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

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark captures the inner turmoil of a man zeroed in on revenge

In a DanceHouse presentation, Guillaume Côté and Robert Lepage stage their tightly paced adaptation of Shakespeare’s story

In Fall(se) Circ(us), dancers embrace cycles of frenzied work and relatable exhaustion

At the Roundhouse, Little Room Productions’ inaugural piece draws on choreographer Isak Enquist’s lifelong experience in martial arts

Renowned choreographer Noam Gagnon performs a deeply personal solo live-scored by Stefan Smulovitz, March 11 to 14

The piece by Vision Impure, called being, comes to KW Studios courtesy of Kokoro Dance Theatre Society

In Show Gone, Ame Henderson and Matija Ferlin question the nature of endings

The Dance Centre and Vancouver International Dance Festival coproduction concludes a triptych spanning over 15 years

Dance review: At Ballet BC's INFINITY, Jiří Kylián and Crystal Pite take viewers into strange, subconscious limbos

Contemporary-art-like 27’52’”makes elaborate play with shadows and time, while Frontier reveals new narrative and thematic complexity

Little Room Productions premieres inaugural piece Fall(se) Circ(us), March 21

New Works copresents Isak Enquist's genre-defying fusion of martial arts and contemporary dance influences

Arts Umbrella Dance Company hosts Tempus Fugit: A Midseason Performance, February 26 and 27

Program features pieces by leading choreographers, including Anne Jung, Lukas Timulak, Rebecca Margolick, and Cyril Baldy

At Ballet BC’s INFINITY, Medhi Walerski pays tribute to two works that impacted his career

As a young dancer at Nederlands Dans Theater, the artistic director was in on the creation of both Jiří Kylián’s 27’52” and Crystal Pite’s Frontier

Dance community mourns Peter Bingham, father of contact dance in Vancouver

Based for decades at Western Front, long-time EDAM artistic director created more than 50 works and took part in hundreds of performances

DanceHouse hosts the B.C. premiere of Ex Machina and Côté Danse's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, March 18 to 21

With community partners Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival and Théâtre la Seizième, bold reinterpretation of the tragic play hits the stage

Dance review: Flowing forms and abstract storytelling in Royal Winnipeg Ballet double bill

T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods heralds an exciting new voice, while Carmina Burana strips the work down to its essence

Hoop dance and Métis jigging meet as Beany John and Sophie Dow take the stage at Matriarchs Uprising

The Dance Centre and O.Dela Arts present the piece that draws on the performers’ Indigenous ancestors

New Works hosts inaugural dance-focused Leadership in Practice Symposium, March 22

One-day gathering for artists, educators, and choreographers explores how leadership can be more responsive to the dance world

Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s T’əl: The Wild Man of the Woods braids Indigenous storytelling with classical dance

Rising Tla’amin choreographer Cameron sinkʷə Fraser-Monroe draws on a tale he heard growing up for a large-scale work that joins Carmina Burana on a double bill

Ballet Jörgen gives Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream a ’50s Albertan twist

Fun riffs on the classic include a moose-headed Bottom wearing buffalo plaid and an appearance by a royal couple

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