable outdoor-friendly clothes (bring layers for all-weather possibilities) 

  • sit-a-pon for sitting in the forest

  • blanket

  • water-bottle

  • snack

Tea and Juice will be provided

Workshop description: 

Join Stefanie Denz (visual artist), Rosalie Matchett (visual artist), and me, Robbyn Scott (movement artist) for an investigative, physically immersive journey in the outdoors. Through guided activities, we will explore self-embodiment and artistic expression, tapping into all five senses, connecting our inner nature with the outer natural world.

...Ultimately, we ARE nature

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DADAO Presentation of Outdoor Works
Jun
8

DADAO Presentation of Outdoor Works

Deviani Andrea, Kaili Che & Carla Alcantara, Isaac Gasangwa, Fiana Kawane, Carol Mendes, Jhoely Triana, Sarah Hin Ching U

Saturday June 8, 1pm

Smem̓chús/Smamḵw'ch | David Lam Park 

DADAO artists will gather for a 2 day residency this coming month in so-called Vancouver. The focus: How to present work outdoors while honouring the land we are dancing on? An Informal Showing of work will take place at the end of the residency. You are invited to join us!

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Community Moves 2024
Jun
1
to Jun 9

Community Moves 2024

Community Moves is a celebration of artistic collaboration between regional artists and their community, connection to creative expression and regional identities.

The festival includes a number of free workshops, activities, art jams, and performances that celebrate creative collaboration and community engagement. Dancers, Musicians, Choreographers, Visual Artists, Cultural Practitioners, and Writers will work together to create a truly unique and innovative performance based on collaborative methodologies of experiential arts experience.

This year, the Community Moves festival will offer community workshops in creative development, movement, yoga, and collaborative programming sessions that facilitate creative opportunities for community members and artists to work together and co-create new works.

For more information click HERE.

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Thomas F. DeFrantz
Jun
1

Thomas F. DeFrantz

Thomas F. DeFrantz directs SLIPPAGE: Performance|Culture|Technology and is Professor of Theatre and Performance Studies at Northwestern University, affiliated with the Segal Design Institute and the Dance and the department of African and African American Studies.

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off FTA artist showcase
May
30

off FTA artist showcase

Showcase with Lunch and Conversation

An industry Showcase featuring Alberta & British Columbia Artists

Thurs May 30, 12Noon-1:30pm at Studio Flak (486 St. Catherine Street W. Studio #305).

To register, please click here:  https://springboardperformance.com/events/abbc-showcase
Artists:  Shion Skye Carter, Tia Kushniruk, Meghann Michalsky, Simran Sachar, Anya Saugstad, Elaine Weryshko

Hosted by Springboard Performance and Dance West Network 

Supporting western based artists with strengthened connections to build presence and mobilize opportunities for touring. 

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Series of 4 improvisation classes at the Rotary Centre of the Arts
Apr
27
to Jun 15

Series of 4 improvisation classes at the Rotary Centre of the Arts

Rotary Centre for the Arts

Okanagan Nation Territory (Kelowna)

The Rotary Centre for the Arts is offering a series of 4 improvisation classes featuring Contact Improvisation and Dance Improvisation for all levels of experience.

Body Poetry - Dance Improvisation, with Claudia Moore - April 27, 2024

Contact Improvisation and the Dance of Relating with Hailey McCloskey - May 25 and June 29, 2024

Creative Fire - Dance Improvisation, with Guest Artists Karen and Allen Kaeja (Toronto) - June 15, 2024

For more information on the workshops and to register

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BC in The BX
Mar
22
to Mar 26

BC in The BX

BC in The BX residency, March 22-26 2024 


Dance West Network’s Re-centering/Margins Residency alumni Jennifer Aoki, Sophie Dow, Isaac Gasangwa, Robyn Grant-Moran, Aryo Khakpour, Nick Miami Benz, Mohammed Rashead participated in a four-day residency in The Bronx, NYC, March 22-26, 2024. 

With artists sharings and exchanges with Dancing Futures Residency artists in The Bronx, attending performances with impromptu community dancing, seeing other shows, taking class,  and meeting artists, plus lots of good food, the artists left with new creative ideas and connections.
Produced by Dance Weste Network in collaboration with Pepatián: Bronx Arts ColLABorative and BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance with funding from Canadian Heritage and the Jerome Foundation.

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