Contributor
Grace Wells-Smith (she/her) is a Toronto-based journalist, dance artist and teacher. She is currently completing the Master of Journalism program at Ryerson University. Soon after graduating from York University with a BFA in Dance Performance and Choreography, she began an internship with The Dance Current and subsequently completed the Emerging Dance Critics Programme run in partnership with The National Ballet of Canada. She has also completed an internship with the CBC’s investigative unit. In addition to The Dance Current, her work has been published by CBC, Intermission and the Ryerson Review of Journalism. She has produced two dance films: Our Place in the Wasteland (2016, New Blue Dance) and Glitch (2017, Mile Zero Dance, New Blue Dance, dance : made in canada/fait au canada).
Grace was an intern with The Dance Current from June 2015 to December 2016.
Grace Wells-Smith's Work
Santee Smith Wins Inaugural Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize
Smith wins one of the five $25,000 prizes
Posted December 17, 2019Backstage
A New Realm By Grace Wells-Smith Volume 23, Issue 1Unikkaaqtuat is a multimedia performance that follows the story of an Inuit boy who was medevacked to a southern hospital and displaced from his community. It was created by Taqqut Productions, an Inuit-owned film production company, Les 7 Doigts (The 7 Fingers), a Montréal-based contemporary circus company, and Artcirq, an Igloolik, Nunavut-based circus performance collective.
Fifty Years of Swan Lake
Karen Kain to retire as artistic director of The National Ballet of Canada
Posted November 14, 2019
Time to Exhale
After twenty-four years, Greta Hodgkinson will be retiring from her role as a principal dancer with The National Ballet of Canada.
Posted October 30, 2019A Tiny Partner
By Grace Wells-Smith Volume 22, Issue 6What is it like to dance before, during and after pregnancy? Angela Miracle Gladue and Jillian Peever met with Grace Wells-Smith to discuss their experiences navigating physical changes while continuing to dance professionally.
All that Glitters...
How do studios decide to compete? By Grace Wells-SmithDance competitions in Canada are becoming more and more popular, but what values are associated with this world? Grace Wells-Smith sat down with Jennalee Desjardins and Sean Boutilier, who initially appear to be on opposing sides of this debate.
Posted September 14, 2019If the corps had a leader...
By Grace Wells-Smith Volume 22, Issue 4Andreea Olteanu has been a corps member at The National Ballet of Canada for twenty years, since she was eighteen. On the eve of her retirement, after this 2018/19 season, Olteanu spoke with Grace Wells-Smith about her twenty-year career with the company.
On the Ground
Closing Act
By Grace Wells-SmithThe Dance Current caught up with Xiao Nan Yu on the eve of her retirement from her tenure at the National Ballet of Canada.
Posted June 10, 2019
On the Ground
Heading South
By Grace Wells-SmithWorking in the United States requires patience, planning and help.
Posted May 23, 2019
CADA/West Pilots a Childcare Costs Initiative
The Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/West Chapter (CADA/West) has announced a new Childcare Subsidy Pilot Program to help dancers offset childcare costs.
Posted April 24, 2019
