BC Movement Arts Society brings urban and rural together in new North Island Contemporary Dance Series

Featuring a just-announced lineup of Canadian and international dance artists, the program will travel to Sointula, Port McNeill, and Alert Bay

Post Sponsored by BC MOVEMENT ARTS SOCIETY

Contemporary dance artists Livona Ellis and Rebecca Margolick perform work in North Island communities in December and January. Photo by F. Perez

 
 

The BC Movement Arts Society, based in Sointula on Malcolm Island, British Columbia (located within the unceded Kwakwaka’wakw territories of the ‘Namgis, Kwakiutl, and Mamalilikala Nations) has launched its new North Island Contemporary Dance Series, featuring Canadian and international dance artists.

Bringing the urban and rural together, BCMAS is one of the few professional dance organizations based in, and serving, rural and remote communities in Canada.

This inaugural year spotlights acclaimed dance artists from British Columbia, New York, England, and Finland. The lineup features:

  • Livona Ellis & Rebecca Margolick, December 21 to 23 and January 7 -8, 2022 (BC/NYC);

  • Company 605’s Albatross and Leftovers, March 23 – 27 (BC) ;

  • Amber Barton & Alexis Fletcher, with a shared evening of solos, April 20 to 24 (BC);

  • and The Days, featuring Maria Nurmela and Ville Oinonen in a work choreographed by Theo Clinkard, June 14 to 19 (Finland/UK).

By presenting each of these talented and innovative artists in three North Island communities—Sointula, Port McNeill and Alert Bay—BCMAS enables residents and the surrounding North Island population to experience exceptional professional dance in their own community, without having to travel long distances to urban centres where contemporary dance is traditionally presented.

Each production presented in the series will have performances in Sointula, Malcolm Island‘s Finnish Organizational Hall and Athletic Hall; Port McNeill’s Gate House Theatre; and Alert Bay’s ‘Namgis Lawrence Ambers Memorial Recreation Centre.

BC Movement Arts, established in 2015, is led by co-founder and former professional dancer Mary-Louise Albert, who was the artistic managing director of the Vancouver based international Chutzpah! Festival and Norman Rothstein Theatre from 2004 to 2019. Now based permanently in Sointula, Albert, along with a team of advisors and a dedicated board of directors, says she’s thrilled and grateful to be in the position to add this new annual presentation series that provides unique presentation opportunities for professional dance artists and supports the cultural and economic growth of rural and remote coastal BC.

“We are overjoyed to be able to showcase and share with the North Island such multi-talented dancer/choreographers in our first of what will be an annual international dance series,” Albert says. “Rural/remote coastal communities are often deprived of live performances, in particular in BC given the range of geographic constraints. Bringing professional dance to these communities stimulates artistic interest/activity and community pride and growth.”

You can find details on dates and times for the entire lineup here.

Post sponsored by the BC Movement Arts Society

 
 
 
 
DANCEJanet SmithBC Movement Arts Society