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by Sarah Lochhead
News items are posted in language of origin. | Les actualités sont postées dans leur langue d’origine. ~ This just in... ... this section will be updated shortly ...
>> BY AMY BOWRING Ballet dancer and teacher Rosemary Deveson died March 14th in Vancouver. Deveson was among the first Canadians to dance with de Basil’s Ballets Russes. After training with June Roper at the BC School of Dancing, Deveson joined the Ballets Russes in 1938 using the stage name Natasha Sobinova. Returning to Vancouver in 1940, she began to teach and her students from this period include Lynn Seymour and Lois Smith. She spent a short time in the United States but returned to Vancouver where she taught and choreographed for Theatre Under the Stars and the Vancouver Ballet Society Showcases. Her name was added to the Granville Street “Starwalk” in 1985. Charlotte (Holmes) Norcop died on April 1st at her Toronto home. She began her career in the arts in the props department at the Stratford Festival in its inaugural year. She became a publicity assistant at The National Ballet of Canada in the 1950s but she is probably best known for her work as theatre and dance officer and director of operations at the Ontario Arts Council, where she worked from 1965 through 1982. Norcop also contributed as a volunteer to many organizations including The National Ballet of Canada’s shop Paper Things, and she was a board member for Canada’s National Ballet School Foundation and for Dance Collection Danse. Norcop was the first recipient of the Dance Ontario Award in 1979. Macdonald receives Governor General’s Award Brian Macdonald has been named a recipient of a Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award. Born in Montréal, Macdonald’s career has spanned over fifty years in a variety of roles from dancer to artistic director. He has worked for organizations including The National Ballet of Canada, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Batsheva Dance Company and The Banff Centre Summer Dance Programs. The medallions are scheduled for presentation at Rideau Hall on May 2nd by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, with a tribute gala on May 3rd at the National Arts Centre. Macdonald receives Governor General’s Award Brian Macdonald has been named a recipient of a Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award. Born in Montréal, Macdonald’s career has spanned over fifty years in a variety of roles from dancer to artistic director. He has worked for organizations including The National Ballet of Canada, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Royal Swedish Ballet, Batsheva Dance Company and The Banff Centre Summer Dance Programs. The medallions are scheduled for presentation at Rideau Hall on May 2nd by Governor General Michaëlle Jean, with a tribute gala on May 3rd at the National Arts Centre.
Former prima ballerina and filmmaker Veronica Tennant and dancer/choreographer and artistic director Crystal Pite have been selected to take part in the first Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Mentorship Programme. The program is designed to pair mid-career artists with former recipients of the Governor General’s Lifetime Achievement Awards to help mid-career artists further develop their work. As part of the program, Pite is scheduled to perform at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards tribute gala on May 3rd. The mentorship program is a result of a new partnership between the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation and the National Arts Centre. RQD’s strategic plan in full swing >>BY MARIE CLAIRE FORTÉ The Regroupement québécois de la danse’s (RQD) strategic plan and lobbying initiative, Les Grands Chantiers de la danse, is in full swing. The RQD’s bi-monthly online magazine, I-mouvance, is currently dedicated to keeping the milieu abreast of ongoing developments. The organization has also published three online documents detailing the structure of the project, and providing information on collective planning, lobbying and a glossary: “La structure de concertation des Grands Chantiers de la danse”, “La concertation – pour penser et agir collectivement” and “Glossaire en chantier”. Five intergenerational committees are working on defining the needs and goals of professional dance in the province. In fall 2008, they will submit their research and conclusions to the steering committee and, in April 2009, the steering committee will present their recommendations during the annual general meeting. Following this meeting, they will elaborate a master plan for the development of professional dance in Québec. Increased arts funding for BC British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell announced in early March that the province is investing $209 million to support arts and culture. The funding will support three different initiatives. The Vancouver Art Gallery will receive $50 million toward expansion and the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, also known as “the Cultch”, will receive $9 million toward restoring and revitalizing the facility. The remaining $150 million will be used to create the BC150 Cultural Fund. The BC150 Cultural Fund will provide long-term, stable funding for a wide range of arts and cultural activities across the province with the interest from the initial investment creating funding for activities in coming years. Ontario dedicates weekend to celebrate artists The McGuinty government of Ontario has announced the first weekend in June as Celebrate our Artists! weekend. As a pilot year, activities will be hosted in Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge, Guelph, Stratford and surrounding areas from June 6th through 8th with the intent to expand into other regions in coming years. “The idea behind the Celebrate our Artists! weekend is to encourage a broader appreciation of the arts, and its importance and impact on local communities,” said Martha Durdin, Ontario Arts Council Chair. In spring 2007, the Ontario government announced the Status of Ontario’s Artists Act, which set out a commitment by the government to promote the importance of the arts. Recipients of new arts management award announced Independent theatre producer Sherrie Johnson and Artistic Director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre Santee Smith were named the recipients of the John Hobday Awards. This is the first year for the awards, which recognizes achievement in arts management. The awards of $10, 000 each enable the recipients to further their own professional development, undertake mentorship with an arts manager, or to act as a mentor to an emerging arts administrator. The awards are administered by the Canada Council for the Arts and were decided by peer assessment committee. John Hobday was director of the Canada Council from 2003 through 2006. Bellydance conference surpasses original vision The April International Bellydance Conference of Canada (IBCC), hosted by Artistic Director Yasmina Ramzy in Toronto, has surpassed expectations. This is the second annual conference, which includes a broad range of bellydance activities, presentations addressing social and cultural issues in bellydance’s current practice, and performances by local, national and international bellydance artists. “My original vision has been more than fulfilled,” says Ramzy.
Human Kinetics, a sports and fitness publisher, has recently announced the release of two new books. Dance in a World of Change: Reflections on Globalization and Cultural Difference, by Sherry B. Shapiro, EdD, is slated for release in May 2008. The book examines international perspectives on dance pedagogy, the body, performance and dance and culture. Gotta Ballroom by Christine Zona and Chris George, released in February 2008, looks at the variety of exercise and health benefits ballroom dance can provide, and includes a DVD. Quick Currents Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers has renamed its theatre The Rachel Browne Theatre in honour of company founder Rachel Browne … Montréal’s Tangente, dance presenter and documentation centre, received the twenty-third Grand Prix du Conseil des arts de Montréal, for artistic and general director “Dena Davida’s 30 years in the Montréal art scene and for the presenter’s constant renewal.” This is the seventh time a dance artist or company has received the prize … This year’s Banff Summer Dance Program will be directed by Lindsay Fischer, head of The National Ballet of Canada’s apprenticeship program … The 2008 Vancouver International Dance Festival was held from March 4th through 29th and featured over twenty, local, national and international artists … The Canadian Conference for the Arts’ report entitled “From Economy to Ecology: A Policy Framework for Creative Labour” is available on its website … the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards presentation, which honours creators in theatre, dance and opera, is scheduled for June 30th in Toronto.
destination dance~danse www.destinationdancedanse.ca destination dance~danse is a bilingual, searchable onlne performance calendar for Canadian dance, provided and maintained by The Dance Current magazine. The site functions as a promotions tool, an audience development initiative and a professional community planning service. 
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May 09, 2008
           
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