Crystal Pite’s Body and Soul, performed by the Paris Opera Ballet and filmed live during the November 2019 world premiere performance at Palais Garnier in Paris, will be streamed online February 17-23, 2021. This Canadian film premiere will be presented by Digidance – a new initiative to present Canadian and international dance works online, and formed by four of Canada’s leading dance presenters:
DanceHouse (Vancouver), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and Danse Danse (Montreal).
Tickets start at $15 and can be purchased online through the Digidance partners’ websites:
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Gira. Photo by José Luiz Pederneiras
Grupo Corpo
February 28-29, 2020 at the Vancouver Playhouse.
Brazil’s iconic contemporary dance company will perform two works in the evening double bill: Dança Sinfônica, a reflection of the company’s 40-year history, draws upon an eclectic fusion of ballet, samba, jazz, Afro-Brazilian rhythms. Gira, explores the rituals of Umbanda — one of Brazil’s most widespread religions — in a carnal meditation on humanity’s pursuit for divine enlightenment.
More information at dancehouse.ca.
Photo by Carlos Castillo.
13th Annual Coastal Dance Festival presented by Dancers of Damelahamid
February 25 – March 1, 2020 at the Anvil Centre in New Westminster and at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
The festival is a celebration of Canadian and global Indigenous stories, song, and dance, and this year, it welcomes 14 Indigenous performance groups from throughout British Columbia, Alaska, the Yukon, and Nunavut as well as international guest artists from as far away as New Zealand. Highlights include the festival debut of emerging talents Tooma Laisa and Leanna Wilson (drum dancers and throat singers of traditional Inuit songs) and the return of the Rainbow Creek Dancers (a Haida company featuring renowned artists Robert Davidson and Terri-Lynn Williams-Davidson).
More information at damelahamid.ca.
Sovann Prom Tep and Esther Rousseau-Morin in FRONTERA. Photo by Adrián Morillo
Dana Gringras’ Animals of Distinction FRONTERA
Presented by PuSh International Arts Festival
January 30, 2019 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Gringas’ multimedia dance company, Animals of Distinction, partners with experimental post-rock band Fly Pan Am
and London based collective United Visual Artists in a timely exploration of borders and surveillance. It promises to be a provocative multimedia experience of motion, sound, and light that explores notions of individual and political agency within a contested space of borderlands — both real and imagined.
More information at pushfestival.ca
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Photo by Zoran Jelenic.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
February 1, 2020 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
The Trocks are back for one performance only! See this all-male ballet company dance the most beloved works in classical and contemporary ballet – recreating pieces such as Swan Lake and Dying Swan with their humour, wit and impeccable technique.
More information at showoneproductions.ca.
Chutzpah! Festival returns to Vancouver with three exciting dance works:
ProArteDanza performs The 9th (a contemporary ballet of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony), choreographed by Robert Glumbek and Roberto Campanella.
Oct. 26-28, 2019 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre.
MM Contemporary Dance performs Gershwin Suites (choreographed by Michele Merola) and Schubert Frames (choreographed by Enrico Morelli).
Nov.1-4, 2019 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre
UNA Projects performs Coloring choreographed by Artistic Director Chuck Wilt.
Nov.15-17, 2019 at the Norman Rothstein Theatre
More information at https://chutzpahfestival.com/
UNA Projects
Catherine Hurlin. Photo by Craig Foster.
Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY
@giselle
Sept. 5-7, 2019 at the Vancouver Playhouse
This contemporary reinvention explores the connections and parallels between the beloved Romantic-era classical ballet and our understandings of love, sex and relationships in a world mediated by dating apps, digital illusions and fleeting encounters. The cast includes some of ballet’s finest artists including Catherine Hurlin, soloist at the American Ballet Theater in the role of Giselle, and Harrison James, principal dancer at the National Ballet of Canada in the role of Albrecht.
Tjimur Dance Theatre. Photo by Maria Falconer.
Tjimur Dance Theatre (Taiwan), presented by the Vancouver International Dance Festival.
Varhung – Heart to Heart
Mar. 29-30, 2019 – 8pm at the Vancouver Playhouse
Taiwan’s esteemed indigenous dance-theatre company, Tjimur Dance, performs the Canadian premiere of Varhung – Heart to Heart — a lyrical and vulnerable exploration of the complexities of the human heart. This deeply moving and emotionally honest work, choreographed by Baru Madiljin, gained critical acclaim for its breathtaking movement and heartfelt expression of the traditional culture of Taiwan’s indigenous Paiwan people.
Dairakudan’s Pseudo Human Super Human. Photo by Hiroyuki Kawashima
Dairakudan (Japan) presented by the Vancouver International Dance Festival.
Pseudo Human Super Human
Mar. 8-9, 2019 – 8pm at the Vancouver Playhouse.
The highly provocative Japan-based butoh ensemble Dairakudakan, returns with the explosive Canadian premiere of Pseudo human Super human. Choreographer and director Akaji Maro shares his emotionally charged meditation on the dissonance between the fruitless pursuit of technology and the resulting crushing absence of humanity. Showcasing the stunning iron and glass stage installations of dynamic sculptor KUMA/Katsuyuki Shinohara, set to a frenetically energetic score of techno music by Keisuke Doi and Jeff Mills, the butoh masters commence a futuristic odyssey, advancing forward to a world where artificial intelligence threatens to consume our very existence.
Wen Wei Dance
Ying Yun (英云)
Feb. 19-23, 2019 – 7pm at Scotiabank Dance Centre
Ying Yun is the name of Wang’s mother (Ying means Hero & Yun means Cloud), who passed away from ovarian cancer four years ago. A significant influence on his becoming an artist, Wang dedicates this new creation to her, engaging the dancers in interpreting her story, and in turn expressing their own intersectional experiences. Ying Yun aims to give power to the human body and investigates how dance reflects the current zeitgeist in relation to the larger global issues that women and society are grappling with today.
Blood on the Dance Floor. Photo by Dorine Blaise
ILBIJERRI Theatre Company (Australia)
Blood on the Dance Floor
Feb. 6-9, 2019 – 8pm at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.
Rooted in Aboriginal dance, theatre and storytelling, this award-winning work, written and performed by Jacob Boehme, shares his emotionally honest story of gay, Blak and poz identities, and explores the struggle, heartache and enduring spirit of someone living at the intersection of Aboriginal, queer and HIV positive communities.
Company Wang Ramirez. Photo by Frank Szafinski
Company Wang Ramirez (France)
Borderline
Oct. 26-27, 2018 – 8pm at the Vancouver Playhouse. Tickets and details at DanceHouse.
Acclaimed choreographic duo Sébastien Ramirez and Honji Wang combine hip hop and contemporary dance with martial arts to explore the meaning of democracy, immigration, manipulation, and the place of individuals in our society today.
Arno Kamolika in Shyama. Photo by Mohammad Mustafizur Rahaman.
Shyama
Presented by Diwali in BC and the Vancouver Tagore Society.
York Theatre, Vancouver.
Oct. 27, 2018. Tickets and details at Diwali in BC.
A Bharatanatyam interpretation of Tagore’s epic Bengali dance drama Shyama with original choreography by Jai Govinda. This dance theatre piece is a tribute to the first non-European Nobel-laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore and his magically visual poetry and music of love. Dance artist Arno Kamolika has been collaborating with musician Shankhanaad Mallick and with director Rohit Chokhani for over two years on this production, and Diwali in B.C. will debut their most current version of this poetic, deep philosophical story that will be performed on stage with other Bharatanatyam dancers: Grihalakshmi Soundarapandian, Jaylakshmi Ravindra , Malavika Santhosh, and Vidya Kotamraju.
Illustration by Ola Volo. Photo by KK Law.
Franz Lehár’s The Merry Widow (Die Lustige Witwe) presented by Vancouver Opera
Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver
Oct. 20 – 28, 2018. Tickets and details at www.vancouveropera.ca.
Set in the heart of vibrant fin de siècle Paris, the wealthy widow Hanna Glawari schemes to win the heart of dashingly handsome Count Danilo. A scandalous caper ensues while suitors conspire to obtain the widow’s fortune. This wonderfully lavish Art Nouveau-inspired production opens Vancouver Opera’s 2018–2019 season and is directed by Canadian Kelly Robinson. Italian-Canadian soprano Lucia Cesaroni will be making her role debut as Hanna Glawari and Count Danilo will be performed by tenor John Cudia. Susan Memmott-Allred’s costumes and Michael Yeargan’s sets evoke the Belle Epoque period, with choreography by Josh Beamish.
Joe Ink. Photo ©Michael Slobodian
Joe Ink
Joe: A Solo Show by Joe Laughlin
The Dance Centre, Vancouver
Oct. 18 – 20, 2018
Tickets at ticketstonight.ca. For more details, visit joeink.ca.
In Laughlin’s first-ever full-length solo show, audiences will witness the culmination of a
profound process of personal, physical, and artistic discovery. Hailed by The Globe and
Mail as “a chameleon” who finds “fresh theatrical colours with each new piece,” Laughlin
will perform three distinct solos from three diverse choreographers: Vancouver’s own Amber Funk Barton, long-time friend and collaborator Gioconda Barbuto, and internationally-renowned South African choreographer Vincent Mantsoe. All three solos are skilfully woven together with voiceover by the artists to create a tapestry that
encapsulates Laughlin through the eyes of each of his esteemed colleagues.
Vanessa Goodman in Never Still. Photo by Ben Didier.
Never Still by Vanessa Goodman
Sept. 26 – 29, 2018
Firehall Arts Centre, Vancouver
Tickets at or 604.689.0926
Never Still is the newest work from Vancouver’s Vanessa Goodman and is inspired by the inherent conflicts and dichotomies of water. Created in collaboration with its five performers, Never Still is a highly physical piece that explores social, environmental and biological themes.
Choreographer Vanessa Goodman answers a couple questions about Never Still:
Ballet BC
Program 3 – May 10-12, 2018 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver.
Tickets & info at www.balletbc.com
Ballet BC caps off a successful season with their final program, remounting Cayetano Soto’s BEGINNING AFTER, Bill by Sharon Eyal and Gai Behar, and presenting a world premiere of when you left from the company’s artistic director, Emily Molnar. “I love disrupting things,” said Molnar in an interview about her new work. “Sometimes I would disrupt a certain phrase by taking one thing and putting it elsewhere…More than in previous works, I’m playing with pause and repetition,” she describes.
The company just returned from a tour in the UK, including performances at London’s Saldler’s Wells theater, where they received rave reviews. Earlier this year, they performed the beautifully evocative Romeo + Juliet, a full length ballet created for the company by Medhi Walerski. It’s time to see why Vancouver’s contemporary dance scene is getting global attention.
Action at a Distance
Wells Hill by Vanessa Goodman
Nov. 24-26, 2017
Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, SFU Gold Corp Centre for the Arts, Vancouver
Tickets & details at www.dancehouse.ca
Vanessa Goodman’s new work is based on the philosophies of Canadian luminaries Marshall McLuhan and Glenn Gould. Seven dancers splice together themes of technology and communication in this provocative and vibrant piece, where Goodman is the choreographer and one of the projection artists. Vancouver-based artists collaborating on Wells Hill include composers Loscil (Scott Morgan) and Gabriel Saloman, lighting deqsigner James Proudfoot and projection artists Ben Didier and Milton Lim.
Ballet BC
Program 1 – Nov. 2-4, 2017 at Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver.
Tickets & info at www.balletbc.com
Get ready for full-throttle physicality in Ballet BC’s season opener, with the world premiere of Eight Years of Silence by its Resident Choreographer, Cayetano Soto, and the North American premiere of B.R.I.S.A. by Johan Inger. Interviews with Cayetano and Johan reveal more about these works.
Tero Saarinen Company in Morphed. Photo © Mikki Kunttu
Tero Saarinen Company
Morphed (2014) by Tero Saarinen
Oct. 27 & 28, 2017 at the Vancouver Playhouse
Tickets & info at http://dancehouse.ca/portfolios/tero-saarinen-company-2017/
Acclaimed Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen explores concepts of masculinity in Morphed. Saarinen performed as a soloist with the Finnish National Ballet for several years before traveling to Asia seeking movement inspiration – in Japan, he studied Butoh and Kabuki. In 1996, he formed the Tero Saarinen Company, which performs his unique aesthetic that combines his classical background with Butoh influences.
Pacific Northwest Ballet
Jewels by George Balanchine
Sept. 22-Oct. 1, 2017 at Marion Oliver Mccaw Hall, Seattle.
Tickets & info at https://www.pnb.org
The Pacific Northwest Ballet opens its season with George Balanchine’s Jewels, and here’s why you should see it:
PNB dances Balanchine’s works very well. The company has several of Balachine’s works in its repertoire, and its artistic director, Peter Boal, was a principal dancer at New York City Ballet.
In 2014, four dancers from the original 1967 production – legends Violette Verdy, Jacques d’Amboise, Edward Villella and Mimi Paul – came to PNB to coach its dancers on the piece and pass on knowledge that they learned from Mr. B himself.
Jérôme Kaplan is redesigning the sets and costumes. We’ve seen his work at PNB in Jean-Christophe Maillot’s Cendrillon and Roméo et Juliette. I love how his work has reinterpreted traditional stories. But, Jewels is a story-less ballet that indulges in the glamour and beauty of three schools of classical ballet – French, American and Russian . I am very curious to see how he will renew such old-fashioned glamour.
Jewels turns 5o this year – Now that’s reason to celebrate!
Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum
Falls the Shadow – created by American Ballet Theater (ABT) principal dancer Daniil Simkin.
Sept. 4 – 5, 2017 at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, NYC
Tickets & info at www.guggenheim.org/event/works-process-rotunda-project-daniil-simkin
This looks really interesting – Real-time motion sensors transpose dancers’ movements into images that are projected onto the Guggenheim rotunda. Performed by Simkin, ABT soloist Cassandra Trenary (one of my favourite ABT dancers!), and Hubbard Street dancers Ana Lopez and Brett Conway; choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo (I’ve been following his work since seeing his charming piece Little Mortal Jump).
Photo © Peter Eastwood
Kokoro Dance
Embryotrophic Cavatina (world premiere)
Sept. 20-23 and 26-29, 2017
Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, Vancouver.
Tickets & info at kokoro.ca
Choreographed by Kokoro Dance Co-Directors & award-winning dance artists Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi, the company’s latest full-length butoh work, which has been 20 years in the making, is set to the music of acclaimed Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner. Four dancers will strip themselves bare – literally and figuratively – in breathless motion and stillness, embodying the rawness of humanity, while transcending all superficial layers of persona and ego in true butoh style.
La Moneta. Photo ©Maud Sophie Andrieux
Vancouver International Flamenco Festival
The Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, presented by Flamenco Rosario, returns for its 27th season September 11th – 24th.
This year’s headliner is Fuensanta “La Moneta” from Granada, Spain, and is described as an artist who “possesses a deep expressive dramatic quality and an incredible mastering of compás.” She will be accompanied by cantaors, Juan Ángel Tirado and Sergio Gómez “El Colarao”; and guitarist, Luis Mariano.
Other performers in the festival include Calle Verde (Vancouver) & Christina Tremblay (Quebec) in an exciting mixed bill, Fin de Fiesta (Toronto) and Vancouver’s own Flamenco Rosario performing Nuevo, New, Nouveau – a set of new choreographies by Karen Lugo and Rosario Ancer, in which they deconstruct the art form and challenge the way we perceive flamenco.
Performances and workshops take place at various venues in the city. Visit their website for details. www.vancouverflamencofestival.org