2017-18 – DanceHouse

Dorrance Dance (USA)

admin — Sat, 14 Apr 2018 02:01:18 +0000

Triple Bill

April 13 & 14, 2018, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Speaking of Dance Pre-show Talk 7:15PM each night in the Vancouver Playhouse Upper Lobby.
Guests: Donovan Dorrance and Gregory Richardson. Host: Sas Selfjord.
Post-show Social after the performance on Friday night in the Playhouse Salon
Running time: 70 minutes.

An expansion of a piece with the same name that originally premiered at New York City Center’s 2015 Fall for Dance Festival, Myelination (2017) has been extended into a new, full-length work featuring original, live music by Donovan Dorrance and Gregory Richardson with vocalist Aaron Marcellus. The piece, in which each dancer is both an ensemble member and an improvisational soloist, challenges the performers to take risks and achieve new heights of technical and musical execution inside of the form of tap dance.

In addition, the rarely seen, Bessie-Award winning Three to One (2011), and the whimsical Jungle Blues (2012) complete this program, illustrating the great range for which this company is known.

This last show of the season promises to leave dance fans excited about what the future holds both for dance and the next season of DanceHouse.

Production Sponsors

Anndraya Luui

“I’ve seen the future of tap dancing and it looks like Michelle Dorrance. Her Dorrance Dance company… [puts] on a sensational show – one that emphasizes tap’s possibilities as a creative, artistic form, without ever sacrificing its ability to thrill and excite.” – Sarah Crompton, What’s On Stage

“There’s a irresistible collective spirit to this company, too. When they’re all performing together, the stage becomes clamorous with cross rhythms, counterpointed phrases and laughter.” – Judith Mackrell, The Guardian

“[An] effervescent, twitchy piece… [Myelination] showcases a bit of everything: from graceful, gliding swoops to one-armed balances that pull hip-hop back to tap… Throughout, Ms. Dorrance, a brilliant conductor, pushes the boundaries of tap while exposing its true nature: that it is music.” – Gia Kourlas, The New York Times

“It’s a concert for the eyes, contemporary dance for the ears.” – The Nation

Top photo: Dorrance Dance, Myelination © Matthew Murphy.

Speaking of Dance Conversations

admin — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 16:38:26 +0000

Tap Dance and Jazz Music: the Evolution of an Art Form

Tuesday, April 10, 2018; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street

Moderated by Sas Selfjord, Vancouver Tap Dance Society, in conversation with Jim Hibbard, Dayna Szyndrowski and Cory Weeds.

Co-presented with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs.

Top photo: Speaking of Dance Conversations © Heather McDermid

Kidd Pivot and Electric Company Theatre (Vancouver)

admin — Wed, 14 Mar 2018 18:43:18 +0000

Betroffenheit – SOLD OUT

March 14 – 17, 2018, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Run time: 120 minutes including intermission.
Speaking of Dance Pre-show Talk 7:15PM each night in the Vancouver Playhouse Upper Lobby.

March 14: Susan Mertens and Max Wyman
March 15 – 17: Guest: Crystal Pite. Host(s): Susan Mertens/Max Wyman.

Post-show Social after the performance on Friday night in the Playhouse Salons.

Following three sold-out performances in 2016, the internationally acclaimed and breathtaking Betroffenheit returns to the DanceHouse stage. A creative collaboration between Kidd Pivot Artistic Director and choreographer Crystal Pite and Electric Company Theatre Co-Artistic Director Jonathon Young, Betroffenheit immerses audiences into the world of shock and bewilderment that encompasses us in the wake of a disaster. Don’t miss the rare return of this innovative, boundary-stretching hybrid of theatre and dance.

Winner…

Olivier Award – Best New Dance Production (2017)
The Georgia Straight Critic’s Choice Innovation Award at the Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards (2016)
Outstanding Dance Production – Dora Mavor Moore Awards (2016).
Outstanding Performance in Modern Dance: Jonathon Young – Critic’s Circle National Dance Awards (2016).

Post-show Social Sponsor

“Betroffenheit is a stunning testament to what can happen when life turns into art.” – Martha Schabas, The Globe and Mail

“Pite’s special genius is in choreographing the body language of emotion in the distorted, lifting, folding shapes of her dancers’ bodies. In the sharply specific rhythms of trauma and comfort we can read whole narratives of suffering and recovery… The brilliance of this work lies in its refusal to offer any easy insights or promise of redemption.” – Judith Mackrell, The Guardian

“…Betroffenheit is not only a timeless portrait of grief and loss, but an unforgettable union of dance and theatre that achieves more than what either would be able to on their own.” – Kelsey Klassen, Westender

Top photo: Kidd Pivot and Electric Company Theatre, Betroffenheit, performers (L-R): Jermaine Spivey, Tiffany Tregarthen, Bryan Arias, David Raymond, Cindy Salgado, Jonathon Young © Michael Slobodian.

Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto)

admin — Fri, 23 Feb 2018 18:33:17 +0000

House Mix

February 23 & 24, 2018, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Speaking of Dance Pre-show Talk 7:15PM each night in the Vancouver Playhouse Upper Lobby.
Guest: Christopher House. Host: Pia Lo.

Post-show Social after the performance on Friday night in the Playhouse Salons.

On Saturday night, join us in the foyers at 7:45PM for a special performance of The NELKEN-Line by Pina Bausch, performed by Arts Umbrella dance students.

Toronto Dance Theatre celebrates its 50th anniversary with House Mix, a retrospective program showcasing five diverse works by choreographer Christopher House. Dive into the rich history of one of Canada’s foremost companies with a program including the high-energy, rhythmically complex Vena Cava (1999), graceful and luminous excerpts from Fjeld (1990), the playful and chaotic Martingales (2016), the unique and moody Echo Dark (2015), and a new work titled Thirteen. House’s use of space, ability to construct atmosphere and focus on the quality of interaction between his dancers is on display throughout the evening.

Birthday Cake Sponsor

“…We are sucked into a captivating, moving picture created by an almost cinematic synthesis of light, sound and motion.” – The Globe and Mail

“…high-energy, high-flying contemporary movement.” – Toronto Star

“As an artist, [House] might be compared to Richard Serra, that most choreographic of sculptors, so attentive to curves, planes, elevations, rises, landings and, above all, footing, reconfiguring ever more ordinary, unadorned and consistent steps into original, affective and solid dance forms.” – Ben Portis, The Dance Current

Top Photo: TDT, Vena Cava © Guntar Kravis.

Speaking of Dance Conversations

admin — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 17:02:00 +0000

Vancouver and Toronto’s Cultural Scenes in the 70s: A Comparison

Tuesday, February 20, 2018; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street

Moderated by Pia Lo (Dance journalist and blogger at Globe Dancer), in conversation with Megan Andrews (Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Performance Studies, School for Contemporary Arts at SFU), Kate Bird (Author of Vancouver in the Seventies: Photos From a Decade That Changed the City) and Cheryl Prophet (Senior Lecturer, Dance at the School for Contemporary Arts at SFU).

Co-presented with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs.

Top photo: Speaking of Dance Conversations © Heather McDermid

Action at a Distance (Vancouver)

admin — Thu, 23 Nov 2017 17:43:53 +0000

Co-presented with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs & SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts.

Wells Hill

A special Celebrate Canada 150+ event

Preview: November 23, 2017, 8pm
November 24 & 25, 2017, 8pm + November 26, 2017, 2pm
Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 West Hastings Street)

Speaking of Dance Pre-show Talk 7:15PM on November 24 + 25
Guest: Vanessa Goodman. Host: Richard Cavell.

Post-show Social after the performance on Friday night.

Please note: this performance will take place at Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.

Three years in the making, Vancouver’s Vanessa Goodman brings the world premiere of Wells Hill to the DanceHouse stage. Seven exceptional dancers splice themes of technology and communication into this intriguing and provocative new work based on the sweeping philosophies of Marshall McLuhan and Glenn Gould. These two Canadian luminaries altered how we consume art and information, and their prescient ideas provide an engaging framework for an exciting, immersive performance that is both visceral and cerebral.

“…you can really sense Goodman’s ability to choreograph; she also excels at creating a look and atmosphere, here with James Proudfoot’s stark white spot and fluorescent lighting and Gabriel Saloman’s original-sound compositions.” – Janet Smith, Georgia Straight

“The movement is as gorgeous as ever, at once languid and sinewy and robustly energetic in a way that is equally responsive to Gould playing Bach and to Gabriel Saloman’s original immersive sound score… I look forward to the premiere of the full piece in 2017 at SFU Woodward’s.” – Peter Dickinson, Performance, Place and Politics

Speaking of Dance Conversations

admin — Tue, 21 Nov 2017 16:54:13 +0000

Marshall McLuhan and the Global Village: What effect is globalization having on the arts in Vancouver?

Tuesday, November 21, 2017; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street

Moderated by Richard Cavell (Founder of Media Studies Program at UBC and author of Remediating McLuhan), in conversation with Yvonne Chartrand (Artistic Director, V’ni Dansi), Jaime Hilder (Instructor, Critical and Cultural Studies Department, Emily Carr University of Art and Design), and Nigel Prince (Executive Director, Contemporary Art Gallery).

Co-presented with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs.

Tero Saarinen Company (Finland)

admin — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 17:55:50 +0000

Morphed

October 27 & 28, 2017, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Speaking of Dance Pre-show Talk 7:15PM each night in the Vancouver Playhouse Upper Lobby.
Guest: Tero Saarinen. Host: Janet Smith.

Post-show Social after the performance on Friday night in the Playhouse Salons.

In the spirit of Finland’s centennial, DanceHouse is pleased to present the acclaimed work of celebrated Finnish choreographer Tero Saarinen. In Morphed, seven male dancers seduce, challenge, demand and swagger, borrowing from casual street dance, Gene Kelly musicals, classical 19th century and modern dance. Saarinen masterfully crafts a fresh exploration of masculinity undaunted by the extremes of sensitivity and heroism, and all that lies between.

Post-show Social Sponsor

Birthday Cake Sponsor

“A seldom-seen, wondrous combination of hardness and softness brings out the potential of dance.” – Dance Magazine

“…beautiful choreographies, oscillating between contemporary dance, Butoh and classical ballet. Vigorous jumps are contrasted with equally touching, troubled motions…Roaring applause for an unusual, individual, fascinating performance.” – Neues Volksblatt

“A breathtaking total audiovisual experience that touches us deeply, powerfully, and enduringly.” – Turun Sanomat

Speaking of Dance Conversations

admin — Tue, 24 Oct 2017 16:57:56 +0000

Cultural Policies in a Global World: A Comparison

Tuesday, October 24, 2017; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street

Moderated by Janet Smith (Arts Editor, The Georgia Straight) with Jarkko Lehmus (dancer, Tero Saarinen Company and producer, Cirko – Centre for New Circus).

Co-presented with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs.

2017-18 – DanceHouse

Dorrance Dance (USA)

Triple Bill

April 13 & 14, 2018, 8pm Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Anndraya Luui

Speaking of Dance Conversations

Tap Dance and Jazz Music: the Evolution of an Art Form

Tuesday, April 10, 2018; 7pm Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 149 W. Hastings Street

Kidd Pivot and Electric Company Theatre (Vancouver)

Betroffenheit – SOLD OUT

March 14 – 17, 2018, 8pm Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto)

House Mix

February 23 & 24, 2018, 8pm Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Speaking of Dance Conversations

Vancouver and Toronto’s Cultural Scenes in the 70s: A Comparison

Tuesday, February 20, 2018; 7pm Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 149 W. Hastings Street

Action at a Distance (Vancouver)

Wells Hill

Preview: November 23, 2017, 8pm November 24 & 25, 2017, 8pm + November 26, 2017, 2pm Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 West Hastings Street)

Speaking of Dance Conversations

Marshall McLuhan and the Global Village: What effect is globalization having on the arts in Vancouver?

Tuesday, November 21, 2017; 7pm Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 149 W. Hastings Street

Tero Saarinen Company (Finland)

Morphed

October 27 & 28, 2017, 8pm Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Speaking of Dance Conversations

Cultural Policies in a Global World: A Comparison

Tuesday, October 24, 2017; 7pm Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts 149 W. Hastings Street

April 13 & 14, 2018, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Tuesday, April 10, 2018; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street

March 14 – 17, 2018, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

February 23 & 24, 2018, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Tuesday, February 20, 2018; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street

Preview: November 23, 2017, 8pm
November 24 & 25, 2017, 8pm + November 26, 2017, 2pm
Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 West Hastings Street)

Tuesday, November 21, 2017; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street

October 27 & 28, 2017, 8pm
Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)

Tuesday, October 24, 2017; 7pm
Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts
149 W. Hastings Street