News
Three-Year Study, the Longest of Its Kind, Shows the Positive Effects That Dancing Has on Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms
For three years, 16 participants with the disease took part in weekly 75-minute dance classes. When compared to a control group, those who danced saw no progression in their motor or non-motor symptoms.
Posted July 23, 2021
The World’s First Indigenous Fringe Festival Opens This Summer
Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., is welcoming the world’s first Indigenous fringe festival. Nogojiwanong Indigenous Fringe Festival (June 21-27) boasts six Indigenous arts companies and a total of 18 drive-in performances. It opens tonight at 6 p.m. ET on Facebook Live.
Posted June 21, 2021
Dena Davida Inducted as a Member of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec
Dena Davida, Montreal-based dance artist, teacher, researcher and curator, has been inducted as a member of the Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec. Among her many contributions, Davida is renowned for co-founding and leading Tangente, the first dedicated venue for presenting contemporary dance in Quebec, from 1980 to 2019.
Posted June 18, 2021
Andrea Vagianos Wins Dora Ancillary Award for Outstanding Leadership in Administration
Vagianos’s award highlights the work of a senior arts administrator with more than 10 years of experience. The award also points to the critical work of operational managers and directors that kept their organizations afloat during the pandemic.
Posted June 16, 2021
Vivine Scarlett, Founder of dance Immersion, Receives the 2021 Muriel Sherrin Award
Vivine Scarlett, founder and executive director of dance Immersion, was awarded the 2021 Muriel Sherrin award for her work since founding the organization more than 25 years ago, providing dancers of the African diaspora with a variety of platforms and support, both in Canada and abroad.
Posted May 18, 2021
Canadian Teenager Wins New Prize at Prestigious Prix de Lausanne
Maya Smallwood was with her roommate at Canada’s National Ballet School when she heard the news: she won the Prix de Lausanne’s inaugural Young Creation Award.
Posted March 3, 2021
Remembering Pierre-Paul Savoie, Founding Artistic Director of PPS Danse
Pierre-Paul Savoie was a pro. Nimble in mind and body, feisty and funny. I knew him initially (now more than 35 years ago) – when I was a budding dance writer and he was a student in Concordia University’s dance program.
Posted March 2, 2021
Dorotea Saykaly Receives the First Emily Molnar Emerging Choreographer Award at Ballet BC
While some may associate the term ‘emerging’ with ‘new’ or ‘novice’, Saykaly likes it for its evocation of continuous learning.
Posted February 16, 2021
Made in BC Celebrates 15 Years With an Interactive Virtual History
The website shows dance hoops, a sweatshirt, a soup can and a hodgepodge of other items tumbling from the trunk of a hatchback on a B.C. highway. Click on any one of them and you’ll be whisked into a story about a dance artist who has toured the province through Made in BC – Dance on Tour or one of the community programs it has supported.
Posted February 3, 2021
Margaret Grenier Wins Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts
For the first time since it was established in 2001, the Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in the Performing Arts has been awarded to an Indigenous artist.
Posted December 18, 2020
Patricia Beatty, Co-Founder of Toronto Dance Theatre, Remembered as a ‘Warrior Queen’
Patricia Beatty was a multi-faceted artist: a choreographer, a dancer, a teacher, a poet. She was a true pioneer – one of the most influential figures of modern dance in Canada. She’s best known as co-founder of Toronto Dance Theatre, along with David Earle and Peter Randazzo. Her death at age 84 marked decades of choreography, teaching and writing that inspired thousands of young dancers.
Posted December 16, 2020
Dancemakers, One of Toronto’s Oldest Dance Companies, Is Closing After 46 Years
After 46 years in operation, one of Toronto’s oldest dance companies has announced its closure. Dancemakers will officially end all activities in July 2021, following a final season of programming.
Posted November 24, 2020
Rhodnie Désir Becomes the First Black Person to Win Top Prize at Les Prix de la Danse de Montréal
On Nov. 9, the Prix de la Danse de Montréal announced this year’s nine winners. The top winner is choreographer Rhodnie Désir who was awarded the $25,000 Grand Prix. She is now the first Black person to win this award.
Posted November 23, 2020
Dance Studios Are Allowed to Open, Now What?
Following a successful petition to reopen dance studios, epidemiologist Colin Furness offers advice to studios on best practices for COVID-19 safety.
Posted November 3, 2020
Sandra Laronde Receives the 2020 Celebration of Cultural Life Award
Presented every two years as part of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Signature Awards, the Celebration of Cultural Life Award recognizes excellence in three Toronto individuals whose work is a celebration of life through the arts.
Posted October 28, 2020
Which Election Issues Are Top of Mind for BC Artists?
As British Columbians head to the polls tomorrow, many artists across the province are looking for more support as they experience job losses and instability further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Posted October 23, 2020
That's a Wrap I
Dancefilm, as an art form, is by no means a new medium, but after theatres were shut down and choreographers and dancers found themselves without a stage, an impressive amount of dancefilms were produced.
Posted October 14, 2020
Video of Tene Ward of The National Ballet of Canada trying on pointe shoes that match her skin tone goes viral
“There’s certain traditions like pink shoes that just don’t work for the twenty-first century anymore, given the fact that the people that are included in the ballet world now aren’t just white,” Ward said.
Posted October 5, 2020
Fall For Dance North Offers a Netflix-Style Festival
Like many other events, the sixth edition of the dance festival Fall For Dance North (FFDN) began online on Tuesday. But this festival is hosted on a new, Netflix-style website that features an array of performances, interviews and workshops.
Posted October 2, 2020
York University Students Write Open Letter to Dance Department About Issues of Social Justice, Equity and Inclusion
On August 26, students from the dance department at York University posted an open letter to the department, urging it to move past shallow actions and re-evaluate the curriculum considering how white supremacy and colonialism are deeply embedded in pedagogy.
Posted September 1, 2020
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