Pulse: Claire French & Julie Lebel

Claire French and Julie Lebel present a mixed program of contrasting solos for the seventh edition of Pulse. French's Inside Outside In is a poetic solo danced by Laura Hicks that explores the link between thinking and doing, while Outside Out, performed by Heather Laura Gray, takes an updated look at the leading ladies of the Hollywood musicals era. Julie Lebel's Field Notes was created through walks on Côte-Nord in her home province, Quebec. Dance, music and video stimulate the senses to challenge the distinction between body and environment in the places where we belong. http://www.restlessproductions.com/ http://www.ensembleindependant.org/

Friday & Saturday September 18 & 19 at Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St, Vancouver. Tickets $20/$15 students, seniors, Dance Centre/CADA members from 604.684.2787 (service charges apply to phone bookings) or click here to book online. Pulse is an assisted presentation program of The Dance Centre.

Photo: Field Notes by Julie Lebel. Dancer: Karine Gagné Photo: Nicolas Minns

Scotiabank Dance Centre 8th Annual Open House

The eighth annual Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House takes place on Saturday September 19, 11am- 5pm. From contemporary and flamenco to hip hop and classical East Indian dance, this event is a great opportunity to see and try a wide range of dance, with free open classes, studio showings and workshops. Highlights this year include an open rehearsal on the outside of the building by Aeriosa Dance, LINK Dance's Breakfast Dances, classes with Mandala Arts and Culture, SVS Style and others, a screening of films from the Festival Transatlantique Montreal/Quartiers Danses, and more. Click here for the full schedule.

Photo: Aeriosa Dance by Tim Matheson

Presented with the support of Scotiabank.

Dancing on the Edge Festival 2009

Dancing on the Edge Festival 2009, Festival of Contemporary Dance, is happening from July 9th to 18th. Check out the schedule on line: http://www.dancingontheedge.org/schedule.php


The festival also has two site works happening:

Fortier Danse
Solo 30x30
Paul-André Fortier/ Fortier Danse
July 9-18
at 5:15pm
Library Plaza

DUSK DANCE
http://www.dancingontheedge.org/dusk.php
July 15
July 16
July 17
July 18
at 7pm
Queen Elizabeth Park by the duck pond

Dancing on the Edge Festival HOTLINE 604-689-0926
http://www.dancingontheedge.org

Dancing on the Edge Performances at Scotiabank Dance Centre

Henry Daniel's t2 is simultaneously a telematic dance performance and an installation that links Scotiabank Dance Centre with the Interurban Gallery on the Downtown Eastside. The work brings together two very different communities via technological link while allowing the audience to participate in a dialogue about space, place and identity.

t2 performances: July 11 & 12 at 8pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre.

Installation: July 8 -26, Wed-Sat 12-5pm at the Interurban Gallery, 1 East Hastings St.

the plastic orchid factory's first evening length work, endORPHIN, aims to investigate the physiological by-products of consumer culture and the influence they have on the cognitive development of self. Choreographed by James Gnam and set to an original score by Phil Thomson, endORPHIN uses movement, sound and technical design to build an abstract, dislocated work that frames the beauty, strength and stoicism inherent in contemporary dysfunction.

endORPHIN performances: July 16 & 17 at 7pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre.

For the full Festival schedule, tickets and information call 604.689.0926 or visit

www.dancing ontheedge.org

The Dance Centre is pleased to announce that Sara Coffin is the recipient of the third Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award.

The Award was established in memory of Iris Garland, the pioneering educator who developed Simon Fraser University’s dance program. The biennial Award provides $5000 to assist an emerging artist between 19 and 35 years of age who demonstrates exceptional choreographic potential, to produce their work at Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver. Coffin will use the award to support the production of a new ensemble work inspired by the concept of open source culture, set to premiere in September 2010 at Scotiabank Dance Centre. The previous recipients of the Award are Amber Funk Barton in 2005, and Chengxin Wei in 2007.

Born in Nova Scotia, Sara Coffin is a Vancouver-based dancer and choreographer. She completed her BFA in dance at Simon Fraser University's School for the Contemporary Arts and her Kinesiology degree (BScK) at Dalhousie University. Notable artists she has worked with include The Holy Body Tattoo in monumental, Daelik, Mascall Dance, Susan Elliott, Susan Lee and Lesandra Dodson, Deborah Dunn, and Peter Chin, with the TILT: sound + motion dance company. Her own choreography has been presented in Nova Scotia, Toronto and Vancouver; including the Dancing on The Edge Festival, ROMP! (Victoria), Dances for a Small Stage, 12 Minutes Max, Pulse (at Scotiabank Dance Centre), Video-In, Toronto's 808 series, and at TILT's Choreographic Workshop (Toronto). Coffin studied at the Impulstanz International Dance Festival in Vienna, supported by the Canada Council in 2005. She received the 2005 BC Emerging Dance Artist Award, awarded by the Holy Body Tattoo Dance Company; the BC Arts Council Senior Scholarship Award for choreography (2002), and The Pat Richards Choreographic Award (1999,1998); and is Dance Centre Artist-in-Residence during the 2009-2010 season. She is a co-founder of SINS Dance (Sometimes In Nova Scotia), a collective based in Nova Scotia that traverses Canada. She also currently teaches contemporary dance at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and is an assistant programmer for the dance program. www.saracoffin.com

Fortier Danse-Creation in Cabane

The Dance Centre's Global Dance Connections series comes to a close with Fortier Danse-Création from Montreal in the Vancouver premiere of Cabane. Canadian dance icon Paul-Andre Fortier’s new duet is created and performed with the extraordinary artist and musician Rober Racine in and around a small cabin. The elegant Fortier and mischievous Racine generate a series of surreal encounters in a provocative, amusing work which is part installation, part site specific work, and breaks the conventions of dance performance. http://www.fortier-danse.com/

Shifts and shapes itself in amazing ways…. delightful installation-art. The Montreal Gazette

Duration: 60 minutes

Thursday-Saturday June 11-13 at 8pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre, 677 Davie St, Vancouver. Post-show artist talkback June 12. Tickets $26/$18 from 604.684.2787 (charges apply) or online at http://www.ticketstonight.ca/. Groups of 8+ $15 per ticket, in advance only from 604.606.6420. Read our Ticketing FAQs for details.

The BIG Picture with Dianna David

Date: Thursday, June 18, 2009
Time: 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Location: Norman Rothstein Theatre (West 41st Ave / Oak St)
Street: 950 West 41st Avenue
City/Town: Vancouver, BC
Phone: 6047804363
Email: info@diannadavid.net

Come see what Dianna David is up to now!

She has a bag of tricks that keep you on the edge of your seat from hip hop dancing, clowning, miming, shadow play, multi-media and contact juggling. This multi-talented physical performer brings a show that you will never forget.

THE BIG PICTURE will encompass the pieces that have inspired her current touring production, TAKE A CLOSER LOOK, which will be featured in the second half of the show.

TAKE A CLOSER LOOK has been on a 75-show tour since April and has been getting rave reviews in 40 cities all across BC. This is the only public viewing of this production this year…so DON’T MISS IT!

This is also the OFFICIAL DEBUT of a recent addition to dubD Productions, Miss Charity Zapanta - co-creator, multi-media designer, and director. She has been a key player behind the scenes of many of Dianna's performances in the past year and has discovered her passion and talents in creating and directing live performance.

Don't miss it! Tickets are LIMITED so RESERVE BY PHONE or EMAIL

Advance $15/students, $18/adults
Door $18/students, $22/adults
Doors: 7pm, Show: 7:30p

Ten Nights of Dream

Photo of Colleen Lanki by Eugene Lin

Ten Nights of Dream

May 21-23, Centre A, Vancouver International Centre for Contemporary Asian Art

2 West Hastings Street

CURTAIN: 8:30pm

TICKETS: $20/$16

BOX OFFICE: TicketsTonight 604.684.2787

The uncanny world of dreams and the unconscious is brought to life in Ten Nights of Dream, TomoeArts’ multidisciplinary production featuring nihon buyoh–inspired choreography, a rich musical blending of shakuhachi and electro-acoustic sounds, and stunning projections, all based on the writing of one of Japan’s greatest novelists.

A woman buried with a piece of fallen star; a blind child riding on the back of the dreamer; a huge ship going nowhere; a panama hat; a barber; a goldfish seller; a thousand pigs. These haunting images are found in a series of extraordinary and little-known tales written by one of Japan’s greatest novelists Natsume Sôseki. In Ten Nights of Dream (May 21-23, Centre A), TomoeArts artistic director Colleen Lanki performs the characters and images from Natsume’s epic work. Lanki’s choreography is based on the forms and aesthetics of nihon buyoh (Japanese classical dance). Lanki, who studied Japanese classical dance for more than a decade, works to push the forms beyond their traditional boundaries and plays with the principles of time and space. For more: http://www.colleenlanki.com/

Ten Nights of Dream features original music by Alcvin Ramos, in which he fuses traditional Japanese instruments and electro-acoustic sounds. Ramos is a master player/teacher of the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese bamboo flute and director of Bamboo-In Shakuhachi Centre. He heads the extraordinary world music group Dharmakasa. For more: http://www.bamboo-in.com/

Visual projections and lighting are designed by a team of senior design students from UBC, Craig Alfredson, David Kim, Yulia Shtern, and Ana Maria Espinoza Vaca, under professor Robert Gardiner, one of Canada’s foremost scenographers. Costumes and sets are designed by Yulia Shtern. Ten Nights of Dream’s director, Matthew Romantini, brings experience in dance, physical theatre and adaptation of non-theatrical sources for the stage.

TomoeArts (pronounced toh-moh-ay) is a new company that promotes, teaches and performs nihon buyoh (Japanese classical dance). It creates and presents performances incorporating the forms and aesthetics of Japanese traditional performing arts. Ten Nights of Dream is presented as part of the explorASIAN Festival celebrating Asian Heritage Month in Metro Vancouver.

LINK, Desirée Dunbar Dance Projects

LINK, come experience community dance. A vibrant evening of contemporary and cultural dance with performances by Startdance, Continuum Dance Co, the Roundhouse Community Dancers, Flamenco Rosario and Lorita Leung Chinese Dance Co. Thursday, May 21, 7PM at the Roundhouse Community and Arts Centre. Tickets by donation at door. For more information call (604) 713-1800. http://www.roundhouse.ca/

Summer Dances: Latin Fiesta! Less than one month to go!

Please join us for The Dance Centre’s annual fundraising event Summer Dances on Thursday, May 14, 2009. The theme for the evening is Latin Fiesta – the dancing and food of South America. This event will feature food and refreshment, performances of tango, salsa, samba and capoeira, a tantalizing silent auction, and a brief live auction along with lots of opportunity to meet other dance lovers and arts supporters.

Thursday May 14 at 6pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver. Tickets are $100 each: for further details and to book online click here.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 02 April 2009 )

EARTH=home at Scotiabank Dance Centre

The environment, consumerism and social justice are at the heart of Judith Marcuse’s thrilling interdisciplinary show EARTH=home, which returns to Vancouver following an extensive tour across Canada. Entertaining, provocative and fast-paced, the work is a fable for our times, incorporating music, theatre, dance and multimedia technology to express young peoples’ thoughts and feelings about the state of our planet and where we are taking it. Each performance is followed by a facilitated talkback.

Thursday April 23 at 12 noon (for the Discover Dance! series) Tickets $10/$7Saturday April 25 at 2pm (family matinee for ages 10+) Tickets $15/$10at Scotiabank Dance Centre, Vancouver. Tickets from Tickets Tonight 604 684 2787 http://www.ticketstonight.ca/ Group bookings of 8+ call 604 606 6420. For information on special schools showings (Grade 6 and up) call 604 606 6412.

VIDF - Floating Seed

Andrea Legg and Gabrielle Martin present a beautiful aerial performance of contemporary dance at the Vancouver International Dance Festival. Two individuals suspend in midair following each other up and down. They move slowly accompanied by the haunting music of drums and what sounded like bagpipes. The standing room crowd watched as the floating seed blossomed helping, nurturing and chasing each other in the wind. I saw a circle of dance in air as one reach out to the other much like a floating seed finding a place to plant itself, to belong and to grow.

VIDF - The Source Dance Company

The Source Dance Company is performing at the Vancouver International Dance Festival on March 17-19, 2009 at the Roundhouse. The Source is a semi-professional dance company based out of Harbour Dance Centre. The young members perform jazz, hip hop, tap, street jazz, lyrical and contemporary. I enjoyed the performances as I got to see a variety of movements including a bit of body percussion, some swing dance, hip hop, contemporary and lyrical in the show. My favorites were the lyrical and hip hop performances.

Discover Dance! Lola Dance: March 26th at Scotiabank Dance Centre

Discover Dance! Lola Dance: March 26

Following the sad news about Lola MacLaughlin last week, her company has confirmed that they do wish to go ahead with their scheduled performance for the Discover Dance! series on March 26. Please join us for excerpts from MacLaughlin's Provincial Essays, performed by Caroline Farquhar, Alison Denham, Ziyian Kwan and Ron Stewart. The talkback will be moderated by Kaija Pepper.

Thursday March 26 at 12 noon at Scotiabank Dance Centre: tickets $10/$7 Dance Centre members, students, seniors and children, from 604 684 2787 http://www.ticketstonight.ca/. Info: http://www.thedancecentre.ca/.

Shakti Dance - "Gods, Demons and Yogis"

New Works and Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad presented Shakti Dance performance of "Gods, Demons and Yogis". Ancient tales of southeast came to life with a performance by Anusha Fernando of Shakti Dance accompanied by another dance, a storyteller and musicians. Shakti Dance was incorporated as a nonprofit society in August 11, 2004 to promote the ancient classical Indian dance known as Bhrata Natyam. Bhrata Natyam originated in the temples of South India and was performed by women who were named Deva-Dasis as a form of devotion. The dance tells stories of ancient myths, gods and the divine.

I was moved by the music which seem to lend itself out the mood of the story. I could feel the sadness, joy, fear and anger sing out in the drums, the flute, violin, cymbals, tambourine and other wondrous string instruments. The beauty of the storytelling was portrayed by the dancer with the quick and slow movements in the eye and hands. I feel drawn into her emotions. The dancer was often low and grounded moving stealthily through space and time. I liked the storytelling. I felt again like a child sitting at storytime only the stories told were ancient, timeless and appealed to all ages. This form of dance and storytelling is so magnetic because they derive from the beautiful writings of ancient Sanskrit poets. I saw one writing from the Shakti Dance website about ancient myth and I fell in love with longing for the divine.

We bow to Lord Shiva,
Whose limbs are the world,
Whose song and poetry is the essence
Of all language,
Whose costume is the moon and stars.

-Abhinaya Darpana

VIDF - casebolt & smith

Today, Friday, March 13th, 2009, I brought my family to see casebolt & smith at the Vancouver International Dance Festival. The show started with a lady on stage asking a man in the audience about his opinion on how she sounded on the stage and looked. "Am I too loud? Does it sound like I'm yelling?" They both talked back on forth giving each other opinion and feedback on how or what they were doing. The man soon approached the stage and got up to join the lady. "And then I'll do this.. and then you do that." was the banter that went on between them. The performance was certainly very vocal and different from the normal dance shows I've seen where dancers usually don't speak. They re-enacted everything they said physically. The relationship and interaction were awkward at times making the audience laugh with glee.

They seemed immersed in choreographing a piece together. The lot of banter and feedback on the way they look, what they did and how they did an action went even to the point of "cupping". I won't eloborate on the cupping but yes, it involves up there and down there. What can I say, I brought my 3-year old and 1-year old to see this show. I thought it was hilarious, odd and truly uncomfortable at the same time. I was torn in feeling really amused and acting appropriately as a parent. My 3-year old roared with laughter with the audience when they laughed, stopped and looked at me to ask "Mommy, what are they doing?" Towards the end of the show, I was smiling meekishly at an audience member in embarrassment because my child was making too much noise. I got an angry glance and a scoff at my child. Most were quite tickled by the show. Someone at the table said that my 3-yr old seem to say the right things at the same. I felt awkward and a little self-conscious thinking of myself being labeled a bad parent with no sense or judgement. But enough about myself, the show was funny. A great show to bring your girlfriend or significant other or pals too. I'd say I still have difficulty talking to my parents or kids about sexual things so I probably won't take my parents or kids to it.

In the case of casebolt & smith, I believe they are guilty of meddling with our minds turning cupping and sexual connotations into mere technical and repetitive math. The strained awkwardness in trying to erase the sexual tension and to portray the actions as nonchalant as believable as possible made the story amusing to watch. This show is a journey of two great dancers working together as the couple tried fervently to brush aside any sexual desires, to work with as little emotion and attachment to each other. In the end, they stood awkwardly looking at each other only to rush into each others' arms hugging and gropping each other with raw sexual desire. I'm giving too much away ... this show is true entertainment live.

Barbara Bourget speaks at Speaking of Dance

At 58 years of age, Barbara Bourget still has the fire and passion for dance with the experience of setbacks, comebacks and achievements throughout her years. With no sight of retirement yet even after her hip replacement, she is a strong force and influence in the dance community along with her husband Jay Hirabayashi. She cofounded Kokoro Dance, in Vancouver with Jay Hirabayashi as a non-profit society in Vancouver, BC in July 31, 1986. Kokoro means heart, soul and spirit in Japanese. Kokoro dance is inspired by the Japanese modern dance form known as butoh. In her lifetime, Barbara Bourget has choreographed well over a hundred and fifty dances in which she hopes to revisit in time as each dance has had a meaning at the time they were created and produced. I had the pleasure of listening to her speak at the last Speaking of Dance lecture on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at the Vancouver Public Library.

When I walked into the lecture room, I saw a petite lady with auburn hair tied back wearing a pair of dark-rimmed glasses at the podium. A projection showing a slideshow of dance photos was being played on the screen behind her. She seemed very academic and conservative. I had to take a second glance before I noticed that the lady who was speaking was Barbara Bourget. I had remembered her from photos of Kokoro Dance when she was almost nude with a shaved head. She seemed larger than life in the performance photos. I had not expected a tiny lady in person who seemed rather covered up in her black long sleeve suit-dress. She talked about how being nude in some of Kokoro dance was not a way to titillate the audience but rather being in one's own skin gave the dancer the fullest body of expression. The dancers get into a transcendental state where the nudity doesn't bother them. The discomfort of seeing each other nude soon passes after one goes through a mourning of erasing ego and normal identity. They are aware of blemishes and that the human body is not perfect as one ages. Their purpose is to reflect the human condition. In order to perform butoh, the audience must be put into a receptive mode. A dancer must only exist moment to moment of the performance. She talked about one dance where she stood still for several minutes. With this quiet stillness, the audience and her start to be one.

I was also quite interested in how a dancer goes into a transcendental state. In one example, she imagined that she was holding an unborn fetus in one arm and how that fetus was in fact her in order to be put her mind into the state needed to execute every movement with care. Imagery seems to be a very important tool. She mentioned that a dancer moves incredibly fast inside. What seems like days could be mere minutes in realtime. A good dancer resists the facism of conformity. She also mentioned three important attributes to be a good dancer. These attributes are commitment in the art, discipline in the form and enthusiasm. When asked about how her age has affected her view of dance now, she admits she's adapted with age and looks at things differently. Recovery is longer and may take her a couple of days to recover from a performance compared to the next day when she was younger. She hopes her body holds up.

Barbara Bourget's lecture ended with a question and answer about Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF). The slideshow behind Barbara had shown beautiful images from all types of dances during past Vancouver International Dance Festivals. At one point, her husband Jay Hirabayashi was flying high off the floor with wings looking white and glowing like an angel. She pointed up at her husband and said "Jay" to the audience seeming to show her love and adoration. The audience was silent for a few seconds staring at an image of flight and freedom. She is married with four children and two grandsons. She and Jay started VIDF with the hopes of bringing dances from other places to Vancouver and to heighten the art of dance. Vancouver International Dance Festival is at its 9th season this time from March 3-April 4, 2009. She hopes it'll be around to reach its 10th season next year.

Speaking of Dance is a lecture series part of an outreach program by DanceHouse.

Speaking of Dance

Speaking of Dance is an illustrated lecture series developed to enrich and deepen your experience of dance. These public lectures and discussion groups are a springboard for exchanging ideas and developing a deeper understanding of the world of dance and contextualizing the form in the broader Vancouver community and the world of art and culture.

Presented by artists, curators, art historians, critics, writers, academics and other creative thinkers, this lecture series will give you the information , language and confidence you need to speak about dance.

2nd Tuesday of the month, 7:30-9pm
Lower Level, Vancouver Public Library
Central Branch, 350 West Georgia St
ADMISSION IS FREE
SEATING IS LIMITED

March 10, 2009
Speakers
Barbara Bourget - Artistic Director, Vancouver International Dance Festival
Henry Daniel - Professor of Dance and Performance Studies, Simon Fraser University

April 14, 2009
Speakers
Santa Aloi - Professor Emerita of Dance, Simon Fraser University
Emily Molnar - Independent Choreographer and Artist in Residence, Arts Umbrella

"Speaking of Dance" is an outreach project of DanceHouse.

VIDF - Rob Kitsos & Dancers

Tonight, I saw my first show at the VIDF, Rob Kitsos & Dancers. Rob Kitsos & Dancers perform WAKE, exploring the perspective of individuals and groups living within an urban environment and the interactive physical language inspired by the city.

I watched a group of dancers gather together in a group, form a tight-knit community walking in unison at the beginning. The group starts to scatter in a myriad of different directions, some pairing with others as a few danced in solo. I saw the stress and confusion portrayed of living in a city. Some dancers run fast. Others were watchers, watching the performers rolling and jumping over over each other. I could feel the hectic moments of racing, being pulled and pushed forward backward and in all directions. The group came together dancing, arms together, in a circle only to break apart again to jump and twist in different directions. The physical language living in an urban environment seemed rather cold, fast and scary at times. I could see no emotion in their faces, only the physical aspect of the race, sometimes solo, in duet or groups. Sweat dripped from the dancers' foreheads as they collapsed at the end. Two dancers in front bounced off the floor only the end with a resounding thump again. Exhaustion seem to set after the physical fast pace struggle of urban life in the city. In the end, the dancers slump down on the floor where they stood. Don't we all feel like that sometimes? Losing sight of ourselves in pursuit of our everchanging dreams, changing partners/groups, stopping, turning, making leaps and sometimes falling.

Mezquita (one night March 6, 2009)

A Tale of 1001 Flamenco Nights featuring artists direct from Southern France and Spain

From the people who brought you "El Sonido del Silencio" in September of 2008, an unforgettable evening of flamenco fire, dance, and song awaits to tell you the tales which have been resonating through the passages of time for centuries. As the creative nature of Peña Bulería's events have always found a way to create some of the most memorable and innovative flamenco experiences in Vancouver for the past 6 years, this event will prove to be no exception! Featured artists include Pirouz de Caspio (Producer/Singer) and Cristo Cortes (Singer), Manuel Gutierrez and Kasandra La China on Dance, Jose Vega and Ali Golbabai on Guitar.

For more information, please visit: http://www.flamenco.ca/

For Tickets and Box Office please visit: http://www.kaymeekcentre.com/ or call 604.913.3634

2009 VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL DANCE

Photo Courtesy of VIDF

2009 VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL DANCE CELEBRATES FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF BUTOH
March 3-April 4, 2009

VANCOUVER, BC— Butoh turns the big 5-0, adventurous music and dance groups collaborate, and world-renowned dance artists from six countries take to the stage in the 2009 Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF), which runs March 3-April 4 at locations around the Lower Mainland, including the Roundhouse Community Centre (RH), Centennial Theatre, the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, and the Scotiabank Dance Centre.

“Butoh has always embodied challenge and change as well as incessant curiosity about who we are and why we are here,” said VIDF Executive Director Jay Hirabayashi, referring to the evocative and sometimes controversial artform that emerged in post-war Japan. The 2009 VIDF celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of butoh with performances by Yoshito Ohno (who appeared in butoh’s first performance, Kinjiki (Forbidden Colours), in 1959); workshops and a lecture-demonstration by butoh progenitor Natsu Nakajima; and three multidisciplinary premieres by Kokoro Dance. “In this year’s festival, we have programmed works that embody challenge, change, and curiosity about the human condition.”

The 2009 VIDF kicks off with Two Night Stand, a multidisciplinary collaboration with Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi, Juno-nominated Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq, guitarist Tony Wilson, percussionist Dylan van der Schyff, cellist Cris Derksen, pianist Lee Pui Ming, and filmmaker Clancy Dennehy (8:00pm, March 3-4, RH). Renowned dancer-choreographer Jérôme Bel (France) and Thai classical dancer Pichet Klunchun (Thailand) perform their humourous cross-cultural 2005 duet Pichet Klunchun and myself (8:00pm, March 5-7, RH). Toronto’s Nova Bhattacharya pushes the boundaries of contemporary bharatanatyam in Primary View (10:00pm, March 6-7, RH).

In the second week, butoh takes centre-stage in Flower, a new duet by Yoshito Ohno (Japan) with collaborator Lucie Grégoire (Montreal) (8:00pm, March 10-11, RH), the latter of whom performed audience-favourite Eye in the 2005 VIDF. Louise Bédard Danse (Montréal) explores the colours and textures of the art of Vancouver-based artist Marianna Gartner in Finally, You Are (Enfin vous zestes) (8:00pm, March 12-14, RH). Mascall Dance (Vancouver) performs WhaT,?, a creative collaboration between accomplished dance artist Ron Stewart and Jennifer Mascall (10:00pm, March 13-14, RH).

In the third week, music and dance enrich each other in stunning collaborations. Five choreographers, six dancers, and one choir converge in Dancers Dancing and the Vancouver Cantata Singers’ Voices in Motion, Bodies that Sing (8:00pm, March 17-19, RH). Kokoro Dance and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra build upon their previous collaborations in the rebel (8:00pm, March 20-21, RH). Direct from Spain, lightning-fast Flamenco footwork and exquisite music take centre-stage in two special performances by María Juncal, heralded in Europe as “the Flamenco sensation of the 2008-2009 season” (8:00pm, March 19-20, Centennial).

In the fourth week, Kokoro Dance reimagines Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Prometheus mythology in F, a multidisciplinary work for three dancers and three actors incorporating digitally-manipulated film by visual effects editor Paul Furminger and set design by Peter Eastwood (8:00pm, March 24-28, RH). In The Cell, MOVE: the company debuts new choreography by six local choreographers (8:00pm, March 25-28, Shadbolt). In the final week, Martha Carter—mmHoP premieres Twisted, a group work exploring dance, scoliosis, and personal transformation, (8:00pm, April 1-4, Scotiabank).

The 2009 VIDF is presented by the Vancouver International Dance Festival Society and Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

For more information about the 2009 VIDF, please call the VIDF office at 604.662.4966 or visit www.vidf.ca.

Spark

A dance, fire, and aerial piece, with live cello and voice, directed by Kira Schaffer.

Feb 20 & 21 - 6 & 7:30 pm
Anderson St at Duranleau St.
(Under the Granville St. Bridge)

Performed by Neezar Elferzeli,
Diane Garceau, Kira Schaffer,
David Yates, and Colleen Yuen
Live Music by Cris Derksen

Every now and then, I like to take my daughter to see an outdoor show. I looked forward to watching Kira Schaffer's Spark. The crowd was silent and watched in awe two aerial dancers as they swung in the air. At one point, they were mirror images of each other. One walking the top while the other walked upside down hanging in the air. Live cello accompanied the piece filling the night air with beautiful and haunting music. Below a fire dance added another level with fire sword-fights, hula-hoop dance and a fire umbrella. Heaven, earth and hell seem to meet in one place under the Granville Street bridge. Angels in the air floated down to meet their earthly counterparts... I thought the show was mesmerizing. It certainly kept my 3-year old's attention.

Step Into the Limelight

February 19, 2009
1st Annual LIMELIGHT DANCE CREW COMPETITION brought to you by CMC Entertainment & Caprice Night Club

Limelight dance crew competition is for all styles of dance! Breaking, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Salsa, Dance Hall, and so much more!





On Thursday night, Feb.19, I had the urge to check out a dance crew competition, Step Into the Limelight, held at Caprice Night Club. The prize was a sweet $1000. The competing groups were as follows:
1) Groovy G's
2) Synergy
3) Fortune House
4) Dance Tron 2009
5) FlowEthics
6) La Douche

Loved the poppin and lockin moves of Groovy G's. Synergy brought the house down with their acrobats and breakdancing. Fortune House had capes and ropes telling an almost story of cultism... is there such a word .. ropes dangling around their necks... I loved the capes and masks. Dance Tron brought back the era of disco queens... visions of Olivia Newton John's Let's Get Physical flashed across my mind as Dance Tron battled it out with the rough kids in the neighbourhood fighting the prim disco spandex tights princesses. Omar Khan was burning hosting the show and entertaining as always making waves with the electric slide. FlowEthics was a very strong and cohesive group with their hip-hop moves. I loved their makeup and costumes.. black and white with shiny embelishments. The final group was La Douche, a crowd favorite. La Douche was fierce exhibiting waacking and voguing ... dare I say Madonna and her blonde ambition tour has been reincarnated. Hammer pants, tight corsets, headbands, and multicolor ensembles ... I loved the mastermind Jojo Zolina.. attitude with no apologies.. for this is who I am. All the groups were fun to watch. Votes decided the ultimate winner and La Douche took the title. Awesome show!



La Douche