Raven Mother
January 24 • 7:30 pm
McPherson Playhouse
Dance Days
It’ll move you!
January 24–February 2
Free classes all over town
Dance at the Royal Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Mixed Program
February 7 + 8 • 7:30 pm
Royal Theatre
By Gillian Jones, Executive Director
As the stage snow settles on Dance Victoria’s annual Nutcracker weekend — this year, almost 7,000 people experienced Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s stunning production — our team takes a much-deserved pause before the holidays. When we return in early January, our energies will be fully focused on Dance Victoria’s largest-scale community engagement effort of the season: Dance Days.
For those new to Dance Days (Jan. 24 – Feb. 2, 2025), the festival offers 10 days of free dance classes, workshops, and performances across the Capital Regional District. Last year, we promoted over 90 classes led by 27 local studios and instructors, with whom Dance Victoria gratefully partners to realize this event. (Stay tuned for the complete Dance Days calendar on our website in early January!)
An element of Dance Days I am always excited for are the works-in-progress — called Rough Cuts — that Dance Victoria presents at our Quadra Village studios. Rough Cuts invite our community to experience, on a more intimate level, the creation process of dance artists from across the region, ranging from emerging to established. Following each showing, which is limited to 100 audience members, we dedicate time for reflection and conversation. In a reversal of the traditional Q&A format, artists are often asking the questions: What did you notice? What worked (or didn’t)? What imagery was the
strongest? Your responses provide invaluable insight as artists continue to develop and refine their work.
In this issue of Footnotes, you will find the official Rough Cuts 2025 announcement. I’m thrilled that this year’s program features projects at various stages of development, with artists who are both brand new to Dance Victoria and deepening long-term relationships in our community. On Sunday, January 26, we will see the remount of Autocorrect, developed and directed by recent City of Victoria Artist-in-Residence Kemi Craig and choreographed by Vitor Freitas. The piece features a group of five Victoria-based dancers and two musicians performing a composition of crowd-sourced movements submitted by members of the public during Craig’s residency.
Cristina Bucci, a current Dance Victoria Residency Artist and co-founder of OURO Collective, will share an excerpt of her inaugural solo work, Sisu. Audiences may be familiar with Bucci’s previous work: OURO won the Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects in 2020 and was a Dance Victoria collective-in-residence during 2021/22.
Finally, we are delighted to present an excerpt of recent Chrystal Dance Prize – Projects winner Belle Spirale Dance Projects co-directed by Alexis Fletcher and Sylvan Senez. Belle Spirale is developing a double bill called Universus, choreographed by Fletcher and Fernando Hernando Magadan. Universus will premiere at
Dance Victoria brings the World’s Best Dance to the Royal Theatre and supports the development of new dance for the international stage from our studios in Quadra Village.
the Vancouver Playhouse in March 2025, so this showing will be especially meaningful for the artists!
I encourage you to join us at Rough Cuts; the event will open to registration on January 10. I also hope you will participate in Dance Days in whatever way resonates with you — whether that’s by trying something new with an intro dance class, sitting in on a showing or artistproduced event, or attending Dance Victoria’s presentation of Dancers of Damelahamid (more about this anticipated DV co-commission on p. 4) at the McPherson Playhouse on January 24.
Wishing you a restful and warm holiday season, however you celebrate.
Gillian Jones FN
Dance Victoria is a non-profit charitable society with the mission to cultivate a connection to dance by presenting and supporting diverse local, national, and international artists, and inspiring all communities through the magic of dance. Our vision is that everyone in Greater Victoria can experience the transformative power of world-class dance. DanceVictoria.com
Dance Victoria Board:
President: Colette Baty
Vice-President: Brendan Ralfs
Treasurer: Sarah Millard
Secretary: Marlon Murr
Directors: Kemi Craig, Linley Faulkner, Joost Pelt, Philip Pierce, Carrie Smart, Emily Zeng
Staff:
Executive Director: Gillian Jones
General Manager: Dayna Szyndrowski
Development & Operations Manager: Shireen McNeilage
Marketing Manager: Anne-Sophie Cournoyer
Production Manager: Holly Vivian
Community Engagement Manager: Larissa Sharma
Artist Programs & Studio Manager: Kiera Shaw
Graphic Design: Rayola Creative
Advertising Sales: Bonnie Light Advertising
If you’d like to volunteer for Dance Victoria, please complete the online form at DanceVictoria.com/volunteer
Studios and Office:
#111 — 2750 Quadra Street, Victoria, BC V8T 4E8
DanceVictoria.com for trailers, tickets and more information
Box Office: 250-386-6121
Footnotes is written by Anne-Sophie Cournoyer and Gillian Jones (unless otherwise noted).
Dancers of Damelahamid Raven Mother
Friday, January 24 • 7:30 pm
McPherson Playhouse
Tickets: DanceVictoria.com or 250-386-6121
Choreographer: Margaret Grenier
Underwriter Lois McNabb
Venue
Hotel
Late Elder and matriarch Margaret Harris (1931–2020) dedicated her life to revitalizing and preserving Indigenous dance and song on the Northwest Coast. A champion for cultural revival, Harris co-founded Dancers of Damelahamid in 1967 with her late husband, Chief Kenneth Harris out of an urgency to ensure that their ancestors’ knowledge and artistic practices were not lost. For nearly six decades, the company has breathed life back into the traditions of the Gitxsan people, which had been suppressed under the Potlatch ban—a federal law enacted by the Canadian government, from 1884 to 1951, which outlawed Indigenous ceremonies and cultural practices.
Born in Churchill, Manitoba, Harris was Cree and Métis. Her journey to becoming a matriarch and cultural icon in Northwestern, B.C. was therefore not a linear one. Her life took a defining turn when she moved to Prince Rupert, B.C. as a young woman and met her future husband, Chief Kenneth Harris.
When Harris married her husband, learning and teaching the culture became her duty. She was not versed in the traditions of the Gitxsan peoples and her mother-in-law, a respected matriarch in the community, took her under her wing. Harris was adopted into the Raven Clan, one of the most important lineages among the Gitxsan, and from there, she dedicated herself to preserving and passing on the culture.
In 2003, Margaret and Ken Harris passed their leadership onward to their daughter, Margaret Grenier, who is now Dancers of Damelahamid’s Executive and Artistic Director.
Harris’ legacy lives on in Dancers of Damelahamid's latest work Raven Mother, the company’s most ambitious production to date and the culmination of generations of
artistic and cultural work. The Raven, a symbol central to the Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples, plays a pivotal role in the story. Harris was not only a preserver of culture; she was a force for change, transformation, and healing, unafraid to bring truth to light.
“Raven Mother is a very personal piece for our family, and we have put all our efforts into realizing this work. It recognizes the legacy left by the lifetime of work that my mother Margaret Harris gave to her family and the dance community, as a Cree woman who married into a Gitxsan dance lineage. It is a work that acknowledges the vital role that women have held in this intergenerational dance practice, as visionaries, as caregivers, and as catalysts that have ensured the survival of the practice itself. It is a piece that speaks to both the beauty and the hardships of this journey as women, the love we have for our children, and the hope they bring us.”
— Margaret Grenier
Raven Mother is a co-production of The CanDance Network Creation Fund, Dance Victoria, DanceWorks, National Arts Centre and Danse Danse. FN
It’ll move you for 10 days this winter!
January 24 – February 2
Free classes around town
Sponsored by
Each winter, Dance Victoria invites the community to join in the celebration of dance with Dance Days, a 10-day festival in partnership with local dance studios, artists, and instructors. As a longstanding community collaboration for the past 15 years, Dance Days engages the public in diverse and accessible dance forms and promotes dance appreciation, joyful movement, and connection. All over town, participating studios offer an array of free dance classes in various styles open to all adults. Last year, 27 studios took part in the festivities, offering more than 90 classes! From flamenco, to heels, contemporary, ballet, hip hop, and more, there is so much to choose from and something for everyone. Participants can also attend free workshops, artist talks, and dance performances. Visit DanceVictoria.com/Dance-Days-Calendar in January to sign-up to as many free classes as you’d like!
Acclaimed Indigenous company Dancers of Damelahamid launches Dance Days with Raven Mother on January 24 at the McPherson Playhouse. On January
25, join us for special kickoff event hosted by Dance Days Sponsor, Tapestry (more details to come in the New Year!). Finally, Dance Victoria invites the community to our Quadra Village studios on January 26 to experience a curated selection of works-in-progress (Rough Cuts) featuring regional dance artists and choreographers including Belle Spirale Dance Projects, Cristina Bucci, Kemi Craig, and Vitor Freitas. FN
“Participating in Dance Days is exactly what our little business needs to get us from grass roots to being the more established business we want to be. Thank you so much for offering this!”
— Dance Days 2024 participating studio
Sunday, January 26
Showings: 2:00 – 6:00 pm (with breaks)
Casual reception: 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Dance Victoria Studios
111–2750 Quadra Street
Free admission with suggested donation
Limited Space RSVP starting January 10
Rough Cuts are intimate work-in-progress showings that run between 20 and 35 minutes and are followed by a talkback with the artists. These informal conversations invite the audience to ask questions about the work they have experienced and to give artists valuable feedback. All are welcome to RSVP to the following Rough Cuts starting January 10:
Excerpt of Universus
Belle Spirale Dance Projects
Choreographers: Alexis Fletcher & Fernando Hernando Magadan
2:00 pm
Worlds are born and worlds collide in this double-bill of new work. Internationally celebrated choreographer Fernando Hernando Magadan (Ballet BC, NDT, BODYTRAFFIC) and Belle Spirale Directors Alexis Fletcher & Sylvain Senez (assemble, All my being is a dark verse, The Dance Deck) reach for questions of cosmic significance: Is connection to earth achievable on a chaotically changing planet? Will human resilience be enough for our uncertain future? Using the body as an emblem of resiliency and togetherness, eight powerful dancers explore how sharing art can awaken the individual’s sense of purpose, imagination, agency, and sense of hope.
Excerpt of Sisu
Choreographer: Cristina Bucci
3:30 pm
Sisu, a Finnish word that deeply resonates with Cristina Bucci’s personal journey, is the driving force behind her inaugural solo work. This piece, which she both choreographs and performs, powerfully expresses her inner reserves of power, courage, determination, and strength of will. Sisu’s creation began in July 2023 through a residency at BC Movement Arts Society on Malcolm Island. Bucci is the co-founder of the Vancouver-based Ouro Collective.
Autocorrect
Choreographer: Vitor Freitas, Director: Kemi Craig 5:00 pm
Autocorrect is an archive of movements based on daily gestures that reflect how we adjust, adapt, accommodate, strive for perfection, and navigate the desire for safety. It draws from habitual movements submitted by the public during Kemi Craig’s tenure as City of Victoria artist-in-residence. These movements were then given to local dancers, led by Vitor Freitas, who choreographed, improvised, and performed pieces based on this collection of community contributions. Each piece reflects a specific time and place within the territories of the Lkwungen-speaking Peoples, colonially known as Victoria, BC. The work highlights the tension between the constant influx of societal norms and expectations, which shift suddenly and rapidly, and the ritualization of correction.
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo
Mixed Program
Friday, February 7 • 7:30 pm
Saturday, February 8 • 7:30 pm
Royal Theatre
Tickets: DanceVictoria.com or 250-386-6121
Presentation Sponsor
Season Receptions
Reception Co-Sponsor
In 1974, at the height of LGBTQ+ movement, a bold new group emerged in New York City, challenging both the conventions of ballet and society’s perceptions of gay men. Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, affectionately known as the Trocks, was founded in the wake of the Stonewall Uprising, a series of events between police and LGBTQ+ protesters that fundamentally change the discourse surrounding gay rights in the United States. The first performances were held on the makeshift stage of the West Side Discussion Group’s loft space in downtown New York City.
Taking activism from the streets to the stage, the Trocks’ performances blended classical ballet with comedic drag, an audacious act in a time when openly gay individuals were harshly stigmatized. Their dancers performed en pointe—an art traditionally reserved for women—defying ballet’s gender norms and offering a playful challenge to traditional notions of beauty and grace.
While the Trocks were initially a small underground troupe performing in off-offBroadway lofts, word spread quickly. Only a year after its founding, the company went on a country-wide tour bringing their blend of comedy and grace to more conservative towns where they found immense success, much to their surprise. Their unique blend of elegance, skillful execution, and slapstick humour opened hearts and changed minds everywhere they performed.
Over their 50-year journey, the Trocks have grown into a crowd-pleasing, globespanning phenomenon, having performed in over 43 countries and 667 cities for enthusiastic crowds of all sizes, as well as connecting with small groups through engagement programs that focus on elements of their performance, from repertory workshops to makeup seminars. While in Victoria, the Trocks will facilitate a free “Dying Swan” workshop in partnership with Intrepid Theatre’s OUTstages Festival and hosted by PoleCoven. FN
Pre-Show Chat
Join us in the lobby from 6:45 to 7:15 pm for a chat with a company member from Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo facilitated by Dr. Allana Lindgren, UVic’s Dean of Fine Arts. This 50th anniversary Mixed Program will be sure to generate a robust discussion, followed by a Q&A with audience members.
“It is difficult to believe that it’s been 50 years since I saw the Trocks perform for the very first time. I was dancing at that time with Netherlands Dance Theatre in The Hague, and the Trocks were on their first European tour performing in the HOT theatre, a small black box theatre with maybe 300 seats. I was there with many of my NDT colleagues, and we laughed hysterically throughout the show. I can’t wait to see them again!” — Joost Pelt, Dance Victoria Board member
Your age Your price If you’re between 12 and 29 years old on the date of Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo performance, you can purchase a ticket for the same price as your age (plus a small administrative fee). This offer is also available for Dance at the Royal Series performances and special presentations of Dancers of Damelahamid and Shamel Pitts | TRIBE at the McPherson Playhouse. There are only a limited number of PYA tickets, and they often sell out before show time. Order in-person at the Royal & McPherson Theatres Box Office or over the phone (250-386-6121). Proof-of-age photo ID is required at ticket pick-up.
Night Moves invites audience members between the ages of 30 and 45 to experience all Dance at the Royal presentations at a substantial discount. Night Movers not only save money — they access exclusive pre-show Happy Hours with a complimentary drink, light appetizers, and special guests! Night Movers can subscribe to all four shows and save up to $188 or enjoy discounted tickets for one night only. Proof-of-age photo ID is required at pick-up.
By Shireen McNeilage, Development and Operations Manager
Many of you interested in local dance history will be aware of the South Vancouver Island Dance Archives (SVIDA) Established in 2012 at the urging of Vivian (Briggs) Love and with support from Betty Wilkinson, Dance Victoria has been the proud steward of donated items showcasing our community’s rich dance history. The collection began with the initial donation of noted dance teacher and studio owner Wynne Shaw’s personal archive, which had been entrusted to Vivian when Wynne died in 1985. For the next several years, a small but dedicated group of volunteers met weekly at Dance Victoria Studios (prior to the disruption of COVID in early 2020) to review and catalogue donated items.
With the significant time, resources, and expertise needed for such an important endeavour, Dance Victoria’s staff and Board have spent many months considering how best to steward the donated physical and digital materials held in the archives. Top of mind has been ensuring access for, and engagement with, as many members of our community as possible
As a result, last season, Dance Victoria engaged in a consultation process with Amy Bowring, Director of Collections and Research at Dance Collection Danse. Amy is one of Canada’s foremost advocates for the study and preservation of Canadian dance heritage and a key resource for Dance Victoria since the early stages of the archives. We also consulted with the University of Victoria’s Director of Special Collections and Archivist, Lara Wilson. Since SVIDA’s inception, the UVic Library and Archives had agreed to house and maintain the dance archives should the need arise in the future.
The outcome of this consultation, followed by thoughtful consideration and dialogue between DV’s staff, Board of Directors, and volunteer Archives
Committee, was a decision to transfer the Dance Victoria Archives/SVIDA to the UVic Library & Archives. The UVic Library & Archives collects materials that support the research and teaching needs of the university community. Their collections are also accessible to the public. Both SVIDA and UVic prioritize accessibility, and both are focused geographically on the Southern Vancouver Island and Pacific coast regions. Importantly, while UVic has extensive materials related to theatre, music and performance history, its dance fonds are limited. UVic is eager to expand the university’s dance-related materials with the addition of the Dance Victoria/SVIDA collection.
This new phase of archiving our local dance history is an exciting one. Last month, the official transfer of SVIDA’s physical and digital collections to UVic occurred. Initially, UVic will need time to assess and integrate the SVIDA collection. Following this time, members of the public may donate materials directly to UVic for its general collection to further grow the region’s dance archive.
With this transition, we anticipate new opportunities emerging through our partnership with UVic Library & Archives, including exhibitions, oral history projects, and other public programs. Our goals are that the legacy of SVIDA and its founders is preserved, and that Dance Victoria is well positioned to take advantage of the opportunities our collaboration with UVic Library & Archives creates.
Dance Victoria owes a debt of gratitude to founding Volunteer Archives Committee members Vivian Love, Patricia Taylor, Brenda Jagdis, Pamela Martin, and former DV Executive Producer Stephen White, along with other notable contributors including Elizabeth Bassett (author of Dancing on the Island: Six Women Who Shaped Dance on South Vancouver Island, Canada), Mary Spilsbury Ross, Marylou Rowthbotham, and Bonnie Barratt. FN
Campaign Co-chairs
Julie Rust & Greg Phillips
Thank you to everyone who helped make the holiday season brighter for local families by donating to Nutcracker Kids! With your generous support, Dance Victoria provided free tickets to over 150 children and their families so they could enjoy the magic of Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Nutcracker
This year, we distributed tickets in partnership with local organizations Victoria Women’s Transition House,
Native Friendship Centre, Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria (ICA), Family Services of Greater Victoria, and Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre.
An ICA member who attended the performance shared: “We had such a fun evening out. It’s not something any of us would have been able to go to if not for the generosity of Dance Victoria. We had youth from over 10 countries attend.” FN
As a not-for-profit organization, Dance Victoria relies on sponsors, donors, and volunteers to achieve our mission. Would you consider donating to Dance Victoria? You can choose a specific program or make a general donation. All donations of $10 or greater receive a charitable tax receipt. Thank you in advance for your support!
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo BALLET
February 7 + 8, 2025 • 7:30 PM Mixed Program
Ballet BC CONTEMPORARY BALLET
March 14 + 15, 2025 • 7:30 PM ZENITH
Compañia Rafaela Carrasco CONTEMPORARY FLAMENCO
April 11 + 12, 2025 • 7:30 PM Nocturna (Architecture of Insomnia)
Dancers of Damelahamid INDIGENOUS DANCE
January 24, 2025 • 7:30 PM – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
McPherson Playhouse
Raven Mother
Shamel Pitts | TRIBE CONTEMPORARY
February 20, 2025 • 7:30 PM – ONE NIGHT ONLY!
McPherson Playhouse
BLACK HOLE – Trilogy And Triathlon
