The Canada Dance Festival is happy to unveil its new website. We are confident that you will find it easier to navigate, and that it will provide you with regular monthly updates as we work toward the June 5 – 12, 2010 festival event. A highlight of this month’s posting is the final report of Dancing Through Cultures written by Andrea Rowe. It is a very comprehensive document that gives you a very strong synopsis of what happened during our two-and-a-half day meeting.
Dancing Through Cultures was an exciting celebration of the dance being created by artists from various culturally diverse communities and Aboriginal communities. It was a moment in time that offered Ottawa dance audiences the opportunity to experience dance being created by artists passionate to reveal the Canadian experience. Alongside the performances, Dancing In, Through and Between Cultures Toward a Space of Mutuality was a dialogue by all interested people on how contemporary dance is a diverse and vital component of our culture.
Artists, presenters, educators and theorists presented many ideas in an open atmosphere that contributed to the ongoing dialogue regarding the values that define Canadian society in 2009. In Andrea’s paper, you will see that there are many points of view regarding racism, authenticity, opportunity, identity and recognition. I think that she captures the passion of the gathering as artists and arts workers who defined themselves as Canadian individuals participating in numerous contexts of community.
Our conversation went so far. Certainly there is more to discuss and to take action on to ensure that in the Canadian dance community we have respect and admiration for all dance artists who are working to express themselves. The CDF is committed to taking action so that our own culture is one in which we work in a transparent way to ensure that all Canadian contemporary dance artists are being considered.
The CDF does not work in isolation. The Advisory Committee that worked with the CDF to build Dancing Through Cultures is to be congratulated and thanked for their work. The collaboration that we developed resulted in a most dynamic gathering. I look forward to our ongoing dialogue.
Later in the summer, we presented our third edition of Hip Hop 360. What energy, innovation, and downright wicked dancing! The 605 Collective (Vancouver) and the two crews Bboyizm (Ottawa / Gatineau) and F.A.M. (Toronto) made Street/Stage unforgettable. At the 2010 CDF, audiences will witness how this initiative began in 2007 and is reaching new heights.
The 2010 edition of the CDF is just 8 months away! We are really moving forward. Our new General Manager, Debra Beauregard, is bringing so much positive energy to her position, and I think you will see the effects of it starting now!
Brian Webb is the Artistic Director of the Canada Dance Festival. He holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Alberta and a Master of Fine Arts from the California Institute of the Arts. He works to present a diverse body of dances at each festival event and believes that a dance is not complete until an audience witnesses it. Brian became Artistic Director of the Canada Dance Festival in 2001.
