It has been a while – welcome back! Here’s to an amazing season of dance!

Opening up the DanceHouse 2023-24 season in just one week from now, September 27 – 30, the enfant terrible of Flamenco, Rocío Molina, brings her masterwork Fallen from Heaven (Caída del Cielo) to Vancouver, co-presented with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs and Vancouver International Flamenco Festival. Channelling multiple incarnations – fetishistic matador, bloodied avenging angel – Molina crushes expectations, reinventing classical form with anarchic punk energy and polymorphous perversity. DanceHouse is very proud to launch the new season with this extraordinary work. Check out a teaser here. Since bursting onto the international stage, Molina has revolutionized Flamenco and galvanized audiences. A fearless performer, she conjures images that recall both the natural world and the ruffled beauty of the human body. In Fallen from Heaven, Molina’s mastery of contrast is on full display. Accompanied by four male musicians, she moves in thunder and stillness. Powered by avant-garde theatricality, peerless technique, and a gonzo sense of humour, Molina summons the deepest stuff of life — blood and earth, ferocity and fragility — demanding audiences bear witness to her acts of radical creation. Co-Director Carlos Marquerie Rocío is one of the most relevant figures in the Spanish avant-garde of the last few decades – find out more about him here. At the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 8 pm. Tix

Speaking of the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, it is in full swing and continues until September 30! Some the artists include Qairo (France, Spain, Turkey and Canada) and La Otra Orilla. And on this Saturday and Sunday, September 23 and 24, check out the full days of offerings at the Picnic Pavilion on Granville Island, FREE! For more info on all events

Sept 20 – Sept 24 / Sept 27 – Oct 1, Dumb Instrument Dance presents Cobalt & Crone. Audiences can expect vivid imagery and kinetic nuance in a full-evening of new solo works created and performed by Ziyian Kwan and Shion Skye Carter. With a nod to the unorthodox, the artists traverse a 3-generation divide, bringing their distinct signatures into conversation. Intimate performances for 25 audience members at a time are at Dumb Instrument Dance’s cultural space, Morrow. With original music by Stefan Nazarevih and Jo Hirabayashi, Cobalt & Crone promises to be an undulating tapestry of sound and movement. “Crone pulses in my body as curiosity about aging and transformation…if I’m to join the ranks as a womxn and performer whom dominant ageist culture relegates as invisible, I’m going to do it as intrepid femme, as queer hag, as playful sorceress who dreams into being, the aliveness of art.” Ziyian Kwan At Morrow, 7 pm. Tix

Saturday, September 23 & Sunday, September 24, in celebration of their 30th anniversary (wow!), New Works invites you to Pop Up Dances featuring Salome Nieto, Kat Single-Dain of the Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret, Carla Alcántara, Chengxin Wei, Company 605, Raven Grenier, Babyface Brass, Alex Wells, Kelly McInnes, Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolf Pack). Hosted by Nick Gold (Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg). Expect the unexpected as intriguing and exhilarating dances pop up in unusual spaces across Granville Island, featuring 30 performances over the two days involving more than 30 artists! Pop Up Dances are site-specific performances that celebrate dance in all its forms. From Indigenous Hoop Dance to tap and contemporary dance, Pop Up Dances is a smorgasbord of creativity that audiences of all ages will enjoy. This outdoor event will take place rain or shine and is free to attend. Noon – 4 pm Saturday and Sunday. For more info and full schedule

On Thursday, September 28 the Dance Centre Discover Dance! Series presents Classical Indian Dances in Focus. Experience two beautiful and contrasting styles of classical Indian dance, famed for their intricate movements, percussive rhythms and rich storytelling. Kathak artist Fiana Kawane, Bharata Natyam dancer Shilpa Shankar, and special guests illustrate the range, complexity and musicality of these constantly evolving art forms. At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, noon. Tix

October 2 – 21, in celebration of Latin American Heritage Month in October, Vancouver Latin American Cultural Centre presents Film, Theatre, Dance, Literary and Music Events – including some very amazing dance workshops! On Wednesday, October 4, in Boiling bodies: street carnival dances from the northeast of Brazil join Brazilian dance artist Luciana Freire D’Anunciação for an intro class into a few Brazilian dances from the northeast region: frevo, côco, and ciranda. And on Thursday, October 5 in Sensorial Visualities: embodying together and alone with Guadalupe Martinez, Guadalupe will share tools from her newest work Sensorial Visualities: embodying together, and alone; a process of learning and making art that stems in sensorial awareness and inquiry. In part, Sensorial Visualities emerges as a desire to articulate the sensorial lived experience made palpable through movement, collaboration, and through writing. For full details on these and the many other offerings, check out the website here.