Loop stations, spoken word, and Jungian shadows, as Vancouver International Flamenco Festival pushes the form September 22 to 24

Anastassiia Alexander, Kara MIranda, and Albert Hernandez present fresh work

Anastassiia Alexander. Photo by Tyler Baker

Vancouver International Flamenco Festival continues to September 24

VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FLAMENCO Festival continues to show how vast and form-pushing its art form is as it heads into its final week.

On September 22 at the Waterfront Theatre, Calgary’s Anastassiia Alexander mixes spoken word with dance in The Machination of Memories Suppressed, based on the poem "Maquina de Olvido" (“Oblivion Machine”). In an innovative touch, the artist creates all her own rhythms and soundscapes using a looping station.

The following night at the same venue, Kara Miranda draws on Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung’s concepts of the Shadow Self in Sombras/Shadows, complete with live music and visual projections that play with light and dark.

And wrapping the festival is hosting company Flamenco Rosario, September 24 at 8 pm at the Waterfront, with Nuevo III. Ballet Nacional de España’s leading dancer and award-winning choreographer Albert Hernandez joins the troupe on stage, presenting three of his works with Madrid’s Irene Tena Mora, including his award-winning work Loca. Granada’s Sara Jimenez and maven Rosario Ancer also create pieces on the program.

Articles

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

At Ballet BC, Crystal Pite grapples with shadow figures in Frontier's Vancouver premiere

On the DAWN program, the renowned choreographer reimagines a work whose black-hooded puppeteers embody the unknown

In Kin, AJ Simmons and Kelty McKerracher navigate queering the art of flamenco

World premiere at Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival sees artists break away from traditional gendered movements and costumes

Path of Miracles unites Vancouver Chamber Choir with dancers from Belle Spirale Dance Projects

The a cappella work by Joby Talbot is meant to be seen and heard

Dance reviews: A hallucinatory house of mirrors and a trip to sultry Buenos Aires tango halls

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

Canada’s dance community calls on federal government to increase funding to the arts

As part of the Canadian Arts Coalition’s national call to action, the Canadian Dance Assembly has launched an advocacy campaign

DanceHouse stages Compagnie Catherine Gaudet’s Les jolies choses (The Pretty Things), November 22 and 23

Through visceral synchronized rhythms, the full-length work challenges mandatory conformity and cohesion

Dancer Nate Yaffe unmasks his vulnerability and sheds constraints in faith hole

Presented by plastic orchard factory, the solo is performed partly in the nude

Heather Ogden performs as Vancouver Ballet Society hosts For the Love of Dance fundraiser, October 26

Benefit at Scotiabank Dance Centre features the principal dancer with the National Ballet of Canada

With Social Tango, Buenos Aires's Agustina Videla brings milonga magic to the stage

With projections and a live band, the show celebrates the inclusivity of Argentina’s essential dance form

Plastic orchid factory stages Nate Yaffe's solo work faith hole, October 25 and 26

Le Radeau production sees Yaffe cultivate an exchange between performer and audience with unguarded emotion and humour

Tentacle Tribe’s Prism makes intricate play with perception

Colour, light, reflection, and hip-hop-influenced moves as Montreal troupe’s kaleidoscopic new piece hits The Cultch

Corporeal Imago’s breathtaking duet Limb(e)s opens The Dance Centre’s Discover Dance! series, October 31

Aerial dance show created by Gabrielle Martin and Jeremiah Hughes explores the space between holding onto—or letting go of—one another

IBPOC talent in the spotlight as Re-Centering/Margins Creative Residency 2024 wraps with showcase October 10 and 12

Six emerging dance artists from Vancouver and Surrey share performances after months of movement and writing mentorship

Ballet BC kicks off its 2024-25 season with DAWN, November 7 to 9

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

Dance review: Empty-Handed embraces chaos and pushes to extremes

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

Margaret Grenier pays tribute to matriarchs in multimedia Raven Mother

The Dancers of Damelahamid’s most ambitious production to date explores the precious artistic legacy passed down by Elder Margaret Harris

Sky Dancers explores the rich energy of stillness through bharatanatyam and meditation

At The Dance Centre, Anusha Fernando directs an expressive piece born from a year’s worth of nonhierarchical gatherings

Cirque du Soleil opens newest Big Top show ECHO in Vancouver on October 9th

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