South African dance company Dada Masilo forced to cancel Vancouver performances

DanceHouse was to close its 2022-23 season with The Sacrifice

SOUTH AFRICAN DANCE ARTIST Dada Masilo’s The Sacrifice is an intense piece for 10 dancers, three musicians, and a singer inspired by Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring complete with original music. The Guardian described it as “deeply moving and astonishingly fresh”.

The Johannesburg-based choreographer-dancer’s work was to be performed in Vancouver May 5 and 6 at the Vancouver Playhouse to end DanceHouse’s current season on a high note. Unfortunately, the shows have been cancelled.

“We are extremely disappointed to announce that the Dada Masilo presentations on May 5 and 6 are cancelled,” DanceHouse states in a newsletter. “We have just learned that the company is unable to travel to Vancouver for reasons beyond our control. Please accept our sincerest apologies for any inconvenience this may cause you.”

Ticketholders will be contacted about the change directly.

Articles

Dance review: Coregulation and calm, as Action at a Distance’s WAIL sculpts vocal sound and movement

In this PuSh Fest, Music on Main, and Dance Centre premiere, humming songs, whispered words, and hypnotic movement bring a sense of serenity and connection to a chaotic world

In The Brutal Joy, Justine A. Chambers channels the overwhelming beauty of Black living

With staging that evokes a Chicago jazz bar, the Dance Centre and PuSh Festival co-presentation draws on matrilineal fashion and line dancing

Ballet BC highlights masterful choreographers Crystal Pite and Jiří Kylián with INFINITY, February 26 to 28

Program features Pite’s Frontier, a deep dive into the unknown, and Kylián’s 27’52”, an exploration of theoretical elements

Dance review: JEZEBEL challenges the stereotype of the booty-poppin’ backup dancer

In a riveting PuSh Festival and New Works copresentation, Belgium’s Cherish Menzo plays with repetition, chopped-and-screwed music, and flashing dental grillz

Review: Liquid limbs and mesmerizing visual magic at Recirquel’s Paradisum

In DanceHouse and The Cultch co-presentation, the Hungarian company is full of flowing bodies and rippling fabric

At PuSh, Alan Lake Factori(e)’s mythologically driven Orpheus paints a visceral picture of loss

In the deeply moving production, dancers embody the ancient tale of death and longing by tapping into their own experiences of tragedy

Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 shows to startle and spellbind at PuSh International Performing Arts Festival

Productions that “push” forms include dance works that play with props and stereotypes, as well as ethereal odes to nature and the northern lights

Recirquel’s postapocalyptic Paradisum conjures visual worlds out of fabric and light

Producer Natália Fábics says the Hungarian work, co-presented by DanceHouse and The Cultch, is as much a contemporary artwork and philosophical epic as a fusion of circus and dance

The Dance Centre and PuSh Festival present Justine A. Chambers in The Brutal Joy, February 5 and 6

Choreographer’s latest creation is a dazzling blend of dance, lighting, and sound that draws on her Black matrilineal heritage

Dozens of musicians and dancers take the stage for Celebrate Africa! at BlueShore at CapU, January 30

Big bands play West African music with guests Dawn Pemberton, Khari McClelland, and others

Cherish Menzo's JEZEBEL lands at PuSh Festival in copresentation with New Works, January 22 and 23

Electrifying performance reclaims hyper-sexualized “video vixen” of hip hop’s golden era

Matriarchs Uprising spotlights stunning contemporary dance by Indigenous women, February 16 to 21

Festival brings live performances, conversations, and community workshops to the Scotiabank Dance Centre and Morrow

At interplay_2026, artists blur the lines between digital and physical realms

Chimerik 似不像 and New Works XR partner to continue the online festival with new artistic producer Caroline Chien-MacCaull

Year in review: Looking back on a few standout moments in Vancouver’s theatre and dance scenes in 2025

Provocatively reimagined endings to opera and Shakespeare were among the random scenes that stuck with us from the year onstage

Ballet BC announces artistic director Medhi Walerski to step down in June 2027

Having steered the company toward full houses and extensive touring, French-born dance artist will leave after 40th-anniversary season

New Ballet Jörgen production A Midsummer Night's Dream tours to Massey Theatre, February 7

Set to a score by Mendelssohn, whimsical show puts a Northern Canadian twist on Shakespeare’s timeless comedy

The Nutcracker at Wethersfield follows New York City Ballet to a wintry estate, to December 28 at VIFF Centre

The Leading Ladies bring to life Duke Ellington’s swingy twist on Tchaikovsky score at December 14 screening

Goh Ballet fosters young talent and holiday cheer with 15th edition of The Nutcracker

Amid tulle tutus and fleecey lambs, director Chan Hon Goh reflects on the history of the “feel-good production”

DanceHouse and The Cultch present the North American premiere of Recirquel’s Paradisum, January 21 to 24

Hungarian dance-circus company invites audiences to witness a visceral, mesmerizing spectacle set in the aftermath of a destroyed world

Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Nutcracker inhabits a snow-dusted Canada, at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre, December 12 to 14

Pond hockey, RCMP battles, and polar bears bring this unique rendition home—with classic Russian touches, of course

Arts Umbrella’s dancers rise to the challenge of learning every part in Mixed Nuts

Company’s annual holiday twist on The Nutcracker features a flavoursome assortment of styles, from classical ballet to hip hop to ’60s swing

Dance review: In Birdy, Hung Dance makes endless, artful play with feathered headpieces of Chinese opera

Dreamlike Taiwanese show explores freedom and oppression, with Ling Zi becoming everything from spiky weapons to shivering life forces all their own