DANCE — Articles

Dance review: Ballet BC conjures distinctive worlds at ZENITH

Cosmic circles, monumental walls of light, and inventive partnering as new Andrea Peña and Fernando Hernando Magadan works bring audiences to their feet

DANCEJanet SmithMarch 8, 2025BALLET BC, Ballet BC, Spring 2025

Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 dance shows to catch this spring in Vancouver

From an aeriform ballet on ice to a duet in total silence, there are several hot tickets this season

Registration is now open for Arts Umbrella's Spring Break Dance Intensive, March 24 to 28

Week-long, half-day program is designed for beginner students ages eight to 15

DANCEStir VancouverMarch 4, 2025Partner Content, Arts Umbrella, ARTS UMBRELLA, Spring 2025

Internationally trained Ballet BC dancers harness their power in ZENITH program

Taiwan-born Pei Lun Lai and Costa Rica-raised Eduardo Jiménez Cabrera negotiate new challenges in the studio—and in their adopted Vancouver hometown

DANCEJanet SmithFebruary 27, 2025Ballet BC, BALLET BC, Vancouver Civic Theatres, Homepage feature, Spring 2025

At Vancouver International Dance Festival, street dance expands "beyond the concrete"

From We All Fall Down’s Papillon to BRKFST Dance Company’s STORMCLUTTER, artists bridge the gap between contemporary and street styles

Dance review: Social justice meets nonstop energy in show by Colombia's Sankofa Danzafro

The City of Others uses a rich mix of dance styles to explore racism and resilience, in DanceHouse production with Blackout Art Society, Latincouver, and VLACC

DanceHouse presents Le Patin Libre’s exhilarating ice-dance show Murmuration, March 20 to 23

Inspired by the mesmerizing flight patterns of bird flocks, the work makes its Vancouver premiere in partnership with Canada Dance Ice Theatre

DANCEStir VancouverFebruary 19, 2025Partner Content, DanceHouse, DANCEHOUSE, Spring 2025

Indigenous dance artist Lara Kramer’s Gorgeous Tongue makes Vancouver comeback at Matriarchs Uprising, February 21

The solo for Jeanette Kotowich addresses the choreographer’s mixed Oji-Cree and Mennonite ancestry

Sankofa Danzafro envisions a society without racism in The City of Others (La Ciudad de los Otros)

The Afro-Colombian dance company headed by Rafael Palacios combines contemporary movement with traditional forms

At Matriarchs Uprising, TOA III draws inspiration from Māori martial arts

Having its world premiere at the fest, the work merges the ancestral knowledge of mau rākau with contemporary dance

DANCE, FESTSJanet SmithFebruary 11, 2025Matriarchs Uprising, Scotiabank Dance Centre

Dance reviews: Explorations of identity take striking, and sometimes radical, form on local stages

At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, Daina Ashbee’s We learned a lot at our own funeral takes an unblinking, unsettling look at the death of the self; surreal studies make big impacts at Small Stage

The Dance Centre's Discover Dance! series features SHIAMAK Vancouver, February 27

Company blends exuberant Bollywood dance with jazz, funk, folk, and modern influences

Ballet BC presents ZENITH at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, March 6 to 8

Monumental triple bill sees the return of Johan Inger’s PASSING along with world premieres from Fernando Hernando Magadan and Andrea Peña

DANCEStir VancouverFebruary 5, 2025Partner Content, Ballet BC, BALLET BC, Spring 2025

Tap dancer Caleb Teicher and pianist Conrad Tao compare and contrast rhythms in Counterpoint

At the Chan Centre, the New York City–based duo take on George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, Schoenberg’s “V. Walzer”, and more

Dance review: Set in a stripped-down concrete jungle, BOGOTÁ explores colonial resistance

Multilayered work by Andrea Peña & Artists is full of animalistic ritual, raw emotion, and nods to Colombian history

Ballet Jörgen tours a magical nature-inspired Sleeping Beauty across Canada

Company artists Márcio Teixeira and Daniel Da Silva talk costumes and symbolism in the show ahead of a stop at the Massey Theatre

DANCEJanet SmithJanuary 30, 2025Ballet Jorgen, Ballet Jörgen, Massey Theatre

Stir Q&A: Chimerik 似不像's Caroline MacCaull and Sammy Chien sound off on Inner Sublimity

Copresented by PuSh Festival and Vancouver Art Gallery, the genre-bending work merges dance, new media, and video with immersive sound resonators

B.C.-based dance artist Daina Ashbee takes a fearless look at death and transformation

At the Scotiabank Dance Centre, the in-demand artist draws from the deeply personal and subconscious in the ritualistic new solo We learned a lot at our own funeral

DANCEJanet SmithJanuary 29, 2025DANCE CENTRE, The Dance Centre, Scotiabank Dance Centre, Daina Ashbee