Argentinian tango, ice skating, and more as DanceHouse unveils 2024-25 season
Six boundary-breaking works are on offer, ranging from Montreal’s Compagnie Catherine Gaudet to Colombia’s Sankofa Danzafro
Agustina Videla’s Social Tango Project. Photo by Paola Evelina
Le Patin Libre’s Murmuration. Photo by Rolline Laporte
WITH TODAY’S ANNOUNCEMENT of DanceHouse’s bold 2024-25 season comes the realization that dance can do, or be, anything we want—from a burlesque- and acrobatics-infused take on Swan Lake to a politically charged celebration of the abolition of slavery in Colombia.
The company’s newly unveiled lineup of six boundary-breaking works is electrifying in scope. Vancouver audiences will see skilled skaters from around the world perform soaring ballet on ice in Le Patin Libre’s Murmuration. We’ll also see the return of Montreal-based choreographer Catherine Gaudet, whose complex solo Se Dissoudre transfixed viewers at the Vancouver International Dance Festival earlier this month.
All told, there are two Canadian premieres, three B.C. premieres, and one Canadian company debut—along with the return of a DanceHouse audience favourite—set to take the stage from October 2024 through to April 2025.
“After 16 years of challenging our audience’s conceptions and definitions of dance, the season ahead pushes our programming—and ourselves—further than we’ve ever gone before,” says Jim Smith, artistic and executive director of DanceHouse, in a release. “Minds will be expanded, bent, and blown with the diverse array of programming we’ve scoured the globe to assemble. We cannot wait to share these eclectic experiences with our longtime audiences—and to welcome adventurous new art lovers into the fold.”
Catherine Gaudet’s The Pretty Things (Les jolies choses). Photo by Donastas Alisauskas
The season launches at the Vancouver Playhouse with the B.C. premiere of Argentinian choreographer Agustina Videla’s Social Tango Project from October 24 to 26. In the immersive solo, the seductive symmetry and reverberating rhythms of tango sweep a shy young woman off her feet and into a realm of vibrant dance. Live music and multimedia projections round out the performance.
DanceHouse’s last show of the calendar year is Compagnie Catherine Gaudet’s The Pretty Things (Les jolies choses). On November 22 and 23 at the Vancouver Playhouse, the Montreal-based choreographer brings a raw five-dancer work to the stage that sees capitalism-hardened bodies transform. As gaudy materials and cheap entertainment give way, invigorating freedom emerges.
Circa’s Duck Pond. Photo by Damien Bredberg
Australian company Circa rings in the new year at the Vancouver Playhouse from January 22 to 25 with Duck Pond, a co-presentation with The Cultch. Choreographer Yaron Lifschitz subverts the ordinary here with an irreverent revamp of Tchaikovsky’s iconic ballet Swan Lake that throws burlesque, acrobatics, romance, and mayhem into the mix. Elements of Hans Christian Andersen’s parable The Ugly Duckling infiltrate the scene: there’s a prince and black swan, of course, but also an army of dancers posing as yellow-billed ducks, complete with sequinned flippers. What’s the vibe, you may wonder? It’s described in a release as “a blaze of loopy, spinning, ass-over-teakettle joy”.
Sankofa Danzafro’s The City of Others (La Ciudad de los Otros). Photo by Jeisson Riascos
On February 21 and 22, Colombia’s leading dance company Sankofa Danzafro brings its social justice-rooted work The City of Others (La Ciudad de los Otros) to the Vancouver Playhouse. Created to honour the 159th anniversary of the abolition of slavery in Colombia, the Afro-Colombian and contemporary piece examines themes of democracy, power, and equality in the country, told through twelve dancers and musicians.
Montreal-based company Le Patin Libre’s Murmuration is at the Kerrisdale Cyclone Taylor Arena from March 20 to 23. Seven virtuoso performers from around the world move instinctually as a flock in this contemporary-ballet on ice inspired by the aerial patterns of birds. From swoops and swirls to razor-sharp precision, the work exudes easeful synchronicity.
Peeping Tom’s Diptych (The Missing Door and The Lost Room). Photo by Andrea Avezzu courtesy of La Biennale
The season wraps up back at the Vancouver Playhouse from April 24 to 26 with Diptych (The Missing Door and The Lost Room). Belgium-based company Peeping Tom melds dance and theatre as it sets an array of odd individuals off on a bizarre psychological journey. The result is a disquieting surrealism piece in the same vein as filmmaker David Lynch’s body of work.
Throughout the season there are both matinee and evening showtimes on offer, plus new season-ticket pricing for youth and families. Mark your calendars for ticket sales; DanceHouse launches subscription packages on April 19, and single tickets on May 28. 
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