43 Years: Season Sneak Peek

Dear Friends,

I hope your summer was beautiful. I am happy to say it was creatively exciting for me, even though Covid certainly played into it. I worked with a very fine ensemble for three weeks. Lin Snelling, Michael Kennard and Minggao Zhang were an inspiring group of performers to work with. Dramaturge Beth Graham, offered me great support in our creative process.

Beth and I then went on to Calgary for a one week creative residency at the Grand Theatre. We got a load of work done on BWDC’s newest creation, a collaboration with Gary James Joynes and Brad Necyk. This is the third time that Gary and I have worked together. His music is powerful and I love it. Brad is a virtual reality artist. The environments he is creating for our work are beyond creative.

Last week, BWDC made the decision to not invite people into the theatre until the new year. We feel this is the right choice for BWDC and for our audience.

But, when we do return to live performances, we have a fantastic array of performative, dance possibilities. Check out this line up!

2022 will include works by Helen Walkley [Vancouver], MAYDAY [Montreal], Bboyizm [Ottawa], Vanessa Goodman [Vancouver] and Caroline Shaw [New York], and Heidi Strauss [Toronto] with Edmonton’s KnK Collective, Krista Lin and Kate Stashko.

I think this is a spectacular grouping of very diverse dance. Our theme, WITHOUT THE DANCING, THERE AIN'T NO DANCE, will be front and centre of these performances.

I am also presently collaborating with Les Sereda from Blue Toque Productions on a series of four short films about dance artists who are also very fine film makers. The series will feature discussion about dance with people like Edouard Lock and his classic film Amelia, Falling Upward by Josh Beamish and Scott Fowler, and Anne Troake and her film of dancing backhoes will be featured.

So, we are busy at the BWDC! Of course, I long to be able to present these dance events to you. The new year will arrive and we will surely be able to gather in safe ways to enjoy the beauty of dancing. Dancing is a human activity. I believe we really need it in our lives. It is a powerful human expression.

Stay well, stay safe and we will come together.

Warmest Regards,
Brian