Dance Victoria (DV) announces support for nine B.C.-based artists- and collectives-in-residence through its annual Artist Residency program. Successful applicants were selected from a request for proposals and will create new work in DV’s Quadra Village studios during the 2024/25 season.
This year, the Artist Residency program received a record number of applications, with 39 proposals representing dance artists ranging from emerging to established. “In response to important conversations with the local dance community, our selection this year prioritized the talented artists creating work in Victoria, and on Vancouver Island,” shares Executive Director Gillian Jones. “Non-local artists were chosen using a lens of anticipated impact and connection locally. Our team is incredibly excited to share these artists’ work during the 2024/25 season, through work-in-progress showings (“Rough Cuts”), public masterclasses, and other engagement opportunities.”
Dance Victoria’s mandate is to enhance the appreciation of dance by presenting and developing excellent professional dance; to support emerging dance artists and choreographers; and to engage the community in the celebration of dance. The Artist Residency program provides access to studio space, mentorship, the opportunity to network with dance artists from across the region, and a direct financial contribution. Participating choreographers are supported as they develop their artistic visions through research and exploration, creation, outreach, and performance.
Dance Victoria’s 2024/25 Residency Artists are:
Belle Spirale Dance Projects, a 2023/24 Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects winner, is developing a new double bill exploring the environmental crisis through the lens of artistic expression with dance, live spoken word, and multimedia. Choreographed by Alexis Fletcher (she/her), Sylvain Senez (he/him), and Fernando Hernando Magadan, the work features a virtuosic 8-dancer ensemble and delves into interconnectivity, cross-cultural exchange, and our collective future.
Cristina Bucci, co-founder of the Vancouver-based Ouro Collective, will continue crafting her inaugural solo work Sisu inspired by her personal life journey. This piece, which she both choreographs and performs, expresses her inner reserves of power, courage, determination, and strength of will in the face of adversity.
Amber Downie-Back (she/they) will refine on the nature of… in collaboration with Emily van der Waals and Angus Gaffney (he/him). This interdisciplinary dance performance and installation work, which was awarded the Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects in 2022/23,explores themes of memory and nostalgia. It incorporates interactive elements and immersive sensory experiences for audience members and performers alike.
Embrace: Performance is a multidisciplinary company focused on collaboratively developing new work with teams of neurodivergent, chronically ill, disabled, and non-disabled artists. The group is in the early development phase of a new screendance work titled Phenomena. The piece explores different forms of light in nature through contemporary dance theatre. It is a celebration of the diversity and ephemerality of both light and community.
Stacey Horton (she/her) will collaborate with sound composer David Parfit on Framed, an immersive dance and sound experience that mirrors the ever-evolving relationship between self and environment. This site-specific work invites the audience to experience a unique transformation of space through immersive dance performance, responsive lighting, and interactive musicscapes.
Kay Huang (she/her) will develop 安/Peace, a personal exploration centred on immigration, migration, social identity, and social justice, shared through the lens of her mother and herself. The work will interweave her mother’s migration story from Guangzhou to Hong Kong in the 1950s with the artist’s own immigration story from Hong Kong to Vancouver in 1975.
Impulse Theatre will expand the piece the soft spaces, an invitation into those spaces that lay in-between in which creator Andrew Barrett (he/him) revisits his queer and rural upbringing on Salt Spring Island. Using theatrical conventions, contemporary dance, and embodiment, Barrett leads audiences on a journey to forest floors, rocky coastlines, and, perhaps, the ecosystems they grew up in.
Noble Riot Dance Theatre will enter the first phase of creation of The Cledon, a multidisciplinary piece that blurs the boundaries between theatre, live music, and contemporary dance. Featuring handmade costumes and intricate projections, this abstract performance art will be unique in the dance and live music spheres. The project represents diverse communities by engaging artists who are BIPoC, disabled, and 2SLGBTQIA+.
Visible Bodies Collective will continue exploring various genres of dance, including pole, contemporary dance, and embodiment facilitation. The collective has built three programs for its members: Reclaiming the Sensual Body with Linley Faulkner; Dance Peace on This Bleeding Earth, an embodiment curriculum designed and facilitated by Lindsay Delaronde and co- facilitated by Kathy Lang; and community circles and drop-in sessions to discuss topics like governance, creative practice, artistic alliances, partnerships, and creative projects.
Dance Victoria’s Artist Residency program is generously supported by Victoria Foundation’s Community Grants program, RBC Foundation – Emerging Artists, and Canada Council for the Arts; with individual underwriting support from Helen McDonald, Patricia Pitts, and an anonymous donor.
About Dance Victoria
Dance Victoria brings the World’s Best Dance to the Royal Theatre and supports the development of new dance for the international stage from our studios in Quadra Village. Dance Victoria is a non-profit charitable society with the mission to cultivate a connection to dance by presenting and supporting diverse local, national, and international artists, and inspiring all communities through the magic of dance. Our vision is that everyone in Greater Victoria can experience the transformative power of world-class dance. DanceVictoria.com
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Anne-Sophie Cournoyer
Marketing Manager, Dance Victoria
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250-595-1829