Features
Down the TikTok Rabbit Hole
TikTok offers people a way to move while isolated during COVID-19, but the popular app also comes with concerns By Emily LatimerAs a platform, TikTok is home to viral dances that are available to all users. The accessibility and sense of accomplishment from mastering the moves have people flocking to the app. But while there’s joy to be found, especially during COVID-19, there are also problems lurking beneath the surface.
Posted May 28, 2020
Talking about Whacking/Waacking with Ashley “Colours” Perez
By Emma DoranAshley Perez speaks on the origins of Whacking/Waacking
Posted May 1, 2020
Dance Interventions
Talking with two teachers who work with Parkinson’s patients By Tessa Perkins DeneaultTessa Perkins Deneault speaks with Megan Walker Straight and Trina Frometa, two Dance for Parkinson’s Disease (Dance for PD) instructors, about the power of dance in alleviating symptoms, inspiring joy and providing hope.
Posted April 17, 2020
Do You Call Yourself a "Dancer"?
Artists from across the country share whether they call themselves dancersFor many performers and movers, calling themselves dancers is a personal decision based on disciplinary, financial and emotional factors. The Dance Current asked artists from across the country why or why not they relate the title.
Posted February 5, 2020
Political Bodies
Dance and/as Protest By Elan Marchinko, Rodney DiverlusPublic protest on the land now called Canada often disrupts the rhythms of everyday life. Dance, when used in and as protest, entails the work of remembrance and caring for difficult histories, memories and stories. Elan Marchinko explores four performative works that engage in protest: The Holomodor Project, Meridian, Bearing and Blackout. Included are Rodney Diverlus’s choreographer’s notes.
Posted November 20, 2019
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, 2019
Fearless Physicality
Athleticism in Toronto’s professional wrestling scene By Deanne KearneyProfessional wrestlers are athletes, performers, actors, dancers, gymnasts and comedians, and their sport has more in common with a ballet than with an episode of reality TV. Take a deeper look at the astonishing athleticism and theatricality within the world of pro wrestling.
Posted July 5, 2019
Myth-Busting
The Dance Current asked artists to share the misconceptions and assumptions surrounding the style(s) and genre(s) they work in and what they wish people knew about their practice.
Posted May 9, 2019
Beginnings are Everywhere
Reflections on the Coastal First Nations Dance Festival By Jane GabrielsJoin Jane Gabriels on her journey to the 2018 Coastal First Nations Dance Festival (CFNDF). Responding to the experience from a place of accompaniment, Gabriels pivots from viewer to witness.
Posted February 5, 2019
Collective Copyright
Navigating authorship within contemporary dance By Lee SlingerAs dance artists navigate projects and performances, they encounter differing ideas of authorship. The evolving relationship between artists and digital media sharing have also shaped how these concepts are understood. Slinger spoke with several contemporary dance artists about their understandings of ownership, authorship and the role of intellectual property in their art-making processes. Slinger also weighs in with Carys Craig, a scholar of intellectual property, who argues that the legal system imposes binaries, such as choreographer/performer or work/performance, on creative work that do not speak to how dance is created, performed and shared.
Posted November 30, 2018
Caribana is Our Stage
Embodying tradition, ritual and art in Canadian Carnival By Kevin A. OrmsbyThemes of becoming, shaping from and returning to are central to Caribbean performance arts. As one of these art forms, Carnival is a nuanced performance art practice rooted in the cultural memory of the lives of Caribbean peoples throughout Canada and the diaspora. But whose story is told (or not told) and in what context? The telling or omission of stories can be traced to a lack of understanding of the complexity of the Caribbean and its Carnival – a performance tradition that is more than the mass commodification, sexuality and “loud music” we often associate it with.
Posted September 27, 2018
Where Are All the Women?
In an industry where women outnumber men, ballet still has a long way to go to achieve gender equality By Tessa Perkins DeneaultIn an industry where women outnumber men, ballet still has a long way to go to achieve gender equality. Take a look into the state of gender parity and representation in Canadian ballet.
Posted March 30, 2018
Decolonizing Dance Stages
Presenters talk about breaking barriers By Rhodnie DésirThis year in Canada, the conversation about diversity, inclusion and representation has been omnipresent. I’m profoundly happy that more presenters, curators and jurors have brought these words into their vocabulary. But I question what they’re really referring to. Do we all really feel and understand the urgency? More precisely, when asking, “What does the word diversity really mean?” the answers from the dance milieu are often incomplete, reflecting a lack of comprehension of the issues at stake.
Posted January 18, 2018
The Politics of Dance
The current moment of arts advocacy at the federal level By Kate CornellTen years ago, in the Summer 2007 issue, Shannon Litzenberger, then executive director of the Canadian Dance Assembly, wrote a column about the dance community and the federal government, “Coping with the Conservatives: CDA reflects on a year of cultural policy under Canada’s new government.” The Dance Current asked current executive director Kate Cornell to comment on the changes over the past decade and the relationship with the Trudeau Liberal government.
Posted November 7, 2017
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