Applications open for Louise Bentall Biennial Award for Emerging B.C. Choreographers
The 2025 prize is worth $10,000 to research, develop, or produce new work
DANCEHOUSE AND THE Hawthorne Foundation are now accepting applications for the 2025 Louise Bentall Biennial Award for Emerging British Columbia Choreographers.
Just as with the inaugural award in 2023, which went to Livona Ellis, the 2025 award supports the winning artist financially with $10,000 to research, develop, or produce new work. This year, the jury will also choose a second-place winner, who will receive a cash prize of $5,000.
The award was created in memory of Louise Bentall, who was a long-time board member of DanceHouse and who worked and volunteered for many local dance and theatre organizations, in addition to taking part in many charitable activities in support of the performing arts and social justice communities of the Lower Mainland. She died in 2017, and the prize honours her memory by advancing support for Vancouver’s dance community.
With ongoing funding from the Hawthorne Foundation and administrative support from DanceHouse, the award is given every other year and is juried by a diverse panel of arts professionals.
In 2023, honourary mentions were given to the runners-up Alyssa Favero and Joshua Ongcol.
Applications are judged based on the overall presentation of the proposal and the vision and potential of the artist. Applicants must submit a project description, a CV, two letters of support, a project budget, and up to two video links relating to the proposal through the DanceHouse website.
Individual emerging choreographers working in all styles of dance, including multidisciplinary projects, are encouraged to apply by January 26, 2025.
There is no upper age limit on applicants, but choreographers residing in B.C. who have completed pre-professional training and have held at least one public performance of their work are the intended recipients. Students are not eligible to apply to fund further studies or training. Companies, collectives, and organizations are not eligible.
The winner will be announced on April 25, 2025 at DanceHouse’s presentation of Belgian dance-theatre company Peeping Tom’s Diptych.
Gail Johnson is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.
Related Articles
Programming includes world premieres from Chimerik 似不像 and rice & beans theatre, BOGOTÁ by Andrea Peña & Artists, and beyond
In full-length work, five dancers explore paradoxical themes through vigorous physicality
In DanceHouse presentation of Montreal-based choreographer’s latest ensemble work, simple moves create feelings of restriction
Company to host auditions in Vancouver, Toronto, New York, and Amsterdam for five ballet-based training programs
The local artist is appearing at Dance in Vancouver with his latest piece, which requires a new garment to be made for every performance
Following the company’s West Coast tour of Nutcracker this holiday season, aspiring artists are invited to pursue the prestigious training program
Ne.Sans Opera & Dance’s About Time acknowledges relentlessness of news cycle, while Livona Ellis and Rebecca Margolick’s Fortress examines femininity and matriarchs
A standing O for Frontier’s awe-inspiring visual magic and multiple, moving layers of meaning; plus, an erotically charged Heart Drive and an ever-shifting Cloud Poem
Performance at noon features exciting young artists from Arts Umbrella’s renowned training program
Famed Tchaikovsky ballet with added Canadian elements lands in Vancouver from December 13 to 15 and—for the first time—Surrey on November 23 and 24
Strength and vulnerability meet in new work inspired by the choreographer-dancers’ mothers and grandmothers
The 2025 prize is worth $10,000 to research, develop, or produce new work
On the DAWN program, the renowned choreographer reimagines a work whose black-hooded puppeteers embody the unknown
Performance at Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival sees artists break away from traditional gendered movements and costumes
The a cappella work by Joby Talbot is meant to be seen and heard
At The Cultch, Tentacle Tribe gets kaleidoscopically inventive; at the Playhouse, a masterful live band accompanies a show that roots out the soul of Argentina’s beloved art form
As part of the Canadian Arts Coalition’s national call to action, the Canadian Dance Assembly has launched an advocacy campaign
Through visceral synchronized rhythms, the full-length work challenges mandatory conformity and cohesion
Presented by plastic orchard factory, the solo is performed partly in the nude
Benefit at Scotiabank Dance Centre features the principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada
With projections and a live band, the show celebrates the inclusivity of Argentina’s essential dance form
Le Radeau production sees Yaffe cultivate an exchange between performer and audience with unguarded emotion and humour
Colour, light, reflection, and hip-hop-influenced moves as Montreal troupe’s kaleidoscopic new piece hits The Cultch
Aerial dance show created by Gabrielle Martin and Jeremiah Hughes explores the space between holding onto—or letting go of—one another
Six emerging dance artists from Vancouver and Surrey share performances after months of movement and writing mentorship
Canada’s leading contemporary dance company presents a Pierre Pontvianne premiere, the return of a Dutch choreographic duo, and a large-scale Crystal Pite creation
The Biting School’s new dance work looks at struggle and letting go, with a surreal array of hazard tape, bread dough, mic cords, coffin tents, and more
The Dancers of Damelahamid’s most ambitious production to date explores the precious artistic legacy passed down by Elder Margaret Harris
At The Dance Centre, Anusha Fernando directs an expressive piece born from a year’s worth of nonhierarchical gatherings
When an inquisitive young woman wanders into a fantasy world of astounding acrobatics, she learns that humans have the power to shape the natural world