12 minute read
A dance scene in transition:
New leadership and new directions for Vancouver dance institutions
By Tessa Perkins Deneault
As we approach the 14th biennial Dance In Vancouver showcase this year, a series of studio showings and mainstage performances for both local audiences and visiting presenters and curators, it is an appropriate time to take stock of the state of the city’s dance scene. At a time when a large generational shift is happening in many areas of our lives from employment to real estate, the same phenomenon impacts our dance community. Many of the dance artists who founded companies and laid the foundation for the Vancouver dance scene over the past few decades are reaching retirement age or moving on to new projects, and the community finds itself in a time of transition. The founders leave a legacy of established organizations ready for a new generation of artists who have been given the opportunity to build on that legacy while making their own mark. For small dance companies tied to the work of an artistic director, new leadership often involves a new name—it is one way for the new director to immediately imbue the organization with their own identity and mark a new chapter in which they can begin to build their own legacy.
Some recent transitions in Vancouver dance leadership are well-established. In 2016, Serge Bennathan transitioned the directorship of his company Les Productions Figlio to Ralph
Escamillan, who renamed it FakeKnot. Escamillan’s works have been presented across Canada and internationally. A studio showing of his most recent creation, MY HOUSE, will be presented at Dance In Vancouver, along with Croquis (2023) in a double bill with Ziyian Kwan’s Tendrils.
In 2021, Marissa Wong became Artistic Director of Amber Funk Barton’s company, the response., which she renamed The Falling Company. Wong’s works, such as Surrendurance, have been presented by The Dance Centre and as part of Dance In Vancouver 2017. Her most recent work, Family Room, premiered at The Dance Centre earlier this year.
EDAM, a company that has shaped the Vancouver dance scene for over 30 years, is in the middle of a major transition in leadership. Established by Peter Bingham, Jay Hirabayashi, Barbara Bourget, Jennifer Mascall, Lola Ryan, Lola MacLaughlin, and Ahmed Hassan in 1982, EDAM is a seminal company with deep roots and strong connections in the community. As Bingham prepares to retire, a succession plan is underway to pass the reigns to Olivia Shaffer, who is mentored by Bingham while in the role of Associate Artistic Director until she becomes Artistic Director in 2026.
Kinesis Dance somatheatro was founded by Paras Terezakis in 1986 after he emigrated from Greece and studied at Toronto Dance Theatre, York University, and Simon Fraser University (SFU). In 2023, he began his succession plan before returning to Greece to continue his artistic practice. Rachel Helten became Associate Artistic Director under the mentorship of both Terezakis and Kinesis executive director Carline Dolmazon before becoming Artistic Director earlier this year. Helten has renamed the company soma anima arts to emphasize her focus on connecting movement to body and soul, while honoring the previous name with the inclusion of “soma”.
“I am very much connected to dance’s ability to liberate our bodies and liberate our consciousness, our hearts, and our souls. My future aim, and my aim for life is to amplify love and freedom through art,” says Helten. “We're going to continue honoring this beautiful lineage.”
Helten has always known that she wanted to be an artist. While dance is her main medium, she frequently collaborates with artists in other disciplines, including her brothers Benjamin and Jeremy Helten who are musicians and composers, her sister Sarah Helten who is a multi-disciplinary artist, and her partner Ezequiel Peralta who is a digital artist. Helten’s love for and dedication to dance as an art form has been clear since we were kids dancing at McBride School of Dancing in Surrey. In 2016, she graduated from the dance program at SFU’s School for the Contemporary Arts.
It was while she was a student at SFU that she became familiar with Terezakis’ work. She first worked with the company when she was asked to be part of a community flash mob, a project she says the company will continue. She also plans to continue the company’s communityengaged work in schools and senior residences. One of their new initiatives is a collaboration with Lobe, a spatial sound studio where Helten will soon begin teaching dance classes. In terms of choreographic inspirations, there is some overlap as Helten and Terezakis are both interested in the concept of utopia. In the months before Helten took over the company, the two worked together on a new piece called Bright Shadow. “It was really precious for me to have space with Paras one on one, and also with the dancers,” says Helten. The piece is inspired by Carl Jung’s concept of the golden shadow, the idea that we hide certain positive things away when we should not be afraid to integrate them into our lives, such as being vulnerable, she describes.
“There have been so many things that tell us it's not safe to be sensitive, to be vulnerable, or even to be kind, or to have big, lofty dreams, or even it is not safe to be into herbalism or Indigenous wisdom,” says Helten. “For me, the bright shadow is the pulling up of humanity's potential and bringing back that wisdom. We need these utopic realities and these utopic gifts that we all have—that sensitivity, kindness, compassion, rebellion, revolution that we all possess, that has been oppressed or suppressed in some way.” It is a theme Helten often finds herself exploring in her work.
A 15-minute excerpt of Bright Shadow was presented at Kinesis Dance’s annual fundraiser where members of the dance community honored Terezakis and marked the transition to Helten’s leadership. At this year’s Dance In Vancouver, a 30-minute version will be presented in a studio showing.
“A lot of the things that I'm doing now in this role of artistic director, I was doing before as a freelance artist, in terms of continuously writing applications and applying for things and putting yourself out there,” says Helten. “But now there is this infrastructure that Paras has built over 38 plus years that I get to feel held by.” She remains committed to sharing the healing power of dance with as many people as possible. “I do feel that through art, there's a lot that we can influence,” says Helten, “and that is why, secretly, I think it is oppressed.”
Another major transition happening this year is the leadership of the Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF). After leaving EDAM, Barbara Bourget and Jay Hirabayashi established Kokoro Dance in 1986. In 2000, they founded the Vancouver International Dance Festival. As the festival prepares for its 25th year, Deanna Peters and Victor Tran have stepped in as co-directors. Peters, as Mutable Subject, will be presenting her work as part of a Dance In Vancouver performance and conversation at Morrow, Ziyian Kwan’s artist-run centre, on November 22, 2024.
Peters and Tran plan to continue presenting “dance from all forms and cultures that is raw, kinetic and experimental.” As the festival has always done, they will continue to include Butoh shows and free performances in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. An exciting new element of the festival is the inclusion of street dance, a strength Tran brings to his leadership. They are also planning programming to align with International Women’s Day, which falls during the festival, and putting a focus on productions with live musical accompaniment.
“We have a history of selling out all our shows and creating a lot of social activities around performances. Those are things that we feel will really make the festival a celebration,” says Peters.
As the festival founders, Bourget and Hirabayashi leave big shoes to fill with their strong connections in the dance community. Tran says that it is a huge responsibility and at times it feels too good to be true, but he is looking forward to the new challenge. Peters, having danced with Bourget and Hirabayashi for many years and being involved with the festival in the past, feels a responsibility to uphold their vision. “It is a giant gift from Barbara and Jay,” says Peters. “I have been a bit blown away by how nice everyone is being in terms of reaching out, so many people are checking in with me.” She wondered what it all meant, and then realized:“It means that all these people are ready to support us, to support our vision we are offering. They are letting us know that they have our back.” Similarly, says Tran, whenever he has had a moment of doubt about this new role, soon after he has received a sincere message of congratulations.
Peters and Tran have worked together many times in the past, although usually in support of one of their own projects. This is the first time they are co-leaders, and now that they have been in their roles for a couple of months, they are settling into a rhythm of figuring out who should do which tasks, and their existing relationship means they know when each other needs help without being asked.
“I just see everything as an extension of my dance practice,” says Peters. She explains that they are both used to working on multiple projects at a time and have learned to quickly switch hats from one role to another, from artist to administrator, from friend to co-director.
“It’s similar to my practice in social dance,” says Tran, “with leading and following— knowing how to do both, knowing how to switch while you dance. And you can sometimes be both leading at the same time. Sometimes we'll be following at the same time or leaning into each other. The key thing is the adaptability that we have as a unit, as a pod of two that extends from my practice as a B-boy: the freshest and most victorious breaker is the one who can adapt the best to the situation, with a high level of commitment and integrity. It feels like we are in step.”
With so many existing relationships in the dance community, Peters and Tran are eager to involve as many artists and organizations as possible through collaborations or copresentations. Keeping their focus closer to home, their open call asked for submissions from local and national artists. Michelle Olson, Co-Artistic Director of Raven Spirit Dance, was brought on as a guest artist to be part of the selection committee. The scheduling structure of the festival will also mean that all artists will perform on a weekend, and there is less of a hierarchy in terms of prestigious venues.
Peters and Tran are committed to upholding the legacy created by Bourget and Hirabayashi while continuing to build on their own successful careers. “They were one of the first to hire me as a dancer when I started,” says Peters. At 44, she continues to present her own work and dance in others. “I'm going to honour Barbara and Jay by maintaining my artistic practice while doing this work with the VIDF and continuing to dance and perform for years to come,” says Peters. It is a fitting way to honour their legacy as Bourget and Hirabayashi have never stopped dancing.
“We feel like we have really been granted Barbara and Jay’s permission to own what we're doing,” says Peters. “They're excited to see what we are going to do, and they will be our guests of honour; they are going to be just as surprised as any other audience member. During the programming, we kept saying ‘we think Barbara and Jay will like this’ or ‘what would Barbara and Jay think’.”
“On the one hand, there is the official handoff, but then there is also the spiritual passing of the torch,” says Tran, “and they really did that for us. In street dance culture, if you do not have a blessing from your OGs, your elders, you basically cannot move forward, so having that from Barbara and Jay helped me dive in fully and be my authentic self.” Tran says he feels the gaze of his street dance community and their expectations now that he is in a position with some influence, but he also feels their support and enthusiasm.
Tessa Perkins Deneault is an arts journalist and freelance writer who regularly contributes to publications including The Dance Current and Dance International. She is the Associate Director of Marketing and Communications in the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology at Simon Fraser University and holds an MA in Liberal Studies, BA in English and French literatures, and Post-Baccalaureate Diploma in communication from SFU. In her spare time, she takes ballet and tap dance classes and spends as much time as she can watching live theatre and dance. She recently published her MA thesis, Iris Garland: Modern Movement, and has contributed the chapter on dance for A Magical Time: The Early Days of the Arts at Simon Fraser University (Harbour Publishing, 2025).'
Title image: Dancers Justin Calvadores, Ana Sosa, Bennett Tracz + Rachel Helten of soma anima arts (evolving from kinesis dance somatheatro) © Dominic Polubinski
