The 32nd Annual Dancing on the Edge Festival Moves Forward in a Different Form!
July 2 – 11, 2020
Schedule announcement on June 25!
An eagerly anticipated highlight of the Lower Mainland’s dance season each July is Canada’s longest-running contemporary dance festival, Dancing on the Edge. For the 2020 festival, we are happy to announce that we aren’t cancelling, but excited to be presenting a reimagined EDGE. This year, during this global pandemic, things will be different, working around the limitations on public gatherings, so the EDGE has adjusted its look and vision in response.
In celebration of our 32nd Annual DOTE, Festival Producer Donna Spencer recently announced “We are very disappointed that Dancing on the Edge Festival 2020 which was scheduled from July 2-11will not be moving forward as originally planned. The festival would have included a presentation of over thirty live performances featuring international artists from India, the USA, Quebec, Alberta, Ontario, and from across BC. We know our audiences and artists look forward to the festival every year so we will be offering instead some specially curated digital programming with live-streamed performances, premieres of dance films, dance discussions, four outdoor live performances in the Firehall’s Courtyard (for very limited audiences with safety precautions in place) and one dynamic theatre performance (Firehall Arts Centre Theatre). Dancing on the Edge has run uninterrupted for thirty-one years and we did not want to stop that momentum so we are hoping everyone will enjoy this one time only (we hope) re-imagined version of the festival. We, also, wanted to ensure our community of dance artists continued to be supported during this difficult time. ”
Featured Companies/Choreographers (more to be announced!)
Action at a Distance / Vanessa Goodman (Vancouver)
All Bodies Dance / Carolina Bergonzoni & Naomi Brand (Vancouver)
Arash Khakpour (choreographer, performer, creator) / Rodrigo Rocha-Campos (producer, writer, creator) – (Vancouver)
Ben Geretsky
Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata / Zab Maboungou (Montreal) – 2020 Governor General Performing Arts Award-Winning Choreographer
Company 605 / Josh Martin & Lisa Gelley
David Cooper – filmmaker (Vancouver)
dumb instrument Dance / Ziyian Kwan (Vancouver)
Modal Performance / Marek Klajda (Warsaw/Paris)
Ne.Sans opera and dance / Idan Cohen (from Israel/Vancouver) – Live Firehall Courtyard Performance (July 7 & 9 @ 9pm)
Jeanette Kotowich (Vancouver)
O.Dela Arts / Olivia C. Davies (Vancouver) –Live Firehall Courtyard Steamed Performance (July 8 & 10 @ 9pm)
Rachel Meyer (Vancouver)
Radical System Art / Shay Kuebler (Vancouver) – Live Firehall Theatre Performance (July 10) and Live Streamed performance (July 11 @ 7pm)
Raven Spirit Dance / Michelle Olson (Vancouver)
Tara Cheyenne Performance / Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg (Vancouver)
the response. (Dance Café) / Amber Funk Barton– curator – featuring 8 dance artists for an Instagram online performance (Vancouver)
COVID Commissions
Spencer also said, “In addition, we are announcing five commission projects – the COVID Commissions. Artists will be invited to submit their proposals with commissions ranging from $5,000-$10,000, dependent on the project. These new works will be premiered at the 2021 Dancing on the Edge Festival. We are thrilled to be offering this incentive, in the hopes that these commissions will enable artists to keep creating new work, during this difficult time for all. Now more than ever we need our artists and we need to keep moving so the EDGE is working to support and encourage both.”
