New dance instruction resources from Human Kinetics

Cover for Dance Units for Middle School / Courtesy of Human Kinetics

Cover for Experiential Anatomy in Dance Technique / Courtesy of Human Kinetics

>> by Cynthia Brett
Teaching dance just got easier with two new releases from Human Kinetics, international publishers of sports and recreation resources: Dance Units for Middle School and Anatomy in Dance Technique: Eight Skeletal Explorations. Faced with increased presence of dance in elementary schools (middle school in the United States), coupled with teachers that lack dance experience, Judi Fey (MEd) created Dance Units for Middle School to address this issue. Specially designed for generalist teachers, this book/DVD combo includes three dance units for grades six through eight including improvisation, dance for athletes, and jazz dance. It also includes scripts for teachers, a music CD and a DVD with seventy-seven video demonstrations. Anatomy in Dance Technique was created by Jennifer Salk (MFA) to give dancers a better understanding of human anatomy, thus helping them to make better choices about movement. The DVD covers eight key areas of the body: shoulder joint; shoulder girdle; hip joint; knee joint; spine; rib cage; tibia and fibula; and ankle, tarsus and toes. A video instructor assists students in identifying these areas and provides movement and choreographed phrases for each.
www.HumanKinetics.com

New facility and scholarship for Dance Victoria

>> by Samantha Mehra

Dance Victoria recently announced the creation of The Chrystal Dance Award, a new scholarship worth $11,500 aimed at helping emerging dancers and choreographers pursue further studies at accredited institutions outside of Canada. It also aims to support mid-career dancers and choreographers interested in self-directed studies outside of Canada with a mentor, dance company, or via group activities (workshops, research, residencies). Named for Victoria pediatrician Dr. Chrystal Kleiman, who left a large bequest to the organization, the scholarship is open to both emerging and mid-career dance artists, and will be awarded for the first time in Spring 2011. Applications for the scholarship will be available on January 2, 2011 at DanceVictoria.com. Only dancers resident in Western Canada may apply. Dance Victoria has also acquired a new 11,800 square-foot facility at 2750 Quadra Street after six months of negotiations with the former owner of Victoria Arts Connection. The facility offers three fully outfitted dance studios, three office suites, lobbies and a commercial kitchen. The facility, which is now Victoria's central dance community centre, offers ongoing programs as well as creation residencies, professional mentoring and the LOLA Projects. It has already become home to several dance companies including Boston Dance Collective, Shan-e-Punjab Dance, Wanda Kivitt Dance, Alma D'Espana, Red Hot Swing and others.
DanceVictoria.com

DSR is honoured with National Arts Centre award

>> by Jacqueline Hansen
La danse sur les routes du Québec’s (DSR) mission is to share dance, and on November 7th, 2010 it was recognized for its outstanding efforts with the 2010 National Arts Centre Award for Distinguished Contribution to Touring in the Performing Arts. The award is described as honouring “exceptional achievement in fostering the touring of live performing arts in Canada.” DSR Executive Director Paule Beaudry stated in a press release that between 20,000 and 30,000 people from across Québec annually come in contact with dance performances due to the work of DSR and its collaborators. The organization was founded in 1997.

Corynne Barron becomes new Mondor model

>> by Samantha Mehra

Corynne Barron, top 12 contestant in the second season of So You Think You Can Dance Canada (SYTYCDC), is the most recent face of Mondor, a company specializing in performance attire for dancers, figure skaters and gymnasts. Barron recently returned to England for training, where she had been prior to filming SYTYCDC. While there, Barron was chosen to work on a special project on the newest Royal Caribbean Ship (Allure of the Seas). Barron told The Dance Current, "To have opportunities such as So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Mondor and special projects on Royal Caribbean is an absolute blessing. I feel honoured to have had opportunities come my way, but it's from the support of my family, friends and good colleagues ... that have made my goals in life that much more possible." To see Corynne Barron as the Mondor model, visit http://mondor.com/en/style.php.

509 Collective classes to come to an end

>> by Naomi Brand
Come December 17th Toronto's 509 Collective will no longer be running morning technique classes. "There are several reasons for the Collective's end," says Canadian Children's Dance Theatre's (CCDT) Managing Director Michael deConinck Smith. "The most fundamental is that not enough dancers are able or willing to bear even the subsidized class cost." As well, a lack of availability of senior teachers and loss of class schedule posting in The Dance Current all "served to confirm that the community as a whole was no longer able or willing to collectively keep the classes going." The class was formed in 1991 as The Teachers' Collective by Patricia Fraser, Patricia Miner and Sylvain Brochu to provide a daily, affordable morning class for independent modern dancers in Toronto. In 2004, in an effort to help with some of the administrative load and expenses associated with the classes, CCDT took over the operation under the 509 Collective. Dancers with class cards are encouraged to use these by the closing date as there will be no refunds.

Randy Joynt wins Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award

Randy Joynt / Photo by Tony Nardella

>> by Samantha Mehra

Dancer Randy Joynt is one of seven artists who received a $15,000 Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council for the Arts. The awards, which are distributed annually, recognize exemplary mid-career artists in the seven disciplines funded by the Canada Council. The awards were made possible by a bequest made by the late Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton to the Council. Other winners included filmmaker Samer Najari, composer Analia Llugdar, visual artist Tricia Middleton, multidisciplinary artist Kristen Fahrig, playwright Dominick Parenteau-Lebeuf, and writer Philippe Gaulin. Those awarded were chosen from a pool of successful applicants from the 2009/10 Canada Council Grants to Professional Artists programs.

Stacey Tookey's "Joy"

Stacey Tookey in her "Strength, Joy, Tenacity" t-shirt / Photo by Doug Kieper

>> by Jacqueline Hansen
When choreographer and dancer Stacey Tookey was approached by the clothing company Sugar and Bruno to design clothes for dancers, it was all she needed to get started. “I have always been into fashion and I spend most of my time in dance clothes so I thought it would be an amazing way to have another creative outlet while making clothes that dancers would love to wear,” said Tookey. Tookey’s clothing line is called “Joy”, Stacey’s middle name, but also part of her design: the “Strength, Joy, Tenacity” t-shirts, three words Tookey thinks describe dancers most, also spell her initials, SJT.

Marc Boivin elected as new RQD president

>> by Brittany Duggan
Members of the Regroupement québecois de la danse (RQD) elected Marc Boivin as their new president on October 23rd and 24th at the association’s annual general meeting in Montréal. Boivin will replace Anik Bissonnette, RQD president since 2004, by continuing her work on the Master Plan for Professional Dance in Quebec (2011-2021), a project scheduled to be released on April 29th, 2011 – International Dance Day. A teacher, choreographer and performer, Boivin sat on the Dance Committee of the Conseil des arts de Montréal between 2005 and 2010 and is currently the chair of the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault. “Now’s the time for us to come together; this is a turning point for our community. It is both an honour and a stimulating challenge to make the vision for dance in the Master Plan a reality”, remarked Boivin at a reception thanking Bissonnette for her six years of work with the RQD. Founded in 1984, the RQD’s mandate is to represent and defend the interests of dance professionals in Québec.

Ron Snippe receives Dance Ontario Award

Roloef Peter (Ron) Snippe / Photo by David Leyes

>> by Cynthia Brett
Toronto Dance Theatre's (TDT) long-time lighting designer, Roloef Peter (Ron) Snippe, has been honoured with this year's Dance Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award. The annual award, which recognizes "the unique contribution of an individual over a lifetime," pays tribute to Snippe's thirty-seven year career collaborating with major dance, opera and theatre companies. TDT Artistic Director Christopher House says Snippe "has formed part of the bedrock of dance in this province." Snippe's career began with George Luscombe's Toronto Workshop Productions. He began working with TDT in 1973 and has since created over 150 designs in its repertoire. He was also the original lighting designer for Dance Ontario Dance Weekend and has work with major companies such as The National Ballet of Canada, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Dancemakers and independent artists and schools.

Survey shows Ontarians think art is important

>> by Samantha Mehra
Most Ontarians believe that the arts are important to the quality of life in their communities and their own personal lives. These sentiments were revealed in the Ontario Arts Council's (OAC) survey "The Arts and The Quality of Life: The Attitudes of Ontarians". Findings show that eighty-nine percent of Ontarians believe that if their communities lost arts activities, community individuals would be losing something of value; ninety-five percent believe that the success of Canadian artists creates pride in Canadian achievement; and eighty-one percent agree that the government should direct public dollars toward the support of the arts. The survey also indicated that most Ontarians place arts facilities on par with public transit (rated as important by ninety-one percent), but less important than parks and green spaces (ninety-seven percent), and sports and recreational facilities (ninety-nine percent). The results also suggested that positive attitudes towards the arts and quality of community lives extend across all regions and demographic groups. The provincial survey, which was conducted by Environics Research Group, is the first of its kind since 1994, when the OAC commissioned a similar survey. It examines the opinions of a probability sample of 1000 Ontarians aged eighteen or older, and is estimated to be accurate within approximately 3.1 percentage points.

Original TDT member dies

>> by Amy Bowring
Keith Urban was known to Canadian audiences for his striking performances and Adonis-like features. Urban grew up in Chicago but came to Toronto in 1968 dancing as a charter member of Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT). During the 1970s, he also danced for Dancemakers and taught at York University. TDT co-founder David Earle says Urban had an “innate dignity and a masculinity that gave him that everyman quality … he was a rare and ideal dancer.” School of Toronto Dance Theatre Artistic Director Pat Fraser, who was a friend and colleague of Urban’s at Dancemakers, described him as a “glorious dancer” with a “classical look”. In 1979, Urban made his way west to join Regina Modern Dance Works (RMDW) as co-artistic director with Maria Formolo. Stepping into what was supposed to be a promising period of growth for the company, Urban suddenly found himself co-directing a company in financial crisis. Dancers were let go and RMDW sold its building to clear the deficit. As it was not financially feasible to operate a full company, Formolo and Urban performed solos and duets. When the board began dictating artistic policy in 1982, Formolo and Urban left to start their own company in Edmonton. Formolo and Urban Dance ran until 1985 during which time the duo toured internationally. From 1985–1987, Urban was chair of the dance department at York University. He later returned to the U.S. variously dancing, writing, teaching and practicing yoga. He taught at Stanford University’s dance division from 1999–2002 and then in Continuing Studies until he was diagnosed with cancer. He died October 28, 2010. Urban is among the dancers featured in the painting by Lynn Donoghue that hangs in the second-floor lobby of Toronto’s Fleck Dance Theatre. Memorial services for Keith Urban are being planned for locations in Toronto, Chicago and California in December.

Arts update from BC

>> by Naomi Brand
After British Columbia's cabinet shuffle in October, BC's Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Arts is no longer. It has been replaced by the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development headed by rookie minister Stephanie Cadieux. The change makes British Columbia the only Canadian province or territory without a culture ministry. The new name has made many BC artists concerned about the future of arts funding. Additionally, the BC Association for Charitable Gaming (BCACG) is mounting a campaign in response to the Provincial Gaming cuts that have taken place over the past year. In 1999, the province, the Union of BC Municipalities and the BCACG signed an agreement for a permanent revenue sharing formula for the three parties that allocated 33.3% of net gambling revenues to BC charities. While gambling revenues have grown significantly in the past ten years, in 2010 charitable organizations received only 10.43% of proceeds. The BCACG is urging the province to honour their 1999 agreement. Jim Smith, past president of the Canadian Dance Assembly and producer of Eponymous says of the challenging situation in BC, "None of these developments leaves the arts community feeling any confidence in the future." In related news, BC Premier Gordon Campbell announced his resignation on November 3rd.

To support these efforts, there are petitions available to sign at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/VCBS2010/petition.html
http://www.petitiononline.com/bcacg99/petition.html

Merce Cunningham Studio faces possible closure

>> by Cynthia Brett
Almost 4,000 people signed a petition opposing the closure of New York's Merce Cunningham Studio and requesting a new and expanded Merce Cunningham Center. Students grew concerned over the Studio's fate when The Cunningham Dance Foundation announced its Legacy Plan following Cunningham's death in July 2009. According to the petition, 25% of technique classes have been cut in the past year and students have been told they may not be able to finish their certificate programs. The Foundation has responded to the petition and outlined the goals of the trust as set up by Cunningham.

Sign the petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-the-merce-cunningham-studio.html

Read a response from the Merce Cunningham Trust: http://studentsforcunningham.wordpress.com/2010/10/21/response-to-the-petition/

Denys Drozdyuk: Canada’s new favourite dancer

Denys Drozdyuk, Season 3 winner, So You Think You Can Dance Canada / Photo courtesy of CTV Inc.

>> by Jacqueline Hansen
Denys Drozdyuk was voted Canada’s favourite dancer for the third season of So You Think You Can Dance Canada (SYTYCDC). Drozdyuk, $100,000 richer and owner of a new Mazda 2, wasn’t confident his dancing was what Canada wanted: “I just tried to be myself and dance. I wasn’t sure if people would like that, but I guess they did.” His win was the result of 1.5 million votes cast for the final show. Born in the Ukraine and raised in Toronto, Drozdyuk brought an extensive background in ballroom to the stage, but also postsecondary dance education: he is a graduate of Julliard, and a master’s student in Dance Education at NYU. “I want them to know I’m serious about dance,” says Drozdyuk. He wasn’t always sure that SYTYCDC should be his focus; Drozdyuk was skeptical whether TV shows could cultivate “real dance”. “It’s really hard to combine entertainment and art together, but that was my goal,” Drozdyuk explained, “to still be artistic and not let the show get a hold of me.”

The top four dancers, including runner up Amanda Cleghorn, left the finale with cheques for at least $5,000. Top 12 dancer Claudia Primeau, back for the finale favourite performances, went home with a ring on her finger and a fiancé by her side: Top 12 dancer Francis Lafrenière, from Season Two, proposed on stage during the live show.

Cirque du Soleil reaches 8,000th performance with Mystère

>> by Brittany Duggan
On October 18th, Cirque du Soleil celebrated the 8,000th performance of what has become one of the company’s hallmark shows, Mystère. Housed in the 1,629-seat Mystère Theatre at the Treasure Island Hotel and Casino (where the production has been in permanent residency since its premiere in 1993), Mystère was the first Cirque du Soleil show to have a custom-built theatre to exact show specifications, and has since been seen by over twelve million people. Mystère “defines what Cirque du Soleil is all about: creativity, audacity and keeping the dream alive,” commented Cirque du Soleil President and CEO Daniel Lamarre in the company’s press release. To mark this long-running achievement, the company debuted new music by composer Benoît Jutras for the aerial highbar act. Other productions by the Québec-based organization in Las Vegas include “O” at the Bellagio, Zumanity at New York-New York Hotel & Casino, Kà at the MGM Grand, The Beatles’ Love at the Mirage, Criss Angel Believe at Luxor and Viva Elvis at the Aria Resort and Casino.

Ontario announces $27 million Arts Investment Fund

>> by Cynthia Brett

Not-for-profit arts organizations receiving operating grants from the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) will soon also benefit from a new $27 million Arts Investment Fund announced by the Government of Ontario. The fund will be paid out over three years: $11 million in 2010/11, $10 million in 2011/12 and $6 million in 2012/13. The OAC will complement this with $1.1 million over three years for English and French language book and magazine publishers, which are not eligible for the new fund.

Peggy Baker wins Walter Carsen Prize

Photo by Michael Slobodian
>> by Brittany Duggan
The Canada Council for the Arts recently announced Peggy Baker as the recipient of the 2010 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts. The $50,000 award recognizes artistic excellence and career achievement for Canadian artists who have spent the majority of their careers in Canada. Baker, originally from Edmonton, Alberta, was a founding member of Toronto's Dancemakers in 1974. She has danced internationally with Lar Lubovitch, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mark Morris, Paul-André Fortier and Doug Varone and in 1990 began Peggy Baker Dance Projects to support her own work and collaborations. Artist-in-Residence at Canada’s National Ballet School since 1992, Baker frequently teaches abroad at Universities and professional training programs. Throughout her career she has been honoured with the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, an honorary doctorate from the University of Calgary, and five Dora Mavor Moore Awards. Most recently, Baker presented Aleatoria, a series of duets from her solo works, at Toronto’s Nuit Blanche.

New book on the life and work of Lola MacLaughlin

Lola Dance – Lola MacLaughlin: A Life in Dance. Photo: Susan Elliott in Lap Dogs and Other Restrictions by Lola MacLaughlin / Photo by David Cooper / Design and layout by Vancouver Desktop Publishing Centre Ltd.
>> by Brittany Duggan
Lola Dance – Lola MacLaughlin: A Life in Dance was launched at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver on September 30th, 2010. The book, celebrating the life and work of the late choreographer Lola MacLaughlin is a collection of artifacts from her creative life, with essays from a group of artists close to her. Edited by Carol Anderson and Dorothy Woodend, the book includes contributions from Max Wyman, Susan Elliott, Brian Webb, Kaija Pepper, Mary Theresa Kelly and Stephen White. It was announced in April 2009 that proceeds from the book’s sales will go to the Lola Legacy Fund, a cash prize awarded to a deserving BC dance artist; all contributions received by October 31st, 2010 will be matched by The Department of Canadian Heritage.

TUDS: Toronto Urban Dance Symposium

ShoTyme and Dancers / Photo by Anige Choi
>> by Jacqueline Hansen
Apolonia Velasquez and Ofilio Sinbadinho Portillo, directors of urban dance company Gadfly, presented the first “TUDS: Toronto Urban Dance Symposium” on September 12th in Toronto. Velasquez described its purpose: “We wanted to raise the standards for urban dancers. It’s a community that’s not very aware of all the resources available; we wanted to share how we can improve the quality of our life and of our career.” Representatives from several dance service organizations as well as the DaCosta Talent Agency and professional dancers and choreographers were invited to join discussions, panels and workshops. Velasquez said many of the participants, nearly 100 dancers aged sixteen to thirty, had never before considered seeking help from arts organizations. Also discussed was how to further the professional image of street dancing. When addressing the stereotypes of street dance, Velasquez insisted that “there is art [in street dance], there is technique, there is history; people should respect it as much as any other dance, it has the same value.” But she thinks the lack of recognition is half the fault of street dancers: “Street dancers aren’t taking the next step, they aren’t applying, they aren’t trying to get that support … they have to be active, and work for it.”

Launch of DanceNL and Road Map Project

>> by Naomi Brand
On September 20th, Newfoundland and Labrador's newest dance sectoral organization hosted a wine and cheese event to celebrate the launch of DanceNL as an association and to share the results of the DanceNL Road Map. The Road Map has been collecting information from communities across the province in order to discover who is dancing, what they are dancing and where they are dancing. So far, they have heard from 104 dancers and dance groups from nineteen different communities in the province representing a wide range of dance forms from ballet to bellydance to social dance to drum dance. The project aims to network dancers, practitioners and dance enthusiasts and give a stronger presence to dancers from Newfoundland and Labrador provincially, nationally and internationally. DanceNL was established in 2009 with a mandate to "preserve, promote and support all forms of dance and dance activity throughout Newfoundland and Labrador." This November the organization will elect its first official board of directors.

To become a member or to participate in The Road Map project see the DanceNL website www.dancenl.ca or emailing info@dancenl.ca.

Jackie Burroughs 1939 - 2010

>> by Brittany Duggan
Jackie Burroughs in Dance Collection Danse's "There's Always Been Dance" (1986) / Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann

Jackie Burroughs, the stage and screen actress and member of the Toronto dance community, died on September 22nd at age seventy-one in her Toronto home. Best known for her role as school teacher Hetty King on Road to Avonlea, the British-born Canadian actress was a dance lover and supporter of the art of dance. "I will forever remember her in dance class at Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT); only a leotard, no leggings, and a lit cigarette in the hallway; sometimes she'd take a puff just before she went across the floor and smoke would come out her mouth as she walked across the floor in her very own distinctive and courageous way," commented Michael Menegon, former dancer and long-time percussionist at TDT.

When asked to comment on Burroughs’ involvement in dance, Susan Macpherson, artistic associate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, responded, “Jackie Burroughs was a dancer at heart. She performed with Toronto Dance Theatre several times in its early days, appearing in featured roles in complex and beautiful works such as A Thread of Sand and The Recitation, both by David Earle. She took dance classes avidly from those early days in the 1970s through until a few months before her death. Alongside her stellar acting career, she worked with many dance companies and independent dancers over the years including, more recently, Bill Coleman, Jennifer Dick, Claudia Moore and Michelle Silagy. In the 1980s, she performed in Toronto and at the National Arts Centre with the Susan Macpherson Dance Collection, and also worked with Dance Collection Danse for their ENCORE! ENCORE! performances at Expo ’86 in Vancouver. In the 1990s, she performed with Peggy Baker in a moving duet by Doug Varone, The Volpe Sisters. Much as she was a great actress, she also gave her heart to dance. Dancers, dance students, and dance audiences will long remember her with deep admiration, affection and gratitude.”

During her career, Burroughs won three Genie Awards, two Canadian Film Awards, five Geminis, and in 2005 she received the Governor General’s Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for the Performing Arts. Burroughs’ final project was a cameo in the movie Small Town Murder Song, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival in September.

UPDATE: New university credit course for dancers

>> by Brittany Duggan
Ryerson University, in partnership with the Dancer Transition Resource Centre (DTRC) and The National Ballet of Canada, is offering Critical Thinking, a course for professional dancers. The course, offered Monday nights for eleven weeks, will allow professional dancers the opportunity to earn university credits while continuing to work. Amanda Hancox, executive director of the DTRC, has confirmed sixteen students from the National Ballet and two independent artists are currently enrolled. This course is being piloted as a step towards developing a specialized degree program for professional dancers through Ryerson University.

Canada-wide master class with Rex Harrington

Rex Harrington / Photo by Sian Richards

>> by Cynthia Brett
On September 25th The National Ballet of Canada broadcast a nation-wide master class taught by Rex Harrington as part of Culture Days. Registered participants across the country took this free class streamed live from the Walter Carsen Centre in Toronto from 2:00-3:30pm. Culture Days, running September 24th through 26th, is a national initiative to raise awareness and engagement of all Canadians in art and culture. Free, interactive events took place across Canada to encourage public participation and discovery.
http://www.culturedays.com

So You Think You Can Dance Canada nominated for four Gemini awards

Leah Miller / Photo by CTV

>> by Cynthia Brett
The 25th annual Gemini Award nominations have been announced and So You Think You Can Dance Canada is up for four awards. The show received a nomination for Best Music, Variety Program or Series, while individual nominations went to Leah Miller for Best Performance or Host in a Variety Program or Series (Montréal/Edmonton auditions), Jean Renaud and Vincent Colbert for Best Photography in a Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series (Finale), and Peter Hordylan and Owin Lambeck for Best Picture Editing in a Comedy, Variety or Performing Arts Program or Series (Toronto auditions).

New tap centre opens in Ontario

Everett Smith and Kim Chalovich / Photo by Ross Photography and ES Photography

>> by Cynthia Brett

September 9th marks the grand opening of the Tap Dance Centre, eastern Canada's only studio devoted solely to tap dance. Located at 2480 Cawthra Road in Missisauga, Ontario, the Tap Dance Centre is co-founded by Kim Chalovich, founder of What's On? Tap!, and Everett Smith, fourth-place finalist of So You Think You Can Dance Canada (SYTYCDC) Season 2. It aims to provide both private and open classes for people of all ages while offering opportunities to audition for companies and professional shows. In a press release, Chalovich remarks that this is "big for the dance community", describing it as a "centre for all ages with the full commitment to one discipline: Tap!" Smith commented that, "Creating a space and standing behind something that represents solely tap is such an uplifting and breathtaking experience. The 'Tap Dance Centre' is a place for any tap enthusiast to call home." Chalovich has a career in dance spanning over twenty years and she is also the founding director of the Eastern Canadian Tap Conference. In addition to Smith's rise to fame on SYTYCDC, he has danced for Katy Perry and Ludacris, appeared in Hairspray: The Movie and onstage in Grease and Footloose.
http://www.tapdancecentre.com/

New dance TV show in Canada

>> by Brittany Duggan
Geneviève Guérard and Stéphane Bellavance / Photo by Barry Russell

Geneviève Guérard, former ballerina with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, has launched a new dance television program on ARTV called Voulez-vous danser? Each week, the show challenges one Québec celebrity to learn a specific style of dance alongside host Guérard. On August 20th, Guérard, previously a judge on Match des étoiles, held an event where dance teachers were dispersed in four of Montréal's Métro stations to teach the general public salsa, hip-hop, country and African dance in order to publicize the fall season of the show. Hélène Beausejour from ARTV’s marketing department was on site to distribute flyers explaining the event to Métro patrons. "I wish we could do this every Sunday," she said, "Everyone is smiling."
Voulez-vous danser? is scheduled to air Fridays at 7:30pm on ARTV.

Degree credit course for professional dancers

>> by Naomi Brand
Over the past year, the Dancer Transition Resource Centre (DTRC), The National Ballet of Canada and Ryerson University have been working together to develop a specialized program to help professional dancers earn an undergraduate degree. The program would be tailored to address the challenges of pursuing higher learning while working full-time as a professional dancer. This fall, as a first step, Ryerson is piloting "Critical Thinking", a university credit course for professional dancers.

For more info and to register see: http://www.dtrc.ca/html/news_en_ryerson_program.html

NBoC’s Principal Character Artist Retires

Victoria Bertram in The Sleeping Beauty / Photo by Cylla von Tiedemann

>> by Brittany Duggan

The National Ballet of Canada announced on August 20th that Victoria Bertram, principal character artist for twenty-four years, has decided to retire. Karen Kain, artistic director of the company, commented on Bertram’s retirement: “We were looking forward to having Victoria in the roles she has made her signature this season, including Her Stepmother in Cinderella and Baba in The Nutcracker, but after much reflection this summer she has decided to retire. She has had an extraordinary forty-seven-year career at the National Ballet where her commitment and artistry was evident in every role she brought to the stage. Victoria will be greatly missed by the company and our audience.” 
A company member since 1963, Bertram was first a soloist and principal dancer before becoming a principal character artist in 1986. Her repertoire at the company has come to include virtually all of the female lead character roles including Madge in La Sylphide, Berthe in Giselle, and Juliet’s Nurse and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. She is also noted for creating roles in several of James Kudelka's pieces including Aunt Penniman in Washington Square, the Winter muse in Four Seasons and the Queen in Swan Lake. Bertram was honoured in June 2010 by her peers with the National Ballet’s David Tory Award for professionalism, mentorship, optimism and enthusiasm for life and the art of dance.

Vancouver Global Dance Project and Toronto's D2D Festival

>> by Samantha Mehra
From July 26th through August 13th, Vancouver hosted the city’s first contemporary dance festival for young and emerging artists: The Vancouver Global Dance Project (VGDP). Directed by Brenna Mclaud, Claire French and Heather Laura Gray, the project aims to use education and performance to unite the dance community and support young choreographers in creating contemporary dance work. The project also emphasizes the tools emerging choreographers require when creating and presenting new compositions. The VGDP included a three-week dance intensive for youth and pre-professionals, as well as a performance series in which festival participants and youth dance companies performed work for the public at Vancouver’s PAL Theatre on August 12th and 13th. Festival participants had the opportunity to work with guest choreographers Susan Elliott and Justine Chambers.
www.vancouverglobaldance.com

Toronto’s Dance 2 Danse Festival, the city’s newest annual dance festival, began its first run in August. Artistic Director Sion Irwin-Childs created the festival in order to provide diverse, economically sound and accessible opportunities for dancers and audiences. The festival is comprised of four dance series that showcase mixed programs of performers and choreographers: Eros, Thanatos & the Avant-Garde ~ The Cabaret Series (performed at The Rivoli); D2D Dance Duels (performed at the Winchester Street Theatre) in which the audience votes for its favourite pieces; D2D DLX! at which the favourites are performed; and D2D DIVERGE/DIVERSE, which presents seasoned dance artists and emerging artists.
www.d2dfestival.ca.

TRIP dance company announces closure

>> by Cynthia Brett

After twelve seasons and nineteen original works, TRIP dance company is closing its doors. Choreographer/Artistic Director Karen Kuzak and her partner, Dancer/General Manager Randy Joynt, founded the Winnipeg-based company in 1997. On July 26th they announced its closure in a press release in which Kuzak commented that "... we made this decision in order to pursue the next phase of our lives outside of an organizational structure." Throughout her career Kuzak has created over fifty choreographies, including nine full-evening works and many shorter pieces for TRIP. "With such a rich and rewarding experience to inform us, we look forward to an exciting future. Randy, in his role of executive director of Artspace Inc., and positions on the boards of the Winnipeg Arts Council and the Canadian Dance Assembly will continue to support the arts and cultural community. Karen remains passionately curious with being human in motion/stillness. After a brief pause to reflect on her work thus far, she plans to continue to create as an independent artist," the pair told The Dance Currrent. Dance Collection Danse, Canada's national dance archives, now holds the company's materials.

SFU's School for Contemporary Arts moves downtown

Photo credit: Dale Northey/SFU

>> by Naomi Brand
On August 9th the entire School for Contemporary Arts (SCA) at Simon Fraser University (SFU) moved from Burnaby Mountain to its new home at the historic Woodward's site in downtown Vancouver. The 125,000 sq. ft. facility on West Hastings St. will house the programs of music film, theatre, visual arts and dance with teaching studios, performance venues and a lab for new media. The dance program has acquired three spacious studios, an experimental performance theatre and two studio theatres all with sprung floors and high ceilings. "Between the quality of the building and its location, this move is huge for the dance area of the SCA," says Rob Kitsos, a professor in the dance program. "I think the big effect of being at Woodward's will be our visibility. We will be in the heart of downtown Vancouver – a very different kind of environment than the far away hills of Burnaby. I'm really excited for more people to see and get involved with what we do." By combining public events with interdisciplinary training, SFU Woodward's hopes to attract art scholars, students and enthusiasts from around the world and to be a new artistic hub for the City of Vancouver.
www.sfuwoodwards.ca