Virtual Dance Days 2022 is Dance Victoria’s annual city-wide celebration of dance. The 10-day event brings a host of workshops, performances, talks and even free dance classes. Starting today, January 20th, until January 30th, local studios will offer a variety of free livestreamed dance classes in many styles including; afrobeat, seated dance, flamenco, ballet, efunk and more. The complete calendar of offered classes is available at dancevictoria.com/dance-days-calendar.
Dance Days also includes a selection of special events;
January 20, 2022 @ 7:30 pm at Mary Winspear Centre, Sidney
John by Helen Walkley
Tickets: $43.14 Visit marywinspear.ca
Helen Walkley is an independent dance artist, a choreographer, improviser, performer and teacher, based in Vancouver, BC
John is a memoir of Helen Walkley’s oldest brother John who disappeared from Vancouver in May 1969, never to be heard from again. Walkley sourced from family letters dating from 1959 to 2010, which document the years leading up to his disappearance, his medical history, and the subsequent tracking her parents did of his disappearance. Performed by two of the top dance and theatre artists of their generation in Western Canada, John is a profoundly moving and strikingly relevant piece that resonates long after the curtain falls. Walkley weaves text with movement seamlessly, in this perfect jewel of dance theatre. John was 23 at the time of his disappearance. Walkley was 13.
January 27 – 30, 2022 @ various times at Dance Victoria Studios or online
Rough Cuts: Producer’s Selection
Join Dance Victoria in person or online for Rough Cuts, a free (donations encouraged) curated selection of new works by exciting west coast dance makers. Limited capacity live events take place at Dance Victoria Studios or livestreamed performances can be enjoyed at home. Each of the works-in-progress are approximately 20 minutes with a 25-minute talk-back with the artists. Rough Cuts will be performed by Dance Victoria resident artists Amber Downie-Back and Angus Gaffney; Kayla Henry; Lindsay Delaronde and Visible Bodies Collective; FakeKnot/Ralph Escamillan; Kiera Shaw and Sophie Dow; and Kemi Craig. Visit DanceVictoria.com for details of Rough Cuts and to register.
January 29, 2022 @ 11am – 1230pm, online on Zoom
Dance Victoria will also host a free virtual Community Dance Discussion on Saturday, January 29 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm, an opportunity to check in with other dance enthusiasts and learn what our local dance community is up to as we emerge from the pandemic. We’ll hear from Indigenous artist Troy Emery Twigg (Kainai Nation, Southern Alberta). Troy has worked for three decades as an artist in movement, choreography, and staging, mostly creating his own works which have been presented nationally and internationally. You must register in advance at DanceVictoria.com to receive the virtual link.
Details of all Virtual Dance Days 2022 classes and events are online at dancevictoria.com