The Dance Centre’s 2019-2020 season presents a program of exciting performances and events by artists working across contemporary and cultural genres. The Global Dance Connections contemporary dance series features Canadian and international choreographers, and the popular Discover Dance! series presents a varied range of dance styles. Other highlights include the 12th biennial Dance In Vancouver showcase of the BC dance community, the annual Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House, and residencies and research labs throughout the season.
Global Dance Connections series
October 3-5 Focus Cia De Dança
October 16-17 Lucy Guerin Inc
December 11-14 Out Innerspace Dance Theatre
January 31-February 2 Wen Wei Dance
February 6-8 Dana Michel
March 12-14 Bill Coleman
April 23-25 Hillel Kogan
Discover Dance! series
Thursday September 19 Shiamak’s Bollywood Jazz
Thursday October 10 Vancouver Pars National Ballet
Thursday November 14 Vancouver Tap Dance Society
Thursday March 5 Immigrant Lessons
Thursday April 16 Shot of Scotch Vancouver
Thursday May 14 Sujit Vaidya
Events
September 14 Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House
November 20-24 Dance In Vancouver
December 19 CoexisDance
April 29 International Dance Day
May 22-23 Marissa Wong/TWObigsteps Collective
June 12 12 Minutes Max
June 19-21 V’ni Dansi
Residencies and Projects
Tickets and Information
Tickets Tonight 604.684.2787 www.ticketstonight.ca
Info 604.606.6400 www.thedancecentre.ca
Events take place at Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St, Vancouver except where stated.
Global Dance Connections series
Focus Cia De Dança: Still Reich
Thursday-Saturday October 3-5 | 8pm Post-show artist talkback October 4
Founded in Rio de Janeiro in 2000 by Brazilian choreographer Alex Neoral, Focus Cia De Dança has found huge audience success at home and abroad with its surging physicality and poetic depth. Neoral’s artistic approach is rooted in Brazilian tradition but is fiercely modern, blending ballet and contemporary techniques. Still Reich comprises four dynamic works choreographed to the propulsive music of the iconic American composer Steve Reich. Pathways is built on intricate duets; Trilasexplores how everything can change in a moment; Wood Steps is inspired by nomadic life; and Keta shows the dancers working at maximum power and velocity. Packed with complex partnering and sculpted shapes, the fluent choreography drives a celebration of movement, sound, and rhythm.
Lucy Guerin Inc: Split
Wednesday-Thursday October 16-17 | 8pm Post-show artist talkback October 17
Australian choreographer Lucy Guerin’s sharp, elegant Split reflects the dilemmas of negotiating with oneself and others in a world of increased pressure and reduced resources. Two outstanding female dancers – one clothed and one naked – are framed by ever-diminishing dimensions of space and time with escalating intensity, accompanied by a pulsing electronic score. Cycling through competition, negotiation, harmony and aggression, this thought-provoking, multilayered work has received numerous awards. Lucy Guerin Inc was established in Melbourne in 2002 and is regarded as one of Australia’s most fearless dance companies, touring internationally. Guerin has also been commissioned by leading organizations including Mikhail Baryshnikov’s White Oak Dance Project, Rambert, and Chunky Move.
Out Innerspace Dance Theatre: Bygones
Wednesday-Saturday December 11-14 | 8pm Post-show artist talkback December 12
Supported through the Artist-in-Residence program
Vancouver’s Out Innerspace Dance Theatre combines virtuosic, hyper-detailed choreography with visual magic to make engaging dance works which reflect a time of rapid change, of ever-shifting boundaries, and of conflict and hope. Bygones is a new work created and performed by co-directors David Raymond and Tiffany Tregarthen in collaboration with dancers Renée Sigouin, Elya Grant and David Harvey. It considers how we are shaped by what we have overcome: and how something challenging can lead to something beautiful. Innovative movement, ghostly architecture, and transformed objects immerse us in a haunting universe of pseudo-things and supernatural selves existing on the margins of form and formlessness.
Wen Wei Dance and Turning Point Ensemble: New Work
Friday-Saturday January 31-February 1 | 8pm + Sunday February 2 | 2pm
Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre | SFU Woodwards: Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 149 West Hastings Street
Presented by Turning Point Ensemble, SFU Woodward’s, and PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
Supported through the Artist-in-Residence program
Two of Canada’s leading voices in contemporary dance and music join forces to create an ambitious new work exploring the intersection between their respective art forms. Wen Wei Dance Artistic Director Wen Wei Wang’s beautifully crafted choreography encompasses both his Chinese heritage and his Canadian identity, drawing on aspects of Tai Chi, martial arts and Peking Opera. The score – by Turning Point Ensemble Artistic Director Owen Underhill and Vancouver composer Dorothy Chang– will be played on Chinese traditional instruments and Western instruments. With guest musicians from Taiwan joining local musicians and dancers on stage, this profoundly intercultural and personal project will reflect the rich and distinctive character of Vancouver.
Dana Michel: CUTLASS SPRING
Thursday-Saturday February 6-8 | 8pm Post-show artist talkback February 7
Presented with PuSh International Performing Arts Festival
The audacious and original works of Montreal-based dance artist Dana Michel have earned international attention and prestigious awards including the Jardin d’Europe Award at ImPulsTanz (Vienna), and the Silver Lion for Innovation in Dance at the Venice Biennale. Michel breaks through conventions with her daring choreographies, rejecting stereotypical physicality and identity, and creating a liberated world of shape-shifting metamorphosis, incorporating elements ranging from sculpture and comedy, to psychology and social commentary. Her latest creation, CUTLASS SPRING, delves into the mystery of the sexual self, exploring how cultural repression and her life as a performer, a mother, and a lover have shaped her sexual identity.
Bill Coleman: Dollhouse
Thursday-Saturday March 12-14 | 8pm Post-show artist talkback March 13
Presented with Vancouver New Music
In Dollhouse, Canadian contemporary dance master and choreographer Bill Coleman portrays a figure whose whole world is literally falling in around him. Inhabiting a cluttered room which collapses and breaks at his every touch, he shares the stage with sound artist Gordon Monahan, whose unique score accompanies the descent into theatrical disintegration. Coleman resembles a modern fakir, as he suffers through painful yet comical situations on his way to sonic and visual chaos. Wildly original and virtually unclassifiable, Dollhouse encompasses tap dancing, performance art and sound installation, using mechanical and electronic objects, both handmade and found, to deliver surprising and dazzling images and rhythms.
Hillel Kogan: We Love Arabs
Thursday-Saturday April 23-25 | 8pm
April 24 performance in French with English surtitles | Post-show talkbacks April 24 (French) and April 25 (English)
Presented with Theatre La Seizième
We Love Arabs dives headlong into the toughest of questions – how can we co-exist within conflict? Somewhere in Tel Aviv, a Jewish choreographer enlists an Arab dancer to help create a work that will overcome fears and carry a message of peace. But as the work progresses, power struggles ensue; bodies resist control. Skewering choreographic fads as well as unconscious bias and misplaced good intentions, the piece unfolds as a corrosively funny takedown of politics, ethnic stereotypes, and contemporary dance itself. Hillel Kogan is one of Israel’s most successful independent choreographers, blending biting political and social commentary with a highly physical movement language, and this award-winning work has been a hit on stages all over the world.
Global Dance Connections tickets TicketsTonight.ca/604.684.2787.
Subscription packages available: 3 show pack $78, 5 show pack $120.
Single tickets for Focus Cia De Danca, Lucy Guerin Inc, Out Innerspace, Dana Michel, Bill Coleman from $34.
Single tickets for Wen Wei Dance/Turning Point Ensemble and Hillel Kogan go on sale fall 2019.
Shiamak’s Bollywood Jazz
Thursday September 19 | 12 noon
Originally springing from India’s booming film industry, Bollywood dance has become its own wildly popular genre, fusing jazz, folk and modern influences with larger-than-life comedy and drama. The Shiamak Vancouver Dance Team will get your toes tapping with an explosive, high-energy performance packed with vitality and fun.
Vancouver Pars National Ballet
Thursday October 10 | 12 noon
The Vancouver Pars National Ballet was founded in 1989 by Azita Sahebjam, who emigrated from Iran to Canada after dancing was banned in her homeland. The company has earned a stellar reputation for its work preserving Iranian traditional and folkloric dances, and supporting new creations. A delightful whirlwind of movement, intoxicating music, and colourful costumes, this program will feature dances from some of the many regions, ethnic groups and cultures of Iran.
Vancouver Tap Dance Society
Thursday November 14 | 12 noon + 6.30pm
Get set for a percussive extravaganza with this gathering of accomplished and entertaining dancers! Introduced by Artistic Director Andrew Nemr, this program showcases the infectious rhythms, technical skill and musicality of tap dance, tracing its history and its contemporary innovations. The dancers will ‘lay down some iron’ and create a rhythmic conversation full of zest and charm.
Immigrant Lessons
Thursday March 5 | 12 noon + 6.30pm
Immigrant Lessons burst onto the Vancouver dance scene in 2017: this vibrant young collective promotes cultural pluralism through dance, music, fashion and visual design. Using an exciting mashup of styles including street dance, hip hop, Dancehall, Afrobeat and more, they tell stories of first- and second-generation immigrants, navigating Canadian culture and facing questions of identity and belonging. Audiences are taken on an emotional journey through curiosity, struggle, and love.
Shot of Scotch Vancouver
Thursday April 16 | 12 noon
According to legend, the roots of Highland dance go back centuries, with warriors imitating epic deeds from Scottish folklore. Today, nothing captures the spirit of Scottish culture better than a Highland dancer gracefully performing to the bagpipes. Shot of Scotch Vancouver showcases the athleticism, stamina and artistry this form requires, emphasizing precise footwork, timing and technique, with an exhilarating selection of traditional dances and contemporary Highland dance choreographies.
Sujit Vaidya
Thursday May 14 | 12 noon
One of Vancouver’s leading exponents of the exquisitely beautiful classical Indian dance style of bharata natyam, Sujit Vaidya also creates work which reflects a modern sensibility and pushes the boundaries of the form. This stimulating presentation will highlight the roots of bharata natyam and its ongoing evolution, featuring classical dances as well as a duet created by contemporary choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino, exploring a dance language that transcends tradition.
Discover Dance! tickets TicketsTonight.ca/ 604.684.2787
12 noon shows: Subscription package $60 for 6 shows, single tickets $15/$13.
6.30pm shows: single tickets $22/$18.
The 18th annual Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House
Saturday September 14
Presented with the support of Scotiabank
A day of free open classes, workshops, studio showings and events featuring a host of different dance styles, at Canada’s flagship dance facility. Full schedule of events to be announced.
Free admission.
Dance In Vancouver
Wednesday-Sunday November 20-24
The 12th biennial Dance In Vancouver celebrates the energy and innovation of our contemporary dance scene: join us for five days of performances, studio showings and events, showcasing some of British Columbia’s most exciting companies and artists. Featured artists and companies include: Andrea Catania/Alex Catona, battery opera performance, Company Vice Versa/Valerie Calam in collaboration with Kate Franklin, Joe Ink, Joshua Beamish/ MOVETHECOMPANY, Kinesis Dance somatheatro, Mardon + Mitsuhashi, OURO Collective, Raven Spirit Dance, and Vision Impure.
Curator: Dieter Jaenicke, tanzmesse nrw (Germany)
Tickets go on sale September 2019.
Olivia C. Davies/O.Dela Arts
CoexisDance: Western Edition #2
Friday December 19 | 8pm
Presented with O.Dela Arts
Dance and music meet on stage in CoexisDance, curated by Olivia C. Davies, Artistic Director of O.Dela Arts. Dance artists and musicians share short improvised works in an intimate evening of live duets, culminating in a group jam.
Tickets suggested $10 donation at the door
International Dance Day
Wednesday April 29
Initiated in 1982 by UNESCO, International Dance Day is marked annually on April 29 across Canada and around the world. Each year The Dance Centre presents a program of events celebrating the vitality and diversity of dance in Vancouver. Full program of events to be announced.
Marissa Wong/TWObigsteps Collective
Friday-Saturday May 22-23 | 8pm
Presented with TWObigsteps Collective
Co-founder of the innovative emerging collective TWObigsteps, Marissa Wong examines the impact of trauma in her new solo, reclaiming courage and fortitude through dance. The program also includes a collaboration between her fellow collective members Katie Cassady and Stéphanie Cyr.
Tickets go on sale fall 2019.
12 Minutes Max
Friday June 12 | 8pm
The 12 Minutes Max series supports the development of innovative new works lasting twelve minutes or less. Three times per season a rotating panel of guest curators will select up to four artists who will develop their works in the studio, followed by public studio showings. Artists and showing dates will be announced throughout the year. A selection of the works will be presented in performance on June 12, 2020.
Tickets go on sale spring 2020
V’ni Dansi
June 19-21
Supported through the Artist-in-Residence program
Led by Artistic Director Yvonne Chartrand, V’ni Dansi (‘Come and Dance’ in Michif) is dedicated to sharing the stories and culture of the Métis, through both traditional and contemporary dance. Michif Medicines is a new Indigenous contemporary dance work created through an international collaboration with Santa Fe’s Dancing Earth.
Tickets go on sale spring 2020.
Artists-in-Residence:
Arash Khakpour and Emmalena Fredriksson
Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY
Les Productions Figlio
Out Innerspace Dance Theatre
Raven Spirit Dance
V’ni Dansi
Wen Wei Dance
DanceLab:
Amber Funk Barton/the response. (music)
Anouk Froidevaux (film)
Lee Su-Feh (visual art, mask making)
Paras Terezakis/Kinesis Dance somatheatro (theatre)
Tasha Faye Evans (visual art, mask making)
Zahra Shahab (visual art, mask making, costume design)
Projects:
Co.ERASGA
Eury Chang
Hyde Productions (New Zealand)
Megan Andrews
Ne.Sans
Olivia C. Davies/O.Dela Arts
Sweetshop Revolution (UK)
About The Dance Centre Established in 1986 as the resource centre for the dance profession and the public in British Columbia, The Dance Centre has expanded into a multifaceted organization offering a range of activities unparalleled in Canadian dance. It presents performances and public events; provides programs, resources and support for dance professionals; operates Scotiabank Dance Centre, one of Canada’s flagship dance facilities; and works to promote BC dance.
Media sponsors: The Georgia Straight (Global Dance Connections series)
The Vancouver Courier, OMNI Diversity Television, City TV (Discover Dance! series)
The Dance Centre gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia, the BC Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, and the City of Vancouver through the Office of Cultural Affairs.
The Dance Centre | Scotiabank Dance Centre, Level 6, 677 Davie Street, Vancouver BC V6B 2G6 Tel 604 606 6400 www.thedancecentre.ca
Media release and image provided by Heather Bray, The Dance Centre.
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