Welcome back 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!

Last July, as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a joint initiative of Canadian dance presenters titled Digidance came to be. Digidance is a partnership between Canada’s leading dance presenters: DanceHouse (Vancouver), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and Danse Danse (Montreal), with the goal of delivering exceptional Canadian and international dance content online to patrons across the country. This coming Wednesday September 29 – Monday October 11, 2021 Digidanse presents Companhia de Dança Deborah Colker (Brazil) in Dog Without Feathers (Cão Sem Plumas). Brazilian Choreographer Deborah Colker delivers a powerful work blending elements of contemporary, classical and traditional dance. Based on the poem Cão Sem Plumas (“dog without feathers”) by Brazilian writer João Cabral de  Melo Neto and enhanced by the striking images of filmmaker Cláudio  Assis, this show portrays on stage the course of the Capibaribe River, where the natural habitat and the local population are threatened. Performed by 14 dancers of astonishing physicality, the choreography interweaves classical, contemporary, popular and ritual dances, set against black and white projections captured during a journey where the dance company immersed itself in the world of the Capibaribe, its mangroves and its inhabitants. For more info and tix.

Tonight, September 24, you still have time to catch, interplay_2021 , a wonderful mix of live online shows featuring collaborative and/or multidisciplinary approaches to performance by…

Sidi Chen: ritual performance
Find Mutya: experimental video, music, movement, poetry, textiles
Brandy Leary: choreographic research, videography
Kıvanç Tatar w/ Tamar Tabori: creative artificial intelligence, dance
Raj Gill: performance art
Stéphanie Cyr w/ Ted Littlemore: site-specific, drag, mockumentary. For more info

This Saturday, September 25 from 1 – 3 pm, following their annual Summer Dance & Music presentation on Granville Island in August, New Works in partnership with CMHC Granville is offering a Pop-up Outdoor Presentation at the Public Market Courtyard featuring well known local dance artists , including Salome Nieto, Alvin Tolentino, Marc Arboleda & Alison Denham. For the full round-up of dancers and times of performances, go here. FREE!

Also from New Works on Saturday September 25 in collaboration with this year’s Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, check out the Intro to Flamenco Workshops with Jhoely Triana at The Dance Centre. There will be two classes, the first at 1 pm for all ages and abilities, and a second class at 2:30 for dancers with experience. For more info and to register (by donation)

Vancouver International Flamenco Festival is on stage & online this week, Sept 24-26! Join them to celebrate community, the art of flamenco and festival co-founder & Musical Director Victor Kolstee. In-theatre tickets are sold out but you can still catch the fiery, passionate & poignant performances online with livestream tickets. Tonight, September 24 – Alma de España Flamenco Dance Company & School celebrates the powerful bonds formed within flamenco communities everywhere in the evocative & foot-stomping “Familia.” Saturday September 25 – Just as the festival itself, Flamenco Rosario presents “To Victor with Love…” in honour of Victor Kolstee’s life and soul-moving, spirited & beautiful music. Featuring the breathtaking works of choreographers Pilar Ogalla, Albert Hernández, Cristina Hall and Rosario Ancer. Sunday Sept 26 – The vibrant, multicultural & intergenerational Al Mozaico Flamenco Dance Academy – featuring the virtuosic Kasandra Flamenco and Maestro Oscar Nieto – dedicates “Generations” to Victor Kolstee, whose profound impact will be felt within the flamenco community for generations to come. Buy livestream tickets here.

The Firehall Arts Centre has some great dance to offer this season, including Chapter 21 on Wednesday September 29 – Saturday October 2, 2021 | 730pm and Sunday October 3, 3 pm. This is a World Premiere presented by Firehall Arts Centre and produced by Raven Spirit Dance, in association with the PHT Creative Hub Cooperative. In this dance/theatre piece choreographed by Starr Muranko and directed by Yvette Nolan, Chapter 21 explores what happens when a vibrant, active artist comes face to face with a crippling collision of events. Chapter 21 is a reflection on the days that have come to pass, and the art of becoming. A new baby boy; Chromosome 21; the big “C” diagnosis, 21 days between treatments, and 21 days to re-pattern beliefs; Courage; Faith; Resilience. Check out a trailer of the work. For tix

Scotiabank Dance Centre celebrates its 20th anniversary this season, and they are celebrating with a 20th Anniversary Edition of their yearly Scotiabank Dance Centre Open House on October 2! Highlights include a performance on the outside wall by Vancouver’s spectacular aerial dance company Aeriosa; a creative activation of the Granville Street frontage by Company 605 and guests; free classes, events and exhibits; and the online premiere of a short film about our building by filmmakers Milos Jakovic and Hossein Fani, and more! Check out the details and full schedule

This sounds exciting for all the dancers out there: Inverso Open, offered by the Performance Research Project, is a series of new flexible modules of classes and workshops for all. If you have no or little experience and are interested in dance as a means to move, think or feel more freely, check out the Moving Life series of 8 classes taught by Heather Myers. For emerging and professional dancers, there is an amazing series of classes and workshops taught by some renowned artists such as Michael Schumacher, Margaret Grenier, Shay Kuebler and Lesley Telford. Check these out here.