Dancing on the Edge Festival 2024 launches with Company 605’s latest work

Iossy kicks off the highly anticipated 36th annual celebration of contemporary dance

SPONSORED POST BY dancing on the edge

Iossy. Photo by David Cooper

The 36th annual Dancing on the Edge Festival—taking place June 13 to 22 in Vancouver at various venues—kicks off with the world premiere of Company 605’s latest work, lossy, co-presented with SFU Woodward’s Cultural Programs, on June 13 and 14 at 7 pm at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre).

Iossy features direction and staging by Lisa Mariko Gelley and Josh Martin. Choreography is by Company 605 in collaboration with performers Jade Chong, Kate Franklin, Lisa Mariko Gelley, Ruby Henderson, Josh Martin, Antonio Somera, and Shana 愛 Wolfe.

lossy is about an inability to take it all with us. These are bodies at a loss, gathering together in a stream of movement, a state of recovery, seeking and sifting, grasping for an anchor. These are the bodies that were left behind, haunted by the ghostly traces of lost futures. A nostalgia for a world that never happened. It is at once real and science fiction, digital and embodied. This liminal space holds a confrontation with the promise of future, and ever-present absences. A collision between our inexorable, ecstatic draw towards the limitless new, and a continuous loss—a perpetual state of mourning for what we are leaving behind. These are bodies compressed and incomplete. There is no answer. There is only the stream, and the blurring fragments of what we attempt to bring with us. lossy is a warped ritual of transcendence. It is a carefree conjuring of a shiny new future “us”, and a collective grieving for what the future may no longer hold, once we finally arrive. 

One of the most eagerly anticipated events in British Columbia’s contemporary dance scene, DOTE is a significant contributor to the Canadian arts and culture community for both artists and audiences. This year’s Festival will once again deliver high caliber, exhilarating, innovative, and spell-binding dance works. Featuring over 30 performances across 10 days, DOTE audiences will be witness to world premieres, Western Canadian debuts, and works-in-progress from some of the most sought-after contemporary Canadian choreographers. This year’s lineup showcases the diversity of dance across Canada, reflecting its rich tapestry of cultural influences and contributing further to the evolution of this multifaceted art form.

Single tickets, Festival Passes, and Festival 4-Packs are on sale now and available online at www.dancingontheedge.org or by phone at 604.689.0926.