Members of the CanDance Network initiate outreach activities to increase
enjoyment and appreciation of dance among audiences of all ages. The following
examples show how CanDance members support dance presentations within their
local communities. For more information, contact the individual organizations.
Member Initiatives
dance Immersion
DanceWorks
Live Art Productions
New Dance Horizons
New Performance Works
Studio 303
Tangente
Vancouver International Dance Festival
Victoria Dance Series
Note: To jump to member initiatives, click on the links above, to access the organizations' pages, click on the organization names below.
Dance Immersion
The Sanae Dance Project
Sound recordings As Narrative for Artistic Expression (SANAE) is a
long-term project for dance artists who wish to learn all aspects of dance
production for stage. SANAE equips emerging dance artists with the tools that
assist them in the administration, production and staging of a full-length
production. Participants will gain important and transferable life skills that
help establish and solidify career goals and direction. The process includes
sessions conducted by professionals working in the arts.
Youth Arts Program
The youth arts program works with our affiliated youth partner NGOMA to offer
ongoing drum and dance classes for youth aged 7-18 years. Drum and Dance classes
focus on rhythms and movement from West Africa, while introducing and exploring
other styles. This program will use a Community Animator to develop and enhance
collaborations with other neighbourhood organizations.
Showcase Presentation
The Showcase presents various dance styles in three evening performances and two
matinees by eight different groups or artists. Storyteller Emerita Emerencia
links together the dance pieces in the matinee performances by providing
situational context and information. Matinees are geared to schools and
community groups. Talk-backs follow each performances. Leading up to the
Showcase, dance Immersion provides pre-school visits in the form of workshops
and lecture demonstrations by the Toronto artists.
DanceWorks
Cultural dancedialoguesCD
DanceWorks initiated the Cultural
dancedialoguesCD project to introduce audiences to the influences, training and
creative process of contemporary dance choreographers. DanceWorks is creating
CD-ROMs and DVDs with excerpts of each artists’ work, an interview with Dance
Curator Mimi Beck and a discussion between the featured artist and a studio
audience. The project is designed to entertain and inform viewers and to
celebrate the careers of gifted Canadian and international dance artists.
Participating choreographers Hari Krishnan, Gerry Trentham, and Vincent Sekwati
Mantsoe represent a wide range of stylistic and cultural influences.
CD-ROMs and DVDs will be distributed to schools, libraries, subscribers and community groups along with an information booklet. Cultural dancedialoguesCD will assist DanceWorks to look for a television network partner to broadcast future events.
Live Art Productions
Live Art Productions is implementing a three-pronged marketing initiative to strengthen its audience base.
- Part 1 - develop a membership base with an annual membership fee.
- Part 2 - develop a seasonal subscription package to encourage people to "buy into" Live Art for the long-term.
- Part 3 - develop a Youth Pass to enlarge the demographic currently participating in Live Art events.
New Dance Horizons
The Pelican Project
Created by Artistic Director Robin Poitras and
produced by NDH INTEMPCO, the Pelican Project is an ongoing series of creative
workshops that explore the magic of art, nature and myth through movement,
sound, text and visuals. A team of professional and emerging artists work to
embrace song, dance and costume in processional performance.
May 2005 - The Pelicans migrate to the Cathedral Village Arts Festival!
Lantern and costume building along with exploring a rich repertoire of songs and dances are just the beginning toward the aural, visual and moving world of the Pelican Procession at the Cathedral Village Arts Festival during the month of May in Regina.
New Performance Works
Young Administrators Initiative
Having identified a need amongst young arts
administrators for closer peer relations and informal support networks, New
Performance Works has initiated what will be an ongoing series of networking
events for this community. These monthly or bi-monthly events are aimed at
addressing the issues, knowledge deficits, and ongoing challenges articulated by
young arts administrators. The overall goal of these networking events is to
support young administrators by keeping them connected, helping them organize
their resources, and facilitate sharing experiences and growing expertise.
The primary beneficiaries of this networking series are “young and junior” administrators, managers, independent artists, artistic directors, and producers in the dance community; namely, those people who play significant roles in the administering of the production and presentation of dance. “Young and junior” refers more to a level of experience (no more than 5 years), than to actual age.
The initial networking event was a “social” for young administrators hosted by New Performance Works and co-facilitated by Joyce Rosario (Battery Opera) and Vic Ustare (New Performance Works). The 2-hour session included a 90-minute facilitated discussion and was attended by 15 administrators.
According to strongly positive feedback via a questionnaire, this introductory event succeeded in meeting our initial goals and expectations. We determined beyond a doubt that such events are both necessary and timely in the development of young arts administrators. This event responded to a clear need and desire for closer connections within the community, and provided a structured environment in which to share our expertise as experienced administrators.
Studio 303
Initiatives for emerging artists
Studio 303 is creating an accessible resource centre for its clientele. Studio
303 has always maintained current information about presentation opportunities,
funding and other resources that are useful to independent and emerging
choreographers as well as interdisciplinary artists. In order to make these
resources more accessible, Studio 303 will close the gallery and move the
reception/resource area to the front of the main office. Two computers will be
available to our clients, at no cost, for email, web research and grant-writing.
In to help emerging artists prepare grant proposals, Studio 303 will
- organize feedback sessions, including personalized advice on clients’ writing, and
- a video-lab day to provide basic theatre lighting, a camera and expert supervision to prepare professional documentation of their work.
Studio 303 intends to vigorously market the French and English versions of the resource book Taking the Leap to dance departments throughout the province, so that information about the Montreal production scene reaches a wider audience.
Tangente
Tangente has launched a new section of its website (www.tangente.qc.ca), called Websichore, which was conceived and designed by Marc Boucher. This will be a dedicated arena for various kinds of dance writing and juried by a reading committee of Montreal choreographers. For over a decade, Tangente has focused on developing different kinds of networks through which to organize artist tours and exchanges on a regular basis. For example, the European Dance Roads tours a programme of six young companies every two years, a New Hampshire-Quebec exchange project includes different kinds of exchanges between university dance departments, choreographers and presenters, and an annual touring programme of three dance companies takes place in the Montreal Maisons de la Culture network of theatres.
The annual conference of the Congress on Dance Research will take place in Montreal from November 11 to 14, 2005 on the theme of Dance and Human Rights (see CORD website: www.cordance.org). Three hundred artists and university researchers from around the world will gather at 840 Cherrier for three days of papers, performances and other innovative presentations.
Vancouver International Dance Festival
The Vancouver International Dance Festival annually presents ancillary activities to reach a broader audience. These include an art exhibition and a photography exhibition with dance themes, daily drawing sessions for artists with dancers serving as models and free twenty minute performances nightly prior to the main stage presentations featuring a wide variety of dance aesthetics.
Victoria Dance Series
The Victoria Dance Series had Vancouver-based Battery Opera
and their piece Cyclops in residence for three weeks, supported by the Canada
Council Dance Section. They offered daily class to the community for free. A
group of CanDance presenters saw a studio showing of the work and met members of
the company at the end of the residency. The VDS is also involved in a
large-scale community dance project in the Victoria Inner Harbour.