Did you know that Canada produces a number of rich listening resources for dancers? Here are some of our favourite Canadian dance podcasts for you to tune into.
The Dance Podcast
Hosted by Alberta-born dance artist Lauren Ritchie, The Dance Podcast provides “real chats about the dance world and what it takes to create your own success in it,” as Ritchie states at the top of each episode. It’s geared toward a younger generation of dancers and aims to help with the transition into the professional world, like making career choices. Every week Ritchie interviews industry leaders and professional dancers from around North America such as: Vancouver triple threat Christie Lee Manning; Toronto and Los Angeles dancer/choreographer Melanie Mah; and Vancouver-born now Los Angeles-based choreographer/actor Kelly Konno. Guests shine a light on the industry’s successes and challenges, all targeted to the emerging artist.
Turn Out Radio
Turn Out Radio launched in March of this year. It’s a Toronto-based dance radio show that takes place Wednesdays at 9 a.m. EST on CIUT 85.9 FM. The show replaced the sixteen-year-old Evi-Dance, produced by Ted Fox, which ended in December of last year. Turn Out’s hosts, Nicole Hamilton, Malgorzata Nowacka and Samara Thompson, interview dance celebrities, independent artists, historians, costumers and writers, and cover the latest trends in Canadian dance.
You can find recordings of the radio show on their website. The recordings have useful written breakdown of what you’re listening to, so you can skip through to find what you’re interested in.
NAC Dance with Cathy Levy
This one is hosted by National Arts Centre (NAC) Dance Producer Cathy Levy. It’s aimed at a more sophisticated or informed artistic audience. Levy interviews dance artists who have appeared or will appear on the NAC stage in Ottawa. Tune in to hear what Canadian and international artists have to say about their work.
I Don’t Get It
I Don’t Get It is a podcast about contemporary dance in Edmonton hosted by arts writers Paul Blinov and Fawnda Mithrush. The pair speaks critically and playfully about dance in Edmonton, reviewing shows and interviewing artists. Blinov and Mithrush have an informal and intriguing way of exposing dance, “from the eyes of one guy who knows nothing about it and one girl who knows too much” (explains the website). The podcast has been around since 2013 and has won local awards for arts and culture in Edmonton. It’s worth checking out, even if just to groove to their awesome intro music by Ghibli.
AAA with Mikaela Demers
AAA (Art, Activism, and Adventure) is a podcast series launched in February of this year by Ontario-born dance artist and writer Mikaela Demers. The podcast is part of Demers’ blog “Free Water for Artists.” In the series, she conducts conversations that are decidedly not formal interviews, chatting through topics that cover any of the three A’s in the podcast’s title or any issues relevant to her guest. The recordings aim to discover what can emerge in the midst of real conversations with Canadian artists.
Tagged: All, Cathy Levy, National
