The Vancouver International Dance Festival (VIDF) proudly announces its sweeping 2018 festival season: a diverse and dynamic roster of internationally celebrated artists and local favourites, presenting three weeks of endlessly enriching performances, workshops, and a host of dance activities from March 1 to 24, 2018, at various venues throughout Vancouver.
2018 Vancouver International Dance Festival - Playhouse Presentation:
Shen Wei Dance Arts (New York)
Folding and Rite of Spring
Vancouver Playhouse, March 2 & 3, 8pm
New York-based contemporary dance company Shen Wei Dance Arts will leave an indelible impression with their Western Canadian premiere. They will present two dazzling pieces by Artistic Director and Choreographer Shen Wei.
Folding, an otherworldly dreamscape set to Tibetan Buddhist chanting melded with the ethereal melodies of John Tavener, is a work of captivating simplicity and control that showcases Shen Wei’s genius. Rite of Spring is a compelling abstract interpretation of a two-piano version of Stravinsky’s iconic score, creating a fascinating physical calligraphy. The dancers spiral and swirl across the stage with an exuberance and lyricism that celebrates the dancers’ athleticism and exhilarating artistry.
2018 Vancouver International Dance Festival – Scotiabank Dance Centre:
Amber Funk Barton / the response.
VAST
Scotiabank Dance Centre, March 1 & 2, 8pm March 3, 2pm & 8pm
As part of VIDF and the response.’s 10th Anniversary season, Vancouver’s own Amber Funk Barton performs her first full-length solo in the world premiere of VAST. Inspired by personal travels and universal space, VAST is an ode to the explorer that resides in all of us and represents the traveler and the dreamer who wonders what resides beyond the edge.
2018 Vancouver International Dance Festival – Roundhouse Series:
Dancers Dancing (Vancouver)
Confabulation
Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, March 8 to 10, 7pm
Confabulation is inspired by memory and lives well lived. Choreographed by Judith Garay and performed by Jane Osborne, Bevin Poole and Garay, the piece adheres to the Tennessee Williams quote that “…life is all memory, except for the present moment…” Confabulation lives on the edges of mind and memory – looking back to see tomorrow and yesterday.
EDAM (Vancouver)
Hindsight, Sinking SuZi, and Engage the Feeling Arms
Roundhouse Performance Centre, March 8 to 10, 8pm
Three stirring works will showcase the creative highlights of EDAM’s Artistic Director Peter Bingham’s illustrious career, which has spanned over four decades:
Hindsight is a seminal work originally created in 1995, and reveals Bingham’s evolution as a choreographer. Loaded with imagery of sadness and longing, dancers Kelly McInnes and Olivia Shaffer are like birds that have forgotten how to fly as each movement evokes a sense of heartache and loss.
Originally commissioned by Ziyian Kwan in 2002, Sinking SuZi was reworked in 2009 and will see its third incarnation at this year’s festival. Kwan will perform in this sparse and elegant study of physical presence, which speaks to the evolving mentorship between Bingham and Kwan: teacher to student, choreographer to interprète and most recently, artist to artist.
Performed by Walter Kubanek, Diego Romero and Olivia Shaffer, Engage the Feeling Arms is representative of Bingham’s current work. A complex and constantly fluctuating piece, this dance is about shifting relationships, fluidity, shared imagery, and dynamic physicality.
Goh Ballet (Vancouver)
Selections from Paquita, Persuit, Pas de Trois from Swan Lake, Four Little Swans from Swan Lake, Winter from The Four Seasons, and The Bureau
Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, March 15 to 17, 7pm
With a wide-ranging and ever-expanding repertoire that encompasses classical and contemporary ballet, jazz, character, and national dance, the Goh Ballet enjoys international acclaim. The company’s performance at VIDF will include a diverse evening of dance featuring classical selections from Paquita and Swan Lake staged by Olga Iakovlevskaya and Yao Ping Zhu. Contemporary selections include Persuit choreographed by Monica Proenca; Winter from The Four Seasons choreographed by Adonis Daukaev; and The Bureau choreographed by Monica Proenca.
White Wave Dance Company (New York)
iyouuswe
Roundhouse Performance Centre, March 15 to 17, 8pm
VIDF is pleased to present the Canadian premiere of White Wave Dance’s iyouuswe. Born from an exciting collaboration between WHITE WAVE’s artistic director, Young Soon Kim, and its nine dazzling dancers, iyouuswe will challenge audiences to examine who we are and how we relate to ourselves, and to each other. It is a story about developing meaningful relationships where we struggle to seek a sense of ‘i’ as part of a ‘we’.
Ferenc Fehér (Hungary)
IMAGO
Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, March 20 to 21, 7pm
Choreographed, composed and performed by Ferenc Fehér, the Canadian premiere of IMAGO is an award winning tour-de-force that investigates questions of masculinity and emotion. Fehér’s signature combination of freestyle dance, animal movements, and contemporary dance create an engrossing experience of primal vulnerability and raw emotion.
Lucie Grégoire Danse (Montreal)
Les Choses dernières
Roundhouse Performance Centre, March 20 to 22, 8pm
Lucie Grégoire presents the West Coast premiere of Les Choses dernières, an emotional work freely inspired by Paul Auster’s novel In the Country of Last Things. Acclaimed dancer Isabelle Poirier performs in this remount and becomes a woman emerging from the night, as if from a hidden, obscure territory. Her gestures promise to scrutinize time; her body is ever poised to flee, to the point of transparency.
The Biting School (Vancouver)
Disagreable Tales
Roundhouse Exhibition Hall, March 22 to 24, 7pm
Co-founded in 2015 by multi-disciplinary artists and brothers Arash and Aryo Khakpour, The Biting School specializes in dance, theatre, and performance art that explores social dynamics, historical roots, and political issues on a physical and visceral level. Inspired by a compilation of Christian moral tales written by Leon Bloy, Disagreeable Tales is an exploration of the violence, cruelty, and perversions in and around us.
Compañía de Danza Experimental de Lola Lince (Mexico)
Estudios y Fragmentos Sobre el Sueño (Studies and Fragments on Dreams)
Roundhouse Performance Centre, March 23 & 24, 8pm
Choreographed by Natsu Nakajima and Lola Lince and making its anticipated Canadian premiere, Estudiy Fragmentos Sobre el Sueño explores the dichotomies of light and shadow, night and day, northern and southern hemispheres, wakefulness and sleep. Dreams, as an inexhaustible creative source, provide the inspiration for mesmerizing journey into the subconscious expressed through movement.
At KW Production Studio:
pataSola dance (Vancouver)
RIFT
KW Production Studio, March 22 to 24, 5pm
In this compelling world premiere, pataSola dance mixes elements of Flamenco and Butoh with archetype, myth, and legend in response to global femicide. RIFT bears witness to the deep pain of women everywhere who address the loss and harm of gender violence in order to restore awareness and advocate for change. Inspired by the power of Butoh and the Cante Hondo (deep song) in flamenco, this work explores the lament and struggle associated with the search for collective renewal.
2018 Vancouver International Dance Festival
Dates: March 1 to 24, 2018
Tickets: Vancouver Playhouse: Adults $65, Seniors/Students $55, Groups of 10 or more $45 (please call VIDF box office at 604•662•4966 for group sales).
Roundhouse Performance Centre, Scotiabank Dance Centre regular ticket prices are Adults $30, Seniors/Students $25, and Groups of 10 or more $20 (please call VIDF box office at 604•662•4966 for group sales).
KW Production Studio: Adults $15, Seniors/Students $10, Roundhouse Exhibition Hall: Free with VIDF Membership ($3); Woodwards Atrium: Free
Address: Various Vancouver Venues
Box Office: vidf.ca/tickets
604.662.4966
Photo by Ernest Von Rosen