From kathak to flamenco, All Over the Map offers free globally inspired dance performances, July 21 and August 11
African and Peruvian folk dance are also on the menu at the annual presentation on Granville Island
Palak Dhiman. Photo by Anbus Photography
New Works and CMHC Granville Island present All Over the Map on July 21 and August 11 at 1 pm and 3 pm at Granville Island’s picnic pavilion.
KATHAK, FLAMENCO, AND Peruvian folk dance: All Over the Map 2024 is living up to its name. The free outdoor dance and music performances come courtesy New Works in partnership with CMHC Granville Island and take place at Granville Island’s picnic pavilion.
On July 21, V’ni Ddansi, Eva Cho, Palak Dhiman, and Afrobeats Van take to the al fresco stage.
V’ni Dansi is the only company in Canada to teach and perform traditional Métis and contemporary dance.
With a background in traditional Chinese dance, Cho is a dancer, choreographer, and instructor of several styles of Chinese folk dancing including fan, ribbon, sword, and flower, among others.
Dhiman is a practitioner of kathak, one of the main forms of classical dance from India, originating in the country’s north and known for its storytelling features. She will be performing The Showers of the Monsoon Rains or Barse Badariya, Saawan Ki, which is the name of a poem composed by Meerabai, a 16th-century mystic poet from Rajasthan, about monsoon season and about renewal and connection.
Afrobeats Van will perform Unity Rhythms, the piece reflecting pan-African values of togetherness, solidarity, resilience, and liberation.
Mozaico Flamenco.
The August 11 show, meanwhile, features works by Rina&Simziez, Amulya Keshoju, Roots Peruvian Folk Dance, and Mozaico Flamenco.
Rina&Simzies are lined up to perform the street and club style of dance known as waacking in The Way We Are Loomed, which explores the instant friendships people form as kids.
Keshoju will perform excerpts of Waves of Grace on the plate of Tradition. Set to the song “Marakatha manimaya Tarangam”, meaning "waves" in Sanskrit, the work features movements that mimic the ebb and flow of water. It opens with Keshoju placing a plate on the ground, symbolizing the ocean or a river, and has themes of devotion and divine grace.
Roots Peruvian Folk Dance aims to transport viewers to the heart of Peru with its traditional costumes and stories.
Finally, Mozaico Flamenco goes multicultural with Flamenco Dim Sum. Artist Cyrena Huang will perform a traditional flamenco "tientos" while wearing a Chinese cheong sam dress and incorporating fans while Kasandra “La China” will dance flamenco in a "manton de Manila", a silk shawl of Chinese origins made in Spain. The show combines Mandarin, English, and Spanish poetry and illustrates how the Chinese fan and Chinese silk embroidery wound up in Spain via the silk road through the Philippines. 
Related Articles
