...this one took place yesterday in Smithers in celebration of International Dance Day and was organized by Miriam Colvin, our intrepid dance outreach coordinator!

Video is available over on our blog here.

Click the photo to see more photos from International Dance Day!

We were reminded again of the video, A Very Dangerous Pastime, and what a valuable tool it is as an audience primer for those new to watching contemporary dance. Almost 10 years old now, we still hear from people who have only seen it now for the first time and commented on how it helped them "get" contemporary dance.

Produced by the Canada Dance Festival in 2000, A Very Dangerous Pastime is a 14-minute award-winning video that aims to reveal the "secret" of looking at contemporary dance. Directed by filmmaker Laura Taler of Grimm Pictures Inc., A Very Dangerous Pastime is a humorous and textured collage of dance film, vintage footage, and interviews with well-known Canadian actors, athletes and musicians. It is designed to awaken our interest in contemporary dance and provide tools to help audiences enjoy dance in its many forms. Ultimately, this video shows that we all have an innate ability to relate to and appreciate dance.

A Very Dangerous Pastime premiered at the Canada Dance Festival and has been broadcast on Bravo!

We're very pleased to officially announce the selections from our 4th Pitch Session!

Coming to a final selection is never an easy decision, especially with such a great pool of work to choose from. Many, many thanks to all the companies who proposed work this year and especially to all the company representatives who made presentations at our Pitch Session.

A copy of all the proposals, as compiled in our Groundwork resource document will be available on our website very soon!

And, drum roll please..... from an outstanding pool of dance artists, The 605 Collective & the response. have been selected to tour Made in BC network communities in 2010/11, with a program of work entitled FUSED.

FUSED is a shared evening between The 605 Collective & the response., showcasing repertoire of each company and featuring three exciting emerging choreographers (Amber Funk Barton, Shay Kuebler, and Josh Martin) who are a part of a new generation in which contemporary dance is created and performed through the fusion of multiple dance forms.

The 605 Collective & the response. will follow in the tracks of these fine Made in BC touring companies:

MovEnt & Tara Cheyenne Performance (2009/10)
MOVE: The Company (2008/09)
Karen Jamieson Dance (2007/08)
Dancers Dancing (2007/08)
Mascall Dance (2007/08)