Western Canada’s richest dance prize for international collaboration, the Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects, is now accepting expressions of interest from dance artists, companies and collectives for 2023/24.
The Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects supports exceptional dance research and/or creation between a Western Canadian dance artist, collectives or companies and an international dance artist(s), interpreter, or choreographer. Dance Victoria will award $56,000 in the Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects category. The prize money may be allocated across multiple projects or can be awarded for a single project. Since 2010, Dance Victoria has awarded more than $475,000 through its annual Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects to support western Canadian dance artists collaborating with international artists.
Last year, Dance Victoria supported three recipients with $47,000 in commissioning support:
Julia Taffe of Aeriosa Dance Society in Vancouver received $22,000 to support site-specific vertical dance performances and public engagement activities with Croatian choreographer Marija Scekic of Histeria Nova Artistic Organization. Aeriosa is a vertical dance company that merges choreography, environment, and theatre with elements of rock climbing and contemporary performance art. Aeriosa’s new projects, partially funded through the CDP, will be performed in Croatia at the Histeria Nova’s Biennale of New Movement and in Canada at Aeriosa’s Vancouver International Vertical Dance Summit from 2023 to 2025, with dance artists from the United Kingdom, France, Greece, and Canada.
Shion Skye Carter from Vancouver received $15,000 towards the second creation phase of Threading Echoes, a performance embodying the Japanese craft of Shifu (cloth woven from washi paper). Themes of community, belonging, and connecting to ancestral knowledge intersect through gestural tableaus and shadows in the work. Carter collaborated with choreographer/performer Mayumi Lashbrook, and co-choreographer/dramaturg Ayumi Hamada in Ino, Japan. At the Kakishi-Seishi farm and artist residency, Carter and Lashbrook learned the process to grow the kozo plant, make it into washi paper, and twist the paper into kami-ito (paper thread) which is woven into Shifu. Carter hopes to carry the disappearing cultural craft of Shifu away from extinction and bring the art form forward for younger generations to experience in a contemporary context.
Amber Downie-Back from Victoria, a resident dance artist at both Impulse Theatre and Dance Victoria Studios, received $10,000 towards the project, ‘on the nature of…’ This interdisciplinary work explores themes of memory and nostalgia, while incorporating interactive and digital elements with dance performance and sound. Downie-Back collaborated with Emilie van der Waals, a Netherlands-based contemporary dancer and choreographer from Sint Maarten, and sound designer Angus Gaffney, to push movement and sound in collaborative contexts with other media such as digital and video art.
2023/24 Guidelines and Application Procedure
Please be sure to read the application procedure and guidelines before making your submission. The deadline for 2023/24 expressions of interest is 5:00pm Oct. 14, 2023.
History of the Chrystal Dance Prize
The prize is funded through an annual disbursement from the Chrystal Dance Fund held at the Victoria Foundation. Learn about Dr. Betty “Chrystal” Kleiman and past winners.