Community Engagement
Upcoming Events
A key part of the Dance Mapping research will involve visiting communities across Canada to make presentations about the study and to have conversations with you about dance in Canada.
Check back for new events.
Past Events
Sunday October 21, 2012, Ottawa, Ontario
Caroline Lussier (Head, Dance Section, Canada Council for the Arts) and Myles Warren (Dance and Awards Officer, Ontario Arts Council) will offer a presentation on the Canada Dance Mapping Study at the Canadian Dance Assembly National Conference. For more details please visit the Canada Dance Assembly web site.
June 12, 2012, Ottawa, Ontario
You are cordially invited to a presentation about the progress of the Canada Dance Mapping Study. The presentation will be given by Caroline Lussier, Section Head, Dance, Canada Council for the Arts, and Myles Warren, Dance and Awards, Ontario Arts Council. A question and answer session will follow. The Canada Council would like to thank the Canada Dance Festival for its generous assistance.
June 7, 2012, Montreal, Quebec
You are cordially invited to a presentation by the Canada Council about the progress of the dance mapping study. The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session. The Canada Council would like to thank the Regroupement québécois de la danse and the Festival TransAmériques for their generous assistance.
May 10, 2012 , Winnipeg, Manitoba
Starting at 4:30 pm, at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s offices (380 Graham Avenue, Winnipeg). The bilingual session will begin with a presentation by Caroline Lussier, Head of the Dance Section, and Ellen Busby, Dance Program Officer and Study Co-Chair, both from the Canada Council. A question & answer session will follow. We’d like you to join us. Feel free to forward this to anyone connected to dance.
October 22, 2011 in Calgary, Alberta
Caroline Lussier (Head of Dance Section, Canada Council) will present information on the dance mapping study as part of CanDance's Annual General/Networking Meeting. For more information visit the CanDance web site.
November 23-26, 2011 in Vancouver, B.C.
Caroline Lussier (Head of Dance Section, Canada Council) will present information on the dance mapping study as part of The Dance Centre's Dance in Vancouver. The specific date and time are to be confirmed. For more information visit The Dance Centre web site.
‘Dance Conversation’ kicks off the project
The Canada Council hosted a ‘Dance Conversation’ on March 19, 2011 in Ottawa to help kick off this landmark study to map dance in Canada. The one-day event was facilitated by researchers Susanne Burns and Sue Harrison, authors of Dance Mapping: A window on dance 2004-2008 commissioned by Arts Council England. It brought together 40 individuals representing a broad spectrum of dance practitioners from nine provinces and two territories, from coast to coast. Participants contributed different experiences, diverse interests, Aboriginal knowledge, an understanding of the influences of culturally-specific communities and historical perspectives about dance in Canada.
 The event began with a presentation on recent dance mapping research carried out in England and a briefing on the genesis of the dance mapping study in Canada and its progress to date.
The day was structured around a series of three breakout sessions. The discussions were stimulating, challenging and, above all, supportive of the proposal to conduct a dance mapping study in Canada. The day ended with a plenary session during which the participants endorsed the study’s framework and purpose.
Key messages from the ‘Dance Conversation’:
- Inclusive—The research should explore a wide field of dance across Canada and be inclusive of all forms of involvement, including professional, community and participatory dance. The study should recognize the importance of the diversity of dance, and its relationship to our heritage as Canadians, to our spaces and places, to our geography and distance, and the urban, rural, remote and isolated dance communities.
- Artist-centred—Throughout all stages of the research, the dance artist should be at its heart. It is important to acknowledge the distinction between those who make a living through dance and those who engage with it in other ways.
- Intersections—The research should investigate the relationships and connections that intersect professional dance practice, participatory dance experience and education, health and other social sectors.
- Non-hierarchical—It is important to recognize that hierarchies exist in dance but the research should not be constrained by them or limited to existing definitions of dance in Canada. The study should aim to be sufficiently all-encompassing so that we are able to capture those people who do not identify themselves as dancers or define what they do as dance but who, by our terms, are indeed practitioners.
- Narratives—The research should develop a narrative-based approach that provides both qualitative and evidence-based quantitative data on dance across Canada to tell a story. The story should describe how dance has developed in Canada, explain what is, why it is that way and what is not there. The research process should provide space for individuals to describe dance in their own terms and to bring their stories to the study.
- Language Clarity—It is important that terminology and the language of the report be inclusive or ‘user friendly’ so that people can see themselves in the study.
- Future—The mapping should provide key data to strengthen and enhance our understanding of dance today, with the aim to inform planning and decision-making about different ways of working and collaborating in the dance field. The study may identify gaps and the need for further research that the dance field collectively can address to better position dance in Canada.
The Way Forward
The 'Dance Conversation' was organized by a committee comprised of seven representatives of municipal, provincial and federal public arts funders. The following day, this committee met and acknowledged the community’s strong desire to be engaged with the study in an integrated way. Consequently, the committee widened its membership to include representatives from the professional dance field. It was renamed a Steering Committee and will oversee the direction of the study.
 The research for the mapping study will be informed by the outcome of the ‘Dance Conversation.’ Directed by the Canada Council with the support of the Steering Committee and in partnership with municipal, provincial and federal public funders, the study will build upon this gathering in future community ‘conversations’ in order to reach deeply into all realms of the dance field. The success of the study depends on a process that ensures communication and engagement with the dance field throughout the life of the project.
The study is intended to be completed within 18 months, with a final report mapping dance in Canada being produced shortly afterwards.
Marlene Alt, Project Coordinator, Canada Council for the Arts
1-800-263-5588 ext. 5501 | marlene.alt@canadacouncil.ca
Dance Conversation Participants
- Calla Lachance, Neighbourhood Dance Works, NL
- Lisa Porter, Independent dance artist, NL
- Sue Urquhart, Atlantic Presenters Association, PEI
- Dianne Milligan, Dance Nova Scotia, NS
- Barbara Richman, Strategic Arts Management, NS
- Lucie Boissinot, L'École de danse contemporaine (LADMMI), QC
- Marc Boivin, Fondation Jean-Pierre Perrault, QC
- Emmanuelle Calvé‚ Chorègraphe, interprète et enseignante, QC
- Clothilde Cardinal, Danse Danse, QC
- Cathy Levy, National Arts Centre/Centre national des arts, QC
- Caroline Lussier, Festival TransAmériques, QC
- Yvon Soglo, Bboy Crazy Smooth, QC
- Monik Vincent, Chorègraphe, QC
- Miriam Adams, Dance Collection Danse, ON
- Michael de Coninck-Smith, Canadian Children's Dance Theatre, ON
- Nathalie Fave, Canadian Dance Assembly / Assemblée canadienne de la danse, ON
- Denise Fujiwara, Fujiwara Dance Inventions, ON
- Judy Harquail, Ontario Presenting Network, ON
- Christine Moynihan, Dance Umbrella of Ontario, ON
- Garry Neil, Dancer Transition Resource Centre (DTRC), ON
- Lata Pada, Sampradaya Dance Creations, ON
- Gerard Roxburgh, National Ballet, ON
- Renata Soutter, Propeller Dance, ON
- Michael Trent, Dancemakers, ON
- Barbara Nepinak, Summer Bear Dance Troupe, MB
- Clarence Nepinak, Summer Bear Dance Troupe, MB
- Danielle Sturk, productions dieselle productions, MB
- Carol Greyeyes, Writer, actor, dancer, choreographer, teacher, SK
- Nicole Mion, Springboard Performance, AB
- Harry Paterson, Alberta Ballet, AB
- Barbara Clausen, Dance House, BC
- Karen Jamieson, Karen Jamieson Dance, BC
- Lee Su-Feh, Battery Opera, BC
- Judith Marcuse, International Centre of Art for Social Change; Judith Marcuse Projects, BC
- Kaija Pepper, Simon Fraser University, BC
- Joyce Rosario, New Works , BC
- Alvin Tolentino, Co.ERASGA, BC
- Mirna Zagar, The Dance Centre, BC
- Darha Phillpot, Crazy Legs Contemporary Dance, NWT
- Michele Emslie, Yukon Arts Centre, YT
|