The 29th Annual Dancing on the Edge Festival will push frontiers of contemporary dance, featuring over twenty-five innovative choreographers and involving over eighty dance artists. Vancouver will host a convergence of Canada’s best dance artists and choreographers, as well as two special performances.
To open up The Edge with Oath-Midnight Rain from the leading professional modern dance company in China, Beijing Modern Dance Company (BMDC). Oath-Midnight Rain explores Buddhist Samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth and the luminal moment between night and day, between black and white, between ending and beginning. Montreal -based company Helen Simard will close the Festival with their performance of NO FUN, a rockstravaganza and interdisciplinary dance piece based on the music and movement of legendary punk icon Iggy Pop.
Dancing on the Edge Festival
- When: July 6 to July 15, 2017
- Tickets & Passes: Available online now or by calling (604) 689-0926
$28/26/24 (regular/student, senior/member)
4 show passes ($85); 6 Show Passes ($120)
- Venues: Firehall Arts Centre, Stanley Park, KW Production Studio (Woodward’s Heritage Building), Roundhouse – Turntable Plaza, and Djavad Mowafaghian World Art Centre, Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (SFU Woodward’s).
The 2017 Dancing on the Edge celebrates dance pioneers and risk-takers. Edge highlights include seven mixed programs, as well as new works showcasing some of Vancouver’s finest choreographers.
The Edge is presenting special events including EDGE Films: Best of F-O-R-M – a screening of selected international, Canadian and local films from the Festival of Recorded Movement; and two Dance Dialogue Sessions; Traditional Dance Meets Contemporary Movement. Join choreographers Natasha Bakht, Yvonne Ng , Olivia C. Davies and others as they discuss connections that contemporary dance in Canada is making with more formal traditional dance forms. Festival Director Donna Spencer will also lead What is Dance Dramaturgy?, a discussion about how dance dramaturgy can serve and/or confuse the creation of a new work.
Win Tickets to NO FUN
I have a pair of tickets to give away to the closing performance: NO FUN! For 50 minutes, three dancers and four musicians hit you full force with a giant wall of movement and sound. It’s on stage at the Firehall Arts Centre July 14 at 9:00pm & July 15 at 9:00pm.
Photo credit: Frederic Chais
Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Click below to post an entry on Twitter
[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win tickets to NO FUN at @DOTEFestival #DOTE17 #HelenSimard http://ow.ly/qCo430cKJC6″ quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
Follow the Dancing on the Edge Festival on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, June 27, 2017. The winner will get tickets for the performance on July 14th at 9:00pm.
Update The winner is Adam!
The Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards (“The Jessies”, “The Jessie Awards”) will be handed out in a live ceremony on Monday, June 26, 2017 at the Commodore in Downtown Vancouver. Celebrating a year of talented performances on all stage sizes and behind the scenes, it’s an evening where Vancouver’s artistic community all shines (and parties) together.
35th Annual Jessie Richardson Theatre Awards and Party
When: Monday, June 26, 2017 doors open at 5:30pm, ceremony at 6:30pm
Where: Commodore Ballroom (868 Granville Street, Vancouver)
Tickets: Available online now for $29.50 plus service charges.
There were many diverse productions this past year, in various venues, that demonstrated the creativity, imagination, and skill of the extremely talented group of artists who bring their vision to life on the stage. The dynamic works add to the cultural richness and vibrancy not only to Vancouver and its residents, but also to the province and beyond.
The Jessie Awards are divided into three categories: Large Theatre, Small Theatre, and Theatre for Young Audiences along with other special awards. Here are some of the highlights of the nominations:
The Arts Club Theatre Company received the most nominations in the Large Theatre category. The company had 8 productions nominated earning a total of 24 individual nominations. Of the 8 productions, Angels in America: Millennium Approaches led the way with a total of 9 nominations that include Outstanding Production.
Other noted productions include The Piano Teacher, Men in White and The Flick. The inventive production of Pericles, by Bard on the Beach, has 8 nods.
The Small Theatre Category was extremely prolific with a total of 20 theatre companies and 21 productions nominated. There are three companies whose works each received 6 nominations; they include Walt Whitman’s Secret by the frank theatre company, Green Lake by Solo Collective and Redpatch by Hardline Productions.
Under the Theatre for Young Audiences Category, The Little Onion Puppet Company garnered the most nominations with a total of 5 for their production of Freddie in the Neighbourhood that includes Outstanding Production. Leading in total nominations is Carousel Theatre for Young People receiving a total of 7 nods for 3 productions. View the full list of nominees here »
Additional Awards and Prizes
If you’re looking to honour the past and celebrate the future of Vancouver theatre, pay close attention to these special additional awards and prizes that are handed out the The Jessies. Their namesakes, and recipients, have amazing stories.
The list includes: the Vancouver Now Representation and Inclusion Award the Patron of the Arts Award, the Mary Phillips Prize, the Ray Michal Prize for Emerging Director, the Sam Payne Award for the Most Promising Newcomer, the John Moffat & Larry Lillo Award, the Georgia Straight Critics’ Choice Innovation Award, and the GVPTA Career Achievement Award.
Holding Space Production is producing the event again this year, creating a fun and swiftly moving event. Follow the Jessie Awards on Facebook and Twitter for more information about this event and Vancouver’s theatre scene throughout the year.
There’s a proposal in the works to transform another one of Vancouver’s alleys into an interactive art installation. On the heels of Alley-Oop, which was reimagined into a vibrant pink and yellow park by More Awesome Now, the next project is the alley behind the Orpheum Theatre, located off Granville Street.
Ackery’s Alley
Ivan Ackery and Marilyn Monroe.
1953. VPL Number: 59307.
The alley is named after Ivan Ackery already, who was the Orpheum Theatre’s manager between 1935 and 1969.
Vancouver historian Chuck Davis once wrote that Ackery was the single most important person in the Orpheum’s history, and an integral part of Vancouver’s entertainment scene for 3 decades.
All of the legendary tales you hear about the Orpheum – from the Canadian premiere of Gone with the Wind to live shows featuring Ella Fitzgerald, George Burns, Jack Benny, Duke Ellington, and Louis Armstrong were all during Ackery’s time.
New Kickstarter Campaign for FIELD in Ackery’s Alley
More Awesome Now is asking for the public’s help to support a Kickstarter campaign to raise the $35K needed to secure FIELD, an interactive public art installation by renowned international artist, Alex Beim.
Once transformed, Ackery’s Alley will be a space for public art and performance, with FIELD at its centre. The installation’s field of sensors and lights will detect the presence of a person, changing colours and emitting sounds in reaction to movement. FIELD will work like a large musical and light instrument that creates a unique composition every time someone moves through it.
FIELD will be the focal point but the collective is also aiming to create a space where public performances, activations, and other art installations can happen. They’ll be dressing up the alley with red velvet paint, artful signage, gold paneling, reflective metals, vertical projection walls, and a 10-foot diameter white inflatable beacon orb. Once complete, the alley will be a public space for experimentation and social connection.
More Awesome Now hopes that the concept of reimagined alleyways takes on a life of its own, so that one day Vancouver and other cities around the world have a connected system of colourful alleys that are places of human connection. The Kickstarter page will be live for thirty days, ending on the 12th of July. Ackery’s Alley and FIELD will be completed and ready for the public to enjoy by the end of summer.
The More Awesome Now collective consists of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), HCMA Architecture + Design, in partnership with Vancouver Civic Theatres and the City of Vancouver’s VIVA Vancouver program.
Moving into its second year, Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland is expanding Big Yoga for Big Sisters yogathon to three events, in three communities, on three different dates this summer. Open to all ages and all levels, Big Yoga for Big Sisters will include a variety of yoga styles and classes.
Big Yoga for Big Sisters
Photo ©Patrick McMullan
When: Sign up to participate in the yogathon on July 8, 2017 in North Vancouver; August 12, 2017 in New Westminster; or in Vancouver on September 9, 2017.
How it Works: Participants have the option to sign up as an individual, start their own team, or join a pre-existing team. They can also choose the full, six-hour yogathon or the three-hour half-yogathon, depending on how into yoga they are.
Participants are asked to raise a minimum of $100 to support vulnerable girls in the Lower Mainland. Proceeds will go towards supporting Big Sisters BCLM’s three mentorship programs that help girls gain the skills, tools, and confidence they need to grow into their full potential as adults.
Hoping to attract hundreds of people, registration is quickly filling up and can be done through the Big Sisters BCLM website. Upon registering, participants are welcome to start their own team of up to 10 people, sign up with a pre-existing team, or as an individual to be placed on a team; after all, making good matches is what Big Sisters BCLM does best!
About Big Sisters
Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland provides supportive mentoring relationships to young girls who may be facing challenges like bullying, isolation, poverty, abuse, social anxiety, low self-esteem and more. Research shows that mentoring has a powerful impact on the lives of young girls. We know that 96 percent of adults who had a mentor as a child say they are happy and 92 percent feel confident.
Since 1960, Big Sisters BCLM has been changing the course of young girls’ lives. Our experienced caseworkers carefully match Little Sisters with female adult mentors who help them reach their full potential, avoid risky behaviour and make healthy choices.
Follow Big Sisters of BC Lower Mainland on Facebook and Twitter for more information.
Miss604 is the proud Blog Sponsor of Big Sisters BC Lower Mainland
On top of its array of shops and services, Metropolis at Metrotown is also known for hosting dazzling, engaging, and interactive exhibits, like the upcoming Canadian Compass: Adventures in Every Direction.
Canadian Compass: Adventures in Every Direction
When: June 12, 2017 to July 3, 2017
Where: Metropolis at Metrotown Grand Court (4700 Kingsway, Burnaby)
Canadian Compass: Adventures in Every Direction is an interactive, virtual reality 360° exhibit that takes shoppers on a cross-country adventure and allows them to experience the sights and sounds of Canada’s iconic landscapes.
To launch the celebration, Metropolis hosted official Canadian Citizenship Ceremony earlier this week in the Grand Court where 30 new Canadians took their oath of citizenship and were sworn in by a judge.
The free exhibit, which takes shoppers on a 2-minute journey from the crashing waves of Niagara Falls to the rugged Rockies, to Northern Lights in the Northwest Territories, is open to the public daily from 12:00pm-7:00pm in the Grand Court.
During the 3-week exhibit, shoppers will have plenty of opportunities to receive free Canada 150 giveaways and snap selfies with Canada’s iconic landscapes. Visitors can donate and print digital postcards on the spot at Metropolis’ photo booth, with all proceeds being donated to Burnaby Community Services. In addition, all proceeds from the Metropolis Express train will be donated to Burnaby charities.
Shoppers are also encouraged to drop by one of Metropolis’ contest kiosks to enter for a chance to win a grand prize $1,000 shopping spree or one of three weekly prizes of a $250 Metropolis at Metrotown gift card.
Follow Metropolis at Metrotown on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information about their shops, services, and special events.
