Inside Vancouver

Innovative West Coast dancers, choreographers at this year’s Dance in Vancouver

by Shawn Conner in Events on November 10, 2017

Aeriosa. Tim Matheson photo.

The Dance Centre presents the 11th biennial Dance In Vancouver. A showcase of BC’s contemporary dance scene, it takes place Nov. 22-25 at Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie St.).

Organized every two years, the event provides a unique opportunity to experience some of the West Coast’s most innovative and creative contemporary dancers and choreographers. The 2017 edition features such acclaimed companies as Aeriosa, Co.ERASGA, Inverso, Wen Wei Dance, dumb instrument Dance, Radical System Art, and more.

To get the inside scoop, we talked to Julianne Chapple. A dancer, choreographer, and former artist-in-residence at the Dance Centre, Chapple performs her piece Self Portrait as part of an afternoon program Nov. 25.

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Innovative West Coast dancers, choreographers at this year’s Dance in Vancouver

Shakti your booty! Diwali in BC is all about feminine energy

by Shawn Conner in Events on October 13, 2017

Inspired by a short story, Encounter blends physical theatre with bold storytelling.

Diwali in BC takes place for five weeks, beginning this Saturday and running until Nov. 16. The festival includes dance, theatre, film and more, with many of the shows celebrating the festival’s theme of feminine power, or shakti. Here are some highlights. (Click on titles for tickets.)

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Shakti your booty! Diwali in BC is all about feminine energy

What is man but a slave to biology? asks exciting new dance piece

by Shawn Conner in Entertainment on October 10, 2017

Animal Triste cast, including JamesGnam, Brianna Lombardo Marc Boivin, Riley Sims, Courtesy Mathieu Doyonre,

Is man merely a slave to his biology? A new piece, Animal Triste, poses the question through dance.

A new work by Mélanie Demers, Animal Triste premiered earlier this year in at Montreal’s Agora de la danse. Along with Demers’ Mayday Danse, Vancouver’s Plastic Orchid Factoryis bringing the piece to Vancouver, for three nights. The show runs Oct. 19, 20 & 21 at 8 p.m. at Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie St.).

From the looks of the trailers (links below), the show looks like a wild one.

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What is man but a slave to biology? asks exciting new dance piece

Ballet BC opens its new season with themes of ‘awakening and change’

by Shawn Conner in Events on September 21, 2017

Ballet BC Dancers Gilbert Small and Kirsten Wicklund. Photo by Michael Slobodian.

The North American debut of a piece by internationally acclaimed European choreographer Johan Inger will kick off the 2017/18 season of BC Ballet.

Along with a new work from Ballet BC Resident Choreographer Cayetano Soto, Inger’s B.R.I.S.A. forms Program I, which opens the new season Nov. 2-4 at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (630 Hamilton St.).

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Ballet BC opens its new season with themes of ‘awakening and change’

First Nations dance companies perform at free event this Saturday

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on June 7, 2017

Vertical dance company Aeriosa will perform this Saturday June 10 at Dance Centre. They’ll present an adapted version of their 2015 collaboration Trees Are Portals.

This Saturday, Ancestralizing the Present will “explore how First Nations protocol informs collaborations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous dance artists,” according to the press release. For people interested or curious about First Nations dance, it’s a chance to catch some of the West Coast’s finest practitioners.

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First Nations dance companies perform at free event this Saturday

What to see at this year’s Vancouver International Dance Festival

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on February 23, 2017

Japan’s Dairakudakan performs as part of this year’s Vancouver International Dance Festival.

Even if you don’t know a pirouette from a Pirelli, the 2017 Vancouver International Dance Festival has something to boggle the mind, and inflame the senses.

A showcase for local and international choreographers, performers and companies, the VIDF is a hotly-anticipated annual event. This year, from March 1-25, 14 different companies will perform at various venues. Here’s a preview of some of the pieces during the festival’s 17th edition.

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What to see at this year’s Vancouver International Dance Festival

Don’t be that person who’s like, ‘Aw nuts, I missed the Nutcracker!’

by Shawn Conner in Uncategorized on December 8, 2016

rwb-4nutcracker_van_0228-1

Good news, slowpokes; there are still tickets left for The Nutcracker. The Royal Winnipeg Ballet production, co-presented with Ballet BC, is in town for five performances, from Dec. 8-11 (matinee only on the 11th) at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre (650 Hamilton St.).

For many dance fans, and folks who just plain love a Christmas-y spectacle, RWB’s Nutcracker is a holiday tradition. Besides the Tchaikovsky score, the beautiful dancing and gorgeous costumes, the ballet had been Canadian-ized to include a snowy pond hockey game and a battle on Parliament Hill.

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Don’t be that person who’s like, ‘Aw nuts, I missed the Nutcracker!’