It does not take long for the dance season to get into full swing - check it out below!

Hope you have left Saturday September 16 free - The Dance Centre has its annual Open House, with a great selection of classes, workshops and studio showings. There is just too much fantastic stuff to see and do to list here, so go to the website for full details.

Also continuing until September 24 is the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival. Again there are too many things to list them here, but go on over to the website to find out more.There are many FREE events also, including Pop-Up performances around town, flamenco classes for seniors, and a lecture-demo at the Vancouver Public Library.

Embryotrophic Cavatina  Kokoro Dance

Sept. 20-23 and 26-29, Kokoro Dance presents the world premiere of
the provocative and primal Embryotrophic Cavatina, the company’s latest full-length butoh work 20-years in the making. Choreographed by Kokoro Dance Directors & award-winning dance artists Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi, and set to the heartrending but uplifting 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. At the Roundhouse Community Centre, 8pm Tix

Wednesday-Saturday September 20-23 the Dance Centre presents as part of it’s Global Dance Connections series Joshua Beamish/MOVETHECOMPANY in 
Saudade. Saudade - a Portuguese word that represents a deep, constant desire for a reality that does not, and probably cannot, exist - investigates loss, memory, and the longing for something unattainable. Six male dancers merge elegant balletic lines with street-style dynamism and drive, conjuring up fleeting intimacies in a series of ghostly solos, duets, and group passages, accompanied by Hildur Guðnadóttir’s hauntingly beautiful cello score. A British Columbian choreographer who has achieved international success, Joshua Beamish brings together an ensemble whose collective credits include leading companies such as Nederlands Dans Theater, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Sasha Waltz & Guests, and La La La Human Steps. 8pm at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. Post-show talkback September 21. Tix

It’s going to be a busy weekend! September 21 & 22, Beijing Dance Theater presents The Golden Lotus - or ‘Jin Ping Mei’ - the contemporary ballet adaptation of China’s most notorious banned novel. Forbidden in China for the past 700 years due to its storyline of sexual desires and erotic content, the Vancouver presentation marks the first time this controversial work will be performed outside of Asia. Acclaimed choreographer and BDT director Wang Yuanyuan (former Principal dancer and resident choreographer with the National Ballet of China) has assembled a team of luminaries to transport audiences into the dark underworld of The Golden Lotus. The exquisite artistry of the 28-member company will be enhanced by the production’s lavish sets and costumes by Oscar-winning Tim Yip (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), and music by Du Wei with advisement by Chen Qigang (musical director of the Beijing Olympics’ opening ceremony). At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 8pm. Tix

Erika Mitsuhashi and Francesca Frewer in The Saddest Girl At The Party

September 21 New Works is proud to launch it’s 20th season by featuring three duets by six talented, emerging female dance artists: Zhara Shahab and Katie Lowen; Erika Mitsuhashi and Francesca Frewer; Jessica Wilke and Laura Avery. This evening of performances is curated by local and nationally renowned choreographer and artist Justine A. Chambers. Blue Crush by Katie Lowen and Zahra Shahab – An investigation of organic and plastic skins, and the ability to engulf, reveal, and conceal. Blue Crush explores the subversion of desire, the power of imitation, and the body in flux. The Saddest Girl At The Party, by Francesca Frewer and Erika Mitsuhashi – An ode to the attempt and a lament for that which is given up on. Movement crafted into games and absurd scenarios composes this duet, that lies somewhere between playful and heartbreaking; but falling (maybe, almost) just shy of each. i think you might be spilling, by Jessica Wilke and Laura Avery – An inquiry into tenderness as resilience, into labours of loving, and into our love affairs with our house plants and our moss gardens. The work attempts to stumble up against varying forms of intimacy-“romantic” and otherwise- that defy easy categorization and that sustain us. At the Orpheum Annex, 8pm. Tix

Through the fall MACHiNENOiSY Artistic Directors Delia Brett and Daelik will offer a series of 3 day workshops. The Building Skillz workshop is an open level workshop and is suitable for beginners and advanced contact dancers alike. In this first 3 day workshop series, Building Skillz, MACHiNENOiSY will share with you some of the tools that they have developed over their 27 years of practice to aid you in the exploration of your own dancing capacity. Parents with small children welcome.

Further Series to come:
Workshop # 1 Building Skillz - Sept 12, 13, 14
Workshop # 2 Skeletal Landscapes - Sept 19, 20, 21
Workshop # 3 Flight: from the ground up - Oct 3, 4, 5
Workshop # 4 Serious Flow - Oct 10, 11, 12
Workshop # 5 Underdancing - Oct 24, 25, 26
Workshop # 5 Touch and Play - Oct 31, Nov 1, 2
For more info go to www.machinenoisy.com . At Left of Main, 211 Keefer Street. 6:00 - 8:00 pm. The cost per workshop is $35. **Please register at info@machinenoisy.com.

Happy Friday - lots to do this week!

You have until September 30 to see The Firehall Arts Centre presentation of Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art in Feasting on Famine, one man’s journey through the extremes of body building and health fitness exploring the symmetry between the human body, the corporation and the excess of capitalism in a world where one man consumes the daily caloric intake of a family of five. Consume. Grow. Enhance. Consume. At the Firehall Arts Centre, 8pm. Tix

For all you ballet lovers, on October 1 the Vancouver Ballet Society presents its 2017 Scholarship Showcase featuring 2017 Spring Seminar Scholarship winners, and Ballet BC’s Artistic Director Emily Molnar as special presenter. 1pm Silent Auction and refreshments followed by the performance at 2.30pm. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre. Info and tix

Goblin Market by The Dust Palace

October 3 - 14 The Cultch presents Goblin Market by The Dust Palace (New Zealand).  An adults-only, contemporary circus retelling following two sisters, their temptation, sacrifice, and salvation. Delicious circus precariously balanced with gritty performances and candid storytelling. The production celebrates the female gaze in its exploration of sexuality and sisterhood, through double trapeze, mask, projection, acrobatics, spoken word and music. Eat fruit. Love lust. This is circus with a Southern hemisphere flair, integrating multidisciplinary art for a stunning poetic theatre presentation of cirque artistry and skill. New Zealand’s premier circus theatre company makes its Vancouver debut! At the York Theatre, 8pm TIx

Tara Cheyenne Performance

Friday October 6 and Saturday October 7 Tara Cheyenne Performance offers Talking and Dancing, a two-day intensive focusing on the ever evolving craft of working with movement, text/voice and the body in dance-theatre. Using experimental voice work, text, narrative and character physicalization, we will explore the possibilities of “talking and dancing”. Great for actors who are not professional dancers and for dancers interested in text. At Left of Main, 211 Keefer St. For more info

Keep it coming - so much dance this month!

Toronto Dance Theatre in Echo Park. Photo Guntar Kravis

Next week, February 23 and 24, DanceHouse brings the iconic Toronto Dance Theatre to Vancouver to celebrate the company’s 50th anniversary with House Mix, a retrospective program showcasing five diverse works by choreographer Christopher House. “As an artist, [House] might be compared to Richard Serra, that most choreographic of sculptors, so attentive to curves, planes, elevations, rises, landings and, above all, footing, reconfiguring ever more ordinary, unadorned and consistent steps into original, affective and solid dance forms.” – Ben Portis, The Dance Current. Don’t miss this exciting program! For more info and to buy tickets. At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 8pm. Come early to hear the pre-show talk with Christopher House, hosted by Pia Lo. 7:15PM each night in the Vancouver Playhouse Upper Lobby.

With the TDT performance in mind, on Tuesday February 20, DanceHouse’s Speaking of Dance presents Vancouver and Toronto’s Cultural Scenes in the 70s: A Comparison. Moderated by Pia Lo (Dance journalist and blogger at Globe Dancer), in conversation with Megan Andrews (Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Performance Studies, School for Contemporary Arts at SFU), Kate Bird (Author of Vancouver in the Seventies: Photos From a Decade That Changed the City) and Cheryl Prophet (Senior Lecturer, Dance at the School for Contemporary Arts at SFU). Co-presented with Sfu Woodward’s Cultural Programs.Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 7pm  FREE

And for you dancers out there, don’t miss the opportunity to take a master class with some of the exceptional artists of TDT! For details of time and place, go here. All classes have limited capacity and require advanced registration, and we strongly suggest grabbing your spot now!

The 2018 Chutzpah! Festival opens February 16 and 17 with Ezralow Dance (USA). Award-winning choreographer / director / multi-media artist Daniel Ezralow‘s unique style of physical expression and articulate choreography has earned him a distinguished reputation as a groundbreaking artist worldwide. In his new show OPEN, Ezralow mingles contemporary dance with playful humour, provocative ideas, striking visuals, and an unforgettable classical score. At the Norman Rothstein Theatre. Tix and more info.

On Tuesday February 20, MascallDance presents the first in a series of BLOOM! Twice annually in the West End twilight, historic St Paul’s Church Hall comes alive at cocktail hour.   On two consecutive Tuesdays, local dance veteran MascallDance throws open its doors for an unusual kind of “tasting.” Audiences join up-and-coming dancers and choreographers to sample unique pairings of dances and wines with a comedy chaser.  This year BLOOM is thrilled to announce the participation of Lisa Haley, a young sommelier currently taking the town by storm.  Restaurant & Wine Director of Gastown’s award-winning L'Abattoir Restaurant and recipient of Vancouver Magazine’s 2017 Sommelier of the Year, Haley joins the dance crew to pair wine selections with the flavour and mood of each creation. Well-known local comedian, playwright, poet and actor Jenn Griffin tops off the show, sharing the mic with Haley with short comic commentaries on each dance.  For audiences, it’s a light-hearted way to wind down after work and support the next generation of Vancouver’s best and brightest. For artists, it’s the culmination of a six week residency offering them the rare opportunity to focus on their art with MascallDance resources and consult with Artistic Director, Jennifer Mascall, whose decades of outstanding invention need no introduction locally or nationally.  Don’t miss this opportunity to catch dance creators Luciana Freire D’Ancinciação, Lara Amalie Abadir, Eowynn Enquist, Isak Enquist, Levana Irena, Clay Nikiforuk, Stefan Smulovitz and Marissa Wong as they share a taste of their choreographies in progress.   TICKETS are only $10 and include wine tasters - at the door. At St Pauls Church, 1130 Jervis St. Door open at 4:30, show at 5:30

Tuesday February 20, the Dance Centre has a studio showing of 12 Minutes Max artists Immigrant Lessons (Kevin Fraser, Alyssa Amarshi), Olivia Shaffer, Damarise Ste Marie, and Sujit Vaidya. 12 Minutes Max seeks to foster experimentation and the development of a choreographic idea or work-in-progress, along with critical feedback and community dialogue from a creative community of performers, facilitators, and audience, with a primary focus on the choreographic process from development to presentation. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, 6pm. FREE

Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg I Can’t Remember the Word for I Can’t Remember.

February 21 to 24, Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg premieres her new work I Can’t Remember the Word for I Can’t Remember. This piece has been described as stand-up comedy with dance. Funny, poignant and intimate. No fourth wall needed. A new solo created in collaboration with Vancouver director/writer/actor, John Murphy. Mining the missing files of memory, the boxes into which we misplace ourselves, and the inexplicably of….you…know…this…thing…Check out a promo video of the work here. Also on the program is a new piece by Chick Snipper, Unnecessary. An older woman seeks redemption and recognition through public performance. Having been inspired by Rabih Alamedinne’s novel An Unnecessary Woman, Chick felt compelled to create a solo for long time collaborator Anne Cooper, revealing the aloneness, vulnerability and vitality of an ‘older woman’. At the Firehall Arts Centre, 8pm. Tix 

DanceLab: Margaret Grenier/Dancers of Damelahamid. Photo Chris Randle

Sunday February 25 come to a studio showing of DanceLab: Margaret Grenier/Dancers of Damelahamid. The Dancers of Damelahamid are developing a new multi-media dance work, Mînowin, that integrates narrative, movement, song, and multi media design, connecting to landscapes from contemporary perspectives of customary Indigenous dance forms. Mînowin describes how we clarify direction, as we recover and reinterpret the teachings that define and redefine who we are, and that are accessed through story, dance and song. The piece will explore the moments where we connect with one another, moments that bring new life into our artistic practices, the upheaval and rebalancing, and places of renewal for each generation as we redefine ourselves. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, 4-5pm. FREE

A busy week coming up - a great way to start December!

​December 3 The School for the Contemporary Arts at SFU presents Playful Parameters A Student Series Dance Show. Playful Parameters uses contemporary dance as a way into the lackadaisical luminosity that is a child’s mind by drawing from actual behavior and movement patterns of local children under the age of 6. Everything you will see, hear, and feel is a product of them. The dancers will be accompanied by music created by SCA student composers, and played by guest professional musicians Dom Ivanovic, violin; Francois Houle, clarinet; Peggy Lee, cello and Allan Stiles, piano. At Studio D, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, 6pm.  Tix

Company 605 Albatross

December 7- 10, Company 605 unveils their newest commissioned collaboration with Brussels-based, long-time Ultima Vez company member German Jauregui.  Albatross is a new work created by Jauregui in collaboration with Company 605. This driving duet pulls apart a single moment, enabling us to dissect and experience its contents in expanded time. Like two parts of one’s self, in continuous motion and perpetual contact, two bodies inhabit a single person’s trajectory through a test of endurance. Faced with both a physical and psychological burden, the heavy weight that they must carry, the performers are forced to surrender to the circumstances and to their interdependence. They simultaneously become each other’s obstruction and support to keep moving forward. A constant falling that never ends in the ground, like the Albatross flying without flapping his wings, humans live resisting their descent into regret. At the Firehall Arts Centre, 8pm. Tix

December 7, 9,10,14, 16, EDAM Dance presents After The Fall with new works by Peter Bingham, Shay Keubler and Julie Chapple. Julianne Chapple’s work is an exploration of identity as an imperfect and ever-changing narrative. Floors become walls, people become objects and multiple selves melt into a shifting mass of limbs and hair. Performed by Julianne and dancers Maxine Chadburn and Francesca Frewer.  In The Way, Shay Kuebler (Radical System Art) and artists Nicholas Lydiate and Lexi Vajda explore the seven virtues of the samurai, while referencing novels and plays by Japanese writer Yukio Mishima. This piece looks to reveal how the devout expression of a value, regardless of its inherent positivity, can become damaging to the individuals supporting it, and that moralism is a method of control and dictation. “It is natural for me to find it obscene that human beings live only for themselves. You might call this the boredom of living … they get bored living just for themselves … always think of living for some kind of ideal.“ - Yukio Mishima. Peter Bingham will present Engage the Feeling Arms, a trio comprised of a constant duet framed by an ongoing solo. There is the thread of a dream, a reflection on the "shifting” relationship. The solo “shifts” between dancers, constantly melding into unified imagery. Performed by Farley Johansson, Walter Kubanek and Olivia Shaffer. 
At the EDAM Studio, 303 E8TH Ave. Tix

December 8-11 The Nutcracker comes to town! This treasured holiday classic, danced to Tchaikovsky’s timeless score by one of Canada’s most beloved ballet companies The Royal Winnipeg Ballet, takes audiences on a wondrous adventure with Clara, her Nutcracker Prince, and the Sugar Plum Fairy. A heart-warming ballet is full of surprises,the Nutcracker features endearing Canadian scenes such as a snowy pond hockey game and the RCMP battling the Mouse King. Sumptuous costumes and sets make this classic sparkle, delighting audiences of all ages with its beauty and splendor. At the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Dec 8-10 7:30pm, Dec 10 and 11 2pm. Tix 

December 9 Co.ERASGA, in partnership with The Dance Centre, presents a studio showing of EXCHANGES and conversation with Hiroaki Umeda.  Umeda is a choreographer and a multidisciplinary artist recognized as one of the leading figures of the Japanese avant-garde art scene. Since the launch of his company S20, his subtle yet violent dance pieces have toured around the world to audience and critical acclaim. His work is acknowledged for the highly holistic artistic methodology with strong digital back ground, which considers not only physical elements as dance, but also optical, sensorial and, above all, spatiotemporal components as part of the choreography.
At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, 2-4pm. FREE

And remember, we can’t share your stuff with the dance community if you don’t share it with us first! Send your news, events and other interesting goings on to debora@dancehouse.ca. Thanks, and have a wonderful week!

BJM in Rouge. Photo Raphaelle Bob Garcia

BJM hits the Vancouver Playhouse in just 1 week! Friday and Saturday February 24 and 25, DanceHouse presents this always Canadian favourite in an evening of three works. Rouge, choreographed by Rodrigo Pederneiras of Brazilian company Grupo Corpo, is direct, genuine and raw, an ode to resilience and a tribute to indigenous peoples and their musical and cultural legacy. In Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili’s Mono Lisa, two dancers execute incredible acrobatics in a factory-like atmosphere filled with sounds and visions of iron and steel – a breathtaking pas de deux executed with absolute mastery.  And finally in Kosmos, Greek choreographer Andonis Foniadakis finds inspiration in the world around us and the excitement people experience every day in a city; moments of reunion, gathering and let go - check out the video here. At the Vancouver Playhouse, 8pm (pre-show chat 7:15pm in upstairs lobby). Tix

Tuesday February 21, in Speaking of Dance, DanceHouse will look at Identity and Location: Immigration and cultural integration. What are the challenges and opportunities of being an immigrant artist? With speakers Rosario Ancer(Artistic Director, Flamenco Rosario and Vancouver International Flamenco Festival) Henry Daniel (Professor of Dance and Performance Studies, SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts) and Choreographer Chengxin Wei (Artistic Director, Moving Dragon Contemporary Dance), and moderated by Georgia Straight Dance Critic and Arts Editor Janet Smith, this conversation will facilitate dance spectators to deepen their understanding, and develop their observation and interpretation, of dance. At the Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts, SFU Woodwards, 7pm. FREE!

Continuing until Saturday February 18, as part of the Chutzpah! Festival Tara Cheyenne Performance + Silvia Gribaudi collide and embrace in a new collaboration  empty.swimming.pool which navigates the role of comedy as a catalyst to understanding and communication, addressing questions of gender, culture and language along the way. Both these seriously funny women have crafted their own expert blends of physicality and characterization to create hilarious but poignant works, which reflect on the absurdities of life and what it means to be human. Featuring an original soundscape composed and performed live by musician Marc Stewart, empty.swimming.pool is a cocktail of dance, theatre and voice, spiced with acute observations and subversive humour. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, 8pm. Tix

Continuing until Sunday February 19 Kaha:wi Dance Theatre presents NeoIndigenA, a full-length solo performance from award-winning artistic director, choreographer, and performer Santee Smith (TransMigration), exploring our relationship to ancestors, the living universe, and renewal. The spellbinding score features elemental voices of Inuit singers Tanya Tagaq and Nelson Tagoona with musical composition by Cris Derksen, Jesse Zubot, Michael Red, and Adrian Harjo. Check out the trailer. At the Cultch 8PM, matinee ONLY Feb 19 2PM.

The annual Chutzpah! Festival is on now until March 13, and there is lots of dance to see including Shay Kuebler/Radical System Art and Spellbound Contemporary Ballet from Italy. Check out events, dates and times here.

February 21 to 26, 28 and Mar 1 to 4, Amber Funk Barton and Mindy Parfitt perform in am a. am a explores identity through the lens of neuroplasticity, a science that examines the brain’s capacity for change. But how do we change our brains? And if we can change, how far can we go? Using personal text, scientific writings, dance, song, and frivolity to explore personal confrontation, am a is a celebration of being human. Of daring to succeed. Of daring to fail. Find out more about this collaboration here. At the Vancity Culture Lab (the Cultch), 1895 Venables St. 8pm. Tix

Just a week until  on the MOVE,  a dynamic career planning and networking conference designed by the Dancer Transition Resource Centre, specifically for dance students in the graduating year of their professional programs and emerging artists on the cusp of entering a performance career. The February 24th, 2017 on the MOVE conference is geared to students graduating from dance programs - register here!

And remember, we can’t share your stuff with the dance community if you don’t share it with us first! Send your news, events and other interesting goings on to debora@dancehouse.ca. Thanks, and have a wonderful week!

Oh the rain, the rain….

Photo by Todd Rosenberg

Ok, it is time to tell you all about the DanceHouse season opener coming up October 28 and 29. Jessica Lang Dance, one of the most respected and acclaimed US dance troupes for works that are both genuinely moving and visually arresting, will bring a fantastic mixed program in their Canadian debut. Included in the program is their newest work Thousand Yard Stare, a piece for nine dancers, set to Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 15, Opus 132, which honours those affected by war. Check it out here, and more to come next week!  At the Vancouver Playhouse, 8pm. Tix 

Photo: Wendy D Photography

October 12-15, Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, one of the hottest companies on the Canadian contemporary dance scene, brings to the Firehall Arts Centre Major Motion Picture. Exploring timely themes of surveillance, otherness, propaganda and belief through eccentric and lawless characters, this piece utilizes a hybrid performance language that includes infrared technology and an onstage surveillance system alongside.  7 dancers fight for the theatre, losing and gaining the grounds for their power and identity. A mysterious third party is present in every conflict, teaching us how to desire, and leading us into patterns. Living in the wings, The Others hack into the theatre with wild attempts to steal the show and regain the stage as their own. With influences ranging from Charlie Chaplin to Die Antwoord,Orson Welles to Slavoj Zizek, the music of Bernard Herrmann meets urban underground and an original composition by Belgian producer Tristan Vloeberghs. At the Firehall Arts Centre, 8pm Tix

Interplay produces collaborative and/or multidisciplinary performance works. It is open to artists from all disciplines, at any stage in their career, who are creating for a performance context.  October 14 and 15 Interplay is back for it’s 5th edition, but with a few twists…to begin with Deanna Peters (Mutable Subject) is taking over from The Contingency Plan as producer-curator, and there are a variety of workshops for you to participate in (ever heard of dance karaoke?) And what a stellar list of artists participating - see here for more. At the Moberly Arts Centre, 7646 Prince Albert St. Tix

And remember, we can’t share your stuff with the dance community if you don’t share it with us first! Send your news, events and other interesting goings on to debora@dancehouse.ca. Thanks, and have a wonderful week!

Looking for something to do this stormy weekend (and week ahead!)? 

Jessica Lang Dance  The Calling (excerpt from Splendid Isolation II)
Dancer K. Kimura. Photo by Takao Komaru

DanceHouse opens it’s season October 28 and 29 with New York City’s Jessica Lang Dance.  In its Canadian-debut performance, the company will be presenting Thousand Yard Stare, a piece that evokes the experiences of soldiers at war and for which Jessica Lang interviewed war veterans and researched post traumatic stress syndrome as part of her research in the creation of the work. Sounds fascinating!

As always, DanceHouse provides a number of opportunities to learn more about the world of dance, contextualizing it within culture and society. On Tuesday October 25, with the coming of Jessica Lang Dance in mind, Speaking of Dance Conversations presents In Their Own Voices: British Columbia’s female choreographers. Three choreographers, Karen Jamieson, Ziyian Kwan and Simone Orlando, moderated by Vancouver Sun dance writer Deborah Meyers, will speak to questions such as what has enabled them as dance makers and what are the biggest barriers they have faced? At SFU Woodwards, Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, 7pm FREE

Then on Friday and Saturday nights before the show (Oct 28 and 29) Speaking of Dance Pre Show Talks offers a conversation between Clifton Brown (Choreographer’s Assistant, Dancer and Rehearsal Director of Jessica Lang Dance) and Deborah Meyers ( dance writer, Vancouver Sun). In Upper Lobby of the Vancouver Playhouse, 7:15pm.

Through till Saturday night October 15, you still have time to catch Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, one of the hottest companies on the Canadian contemporary dance scene, in Major Motion Picture. Exploring themes of surveillance, territory, propaganda and belief through the creation of eccentric and lawless characters, Major Motion Picture draws on influences from Charlie Chaplin to Orson Welles.With trail-blazing movement seven dancers fight for control of space, losing and gaining the grounds for their power, identity and desire. At the Firehall Arts Centre, 8pm. Tix

October 13 to 16 is the kick-off presentation to the new Small Stage season, emceed by co-hosts Lisa Christiansen and Andrea Warner of the popular podcast Pop This!, who are currently engaged in an ongoing and unresolved debate about the ‘best dance movie ever.’ One favours the sizzling couplings in Dirty Dancing; the other prefers the solo expression of male teenage angst in Footloose; neither knows quite where to place the explosive female power of Flashdance on the spectrum. Artists Vanessa Goodman, Burgundy Brixx and Tarun Nayar, among others, will cleverly explore the duet/solo/gender themes with irreverent, provocative commentary by Christiansen and Warner … though perhaps not consensus. At the Anza Club, 3 West 8th Avenue, Vancouver. Tix

Interplay produces collaborative and/or multidisciplinary performance works. It is open to artists from all disciplines, at any stage in their career, who are creating for a performance context.  October 14 and 15 Interplay is back for it’s 5th edition, but with a few twists…to begin with Deanna Peters (Mutable Subject) is taking over from The Contingency Plan as producer-curator, and there are a variety of workshops for you to participate in (ever heard of dance karaoke?) And what a stellar list of artists participating - see here for more. At the Moberly Arts Centre, 7646 Prince Albert St. Tix

I Care What you Think

October 19-22, The Contingency Plan and the plastic orchid factory present  I Care What You Think. A performance that invites the audience to be part of an experience, exploring how the perfect dance has nothing to do with an unattainable idea but exists in the spaces between, around and within us all. Join Vanessa Goodman, Jane Osborne and James Gnam for a performance that asks us to be present, to be connected and to be together.

Thursday-Saturday October 20-22, Noam Gagnon | Vision Impure presents
This Crazy Show. This provocative new work reflects on the quest for love and acceptance, and how our identities shift and change. What is it to be pliable, de-formed and re-formed, without losing our integrity?  A magnetic and irresistibly charming stage presence, Gagnon is renowned for holding nothing back, physically or emotionally, in his full-throttle performances. A long platinum blonde wig, an accordion, a plethora of disco balls, and more all come into play as he whirls the audience away on a breathless, fantastical ride. 

Can you believe it - snow? But don’t let it deter you to go out and see some dance - it will warm your heart!

We are so excited to tell you about DanceHouse’s second show of the season: BJM (Les Ballets Jazz de Montreal) February 24 and 25! Last presented by DanceHouse in 2013, Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal (BJM) returns with a triple bill. Rouge, choreographed by Rodrigo Pederneiras of Brazilian company Grupo Corpo, is direct, genuine and raw, an ode to resilience and a tribute to indigenous peoples and their musical and cultural legacy. For Kosmos, Greek choreographer Andonis Foniadakis finds inspiration in the world around us and the excitement people experience every day in a city; moments of reunion, gathering and let go. In Israeli choreographer Itzik Galili’s Mono Lisa, two dancers execute incredible acrobatics in a factory-like atmosphere filled with sounds and visions of iron and steel – a breathtaking pas de deux executed with absolute mastery. Check out some video footage of the upcoming show. At the Vancouver Playhouse, 8pm (pre show chat 7:15pm in the upstairs lobby). Tix

BJM in Mona Lisa. Photo Alan Kohf

The Cultch, in collaboration with the PuSH Festival, presents Quote Unquote Collective in Association with Why Not Theatre (Toronto) continues until Saturday February 4 with Mouthpiece. Mouthpiece follows one woman, for one day, as she tries to find her voice. The push and the pull, the past and the present, the progress and the regression: this is the inner conflict that exists within a modern woman’s head. Interweaving a cappella harmony, text, and movement – Mouthpiece is a harrowing, humourous, and heart-wrenching journey into the female pysche. At the Cultch, 8pm. Tix

Alessandro Sciarroni FOLK-S, Will you still love me tomorrow? Photo Matteo Maffesanti

Thursday-Saturday February 2-4 the PuSH Festival and The Dance Centre present the Global Dance Connections series with Alessandro Sciarroni in FOLK-S, Will you still love me tomorrow? The boundary-busting works of Italian choreographer Alessandro Sciarroni range freely between dance, theatre, performance art and anthropology. In FOLK-S, he deconstructs the Schuhplattler (‘shoe-beater’), a Bavarian folk dance where the performers slap their shoes and legs with their hands, and refines it to its most essential elements, reactivating the movements in a contemporary context. Six outstanding dancers execute a seemingly limitless series of complex rhythmic sequences, giving an extreme exposition of the multiple variations that a form can take, even to the point of exhaustion. The hammering of bodies transformed into percussion instruments creates a hypnotic sense of ritual, in a spellbinding meditation on time, rhythm and effort. Talikback Friday February 3. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, 8pm. Tix

Thursday February 9, as part of the Dance Centre Noon Hour Dance Series, Grupo America will treat us to a Latin dance extravaganza! Las Americas is an exuberant explosion of colour, which takes us on a journey through the dances of South and Central America and up to the United States. Vibrant Latin dances such as salsa, tango, cha cha and samba will be performed in addition to captivating traditional folkloric routines that are steeped in culture and history, including Mexican Zapateado, Cumbia, Afro-Latin dances, and more. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, noon. Tix

Are you in the mood for love (And even if you aren’t…)? Small Stage 35 presents The Valentine’s Edition February 9-12. This is a classic Romeo and Juliet story with a twist – a genre-blending,gender bending, time-transcending twist! Immerse yourself in the age-old exposé of the universal story of love and loss. Small Stage 35: the Valentine’s Edition is a dance portrayal of Romeo and Juliet set on the signature distinctly small stage. Genres include hip hop, jazz, urban street, contemporary, and a few other surprises…(Bring your phone to unlock the full experience.)  Emcees: Lisa Christiansen and Andrea Warner, co-hosts of the popular podcast, Pop This! Works By:Josh Beamish, Heather Dotto
Kim Sato, The Darlings Cabaret and Navid Charkhi + Crew. At the Anza Club, 8pm. Tix

February 9,10,11 the SFU School for the Contemporary Arts presents Momentum, an evening of dances choreographed and performed by students in the School for the Contemporary Arts. All work is original and has been developed over the course of the 2016-2017 school year. These students showcase their creative talents by combining dance specific skills with their wider educational interests at SFU. SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 149 West Hastings Studio D, 8pm. Tix

Thursday February 9 Itinérant – Choreographer’s space is a time and place for sharing and discussing: ideas, fragments, beginnings, questions…Originally conceived by Montreal choreographers Katie Ward and Dorian Nuskind Oder, now in Vancouver with your hosts Alexa, Erika and Sasha. Please join us!! Be ready to show something and discuss your ideas. What you bring can be developed or very sketchy. It can be raw, messy, a seed idea…or you can talk about an idea or read a snippet of writing. You may present up to 15 minutes.
Showing work is first come first serve. Sign-up starts at 4:15 pm, showing starts at 4:40 to 7pm.  At SFU Woodwards, For more info FREE!

Register NOW for on the MOVE, a is a dynamic career planning and networking conference designed specifically for dance students in the graduating year of their professional programs and emerging artists on the cusp of entering a performance career. The February 24th, 2017 on the MOVE conference is geared to students graduating from dance programs. 

Today’s mantra: spring is around the corner, spring is around the corner….

We know it is early days yet, but a heads up for the upcoming DanceHouse presentation of Toronto Dance Theatre in a celebration of the company’s 50th anniversary with House Mix, February 23 and 24. More details over the coming weeks!

Toronto Dance Theatre Martingales. Photo Guntar Kravis

Tonight, Friday January 26, as part of Club PuSh, Ralph Escamillan presents HINKYPUNK. Striking, subversive and gorgeous to behold, Ralph Escamillan’s dance spectacular has its creator decked out in “sequin skin”—a layer of shiny ornamentation that serves to mask and reveal all at once. The skin conceals identity but expresses intent: to create a walking, breathing signifier. Drag, ballroom and vogue are subcultures that have allowed queer men to express themselves through artifice, and they’re a key inspiration for Escamillan. The HINKYPUNK is a camp cipher for audiences to contemplate—a mystery figure of liberation.The beguiling figure performs on a pedestal—an object for our delight and our study. Everything is up for analysis in this show: the gaze, the body and the artifice with which we create ourselves. This is a sexy, stimulating work—an intellectual swoon. At the Fox Cabaret, 9pm. Tix

Ralph Escamillan in HINKYPUNK. Photo: Richie Lubaton

Thursday-Saturday February 1-3 The Dance Centre Global Dance Connections series, in conjunction with the PuSh Festival, present Daina Ashbee in Pour, a dark and devastating solo. Pour explores the vulnerability and strength of women, using the taboo subject of the menstrual cycle as a departure point and turning it into an object of painful beauty steeped in symbolism. The piece applies imagery from the seal hunt to boldly tackle complex questions about femininity, blood, and the loss of control, deploying the body and voice in an unflinching depiction of suffering and catharsis. Daina Ashbee has quickly become a prolific and prominent Canadian choreographer, whose work is rooted in her relation to the land, the environment and her ancestors. A BC native of Cree, Métis and Dutch heritage, she is now based in Montreal. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, 8pm. Tix

January 31 - February 2, as part of the PuSh Festival, Vancouver’s Hong Kong Exile presents Foxconn Frequency (no.3): For Three Visible Chinese Performers. Wildly eccentric and marked by an infectious sense of play, this is a deconstructive take on piano pedagogy, manufacturing ethics, and the relationship between labour and sound. That’s right, this is not your average music performance—local upstarts Hong Kong Exile are known for their crazy creativity, and with this show they’ve outdone themselves.Three performers work with seven video outputs, five speakers and 3D printers, performing piano-keyboard drills in which they play with and against each other. There’s so much to enjoy here: the multimedia excess, the virtuosity of famed pianist Vicky Chow and, most refreshingly, the unabashed intellectualism of the project. This is avant-garde radicalism that plays like a video game: dynamic, exuberant and visually arresting. At Performance Works, 7pm. Tix