Made in BC - Dance on Tour

The Golden Girls

2012-01-25T00:34:00.000-08:00

Excuse all the extremely witty titles for these posts. It's so tempting to make them sound like headlines in a fashion magazine.

Well, the town of Golden was really into the adult humour, including that of Gloria, the aforementioned "Golden Girl" pictured here:

….And also Aaron's character Chuckles, the horrible and hilarious birthday party magician.

In Golden, we worked with a group of fantastic folks called the A-Muse troupe to incorporate them into the show as dance contestants. Each developed a distinct character with a number on their back and a story, and dance with us through most of the first act. Amazing. This show is built for integrating audience to that degree. In fact, I was unsure about putting the show onto a traditional stage, because in my mind the 'stage' for Hard Times Hit Parade should be the entire room. After a couple of chances at experimenting with the black box stage version: the Dance Allsorts show at the Roundhouse and the Choreographic Research Project showing at the Dance Center, I received the feedback that the atmosphere of inclusion and the world of the 1930s is still created. A town hall or a ballroom is a vastly more appropriate fit for the show, however, and that's what we had in Golden.

Hard Times Hit Parade teaser

2012-01-21T13:49:00.000-08:00

HARD TIMES HIT PARADE teaser Into the Night from Kat Single-Dain on Vimeo.

First we take Kelowna….then we take Golden.

2012-01-21T00:29:00.000-08:00

I sit in the middle of a large living room in Golden. The cast are playing the piano on my right, singing "….this morning the hotel pillow was all up in my face…." I love these folks. A fireplace on my left warms the entire house. The snow is constant outside.

The most challenging part of this tour has been driving in the snow. We counted 6 semi-trailers and 3 cars that had been abandoned off the side of the road. Many highways have closed. The trip from Vancouver to Kelowna, a four and a half hour drive according to google maps, took ten hours. Alastair commented that in a way he's glad that nature can still get in the way of our best laid plans. I agree. I think the human race had better get used to that.

Our first show in Kelowna was for Catholic school kids, a demographic that I am personally frightened of, or at least afraid of offending. After all, one of my characters is a washed up alcoholic lounge singer, who warns people that the virgin martinis at the bar are a gyp. "I thought I was getting a virgin and a martini." Needless to say, I cut her monologue way back.

I had no reason to be scared of the kids. They loved the show. Kids are the best kind of hecklers; they answer every question the players ask; they fill the black outs with "what happens next??"; and without any prompting, they voted on which couple they thought should win the marathon. Also they were inspired to start a dance party in the intermission, which is one of my hopes for the show in action.

I'll sign off for tonight, though there is always more to say. I suppose that's the point of a blog. I have never blogged before. In the FB, twitter, blogging, social media universe I am mostly a luddite by choice. Glad that this is my first. Thanks Caroline, and good evening everyone out there.

Introducing Kat Single-Dain

2012-01-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

The Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret has hit the road, so I thought I'd introduce you to our next Dancer on Tour blogger, Dusty Flowerpot choreographer Kat Single-Dain. Kat will be keeping us posted on her reflections on art and life on the road in the upcoming weeks while touring the Dusty Flowerpot's piece Hard Times Hit Parade. Here, check out this interview with Kat in the meantime.

What skills are most valuable to you in community engaged arts practice?

2012-01-15T18:34:00.000-08:00

Happy new year all!
Way back in 2011, we finished off the year with discussion about outreach at Breaking New Ground, Made in BC's annual professional development meeting.I emailed this question to some of our panelists, and thought I'd post the question, and some answers that have come in.

What skills have been most valuable to you in your community arts engagement practice, and where did you get those skills from?

For myself, when working in community as a dance artist or arts educator, I draw a lot on my group facilitation and listening skills, and an analysis of power (eg, looking at participation and communication through such lenses as class, gender, language, culture, skin colour, and more). I'm posing the question in part because these are skills I first gained as a trained animateur working in international development, and also in undergraduate work in conflict resolution and human rights, all before I began my professional dance training. I continue to draw from museum education (I work with children, youth and families in an art gallery, where there is quite a bit of pedagogy about how to ask questions and engage people in looking and seeing), and this all shapes my approach to working with people, using dance, body, arts, or in non-arts contexts.

Miriam Colvin, Dance Artist and Dance Outreach Co-ordinator for the Bulkley Valley Concert Association, replied:

I am beginning a new project in Minneapolis right now and so I have the opportunity to observe myself in the beginning stages: new community, new landscape, new cultures. I think that, like Caroline, I draw heavily from group facilitation skills. One specific skill I noticed today working with youth is how I ask questions. I ask a lot of questions. I learned this skill first from my father and later from all of the great teachers in my life who taught by invoking thought rather than by telling answers. I try to find out what is happening, what is interesting, why is it interesting. Inviting people to share their stories or explain things in their own words opens up worlds of possibilities in my arts engagement practice as the group is lead in ways I never would have imagined on my own.

Yuriko Iga, Director at Vancouver's Blim, specified three skills:

1.Adaptability: working organically with client and community. artist , non artist. (I got this from life experience)

2.Constant improving of things: looking at business like a (work in progress) - (I got this from life experience as well)

3. Resourcefulness: finding things cheap, finding things for others, linking people up with other people. (life experience)

Ok, so far that's facilitation, listening, awareness of power, asking questions, adaptability, constant improving of things, and resourcefulness.

If you'd like to add, please do.

The White Spider in Kitimat

2011-11-29T10:20:00.000-08:00

Mascall Dance arrived in a very rainy Kitimat from Smithers on Saturday, October 29th to perform The White Spider the same night. Kitimat was the last stop on their northern tour. Tyson, his team and local volunteers worked tirelessly to get everything ready for the show. The dancers gave a wonderful performance to an appreciative audience.

Afterwards, the Kitimat Concert Association treated the dancers to the customary post-show reception. The dancers surprised the KCA with impromptu piano, singing and guitar performances, showcasing their many hidden talents.

Due to the tight schedule, there was no time for community outreach before the show, but Jennifer, Darcy and Adriana graciously agreed to stay behind on Sunday to run three dance workshops with young people from Kitimat as well as a few from Terrace. The older students were thrilled to get a chance to try out one of the ropes and harnesses the dancers used during the show. (pictures of the workshops can be viewed at www.dancekitimat.com)

We are very grateful to Made in BC – dance on tour for making contemporary dance accessible to audiences outside the big centres. Dance Kitimat is a direct result of this program. After the first Made in BC performance and outreach workshops, people kept asking for more workshops. The initiative has since grown from bi-monthly to monthly and now weekly contemporary and other dance classes. We look forward to the next Made in BC tour!
-Anna-Marie Carstens, MiBC Dance Outreach Coordinator, Kitimat

Please join us at Dance in Vancouver

2011-11-24T07:09:00.001-08:00

Made in BC is hosting Breaking New Ground this weekend, our annual professional development event for presenters and outreach coordinators, at Dance in Vancouver at the Dance Centre.

For a full performance and events schedule click here. And come join us for discussion:

Saturday, November 26, 10:00-11:15am

Roundtable Session. Curation: Long term visions, short term impact. In collaboration with The Dance Centre and Made in BC: Dance On Tour. For presenters, artist managers, administrators and dance professionals.

Saturday, November 26, 4:00-5:30pm

Inspiration: organizations and artists from multiple disciplines talk about their visions, strategies, and success stories in community engagement. In collaboration with The Dance Centre and Made in BC: Dance On Tour. For presenters, artist managers, administrators and dance professionals.

Sunday, November 27, 9:30-10:30am

The technicalities of touring. For presenters,artist managers, administrators and dance professionals. Hosted by Made in BC – Dance on Tour with guest Jason Dubois.

Sunday, November 27, 10:30-11:30am

Reverse Pitch:Presenters pitch to artists. In collaboration with The Dance Centre and Made in BC: Dance On Tour. For presenters, artist managers, administrators and dance professionals.

The White Spider in Smithers

2011-11-13T22:27:00.001-08:00

Jennifer Mascall and Thoenn Glover led an aerial dance class at the Bulkley Valley Climbing Wall as part of our community outreach for The White Spider. It was a great workshop! Community members got to play with gravity and try choreographic concepts from the performance.

Call for Applications for touring in 2013-2014

2011-11-03T15:46:00.000-07:00

Made in BC is now accepting applications to Groundwork for tour-ready BC-made contemporary dance, to tour in the 2013-2014 season. Application deadline: Wednesday, January 4, 2012. Please note: our application process is now paperless- please go to our website to apply. As always you can contact us with any questions and we'll be happy to chat.

Kitimat!

2011-10-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

Wow, it sure rains hard in Kitimat! It even rivaled Vancouver :)

This one was a marathon...travel/set-up/performance all in one day but.......WE ALL DID IT!!!! The Kitimat theater is beautiful, and we were received amazingly by the local Concert Association. There was a table laden with all kinds of wonderful food for us at the theater, and they held a post-show reception with even more food! Always a good way to impress a group of dancers...food. Our host at the reception was a pianist and graced us with his playing, which led to everyone getting out there secret talents:
Jessie: piano & singing
Darcy: guitar & singing
Me: piano
Robert: one-word-story game / broken telephone
Marvin: riling up the group!
Jennifer: Hava Nagila while the whole group holds hands and circles the room

It was a wonderful celebration of a successful tour.
Thanks to everyone who made it all happen!

Adios amigos :)

Smithers!

2011-10-31T11:43:00.000-07:00

The Della Herman Theater in Smithers was the smallest of all and therefore everyone was expecting the worst...BUT we were all pleasantly surprised to show up on Friday to a completed set and a cheerful Tyson & Jenn (as well as local techs Hans & Heather and an eager group of students). Turns out it was the most straightforward theater of all! The show was a full house...they even had to turn people away!

The community was buzzing about the show both before and afterwards. There as a well attended workshop at the climbing gym where Jennifer led the group through some of the more basic rope work in the piece and spoke about what was behind the show. On Main St., there was a great display in a local bookstore showing pictures of the piece alongside photographs from the Eiger and other mountain climbing ventures and comparing the art of dance with the athletics of mountaineering.

The post-show party was held at my dad's house just outside of Smithers, where we were fed delicious food & drink, and played music around the campfire under a sky full of all the stars that we never see in the city. After a short sleep, we were whisked off to Kitimat from my mothers house (where 5 of us stayed), equipped with fruit and locally baked bagels.

One more show to go!

Prince Rupert!

2011-10-23T18:37:00.000-07:00

What a week! We welcomed 2 people on board our tour: Robert Halley and Nicole Dupuis. Friday we rehearsed in Vancouver at Mascall Dance, then h0pped on the plane to Prince Rupert...landing on an island and ferrying over to the town (or city??). It was a unique arrival, in the dark it felt like we were landing in the middle of a forest. Our B&B, Eagle's Bluff, was beautiful! Gorgeous and comfortable rooms right over the waterfront in Cow Bay. Show day started with a lovely and relaxed morning of breakfast, baths and a brisk walk up to the theater. Again, Jenn & Tyson (and an additional local crew) had been working hard getting the rigging & sets set up and the lighting cues ready. We all danced our hearts out and got a great response from the audience. We celebrated our efforts with pizza (one of the only services still open at that time of night!) and wine at the B&B with lots of laughing and debriefing of the night's excitements.
We will reconvene in a few days in Smithers!

VERNON!

2011-10-16T00:37:00.000-07:00

Arrived in Vernon...Brian & Marvin sliding onto the plane JUST in time...phew! Took a hike up the mountain behind the theater and got to know the local wildlife (Cacti! Pictures to come.) We enjoyed the sunset sitting in the grass on the ridge overlooking the town with the lake in the distance...sigh. Dinner in the hotel, with a real creek running through it! Then straight to the hottub & pool. We finished off our evening watching inspirational Sylvie Guillem!

Day 2: breakfast at the Sunshine Cafe, cute little local spot where Brain read us Dr. Suess's Green Eggs & Ham. Straight to the theater and the real challenges begin. Tyson & Jenn have been working solid with the theater's tech team to sort out the rigging, sets & lighting. In the end, with no dress rehearsal we pulled off a great show and will be back on our 40 minute flight back to Vancouver tomorrow. 1 down!

and away we go!

2011-10-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Off to the airport...Vernon is stop #1...looking forward to getting this show on the road!

Introducing Thoenn Glover

2011-10-13T17:43:00.000-07:00

Thoenn Glover is a dancer from Smithers, BC and is a cast member of Mascall Dance's The White Spider. She has graciously agreed to keep us posted on The White Spider tour, so we'll be hearing from her regularly over the next couple of weeks. Take it away, Thoenn!

The White Spider warm-up playlist

2011-10-12T16:23:00.000-07:00

In case you were wondering what Mascall Dance's The White Spider cast warmed up to this morning, here's a few selections from Rehearsal Director Lina Fitzner's mp3 player: it ranges from Timber Timbre for roll downs to Patsy Cline for tendus, to Al Green for pirouettes, to Talking Heads for petit allegro...

Here they are in a playlist, ready to go for your listening/dancing pleasure...

Photo by Yukiko Onley

Lina Fitzner on Rehearsal Directing The White Spider

2011-10-12T14:35:00.000-07:00

Mascall Dance is about ready to hit the road with The White Spider.  We asked Lina Fitzner to tell us about her role as Rehearsal Director for the piece, and here's what she had to report:

Mascall Dance is nearing the end of a five week residency at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster BC. This coming Friday, the cast, crew and Jennifer will be in Vernon BC for the first of four shows on the Made in BC tour of The White Spider.

I begin the day by teaching class to the dancers, my taste in music varies widely which I feel helps brighten up classical training, the dancers end up singing along and dancing in between sides which warms them up inside and out, connecting their limbs to their cores. I also insert some of Jennifer's concepts so the warm up directs them into rehearsal.

Because the dancers come from such different backgrounds, I let them finish by stretching or finding whatever else they may need for themselves to be totally warm. The cast works both on and off the ground using professional mountain climbing rigging. It is amazing to watch, grounded one minute, suspend sixteen feet in the air, the next.

Sculpturist Alan Storey has created three notion machines as sets for the work and Composer Jeff Corness has made an exciting and engaging score to compliment the world that Jennifer has built. In this particular remount, Jennifer is focusing on the score. It is difficult for the dancers to listen for tiny sound cues while swinging and partnering but they have such extraordinary focus they are taking in and programming everything.

The dancers, Darcy McMurray, Marvin Vergara, Brian Soloman, Thoenn Glover and Jessie Kwan have been absolutely wonderful to work with, creative, open and hard working.

In both creating and rehearsing The White Spider, Mascall Dance partners with theatres due to the grand scale of the sets and choreography. We've previously worked at UBC's Chan Centre, the Kay Meek, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts and three times here at the Massey. It's both challenging and inspiring to be in a theatre space, it feels like we're already on tour. We travel so far every day and theatres can be dark and drafty but the space around us brings the dance to a whole new level. The dancers are always aware of their future audiences with their view of 700 empty seats.

We have one more day in residency to add the finishing touches and create the strong sense if ensemble that was so crucial to the teams that first ascended the treacherous Eiger mountain in Switzerland.

I can't wait to see it on stage at Vancouver's Norman Rothstein Theatre on November 25Th. The work we do is so intense and we make such strong friendships quickly. I love rehearsal directing as I get the best of both worlds. Inside information from the choreographers as well as the point of view of the dancers.

Photo by Yukiko Onley

Flamenco Rosario kicks off Flamenco Festival

2011-09-27T19:12:00.000-07:00

Flamenco Rosario, who will be touring with Made in BC in 2012/13, is hosting the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival until October 2nd. The Festival kicked off yesterday with a community conference.... go see some Flamenco if you can!

Happy Pride Salt Spring!

2011-09-14T09:58:00.000-07:00

Salt Spring's Lobby Dancers hit the Pride Parade this weekend! Photo by Megan Manning

Kitimat rocks out on the Dance Art front, again

2011-09-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

Anna- Marie Carstens writes:
It is almost the end of the summer and time to look back at the events of the past year. This year we had another very successful Dance Impressions Exhibit in Kitimat. The art exhibit is the culmination of the annual International Dance Day dance classes in local elementary schools, and the subsequent art classes with he same students who participated in the dance classes. Our very talented instructors this year were once again Leah Correia (dance) and Eileen Hutson (art). We are very fortunate to have these wonderful ladies to bring out the best in our students.

The dance and art classes are very popular with local teachers who incorporate it into their Fine Arts curriculum. Leah was challenged by the size of classes, because teachers combined classes to let as many students as possible participate. It is clear that one day of classes is not enough – we may have to expand this event or present them as mass dance classes.

The dance classes were made possible by funding from Made in BC and the art classes were sponsored by Kitimat Arts For Youth, a community non-profit organization. It is great to have positive community partners to make initiatives such as Dance Impressions possible. This year the exhibit formed part of the first ever Kitimat Arts Festival which ran from June 4th through 13th.
Dance Impressions was once again a great success and we look forward to next year’s event!

Dance in Scotland is more popular than football...

2011-08-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

... according to a report by the Federation of Scottish Theatre, which also calls for more investment in professional dance- click here for the article...

Culture Days are coming!

2011-08-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

September 30, October 1&2, activities across the country- find out how to promote yours here:
http://www.culturedays.ca/en/about-culture-days/culture-days-2010

Welcome Kicking Horse Culture in Golden, BC

2011-06-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

Made in BC welcomes Kicking Horse Culture as the newest member of the MiBC network! Bill Usher sent us this account of their International Dance Day celebrations...

With support from Made in BC, KHC created a 3 day outreach residency with the Golden community that led to the creation of 30 minutes of theatrical movement/dance performance for an audience of 280 as an opening act to Motus O’s Circus Terrifico on April 8. Workshop leaders were Kat Single-Dain and James Croker along with the three other dancers of Motus O. The combined workshop leaders delivered a total of 12 hours of engagement with approximately 75 children, youth and adults.

We partnered with passionate teachers and administrators at three SD6 schools: Lady Grey Elementary School, Nicholson Elementary School and Golden Secondary School. In addition we partnered with the 15 member youth/adult A-Muse Troupe collective to spread the word and populate the workshops.

We benefited from tremendous buy-in from the local schools and the adult A-Muse Troupe collective. This buy-in facilitated tremendous word-of-mouth outreach to the general population and put 280 in to the seats to see both the community opening act and the Circus Terrifico performance.

Motus O’s James Croker is very experienced and skilled at inspiring and leading the community groups to explore their own creativity while developing a basic understanding of movement skills, stage craft and theatrical performance. There was no flagging interest and joy pervaded all of the workshops and culminated in a spectacularly enthusiastic performance by the locals on the final night.

Much professional development was “left behind” in the community once the 5 dancers had left town. We found that about a half dozen of the youth/adult A-Muse Troupe came to learn and participate in the afternoon student workshops as “group” leaders under James’ leadership and direction. So, not only were they learning the “what” they were also learning from James “how” to lead and inspire so many students towards a collaborative and creative effort. The youth and adults of the A-Muse Troupe collective also found a soulmate in Kat Single-Dain of Dusty Flowerpot Cabaret. Kat’s professional skills and theatrical experience along with a youthful affinity with the artistic vision of A-Muse Troupe generated a wealth of activity and professional development for our locals.

Altogether, this outreach dramatically and successfully built upon the groundwork we have been building in Golden these past few years and will support us immensely as we work to build further on these successes.

Salt Spring Island flashmobs the market on International Dance Day

2011-06-13T13:36:00.000-07:00

Anna Haltrecht sent this note from Salt Spring:

The Salt Spring Lobby Dancers performed their FlashMob in two Salt Spring Ganges downtown locations; Salt Spring Coffee Company Café and the Saturday Market on Saturday April 30 in Honour of International Dance Day 2011. It was a hoot to dance in the small space of the café amongst the pleasantly surprised coffee drinkers.

In the Market, one of the dancers began to sing and play his guitar in the busker’s spot, and as he finished his song, the sound technician hit the start button and we danced to our recorded music. An audience member happened to have his camera with him and he put his video up on youtube.

Comments from dancers: “Thanks so much for this experience - I really enjoyed it!!! You are a great teacher!!”

I received another note from one of the dancers, a mother of a 10 year old girl who had joined the group. The mother joined after sitting and watching a couple of rehearsals. It seemed to make more sense to dance than remain sitting!

“Thank you for all your dance enthusiasm. I had never taken any dance class EVER and was initially intimidated. I am totally inspired now. Thank you for encouraging us to dance.”

We need to dance together to transform our lives, to be active and have fun while doing so. And thereby keep dance alive in our community. This project did just that!
- Anna Haltrecht

Another fun dance event on Salt Spring sponsored by ArtSpring, The Dance Centre and Made in BC-Dance on Tour. This FlashMob was originally performed in February as part of BC Spirit Festival.

Smithers FlashMobs It

2011-04-30T17:17:00.001-07:00

Smithers had 67 people come out to celebrate International Dance Day with a FlashMob organized by Miriam Colvin, Dance Outreach Coordinator for Made in BC and BV Concert Association.

The momentum builds, last year there was a crowd of only 40...This year we surprised people with dance at the BV Credit Union, Bugwood Coffee and the Smithers Trade Show.

“The turn out of over 60 people to learn this year’s FlashMob delighted me. There was even one mother and father dancing together with their 4-month old baby boy. One beautiful woman told me that she decided to dance because she saw the video of last year’s FlashMob. She decided there wasn’t enough gray hair represented in the Mob, so she came out. We are playfully broadening who is a ‘dancer’ and the many ways we can enjoy watching contemporary dance in Smithers.”
– Miriam Colvin

"I loved being a part of it and it truly brought people together through dance! I remember making some mistakes and at first thought I messed it all up....then realized the whole purpose wasn't perfect synchronicity, but happy smiling people having fun with dance, so I've forgiven myself and smile to think I was a part of that event. It was fun!"
-community dancer, Cheryl Hofweber

“Wow, the FlashMob dance was the BOMB ! I wish I had the courage to get up and dance. It was AMAZING - I MEAN AMAZING !
-unsuspecting citizen, Rose Silvey

The whole performance had a great vibe and a ton of energy to it. So much to watch but even better to dance it.
-community dancer and observer, Janet Blair

International Dance Day message by Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker

2011-04-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

International Dance Day is coming up, April 29th, 2011. Here in BC celebrations are already underway in Golden, Smithers, Salt Spring, Kitimat and Nanaimo, and The Dance Centre in Vancouver has a line-up of activities too.

This year UNESCO's IDD message comes from Belgium's Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker of Rosas:

I think dance celebrates what makes us human. When we dance we use, in a very natural way, the mechanics of our body and all our senses to express joy, sadness, the things we care about.

People have always danced to celebrate the crucial moments of life and our bodies carry the memory of all the possible human experiences. We can dance alone and we can dance together. We can share what makes us the same, what makes us different from each other.

For me dancing is a way of thinking. Through dance we can embody the most abstract ideas and thus reveal what we cannot see, what we cannot name.

Dance is a link between people, connecting heaven and earth. We carry the world in our bodies. I think that ultimately each dance is part of a larger whole, a dance that has no beginning, and no end.

And some video of Rosas, for inspiration:

Town Hall discussion on risk and adventure @ VIDF

2011-03-10T13:01:00.001-08:00

Anyone in town for the Vancouver International Dance Festival? This looks interesting, from the VIDF website:

Town Hall Discussion: Cultural Pluralism in the Arts

Saturday, March 12, 1- 3 pm
"Meeting at the Crossroad of Risk and Adventure"; artists and audiences in conversation

Hosted by Kokoro Dance and the Vancouver International Dance Festival
Roundhouse, Exhibition Hall

A Town Hall meeting exploring the tipping point between attraction and fear in encountering new and unfamiliar art forms. This is a unique opportunity to invite your audience, your volunteers and steadfast supporters, to engage in a frank and lively discussion on the burning question for art-makers and marketers - how do people make the journey from unengaged to curious and then to committed audience?

Featuring some of the most innovative art-makers in Vancouver. Don't miss this timely discussion facilitated by Charles Smith*

Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre
(corner of Davie and Pacific)
*Charles Smith is Artistic Director of Cultural Pluralism in Performing Arts Movement Ontario (CPPAMO) a movement of Aboriginal and ethno-racial artists working with presenters to enable audiences to access artistic expressions from diverse communities on a regular basis.

Presented by urban ink, organizer of Th'ink Tank Sessions on cultural pluralism in the arts.

Dance exhibit in Kitimat

2011-03-04T15:44:00.000-08:00

Anna Marie sent in an account of an awesome dance and art project she organized last summer which I wanted to share with you. Even the Mayor got involved- check this out:

Dance Impressions is an example of a locally conceived and executed Outreach Event. This event integrated dance and visual art.

Stages:

1. Dance teacher visits classes in local schools to teach dance workshops. (Sponsor: Made in BC)

2. Art teacher visits the same classes and guides students in the expression of their dance experience through art. (Sponsor: KAFY)

3. Mayor opens an exhibit of the art in the local Mall.

4. Press release to local papers.

Participants: 80 local elementary school students

Local organization/business involvement: Kitimat Arts for Youth (KAFY), schools, City Centre Mall

Due to the success of Dance Impressions, we decided to make it an annual outreach event.

Below is the Press Release for Dance Impressions 2010:

Dance Impressions Exhibit

Mayor Joanne Monaghan opened an art exhibit titled “Dance Impressions” in the Lower City Centre Mall last Saturday. The exhibit showcases the work of local elementary school students who took part in contemporary dance workshops and then used their dance experience to express themselves through art workshops. Huey-lin Guizzo presented the idea to principals and teachers in the elementary schools. They were very supportive and the project was incorporated in the fine arts curriculum in the schools.

The contemporary dance workshops were led by dance teacher Leah Correia. She found the experience very rewarding, because it gave her the opportunity to teach dance to students who would otherwise not take part in dance classes. In the following weeks local artist Eileen Hutson led the art workshops in the schools. Under her expertise, the students expressed music, dance and movement through art. Through the generosity of the City Centre Mall management, their inspiring work is now on display for all to enjoy in the “Dance Impressions” exhibit.

The sponsor for the contemporary dance workshops was Made in BC-Dance on Tour. This organization creates awareness of contemporary dance and strives to build audiences for this dance genre by supporting contemporary dance companies and enabling them to tour areas outside the large cities. Anna-Marie Carstens is the local Made in BC dance outreach coordinator.

The art workshops were sponsored by Kitimat Arts for Youth (KAFY), a local non-profit organization. KAFY’s mission is to bring the arts to Kitimat children. They promote both visual and performing arts. Louise Avery is the president of KAFY.

Anti-bullying Flashmob

2011-03-04T15:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks Gerhard for sending this link. Great message and visibility. And energy!

Salt Spring dancers flashmob the grocery store

2011-03-04T15:34:00.000-08:00

Anna Haltrech writes:

Salt Spring Island gets 'mobbed' on the last weekend of February in memory and celebration of the 2010 Winter Olympics. Dancers filled the produce aisles at the Country Grocer to the delight of the unsuspecting shoppers. This flash mob was made possible by a B.C. Arts Council Spirit Festival Grant, the Salt Spring Arts Council and ArtSpring.

The choreography is by BC dance artist Amber Funk Barton. It was first mounted by Crimson Coast Dance Society as part of its annual InFrinGinG Dance Festival, 2010.

Salt Spring Lobby Dancers re-create the dance set to original music by Ian Van Wyck.

And from Kelowna...

2010-11-25T14:39:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Margaret Gobie from the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna for this!
***
The 605 Collective and the response. were in Kelowna at the Rotary Centre for the Arts on Oct 15 & 16. Amber Funk Barton and Josh Martin lead a community workshop on the Friday evening and had 17 enthusiastic students ranging in age from 14 to 40 (see photos) Two days before the workshop we only had 2 students signed up, but the word went around and many of the students came from the performance program in the Creative and Critical Studies Department at UBC Okanagan. One of these students marveled later “His (Josh Martin) body is so fluid – he has no physical blocks at all.” There was a real appreciation for the skill and athleticism of the dancers. Some members of our audience in Kelowna were seeing this kind of dance for the first time.

After the Performance on Oct 16, we had a talk back session with the dancers in the Theatre. 38 people, out of 121 total audience members, stayed for the chat, including members of the dance community – three teachers, an administrator, and most of the students from the workshop, who also brought their friends. Amber started the Q&A while the 605 group caught their breath and a drink of water. We had dancers and dance teachers in the audience who picked up the questioning rather quickly asking everything from the dancers backgrounds to details on their daily training.

An audience member, who was in the front row with her friend, told the dancers that she’d never seen contemporary dance before and that she had loved the show. All in all a great success for us and a real opportunity to give Kelowna audiences a look at what is happening just down the road in Vancouver and in contemporary dance.

And the word from Salt Spring...

2010-11-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks Anna Haltrecht for this report!

***

The dance performance of The 605 Collective and the response. on Salt Spring was fantastic! The local young dancers from the high school in the Gulf Islands School of the Performing Arts were the curtain raiser.

Sonia Langer, the high school teacher choreographed the dance with the dancers. They called it “Heartbeat” and set it to music by Electric President. The local dance reviewer wrote: “…it was the tightest, most well-rehearsed high school dance number seen on Salt Spring’s stage”. It was a great match having the high school dancers do the curtain raiser. It supports these young dancers and they are very appreciative to be able to dance on the same stage as the professionals. The piece was both strong and fluid, and it really helped sell seats, 99 youth tickets were sold out of 243. Our theatre holds 265 so we nearly had a sold out house.

This was a fun dance performance to promote. It was great to have so much wonderful material to use - striking posters and cards, effective video clips on youtube and informative press kits. I found I just had to say the words - new, young, fresh, energetic, & everyone was ready to go.

The dancers were very generous with their time. Josh and Amber did a phone interview with the local journalist who wrote a preview article. Shay and Amber did a live phone interview with the local radio station just after their arrival on the island. They taught 3 workshops at the high school and an evening workshop for the community. I especially love the mixed age community workshops, they are always so special, this time the ages ranged from 8-66 years and all the dance teachers attended plus some keen high school dance students. The next morning we had a “meet the dancers” at the Salt Spring Coffee Company Café. Only a few fans came out but it was a lovely hospitality event for the dancers.

I facilitated the post-performance chat and then the dancers, tech crew and a few fans went out for food and drink which is always a fun way to close the evening, casual and relaxing.

The dance review, which appeared in the following week’s paper, was excellent with a photo of the local curtain raiser dancers featured.

Once again Made in BC-Dance on Tour helped put contemporary dance on Salt Spring’s map!!

The word from Courtney...

2010-11-25T14:10:00.000-08:00

Pam Brown, acting GM at the Sid Williams Theatre, sent us this update:
On November 4^th and 5^th, 2010, 180 audience members and 32 students from local dance studios in the Comox Valley in BC experienced Fused. This contemporary dance event with 605 Collective and The Response Dance Company was successful in educating and entertaining students and audience members alike. Thanks to Made in BC the Sid Williams Theatre Society and Gemini Dance Studios were able to host 2 workshops, a pre and post show chat and a cutting edge contemporary dance performance. Many thanks to all the people to attended and worked hard in making this event successful.

605 and the response Residency in Smithers

2010-11-17T11:57:00.000-08:00

Made in BC tried out something new this season: a trial residency in Smithers, with the touring companies the 605 Collective and the response. Miriam Colvin (who has just started a new residency project of her own, which I hope we'll get to hear about soon) sent us these photos and a description of what they got up to.
***

Amber Funk Barton, Shay Keubler and Josh Martin remained in Smithers for a 4 day Residency. During the day, the artists worked on their own choreography and explored the natural landscapes of the Bulkley Valley. In the evenings, they led skill-building and dance-making workshops for 7 members of the community. On Thursday, October 7th we hosted a studio showing featuring exercises we had explored and a structured dance composition. Participants enjoyed the highly physical experience and the chance to gain insight into these artists' creation processes.

605/the response in Kitimat

2010-11-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

Thanks Anna-Marie Carstens, MiBC Dance Outreach Coordinator in Kitimat, for this!

***

The 605 Collective and the response. came to Kitimat on September 27th for their “Hero and Heroine” and “AUDIBLE” performance on Wednesday, September 29th. On the afternoon of the 27th, Josh Martin and Shay Kuebler already led a workshop with dancers from Dance Kitimat. The dancers enjoyed the “cool moves” and did their best to get it right. Dwight Magee from fineartsgrafics (http://www.fineartgrafics.com/ ) stopped by to take pictures of the workshop in progress. After the workshop they had an informal chat with the dancers.

Tuesday morning, Lisa Gelley and Maiko Myauchi worked their magic with Rick Jones’ high school musical theatre class. This group of 30 or so aspiring young actors will be performing the Wizard of Oz in January 2011. The students found this workshop very useful, because they will have to learn some choreography for the show and many are non-dancers. Some students were a little shy, but the majority had a blast and a few demonstrated astounding moves that even the experienced dancers hadn’t seen before!

The Wednesday evening of the performance, I was a little worried, because it had been decided that this contemporary dance show would fall outside of the regular Kitimat Concert Association Season as en “Extra”, in other words, we could not count on the 70 or so Season Ticket holders to attend. The final count was 120 which was not bad. It constitutes about 1.5% of the total population of Kitimat, but Michael Jeffery from the KCA said he definitely prefers weekend shows, as the turnout is always much better on a weekend.

Everyone enjoyed the performance, even those who had never been to a dance performance before. You know it was good when a 16-year old guy says to you after “Hero and Heroine : “Wasn’t that kinda short?”, even though it was about a 40 minute performance. For him and many others, this was their first exposure to contemporary dance and they were impressed. The highly demanding and very energetic “AUDIBLE” was definitely also a hit. The audience was very impressed with the dancers’ skill and stamina.

After the ball was set rolling for the post-show chat, members of the audience asked questions directly to the dancers. A marathon runner, clearly impressed with the dancers’ level of fitness, wanted to know how many hours per day they trained. “AUDIBLE” also sparked discussion about modern day impersonal high-tech communication and how different it was from ways of communicating in the past. It became clear that this type of communication came quite naturally to the under 20 crowd while older people still found it strange.

After the post-show chat, the dancers and crew attended a post-show reception with members of the Kitimat Concert Association. This is a KCA tradition with lots to eat and drink and a great opportunity to interact with performers in a social setting.

It was great to have the dancers in Kitimat. Like the previous MiBC tours, they helped to blaze the trail for future contemporary dance shows in Kitimat. We are looking forward to the next season and outreach planning has started already.

HipHop workshop in Smithers

2010-10-14T09:33:00.000-07:00

Maiko Miyauchi and Lisa Gelley led a high school HipHop workshop for over 30 Smithers Youth. It was a huge hit. Everyone had fun and learned new moves - from the experienced dancers to those that claimed that, "I've never danced before."

Art = Movement Outreach, Smithers

2010-10-10T19:04:00.000-07:00

Smithers was very excited to host The 605 Collective and the response. on their FUSED tour. One of our outreach initiatives was Art = Movement, an outreach collaboration with The Smithers Art Gallery. The month-long exhibit included artwork from 14 artists; all the the pieces were inspired by human movement. Over 110 people enjoyed the opening night event. Photos show opening night and the two artistic co-directors: local visual artist Perry Rath and Miriam Colvin (Outreach Coordinator). The exhibit was also the venue for a Dance on Film night. Films shown include 'Risen' featuring touring artist Shay Kuebler. More soon on the one week FUSED residency in Smithers...

Prince Rupert dances and talks technology with The 605 Collective and the response.

2010-10-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Cailea Lorette just sent us these notes about their show last week in Prince Rupert.

***

We were please to have 105 in the audience, especially on a Thursday night. I would just like to say, what a fun group of people to work with! The audience, coming from dance backgrounds and non dance backgrounds, were impressed by the physicality of the dancers. We had one comment from a non dancer saying “I dare someone to watch that performance and claim that dancing is not a sport” seeing how physically demanding their routines were, which the dancers were delighted to hear.

I think having the MiBC suggested questions was an excellent idea, not only did I have some very good questions to ask to get things rolling, the performers had an idea of what was coming and therefore had their answers ready. Once I had asked a few questions, I opened up the floor to the audience and I think they felt inspired and comfortable by that time that things just flowed. Questions about what discipline of dance each performer started off doing, when and how they knew they wanted to be a professional dancer, and if every dance is completely choreographed or if theres a little improv mixed in. The message of Audible was touched on by a audience member and the reponse from Josh really affected the group because of the wide age range. Some people have grown up with Facebook and texting and cell phones, and others it has been a transition, but Josh's message was simple “Is technology wiping out face to face human communication?” A few of the younger audience members answered this with “sometimes its weird to talk to someone in person that you chat with all the time on the internet because its not the same”. This was an excellent question that resonated with the audience even after they went home. Very powerful. The post show chat was a huge success, and is something that will be again in the future.

The workshops were incredible I was extremely pleased that both filled up quickly we even had a waiting list. One thing that was really exciting was the students actually learned a routine at the end of the 1.5 hour class. This was something new and was well received.

Summer Program in Arts, Recreation and Culture, S.P.A.R.C. Terrace

2010-09-02T14:54:00.000-07:00

Summer is still in the air. Thanks Lisa McLeod in Terrace for this report and photos!
**

Kat Single-Dain of the Dusty Flower Pot Caberet graciously made the trip up north to teach us clowning. The kids (ages 8 - 13yrs) had so much fun learning some very creative and funny clowning/contemporary dance skits.

The skits were performed as part of our final show.

The show was in our local Terrace gathering place, Spirit Square Stage and was as an outside Circus themed variety show which was free to local families.

We also performed a contemporary dance, played instruments and sang some songs for everyone. Fun was had by all as the day was sunny and the turn out great! Cheers from Terrace.

Outreach Retreat in Smithers!

2010-07-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

This is not quite a day in the life of our outreach retreat yesterday- however, we did manage to get together 6 Made in BC outreach coordinators, plus me and new Program Director Sarah Moore to talk shop and make outreach plans for this fall. All in beautiful Smithers! Thanks again MiBC presenter and outreach coordinator Miriam Colvin of the Bulkley Valley Concert Association for hosting us so graciously!

Preparation for everyone's arrival was very serious business.

On our way to the farmer's market, we passed the art gallery where Miriam has planned Smithers' third annual Art & Movement exhibition for this fall.

Us at the Old Church, our beautiful meeting spot, where we: watched video of The 605 Collective's Audible, and drafted post-show talk questions for them; worked together on planning outreach activities for the fall, and, ate yummy food.

The Old Church, and Smithers, circa 1913 (can that be right?)

Always the flip chart.

After lunch we went on an Outreach Tour of Smithers, where we saw some spots where Miriam has done outdoor events like flash mobs and mobile clubbing, and we talked about identifying potential community partners. We stopped here for a choreographic moment. Video of our dance will be liberated from i movie soon.

Relaxing at Plan B's local brewery at the end of the day....

... followed by really yummy Mexican dinner.

Wen Wei Dance on Salt Spring

2010-05-20T11:10:00.000-07:00

This just in from MiBC outreach coordinator Anna Haltrecht... Thanks Anna!

"International Dance Day came early on Salt Spring. On Tuesday April 27, I showed the recent works of Wen Wei Wang on film and talked about his life growing up and studying dance in China. There was no admission charge for this event. I chose to do this for IDD as his company, Wen Wei Dance, was scheduled to perform his newest piece “Cock-Pit” at our local art centre, ArtSpring, the following week. I was thrilled that George Sipos, executive director of ArtSpring, chose to present Wen Wei Dance as part of ArtSpring’s 2009/10 dance season. Salt Spring was the last stop on the dance company’s cross country tour.

The company was presented without the financial assistance of Made in BC – Dance on Tour. The whole event was a success. Forty people attended the film evening which I am sure contributed to a sold out audience for the performance and 15 participants for the community workshop. Wen Wei Dance’s manager graciously sent me DVDs of recent Wen Wei Dance work. I chose excerpts to show plus I found 2 clips on you tube of the “White Haired Girl” and the “Red Detachment of Women”, two iconic ballets from the Cultural Revolution, the period of time that Wen Wei studied dance in

China

. I researched Wen Wei’s life on-line, finding lots of interesting material to use as a source for my talk. To set the scene, while the audience entered the theatre, I showed a slide show of Wen Wei Dance photos. I started the evening with the story of Wen Wei growing up in China and his love for dance beginning with seeing a performance of the “White Haired Girl”. I then showed the clips of the 2 Chinese ballets to demonstrate Wen Wei’s dance roots.

I continued talking about how he came to Canada and founded his own company, followed by an excerpt from his solo, “One Man’s…”. After telling about Wen Wei’s inspiration for “Unbound”, I showed about 30 minutes of this excellent dance. I then explained about “Three Sixty Five” and showed one excerpt from this piece. The evening ended with comments from the audience and the impressive “Cock-Pit” trailer, with a reminder of the date of the upcoming performance, and the community workshop Wen Wei was teaching. I had a great time, I could have talked all night!

Many of the people that came to the evening already had their “Cock-Pit” tickets, but many others did not and used this showing as an indicator that this dance performance was not to be missed. One gentleman came up to me after the dance performance and said that he had previous plans for that evening but cancelled them on attending the film night, and he certainly was glad he did.

To promote the Wen Wei Dance events, I made a flyer which ArtSpring made into a post card, I wrote 2 press releases one each for the film night and workshop, I sent several emails to my extensive list as well as to the local and provincial politicians. I posted the information on all the local calendars, put up the flyers and distributed the cards, arranged for the local paper to do an interview with Wen Wei and dance review, and arranged company workshops with the high school. As well, ArtSpring put advertisements in the paper, and sent promotion by email and regular post.

I believe all this work had a very positive effect; it got a buzz going on the island. People came to the performance that had never been to a dance performance previously; over 30 high school students came and many artists as well as our loyal dance lovers. Half the audience stayed for the post-performance chat which I facilitated. There was incredible interest in this remarkable choreographer and his fabulous dancers. Many thoughtful questions were asked, Wen Wei was very gracious in his answers and explanations. I also mentioned that Josh Martin would be returning in the fall as part of the Made in BC – Dance on Tour performance of his company, 605.

Wen Wei Dance helped grow our contemporary dance audience, people are still talking about it. The film evening I led, the workshops and the wonderful performance of “Cock-Pit” all contributed. As written in the local paper, the Driftwood: “It seems that ArtSpring, at long last, has found its contemporary dance audience and one only hopes that Tuesday night’s crowd will remember this performance and return to sample the dance fare on the ArtSpring menu in the 2010-11 season.”

Yes, Salt Spring is well on it’s way to putting contemporary dance on the map, however, we know that we can not falter, we still need to continue our work and we still need financial support from our provincial and federal art funding organizations, Made in BC-Dance on Tour, BC Arts Council and Canadian Heritage."

*****
The IDD Wen Wei Dance film and talk evening event was sponsored by: ArtSpring, Made in BC-Dance on Tour, The Dance Centre, Dancer Transition Resource Centre-BC Office and the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/BC Chapter.
*****
Photos of Wen Wei Dance courtesy of Wen Wei Dance

Photo of Anna Haltrecht courtesy of Anna Haltrecht

Wrapping it up!

2010-05-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

I have wrapped up my Made in BC visit with our northern communities' Outreach Workers. I have taken off the official road-trip hat and washed the dust from my official MiBC vehicle. A visit over lunch with Jewel, Prince Rupert's Outreach Worker, was a great way to wrap things up. I have lots of notes that I will share with everyone. But in short:
- Everyone felt a one-to-one check in was valuable and are excited to meet carry on the conversations at our July meeting.
- There were suggestions about adding topics to our July agenda, such as advertising.
- We have passionate and talented Outreach Workers!

Prince Rupert Outreach

2010-05-07T10:43:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Prince Rupert! I forgot to take a photo of Lisa and me when we met in Terrace. But, we found each other again in Prince Rupert. Lisa's daughter, Courtney, used some of her dance skills to choreograph us into this 'Stair Pose.'

Terrace and Kitimat: Outreach with Style

2010-05-05T21:33:00.001-07:00

Hello! Miriam Here!

I have been on Highway 16 - First I visited Terrace's wonderful Outreach Worker - Lisa McLeod. We sat with our glasses of red wine and discussed all that is happening with MiBC in Terrace.

Next, a quick turn south from Terrace on Highway 37 - a mere 60 km and I was in sunny (yes! sunny!) Kitimat where I had tea and conversation with Anna-Marie and Heuy-Lin.

More details soon - but this photo says it all! People are engaged in MiBC Outreach in the North!

Judith Garay on Voices in Motion, Bodies that Sing

2010-05-03T18:11:00.000-07:00

"A compelling meditation on the mutually dependent relationships between the voice, the mind, the body and the heart".

Dancers Dancing is gearing up for a May 7 Made in BC presentation in Nanaimo of Voices in Motion, Bodies that Sing. With music by, Bergman, Tormis, Bach, Poulenc and a new composition by Peter Hannan, the show is a full length evening with five dances by choreographers Serge Bennanthan, Judith Garay, Rob Kitsos, Anthony Morgan and Simone Orlando.

Artistic Director Judith Garay, whom Made in BC audiences will remember from our inaugural year of touring in 2007, graciously answered my e-queries.

C: What Inspired you to make Voices in Motion, Bodies that Sing?
J: The inspirations for Voices in Motion, Bodies that Sing are many and varied. Initially conceived by Eric Hannan of the Vancouver Cantata Singers and myself it also includes inspirations by all five commissioned choreographers, one commissioned composer and six dancers. The one central theme is the body. Dance and choral music are both produced by the human body. Though each work is expressed through different themes and approaches the beauty, passion and human spirit shines through in each work.

C: What's exciting to you in dance right now?
J: Some of the things I find exciting in the dance milieu right now are the plethora of changes, approaches and abilities of dance artists. As artists in a living art form we continue to evolve, adapt, create and recreate no matter what the circumstances.

Photo of Dancers Dancing by David Cooper

40 People FlashMob in Smithers

2010-05-02T12:35:00.001-07:00

Smithers' celebration of International Dance Day was a huge success! I put a call out to our community through email. I made it easy for people to say, ‘YES.” The first rehearsal had 15 people come – ages ranges from teens to 50’s. Then word of mouth took over. At the second rehearsal there were 36 people. Others learned the dance through friends or the Utube posting explaining the moves. I knew it was going to be a great success when people I had never met before showed up to the rehearsals. In the end, we had over 40 different people participate in 5 locations across the town!

“I saw the dance at Safeway. I was just doing my shopping, I had no idea anything was going on. It was fun that something unexpected happened. It made my whole day. I had a huge smile on my face all the way home.” – Elke Heinemann-Pesch, observer

“I had fun taking part in the dance even though I did NOT get all the steps right. It was WAYYYYY outside of my comfort zone and was a very very good thing for me to do. “ – Valerie Purnell, BV Credit Union employee and FlashMob participant

IDD video of downtown Smithers, as seen on DLB news...

2010-04-30T11:50:00.000-07:00

Happy International Dance Day!!

2010-04-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

Joyce and I just came back from seeing a show by MovEnt & Friends at the Dance Centre to find these photos in our inbox from Smithers, where a flashmob seems to be sweeping the streets! (and the inside of a bank...) Kitimat has also been celebrating with a whole range of dance workshops, and Salt Spring with a film night. I'm off to get ready for a studio showing of improvisation back at the Dance Centre.... We hope you get some dancing in today!

Introducing Emily, and Body Talk in Nanaimo

2010-03-19T10:04:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Nanaimo's new outreach coordinator, Emily Phillips! Emily's been busy with the Body Talk Cru, a young adult leadership group at Crimson Coast Dance Society, mentored in event and program planning and administration, as well as peer leadership skills. From left to right here we have Cru members Sam, Darian, (Holly Bright, Artistic Director of Crimson Coast , Emily) and Gee.

The Cru just organized a series of Hip Hop and Latin Fusion dance workshops with Vancouver's Over the Influence Dance Crew . There were two workshops, one for teens and one for families, with a final performance on March 13th.

I asked Emily to tell us a bit about the project, and also a bit about herself. First things first, Emily on Emily:

"I have always had a passion for the arts. At the age of three I remember resting my chin on the railing of the balcony at performance of “Cats” and falling in love with the theatre. Not one for being on the stage myself, instead my love of the arts took me to Vancouver Island University where I obtained a BA in English. I am a strong believer in arts education and I have really enjoyed helping the Cru plan the Body Talk Event!"

And now, Emily on Body Talk:

" Body Talk 2010 was a success! The week of free classes in Nanaimo BC facilitated by “Over the Influence,” a hip-hop dance crew from Vancouver, was fun, fast and fabulous! (That's Over the Influence over there.) Teens danced for 5 hours a day from 12-5 and families came out at night from 6-7:30. I was so impressed by everyone’s ability, and determination. You could tell that some of the participants had danced before, and were really comfortable; however, there were also participants who had never danced before and were just having a blast!

This is my first year doing the Body Talk project, and my first experience being a facilitator for a dance event. It was a great experience for me too. The final performance on Saturday night was amazing!“Over the Influence” performed, as well as the participants from the week. “Over the Influence” is a super talented dance crew who tell an intelligent and humorous story with their wicked moves. The teens and families preformed very well, there was not a nervous face in the bunch. The crowd was really supportive which was great to hear and see.Everyone did a great job, and had lots of fun. I hope that Body Talk has made an impression on the participants and the spectators, so that they will get out and dance again soon!"

More flashmob.....

2010-03-08T12:21:00.000-08:00

What makes a flashmob a flashmob? Strictly speaking it's a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time, then quickly disperse. Generally it's not for PR, although the idea continues to morph, develop, and be used in different ways. (Wikipedia has an entry describing it's origins in 2003 in Manhattan by Bill Wasik, the editor of Harper's Magazine. Bill Wasik discusses the flashmob phenomenon, social media, and public space here). And it's not restricted to dance- pillow fights, freezing in space, "spontaneous" clapping- a whole range of happenings that have developed around the simple act of having mass, organized fun, in public space.

At least two Made in BC dance outreach coordinators are secretly plotting flashmob-type events for some seemingly-spontaneous public dancing (it's still secret if I don't out you). So: I asked Julie Lebel of Foolish Operations (see a few posts ago) for some planning tips based on her recent dance flashmob experience, and here is what she said:

Lessons learned:

-Get a local choreographer to set the dance. The simpler it is, the faster it will propagate. Friends will teach it to each other.
-Get people to learn it in community practices in community centres or other places.
-Publish the video choreography on the web (youtube or other...)
-Partner with schools, community centres and organizations to get more numbers.
-Think about the music! Where does it comes from? Is it representative of your local culture? Hire a local DJ to build a mix or to compose something.
-Ask your participants to be aware of what they wear. Big brands on t-shirts is free publicity for corporations. Flash Mobs are photographic events and it will be posted on the web!
-Make sure participants are aware that they might appear on the web! It is an extension of the public space.

***
Thanks Julie!

And here are a few more videos to inspire you:

Improv Everywhere's Frozen Grand Central. Check out their website for more missions, including the (self-explanatory) No Pants Subway Ride, and a fun recent one called "Where's Rob", involving hundreds of helpful people at a Knicks game.

Since I am a fan of Michael Jackson's choreography, and the architectural fabulousness of public squares, I wanted to share this one by Bounce in Sweden.

If I've done my homework right then this is the Red Mitten FlashMob organized in Vancouver by Jojo Zolina and Harbour Dance:

And if you've somehow missed it, the T-Mobile dance:

Oh, the blazing speed of the internet...

2010-03-05T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well there readers, so much for your 'sneak preview'!

The new section of the website is officially live, it's in the projects dropdown menu -> Groundwork + Pitch Session; or just click here.

The Shortlist!!

2010-03-04T11:00:00.000-08:00

I'm super pleased to announce the list of shortlisted companies chosen by Made in BC's presenter network! Who are they, you ask?

Well, you'll have to keep reading, because I'm even more excited to give you -- our blog readers out there -- a special sneak preview to a new section of our main website, which lists our seven shortlisted companies, along with descriptions about the work they are proposing, links to each of their websites, as well as links to video you can find elsewhere on the web.

As I said, it's a sneak preview -- this section will be up officially any moment now!

Here's what it looks like, you can click the image to take you to the new section and find out who's been shortlisted this year:

Each of the companies have been invited to our annual Pitch Session on March 24, where they'll be able to meet the presenters face-to-face and pitch their work in person.

Interested? Any questions? Let us know, we'd love to hear it!

Flashmob!

2010-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

I've had the pleasure of working with Julie Lebel of Foolish Operations on a flashmob project for the Olympics, at three Vancouver community centres... check us out at our first one!

Dance Video Links

2010-02-11T13:29:00.001-08:00

There's been talk of a dance video night to celebrate International Dance Day in April, which got me looking at some links, which I'm pasting here for you to enjoy...

Local:
Victoria's Dance for the Camera summer workshop has a gallery of works by past participants.
National Film Board of Canada has thousands of films you can watch online, including dance films.
Bravo!Fact has a searchable database of film shorts- you can search by discipline to find dance films.

On the international front:
Saddlers Wells in London has an International Online Dance Film Contest & Global Dance Contest, both with lots of clips (and you can still enter the Global Dance Contest!)
I also found trailers and clips at Dance Camera West Film Fest in L.A. and the Dance Media Association in New York City...

If you have more to send my way please post!

Community Dance via Twitter

2010-01-21T07:56:00.000-08:00

Hmm, I may have to steal this idea for us, from Dance Theatre Workshop (NYC)...

Dance a Day Video Cast

2010-01-07T14:14:00.000-08:00

Happy new year everyone. I'm thinking a dance a day sounds good.
http://danceaday.blogspot.com/

Kitimat: One month after “Light and Metal”

2009-11-30T12:57:00.000-08:00

This just in from Anna-Marie Carstens, Dance Outreach Coordinator in Kitimat

***

On October 30th, Tara Cheyenne-Friedenberg and MovEnt brought “Light and Metal” to Kitimat. The town was still reeling from the shock announcement on October 28th that Eurocan, one of the two major employers in town, would be shutting down permanently on January 31st, 2010. That would leave 535 people in a town of 8500 out of work. On October 29th, the Mount Elizabeth Secondary School was closed due to a serious outbreak of the H1N1 virus. As a result, the planned “Light and Metal” open rehearsal school show could not take place. Things could hardly get worse! Michael Jeffery, our Presenter, and I were worried that this would affect attendance on October 30th.

In the end, 108 people came to see the show. Tara had us mesmerized with “bANGER” and Day, Amber and Meredith danced their hearts out in “SURGE”. The audience was somewhat quieter than usual, no doubt due to the somber atmosphere in town. A good number of audience members stayed behind for the informal post-show chat with the dancers. After the chat, the dancers were whisked off to Doug and Linda Thomson’s home for a post-show reception, hosted by the Kitimat Concert Association. This is a Kitimat tradition and it is a great opportunity for performers and KCA members to relax, talk about the show, etc.

I spoke to several audience members after the show and the response to “Light and Metal” was overwhelmingly positive. This is an excerpt from an email I received after the show: I also wanted to let you know that my friend & I both really enjoyed the dance performance. After speaking to you about the first act we truly enjoyed the energy and talent of the second group as well. Thank you for your continued efforts both in dance classes and in promoting the modern dance acts in Kitimat. I certainly appreciate and enjoy those evenings

Made in BC – Dance on Tour is very, very important to us in northern BC. Without the program, we would never be able to see shows like “Light and Metal” in Kitimat. It gives us the opportunity to talk about contemporary dance and to introduce more and more people to this art form. Maybe seeing a show will even inspire a young dancer from Kitimat to consider a dance career.

Thank you, Made in BC and thank you Tara, Day, Amber and Meredith. We were honoured to have dancers of your calibre grace the stage of the Mount Elizabeth Theatre with your presence. You are welcome back anytime!

Footnote: One month after the announcement from Eurocan, the mood in town is optimistic. There is talk of new economic developments and there is a possibility that the mill will be sold rather than shut down completely. We’ll keep you posted!

Dance USA - Audience Engagement Study

2009-11-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

I recently found this study quite interesting for a getting a sense of what's going on out there in the land of audience engagement, beyond the Made in BC network. It's from the perspective of members of Dance USA.

http://www.danceusa.org/engagingdanceaudiences

Meredith's Tour Blog #12 - Courtenay

2009-11-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

So this is the final tour blog. I have to say I have enjoyed getting to write about the tour, it has been a ton of fun to share it with people, I hope you all have enjoyed reading it.

So the morning after our fantastic shows in Salt Spring we departed for Courtenay driving in a rainy down pour listening to great tunes from Jeff's ipod in one van with Tara, Marc and Day in the other car. Once in Courtenay Tara and Day were off to teach workshops as the rest of us grabbed a bite to eat at a pub where Maria and Jeff even had the chance to play a game of pool and darts. After pub food Amber was off to nap/grant writing, I went to check out my favorite knitting store in town, Maria and Jeff went to scope things out at the theater and at the end of all that Maria, Jeff, Marc, Tara and I had a movie night at the hotel watching Anchor Man. (Day and Amber had packed it in for the night). I highly recommend seeing Anchor Man if you haven't, its hysterical. The next day at the theater was filled with constant quotes and reliving of scenes from Anchor Man.

On show day, I think we dancers had finally hit our wall of exhaustion so we each found some time to take a nap, all at different times and in different places throughout the theater. After naps and a lovely soup dinner at the Rose Tea Room (which I highly recommended from eating at on Karen's tour the year before) we were getting ready for our last show. Lights, Sound, and its Showtime! The audience in Courtenay was great. They gave us a warm response and we had a really nice talk back with them after the show. We heard that one elder gentleman wasn't too sure what he was in for when he was brought to the show but upon leaving the theater he commented that he had a fantastic time and really enjoyed himself! Woo hoo! I forgot to mention that we were also welcomed with a lovely array of food at the theater that got us through the day! Thank you Courtenay!

So 7 shows later and the tour is done. I have to say that I have absolutely loved dancing Surge and loved even more the chance to dance it in 7 different cities in BC. By the last show in Courtenay Surge felt like it had a real continuity and energy between the three of us that rocked. And getting to listen to/watch Tara from backstage so many times on the road was a real treat, she is brilliant and her work gets funnier and funnier every time you see it. Another amazing part of this whole experience is getting to see some of the most beautiful parts of our province and getting to build connections with so many absolutely wonderful people.

Of course this whole tour would never have been possible without the combined efforts of all of the presenters, theaters, outreach workers, teachers, theater technicians, audiences, choreographers, grant writers, grant support, tour managers, the New Works Team, Movent and the fabulous work of Joyce and Caroline at Made in BC. Thank you to everyone for making this tour so special and such a hit! We had a spectacular time and felt grateful to have the opportunity to share Surge and Banger with so many different communities! At the end of it all I think everyone from tour was inspired by the support for the arts that exists throughout our beautiful province. We experienced more than ever on the road that art changes people, it makes a difference and that what we do does matter. Thank you BC for reminding us of that!

Meredith's Tour Blog #11 - Salt Spring

2009-11-09T21:16:00.000-08:00

After a couple days off in Vancity we were back en route for the island leg of the tour. As nice as it was to sleep in my own bed for a couple nights it was also hard to be back home in the middle of tour. I had endless amounts of emails that wanted responses but I just wanted to hibernate at home as in my head I wasn't in the mind set to get back to Vancouver life. Not too surprisingly I wasn't the only one on the tour who felt this way, Amber found time to rehearse her own company and work on a film project (she's amazing), but felt the quick stop off at home a bit surreal.

En route to Salt Spring Island Amber and Maria took the opportunity to nap on the ferry as you can see from the photos. The amazing thing that happens on tour is that you find every opportunity you can to sleep and anywhere that you can, ferries, dressing room floors, stairwells. Dancers are incredibly inventive at finding cozy places to sleep.

Once in Salt Spring Tara and Day taught workshops, the rest of us went shopping and we all met up for a fantastic dinner at the Salt Spring Inn where Marc performed his rendition of Surge in the middle of the restaurant. Yes, it was just as amazing as it sounds. Soon after dinner we were off to bed in preparation for the long theater day ahead.

Our Salt Spring show was a little different this time around as we had a performance group from the island called the Lobby Dancers open the show for us. It was a treat to meet some local dancers and share the stage. Salt Spring was our most responsive audience on the tour! They hooted and hollered and gave both Banger and Surge standing ovations!!!!! Anna the outreach work is a true gem, we literally saw our posters all over town and people knew about the show when we went into stores because of the work she did getting the word out about the show. George the presenter is incredible at what he does and took great care of us at the theater. Sonja a teacher at the high school in Salt Spring bought 30 tickets to the show and sold them to her students herself. Its these kind of people that make all the difference, talk about a strong sense of community and support for the arts, Salt Spring sure has it! After the show we had the chance to go out for a drink with the Lobby Dancers, Anna, Sonja and some other people. We had a fantastic time! We love Salt Spring!

Throughout all these blogs I forgot to mention the fantastic tour binders that the New Works team put together for us. They have been our lifesavers and helped us get through this tour and through BC, literally. Thank you Bev, Andrea, Bonnie, Diana and Barb! We love our tour binders!

2009-11-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

We really do try and find any opportunity on the road to catch up on sleep. Check out Maria and Amber snoozing on the ferry. And here we all are post show in Salt Spring joined by the fantastic Lobby Dancers, Anna, Sonja and some other friends. Cheers to Salt Spring!

This just in- Contributor to the Arts Award in Terrace!

2009-11-04T15:08:00.000-08:00

Made in BC presenter Karen Birkedal of the Terrace Concert Society has been nominated for the Terrace & District Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Award, in the category of Contributor to the Arts. Congratulations Karen and the Terrace Concert Society!

In this photo: Karen Birkedal with Made in BC propaganda for Light & Metal.

Meredith's Tour Blog #10 - Kitimat

2009-11-03T16:04:00.000-08:00

After Smithers we were off to Kitimat. It had started snowing the night before our departure and continued to do so as we packed into the vans the next morning. The drive through snow covered mountains and trees was stunning!

In Kitimat we stayed at the Minnet Lodge run by Ruth and Howard who are the loveliest people I have ever meet. I can’t even begin to explain how special this place was. Hidden in the trees, view of the lake, cozy beds and a beautiful breakfast each morning. We were in heaven. Amber kept saying that it felt like we were at a retreat. We didn’t want to leave.

On the flip side of things, Kitimat was hit with some rough news this past week. An announcement was made that a mill is going to close in the next few months. This means at least 500 people are losing their jobs, if not more. This devastating news came in a few days before our arrival but you would never have known it by the beautiful spirits of the people that welcomed us in Kitimat. Michael the presenter, Anna-Marie and the many other people that had a part in bringing us to Kitimat were so warmhearted and welcoming. Their kindness and grace at such a time is a true testament to the kind of quality people that live in Kitimat.

This performance was a particularly special one in my books. We truly danced from the bottom of our hearts hoping to offer the audience a little relief from the harsh news they had received. We were reminded that this is why we do what we do; to offer people a moment of relief, maybe a laugh and a chance to leave all of the other things in life behind, even just for an hour or two.

After the show we were invited to a party! Again the warmth and care that was shown to us was remarkable. We had the opportunity to chat with people who had seen the show and were also fed some amazing dishes they had brought. It felt like we really had the chance to be a part of their community and it was a nice experience to build connections with people instead of just popping in, performing and leaving. Thank you Kitimat for your hospitality and warm hearts!

The next morning we had a mega early wake up to eat breakfast and drive back to Terrace to catch our flight to Vancouver. I have to say I still haven’t become used to the early wake ups after a show day but that might be because it takes so long energetically to come down after a show that my sleeping schedule becomes incredibly wacky and out of sorts. But regardless of the lack of sleep all of our bodies have been holding up and managing the touring/traveling/performing schedule quite well. Thank you dancing gods for taking care of us!

Meredith's Tour Blog #9 - Smithers

2009-11-02T09:44:00.000-08:00

We had ten phenomenal and exhausting days in Northern BC. Everyone on tour remarked on how it seemed like we had been on the road for three weeks, not just a week and a half. This might be due to the fact that at some points the schedule is so tightly packed that 5 events in one day seem like they happened over 3 days. Day and Tara didn't have a single day off the whole time but you never would have known it, they are all-stars!

In Smithers we were welcomed by beautiful food baskets at our hotel! Thank you Miriam! Day and Tara did a huge amount of community outreach. They taught workshops at the high school and in the evenings to community dancers and were also part of a lecture. While Tara and Day were teaching the rest of us ate at a great Mexican restaurant (The Cantina) and had a chance to enjoy Smithers. The mountains are so incredibly stunning it is unlike anything I have ever seen.

Fast forward to show day in Smithers. Some students at the high school had the opportunity to hang lights and help with the set up of the show. They seemed so excited to be a part of everything. We could tell that they have some pretty spectacular teachers who have exposed them to many different opportunities and created an incredibly open minded environment. Hans, the technical director of the theater/teacher, watched our dress run and basically went and bought tickets for his students and told them that the show was not to be missed. How awesome is that!

After a great day of teching it was finally show time. The Smithers audience was absolutely amazing! You could hear the excitement in the crowd even before the show started! As performers we can't tell you what a difference it makes to have an audience that is so ready to go! Tara was absolutely phenomenal and had an immediate impact on the crowd and Surge was a huge hit as well! Almost all of the audience stayed for the talk back. It was clear that Smithers has a great community of people who support the arts! Thank you Smithers!

Stay tuned for my blog about Kitimat...its on the way...but I have to get up for a Surge rehearsal tomorrow am and better be in tip top shape. Nite!

Meredith's Tour Blog #8 - Surge Shots etc.

2009-10-31T14:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the whole cast/crew of Light & Metal at dinner and below are some shots of Surge taken by Maria and Jeff (they really can do anything and everything.) We loved our time in Northern BC!

Tara in Terrace...

2009-10-28T15:28:00.000-07:00

This photo was sent to us by Terrace Concert Society's dance outreach coordinator, Lisa McLeod. Tara is sitting in the very front.

Are you one of the students in the photo? We'd love to know who you are and what you thought of the workshop. Please drop us a line by email, or in the comments section below!

Meredith's Tour Blog #7: More of Prince Rupert to Terrace

2009-10-27T21:35:00.000-07:00

Its funny how on tour the focus of your day becomes food and sleep. I honestly have never thought so much about my meals throughout the day except when I am on tour. Safeway has been a big staple for us so far that we have now made it our goal to see if we can hit up a Safeway in each town on tour.

Prince Rupert welcomed us on show day with a power outage from a storm the night before. I apparently slept right through it but Maria and Jeff (the tech crew) had to get ready at 7am in the pitch black, showers and all. They were a little concerned that there would be no power at the theater and were already dreaming up alternate plans but the power outage had been solved by the time they got to the theater. Phew!

Us dancers found time to ravish ourselves in the Aveda bath products that the Crest Hotel supplied and we also enjoyed magnificent fish and chips that literally seemed fresh out of the water. We all highly recommend the fish and chips if you ever find yourself in Rupert.

The show in Rupert went well for us but we noted that the audience was a quiet one. So we just want to remind people that its okay to laugh and clap if you feel inspired, in fact we love it when you do.

The next morning we were back in the vans en route to our next destination, Terrace. We were welcomed by a beautiful gift basket in the hotel room and our poster and postcards around the city, which was super exciting! Jeff and I escaped for a walk through Ferry Island that has gorgeous carvings in the trees by a man named Rick Goyette. It was a great feeling indulging in nature for a bit. While we nature walked Day and Tara taught workshops, then we all met up and had a great dinner at Don Diego’s (an excellent restaurant) before crashing early.

The next morning Maria and Jeff had a 5:30am wake up to get started at the theater so when we (the dancers + Marc) showed up we gave them extra love and thanks for all their great work and early wake up.

After warming up, spacing, stretching, tech running and eating it was finally show time. Tara immediately got some laughs from the incredibly receptive audience and they seemed excited and ready for more by the time the three of us got out there to perform Surge.

We had our best talkback of the tour so far in Terrace. There was a brilliant moderator who had obviously done her research and the audience was keen with great questions. The definite highlight of the talkback was one lady who said “what four excellent examples of powerful woman we have sitting up on the stage, “ (referencing that power is a theme in both pieces). Our hearts swelled…Terrace was a hit.

"Put a face to the arts campaign"

2009-10-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

A new initiative launched by Kicking Horse Culture in Golden, BC has caught our attention and we thought you should see it!

Check out the slideshow here.

Their press release can be found here (via The Alliance for Arts & Culture).

Meredith's Tour Blog #6: Ferry Island Side-trip

2009-10-26T22:03:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots from Jeff's and my excursion to Ferry Island in Terrace. We went in search of the stunning carvings in the trees.

Meredith's Tour Blog #5: Prince Rupert to Terrace

2009-10-26T15:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some shots of the drive from Rupert to Terrace. We have Amber reading, some gorgeous mountains and Jeff at the wheel.

Meredith's Tour Blog #4: Tara in Tech

2009-10-26T10:49:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of Tara in her tech run of Banger in Prince Rupert. She was rocking out hardcore!

Sir Ken Robinson talk

2009-10-26T09:19:00.000-07:00

In a discussion this past weekend with presenters from dance presenting networks across the country, this video came up:

Meredith's Tour Blog #3: Light & Metal in Prince Rupert

2009-10-22T17:22:00.000-07:00

We made it after a slightly bumpy plane ride and a ferry ride too. There's Jeff and Maria our fabulous tech crew on the way to the plane. And Marc and Jeff in the PR airport looking lost.

Meredith's Tour Blog #2: Kelowna Sandwich

2009-10-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

Well everyone, we are back from our first stop along the tour. In case you are curious about the title of this blog, it earned its name from Day titling this leg of the tour due to the fact that the night before we left for Kelowna we performed an excerpt of Surge at Dance in Vancouver and then a few hours after our arrival home we performed once again at Dance in Vancouver. It has been a whirlwind of a last three days but enough about the sandwich; let me tell you about Kelowna.

It is such a treat to get to travel around BC to some of the most beautiful parts without having to travel half way around the world. We all loved the less than one-hour flight to K-Town as some call it. Upon arrival I ended up in my bed for about a 3-hour nap, as did Amber (needless to say we were a little beat from our performance the night before) but Day took off to teach a workshop. She ended up teaching just two 9 year old boys who loved learning the knee slide and karate kick-like choreography from Surge and the boys even ended up sharing some of their hip hop moves with Day.

Steak dinners for some of us, vegetarian meals for others and we were pretty much all off to bed. We spent the next full day in the theater in tech mode. The Kelowna crew was fantastic and efficient and we were lit and looking good in no time.

Hours later all of a sudden its show time and we are pacing ourselves to be warm in time for our turn but are trying not to get too warm too soon, its something dancers always seem to struggle with timing perfectly.

Tara was a hit, as always. The best comment of the night in the post show chat came from an audience member who clearly related to the character in Banger. He raved about Tara's performance and the head banging that went along with Marc Stewart's brilliant guitar riffs. His excitement about Tara's piece made me realize that at the end of the day if your art makes that much of a difference in some one's life, even in just one persons life, than that is all that matters. That is completely why we do what we do.

The response to Surge from one audience member was that it made her want to take a modern dance class again which she hadn't done in about 5 years. Needless to say, inspiring someone to want to dance again made us feel pretty special. We also heard some feedback about how Surge and Banger matched each other well in a split bill, which thrilled Day and Tara. So in the end, we met some lovely art supporters in Kelowna, felt that our presence was appreciated and came home knowing more than before that what we do has an impact.

Meredith's Tour Blog #1: Tour Prep

2009-10-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

First off I wanted to say thank you to Joyce and Caroline for asking me to blog for the tour! I am so excited to share our experiences on the road.

Day, Amber and I have almost made it through week one of rehearsals. We are having a blast putting Surge together and are amazed at how much of the choreography has stayed in our bodies since it has been 2/3 years since we last danced the piece. I find it to be an incredibly rewarding experience to get to return to this work as I feel like my understanding of it is completely different 3 years later.

Surge is also an incredibly physically demanding piece. I have already gone through a bag of epson salts this week and Arnica cream is my savior at the moment. But despite the aches and pains, dancing in Surge makes me feel so alive that the sore muscles are all worth it.

I also heard that Tara is rocking it in rehearsals with Banger. I know its going to be a fantastic tour and we can't wait to hit the road next week and perform in some of the most beautiful parts of BC. Our first stop is Kelowna next Friday night and we are pumped!

Dancer on Tour - Meredith Kalaman!

2009-10-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

October is suddenly upon us, and Tara Cheyenne Performance and MovEnt are getting ready to hit the road with their MiBC touring program Light and Metal. We will be hearing more from Tara and Day, Light and Metal's choreographers, soon, but even sooner we will be hearing from Meredith Kalaman, a Vancouver-based independent dancer, teacher and choreographer who will be performing in MovEnt's piece Surge. Meredith has graciously agreed to keep us all in the touring loop via this blog, so keep checking in over the next few weeks to hear how the tour is going. Take it away, Meredith!

Photo by Melissa Skoda

Introducing the Amazing Eight

2009-09-25T10:18:00.000-07:00

Introducing Made in BC's network of Dance Outreach Coordinators!
This stellar team from around the province creates tailor-made dance outreach activities, such as workshops, residencies, talk-backs and other initiatives that fit the unique communities where they live. We’ll be hearing from them on this blog throughout the year, so we've asked each coordinator to send a photo and bio as an introduction!

Anna-Marie Carstens, Kitimat
"I took recreational ballet lessons as a child in South Africa, but I am not a dancer. I have always been passionate about dance as an art form and I enjoy sharing this passion with others as a dance outreach coordinator. I think it is very important that children should see and appreciate contemporary dance, therefore I try to create dance opportunities through workshops in local schools and the community. I feel strongly that dance should be a part of every child's education. A few workshops sponsored by Made in BC - Dance on Tour in order to promote contemporary dance even grew into a small "dance school" in Kitimat. When children want to see a dance performance, they bring their parents too and that is how we build audiences."

Miriam Colvin, Smithers
Miriam is an independent dance artist based out of Smithers, BC. She works to integrate dance in its many forms into community; collaborating to make meaningful art with dancers, visual artists, musicians and people who just love to move. Working as the MiBC Dance Outreach Coordinator has inspired her to scheme creatively to invite her community to engage with contemporary dance in new ways.

Margaret Gobie, Kelowna
Margaret received a BFA in performance from the University of Alberta, and quickly moved behind the scenes as a director and producer of live theatre. She has worked across the country and is an avid fan of theatre, dance and film. She currently works in Public Programs at the Rotary Centre for the Arts in Kelowna, programming the theatre, education and outreach aspects of the Centre.

Anna Haltrecht, Salt Spring Island (Photo by David Borrowman)
Anna has been dancing all her life and teaching dance and movement for over 35 years. She has been active with the Salt Spring dance community since her arrival on the island in 1986, and is always busy calling people's attention to Dance On Salt Sping including the many Made in BC events & the popular “Lobby Dancers”.

Jewel Jerstad, Prince Rupert
Jewel was born and raised in Prince Rupert and is actively involved with many aspects of the Arts community.

Cailea Lorette, Prince Rupert
Cailea Lorette has been involved in the Arts since she was 3 years old, as a performer and currently as a modern dance advocate. "I believe that deep down, everyone urns to be artistic and creative and its become my job to figure out how to tap into that."

Helene McGall, Courtenay
Helene McGall has been proud to work with MIBC since its inception. Working with the outstanding leadership of Deb Renz, Sid Williams Theatre Manager, the Comox Valley has hosted contemporary dance workshops, seminars, talk back sessions, open sessions, and developed a blog, not to mention ongoing local Shaw TV interviews and newspaper advertising.

Lisa McLeod, Terrace
Born and raised in Terrace, Lisa’s family was one of the first to settle the Skeena Valley town. Her love of the arts and dance has grown as her daughters have grown, dancing, singing and participating in Musical Theatre. Facilitating performance arts through community involvement has become a very rewarding and enriching part of her life.

Tripod in action

2009-09-18T13:32:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week, we posted a contribution from Lori Hamar, of triPOD dance collective, who is being presented at ArtSpring in Salt Spring Island on September 26th. Here are some shots of some rehearsals, as well as guerilla marketing to promote the event!

Rehearsing on Salt Spring (at Horel Ridge Studio) dancers Ron Stewart, Treena Stubel (foreground), Robbyn Scott, Jung-ah Chung (background)

Guerrilla marketing at the Salt Spring gay pride after-parade event, dancers Ron Stewart, Jung-ah Chung. Photo credit Michael Barnes.

Guerrilla marketing at Salt Spring Coffee Cafe, dancers Robbyn Scott, Treena Stubel, Jung-ah Chung, Ron Stewart, Lori Hamar and musicians Kelby MacNayr (drums) and Kate Richmond (vocals). Photo credit Michael Barnes.

Kim Cattrall stands up for BC arts

2009-09-16T16:30:00.000-07:00

Kim Cattrall was inducted to the Canadian Walk of Fame this week, and in her acceptance speech, she thanked BC arts funding for helping her get there. Thanks Kim!

Lori Hamar writes on Tripod's Pourtinade

2009-09-15T14:01:00.001-07:00

My name is Lori Hamar. I work with the triPOD dance collective where I live, in Victoria, BC.

We formed in 2003 when Rachel Anderson, Treena Stubel and myself came together to train and perform outside of studio classes. Our goal was to strengthen and evolve our independent work as well as invigorate the professional contemporary dance community as a whole. New dancers moved into the community and triPOD dance collective expanded to become a group of 15 dancers and musicians. We choose to work in the spirit of collaboration and improvisation, drawing upon each member’s expertise throughout our creative process. We also support each members independent work and strive to offer presentation opportunities for them.

We often collaborate with events and artists in our city on an improvisational basis. I grew up in a small northern town in Alberta called Lac La Biche. I began dancing when I was 17 and first trained at Grant MacEwan Community College in night classes with Brian Webb and Chick Snipper. I graduated from the full-time performance program in 1985 and studied for two years at LADDMI.

At the end of this month, we are presenting a program titled Six Mixed, as all of the six pieces are quite diverse and by different choreographers. I will tell you about my piece titled Pourtinade.

Pourtinade was first performed at the Victoria Symphony's New Currents Festival in 2007 at the MacPherson Playhouse in Victoria, BC. I was inspired to make it because I had a revelation about how we, as human beings, work hard to recreate those circumstances that are known to us as we grow up. In doing so, we can never really recreate them because life throws all sorts of unplanned possibilities in the way.

Pourtinade is about literally laying out those possibilities and dancing the outcome. The music, composed by Linda Bouchard (surprise!) is titled Pourtinade (more about that later!) and is made up of sections that can be arranged in any order for a performance. Justin McGrail, a resident poet/performance artist recites 4 of his original poems.

I built a board game titled Pourtinade and at the beginning of the dance piece, we play the game using dice to determine what the order of the 11 sections of music and 4 poems will be. A live camera feed suspended above the board allows the audience to follow the game's progress. The outcome of the game determines what order the dancers will improvise to the elements. They have a scored improvisation they follow, but they do not know what the accompaniment will be - akin to the curves and straight arrows life throws our way as we strive to recreate that which is known to us!

I really enjoy the work because it truly reflects the playfulness and sadness of what those unknown circumstances mean.

The title, Pourtinade, is a coincidence itself. Linda Bouchard wrote in her program notes that it came from a card her young French nephew, Martin, had sent to a friend of Linda's named Tina. The end of the card read "Pourtinade Martin". Tina did not understand this French word and called Linda for a translation. They discovered the young man's script caused them to unite the french phrase "pour tina de Martin". They laughed and Ms Bouchard made note that it was a beautiful word. When she was looking for a title for the work, she found Pourtinade to be entirely appropriate.

Six Mixed will be presented at the Artspring Centre on Sept. 26, 2009 at 8 pm. Please contact artspring.com for more information.

It will also be presented in the new year by Dance Victoria at the Metro Studio Feb. 2, 2010 at 8 pm. Please contact dancevictoria.com for more information.

Dance Centre Open House+ Dance Demo Camp

2009-09-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

This Saturday, September 19th, the Dance Centre is holding their annual open house. Amongst many classes and performances, many free to the public (including some choreography by yours truly at 2pm), you will also find a 1:30pm showing by Foolish Operations' Dance Demo Camp, an "unconference" for dancers organized by Julie Lebel and Made in BC dance outreach coordinator in Smithers, Miriam Colvin.

You're wondering what I mean by unconference, aren't you. I had the pleasure of participating the first time, it was interesting, productive and fun. Click on the link for a taste.

Number Nine

2009-09-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

As in, 09/09/09, the day of the Grey Rally in support of the Arts.
Photo courtesy Tim Matheson.

Don't Torch the Arts

2009-09-10T12:05:00.000-07:00

Alliance for Arts and Culture's Amir Ali Alibhai speaks at yesterday's Vancouver rally in support of arts and culture, and against government funding cuts.

From the British Columbia Dance Community

2009-09-08T12:34:00.000-07:00

The Dance Centre just released this statement from Executive Director Mirna Zagar....

British Columbia’s dance community, a vibrant part of our arts and culture sector, is being decimated by a government that is clearly contemptuous of one of the province’s most productive economic sectors.

Arts funding has and is being cut. Many people are losing jobs in a sector that produces significant increased revenue for the province. Despite what we are being told, the figures we have at present tell us that our sector will be cut by up to 92% by the end of this government’s mandate.

We are concerned that the government has not been transparent about its decisions, creating confusion and uncertainty. We demand that government provide clear information about their intentions.

We ask you to consider the ways that arts and culture touch your daily lives at home, in the streets, your children in schools, on TV, your music, on the internet, in videogames and in theatres. We ask you to think about culture as part of our individual and community identities, a way to connect with our origins with who we are today, and with what we care about.

Our world would be a gray place without our art and culture. Art is not a frill. Art matters. Please join us.

Culture Matters

2009-09-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

The BC Liberal government has made sudden and devastating cuts to arts funding in the province. 85-92% of core provincial funding for arts and culture will be cut by 2012, from both tax-based (BC Arts Council) and non-tax based (Gaming) streams.

What's devastating to us about this, aside from the loss of jobs for artists and cultural workers, is the loss of access to arts and cultural experiences for British Columbians. The grey square you see here has become a symbol for this world without arts and culture.

Tomorrow: Come join us at a silent rally in support of the arts

In Vancouver: 12 Noon at the Vancouver Art Gallery

In Victoria: 12 Noon Johnson & Blanshard Streets

For more advocacy details:
The Alliance for Arts and Culture
Facebook Group
A Case of Dance (PDF Document)

Some articles we've found useful:
In the Province:
Government is gambling with other people's money: Why the Liberals' gaming-grant shenanigans are everyone's business
In the Tyee:
Who Needs Art, Anyway?
Flex Your Muscles, BC Arts Community
On Plank:
BC arts cuts - gaming money evaporates effective immediately
The Rossland Telegraph:
Editorial: What the hell is going on here?

Most elected officials are people in our communities that are trying to do a good job and need to be reminded about what is important to us. Help us remind them!

Click here to find your MLA and their contact information.
Include Premier Campbell, Minister Krueger (Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts), Minister Coleman (Minister of Housing and Social Development) and Minister Herbert (opposition critic for Tourism, Culture and the Arts) in your correspondence.

Salt Spring Island Lobby Dancers have a new piece up!

2009-09-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

Anna Haltrecht, Salt Spring Island's MiBC dance outreach coordinator, writes about the Lobby Dancers' summer adventures with visiting artist Danny McCusker....

"It looked like my dream was about to come true – to have the Salt Spring Lobby Dancers perform on stage with a professional dance company. triPOD dance collective, from Victoria, is the first Made in BC sponsored dance company for the 09/10 ArtSpring season.

One of the community dancers, Robbyn Scott, is a member of triPOD. Robbyn and I organized a week long workshop with Danny McCusker (from Boston), to create a piece of choreography for dancers from both groups to be performed in the September 26 performance.

We began the creation process on Saturday, May 9. Danny gave us different sources to use for creating choreography in duets. As a community Lobby Dancer, it was fun to be paired with a triPOD professional dancer. At the end of the week we had created a 17 minute dance called “Keep Talking”, which we performed at an informal studio showing for friends and family. We were 10 dancers.

Throughout the summer Robbyn and I taught a weekly class where we also rehearsed the piece. Then we learned that triPOD could not have the piece be part of the September performance as their show was already very long. We were disappointed, but we asked the next Made in BC company, MovEnt and Tara Cheyenne if we could be their curtain raiser and they enthusiastically agreed. The bonus is we have more rehearsal time, the performance is November 5.

I will have to wait a little longer to have my original dream come true however what is important is the Salt Spring Lobby Dancers are dancing together and having a super time.

Project sponsored by Made in BC - Dance on Tour, ArtSpring, Salt Spring Coffee Company, Cats Pajamas Studio, Antler Ridge Studio.

And it's off to the printers we go!

2009-08-14T14:38:00.001-07:00

Check out our swanky promo for the Light & Metal tour!
(Designed by Ahmed Kahlil)

Dance Dance Revolution (FASHION Magazine, August 2009)

2009-08-10T10:40:00.001-07:00

Check out Paula Citron’s article, Dance Dance Revolution, in the August 2009 issue of FASHION Magazine (and here online as a slideshow), featuring 6 of the “hottest names” in Canadian contemporary dance. Two of the choreographers in the article are from BC, Crystal Pite (Kidd Pivot) & Wen Wei Wang (Wen Wei Dance), photographed by Alex Waterhouse-Hayward.

Solo 30x30

2009-07-24T12:23:00.000-07:00

We've got the windows open, it's hot and summery for my inaugural MiBC blog posting! Here's a dance I've been thinking about....

Still lingering in the downtown Vancouver sunshine is the dancing ghost of Montreal's Paul Andre Fortier, who recently brought his Solo 30x30 to the Dancing on the Edge Festival. Paul Andre danced a 30 minute solo, every day for 30 days, on the same street corner outside the downtown public library. As in other cities around the world where Paul Andre has performed this piece, passers by were treated to the elegant and playful presence of one of Canada's veteran choreographer/dancers, and a unique sense of community began to build.

I lost track of how many times I stopped by- the shows were free, and the ritual dance became part of my afternoon routine, even when I couldn't attend. During the first few weeks of the show I was also part of a choreographic workshop sponsored by the Dance Centre, with Paul Andre and rehearsal director Ginelle Chagnon as generous mentors. As I was trying to figure out my own choreographic puzzles in the studio, it was inspiring to see them return, again and again, to the same spot, at the same time, every day.

An echo remains in the space now that it's done. Check out Ginelle's daily account of this beautiful feat!

Photograph by : Steve Bosch, Vancouver Sun, via http://fortierdanse.blogspot.com/

Dance around the world

2009-06-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

(photo via this article at boston.com)

This photo is just a teaser of a larger photo essay of 39 images entitled Dance around the world. It was such a great Monday morning treat to open my email inbox and find this link from an old (and non-dance related) friend. Here is the opening paragraph of the article:

"We humans are natural dancers. Dances can be celebrations, or for praise, or for an audience - or just a simple act of letting the rhythm move your body. Dancers can communicate ideas, preserve cultural identities, strengthen social bonds, or just have a lot of fun. Collected here are recent photographs of us, human beings around the world, professional and amateur, in motion for all of the reasons above and more. "
-boston.com

E.D. postings - #001

2009-06-18T17:37:00.001-07:00

photo: International Dance Day 2007 in Smithers, BC

Well, here I am, the Executive Director, writing what will be the first ever post on the Made in BC blog. We here at the office (Caroline & I, that is) are at the very tail end of our Spring grant writing season, as well as the tail end of our fiscal year end... so really that means getting ready for final reports... audits... (no, no, don't fall asleep, I swear it gets better - read on!)

I'm sure that doesn't sound all that much fun to any of you who are reading this, but the flip side of grant writing and final reporting is the actual FUN part of what we do, program development; taking stock of our accomplishments from the past year, what we'd like to do differently and better; and putting it into action for next year.

So, this is it. In action. Really! I've been wanting to get a blog going for Made in BC over the past year... In fact, this blog has had a couple iterations, but as with many blogs that try and get off the ground, they've evaporated into cyberspace. There's a lot of reasons why I wanted to start a blog for Made in BC... imagine any one of these things:

following a dancer on tour throughout BC, an inside look to life on the road
reading about a young person's journey of pursuing a dance career
a hot debate about So You Think You Can Dance: does it help or hinder contemporary dance?

Sounds neat, doesn't it? Well, I think so, and I guess that's why I'm charge!

All this to say that we've got a great online project in the works; and just like the beginnings of this organization itself, we're starting small, and in manageable pieces. We hope to give you an insight to our operations, to give you an inside look at dance and touring and life around BC.

Please let us know what you think!