January 24 – February 2, 2025
Each winter, Dance Victoria invites the community to join in the celebration of dance with Dance Days, a 10-day festival of free dance classes, performances, and events in partnership with local dance studios and artists. As a longstanding community collaboration, Dance Days aims to engage the public in diverse and accessible dance forms and promotes dance appreciation, joyful movement, and connection.
As part of Dance Days, Dance Victoria will open its Quadra Village studios to the public on Sunday, January 26 to experience a curated selection of works-in-progress (Rough Cuts) featuring regional dance artists and choreographers including Belle Spirale Dance Projects, Cristina Bucci, Kemi Craig, and Vitor Freitas. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to experience, on a more intimate level, the creation process of dance artists from across the region, ranging from emerging to established! RSVP lists open on January 10, 2025.
Dance Days Sponsor:
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 24 – February 2
All over town, participating studios are offering an array of free dance classes in various styles open to all adults. This is your chance to try new ways of moving your body from modern dance, to flamenco, to heels, hip hop, ballroom, ballet, and more! There is so much to choose from, and something for everyone. Bring a friend, enjoy this free offering, and start 2025 with a pep in your step.
Dancers of Damelahamid
Raven Mother
Friday, January 24
7:30 pm
McPherson Playhouse
Dance Days Kick-off
Saturday, January 25
2:00 – 3:00 pm Waacking Workshop
3:00 – 4:00 pm Reception
Hosted by Dance Days Sponsor, Tapestry at Victoria Harbour.
Rough Cuts @ DV Studios
Sunday, January 26
One of the highlights during Dance Days is the opportunity to see new works-in-progress (a.k.a. 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 donation suggested.
Excerpt of Universus
2:00 pm Sunday, January 26
Belle Spirale Dance Projects
Choreographers: Alexis Fletcher & Fernando Hernando Magadan
Photo: Artists of Belle Spirale by Sylvan Senez
Learn more about this residency artist here.
RSVP list is now full.
Worlds are born and worlds collide in this double-bill of new work. Internationally celebrated choreographer Fernando Hernando Magadan (Ballet BC, NDT, BODYTRAFFIC) and Belle Spirale Directors Alexis Fletcher & Sylvain Senez (assemble, All my being is a dark verse, The Dance Deck) reach for questions of cosmic significance: Is connection to earth achievable on a chaotically changing planet? Will human resilience be enough for our uncertain future? Using the body as an emblem of resiliency and togetherness, eight powerful dancers explore how sharing art can awaken the individual’s sense of purpose, imagination, agency, and sense of hope.
Excerpt of Sisu
3:30 pm Sunday, January 26
Choreographer: Cristina Bucci
Photo: Cristina Bucci by Abhishek Joshi
Learn more about this residency artist here.
RSVP now.
Sisu, a Finnish word that deeply resonates with Cristina Bucci’s personal journey, is the driving force behind her inaugural solo work. This piece, which she both choreographs and performs, powerfully expresses her inner reserves of power, courage, determination, and strength of will. Sisu’s creation began in July 2023 through a residency at BC Movement Arts Society on Malcolm Island. Bucci is the co-founder of the Vancouver-based Ouro Collective.
Autocorrect
5:00 pm Sunday, January 26
Director: Kemi Craig
Choreographer: Vitor Freitas
Photos: Vitor Freitas, provided by artist; Kemi Craig by Cedar Coast Photography
RSVP now.Autocorrect is a body of choreographies performed by local dancers Vitor Freitas, Kennadie Friedlander, Luduvine, Elvis Eze and Lee Ingram with improvised and live accompaniment from cellist Jane and singer-songwriter Zoe-Blue Coates. Their choreographies draw from habitual movements submitted by the public during Kemi Craig’s tenure as City of Victoria artist-in-residence. This collection of daily gestures reflects how we adjust, adapt, accommodate, strive for perfection, and navigate the desire for safety. The work highlights the tension between the constant influx of societal norms and expectations, which shift suddenly and rapidly, and the ritualization of correction.