Each winter, Dance Victoria produces a free, ten-day community celebration of dance called Dance Days. We share free classes, workshops and studio showings at local dance studios, and present works-in-progress (Rough Cuts) by some of the west coast’s hottest dance artists and choreographers at DV Studios. As a longstanding community collaboration, Dance Days engages the community in diverse and accessible dance forms, while advancing Dance Victoria’s mandate to promote dance appreciation.
“We participated in your Dance Days Victoria… and it was a great success. We got several new members through the opportunity. Thank you for hosting!!”
Vancouver Island Scottish Country Dance Society (VISCDS)
Free Classes
January 13-22
Local studios are offering an array of free adult dance classes in all kinds of styles all over town. Have you ever wanted to try modern dance, ballet, flamenco, ballroom, dance roller skating and more? Well, get out your dancing shoes! Now, is your chance – for free!
Rough Cuts
Sunday January 22
@ Dance Victoria Studios
One of the highlights during Dance Days is the opportunity to see new works-in-progress (aka Rough Cuts) by some of the west coast’s hottest dance artists and choreographers. All performances are followed by informal discussions where the artists answer your questions about the work that they’re creating. Rough Cuts performances are free and accessible to the public, with a suggested donation of $10. Read full artist biographies here.
Mouth to Mouth
2:00 pm Sunday, January 22
Choreographers: Luciana Freire D’Anunciação & Kelly McInnes
A work-in-progress duet celebrating our animality, sensuality, biological cycles and interdependence with all living beings. Inspired by symbiosis, interspecies kinship and reciprocal ecology, the duo unfolds through ongoing encounters and evolutions; becoming other; becoming-with.
New Work
3:30 pm Sunday, January 22
Choreographers & Performers: Visible Bodies Collective
Visible Bodies Collective, founded by Lindsay Delaronde (Kanienkehaka) and co-founders Cheryl Henhawke (Kanienkehaha, Seneca), Elowynn Rose (Metis), and Nicole Mandryk (Anishinaabe, Ukrainian), is an inter-cultural, inter-generational group of BIPOC artists and dancers, who come from many nations and places across Turtle Island. Their core value is creating safe spaces for Indigenous women to research, create, and perform. They will share a new work that weaves story and rhythm to heal past, present and future, and to orate their experiences.
Bearing Witness
5:00 pm Sunday, January 22
Choreographer: Kemi Craig
Bearing Witness uses choreography, improvisational dance, sensory responsive technology, and audience engagement to amplify the connection between spectatorship and performativity. During her Dance Victoria residency, Kemi Craig collaborated with multimedia artist/entrepreneur Justin Love to learn coding electronics which respond to movement and sound, and these technologies inform her work.
Bygones
January 13, 2023
@ McPherson Playhouse
Out Innerspace Dance Theatre kicks off Dance Days with Bygones.
Bygones is a gem of dance theatre with full production value: compelling choreography; inventive lighting; and imaginative props that create magical illusions.
