Well, we have come to the end of a very challenging yet surprising season of dance in our community. As we move forward into a summer of more opportunities to come together, we look forward to returning in September to many new experiences of dance, both live and digital. Have a wonderful summer, and see you in September!
Welcome to the Friday Round-Up, a place for the Vancouver community of dancers and dance lovers to come together and share what is going on in the local dance community. In this new world in which we find ourselves, it is now more important than ever to find ways to connect and share all the many new and innovative ways in which we create, communicate and relate in the world of dance. So if you have something you would like to share with the Friday Round-Up, please send it to debora@dancehouse.ca. We look forward to hearing from you!
This week, some very sad news came to us: the passing of Victor Kolstee, international guitarist and co-founder and musical director of Flamenco Rosario and the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival. “Victor leaves us a legacy of influence with the dance and music communities of Canada. Beloved by family and friends, colleagues, and devotees of the flamenco art form, he lived life with passion, always uniquely observing the details around him. His wry sense of humour was delivered with generosity and love. He will be greatly missed by those lucky enough to have known him and been moved by his artistry.” DanceHouse offers our deepest condolences to Rosario and their family.
Livestreaming June 18-20, the 2021 Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF) presents Before Dawn by Lamondance. Lamondance is a strong, contemporary dance voice in the Lower Mainland led by Artistic Director Davi Rodrigues, who brings 30+ years of professional dance experience and more than 18 years as a dance educator, choreographer and director. “To the first light of day, a new era must come. Let it become light or clear, dark, or bright with ups and downs; there is still time to love and forgive, laugh, and cry. Faith is the bird that feels the light when the Dawn is still dark. With the ramps of life, even so, will you run away with us?” – Davi Rodrigues. Tickets are free/by-donation with advanced registration.
June 23, 6-8pm join in conversation with The Talking Thinking Dancing Body with Alyssa, Marisa, Ariane and Orin of Her Tribal Roots about the collective’s practices in interdisciplinary collaboration, radical kindness, cultural integrity and emergent togetherness. Her Tribal Roots is a collective of emotive and compassionate interdisciplinary artists. At its ‘root’ or foundation, the collective creates from an inquisitive place: “How can empathy and emotional awareness of ourselves and others inform our artistry?” “How can we make our artistic practice and production more accessible and inclusive?” “How can we better nourish our fellow artists, audiences, and the land on which we reside?” “How can we be mindful and respectful in how we include both the cultures and people from which we draw inspiration?” Together, they have created a harmonious balance of practice and shared vision. Their creativity breathes in the contribution of vocal arrangements; the offering of Afro-Latin and Dancehall fusion movement; the soulful intertwining of Afro-contemporary, street dance, and poetry; the playful addition of clowning; the deep love for the rhythms, movements, and expression rooted in the history of the African Diaspora; and the ability to effortlessly facilitate and play with many types of intermodal connection. Talking Thinking Dancing Body is a series of facilitated conversations initiated by Lee Su-Feh in 2012, co-facilitated by Justine A. Chambers and Lee Su-Feh from 2013-2015, and co-facilitated by Sadira Rodrigues and Justine A. Chambers from 2016-2018. Since 2019, Alexa Solveig Mardon and Rianne Svelnis have hosted guest artists as featured speakers and agitators around issues they feel are urgent to speak to and about. The Talking Thinking Dancing Body in 2021 carries forward the values laid out by its founding facilitators: an intersectional feminist lens, and a commitment to anti-racist, anti-ableist, decolonial approaches and perspective. For more info and to register
Thursday June 24, 2021, 5.30pm join Arno Kamolika in Deconstructing a Varnam. “I am collaborating with choreographer and my mentor Jai Govinda to understand the inherent structure of a traditional Varnam. Varnam is the core of a bharatanatyam performance, unfolding like a mini solo dance theatre, with vital balance of story telling with deep expressions and intricate pure dance sequences. We are analyzing the structure of a Varnam and taking it apart to create an expression of storytelling that creates curiosity among an audience who is not aware of the traditional framework of bharatanatyam. We are also experimenting around the process of using visuals and narration of the poetry as a tool to help the story telling. These conversations are allowing me to reflect on my own dance journey and the insights I have learned from many of my mentors over the past few years.” Kamolika will show some recorded footage of her research, and lead a discussion and Q&A about her project. Please register by 4 pm June 24.
June 29 – July 6 (online), Rachel Meyer presents Mama, do we die when we sleep? Inspired by Meyer’s two-year-old daughter’s question: “Do we die when we sleep?”, this work explores the emotion of wonder. Imagination and dream-space infiltrate responsibility and conformity, as some necessary invitation to possibility. “As we age and change throughout our lives, we undergo an iterative process of defining and redefining our reality. It is a matter of survival, or comfort, or artistry. We seldom notice that any act of definition, however poetic, relies on establishing limitations. The path narrows as we go; our world shrinks, becomes more and more banal. There are less and less surprises.” The showing will share excerpts of work in progress, and a conversation with the choreographer. Tickets
Open call to artists to apply for a pilot artist support program taking place over the coming 6 months that is designed to connect dance artists with extended reality (XR) technologists and mentors in a catered learning environment to support artists’ projects. New Works XR Pilot Program 2021 is a new program currently in development between New Works, dance artist Erika Mitsuhashi, and a team of consulting artists and technologists working at the intersection of performance and XR technologies. XR (extended reality) is an umbrella term encompassing augmented (AR), virtual (VR), and mixed reality technologies. DEADLINE June 25! For more info and to apply
