Holly Bright, artistic director of Crimson Coast Dance Society in Nanaimo, was awarded one of two 2017 John Hobday Awards in Arts Management. The award, valued at $10,000, includes mentorship with Starr Muranko and Michelle Olson, both of Raven Spirit Dance. Bright will undertake a project to assist her in gaining knowledge of First Nations cultural pathways and performances with performing artists and families of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.
On March 9th, the opening night of Vancouver International Dance Festival, Salomé Nieto, a Vancouver-based choreographer and co-founder of pataSola dance, was awarded the 2017 VIDF Choreographic Award. The award cited her passionate exploration of issues of cultural identity in terms of how personal histories resonate with movement, and how the essence of butoh, spirituality and her own culture converge. The award, worth $2500, is given out every two years to an outstanding emerging choreographer.
Karen Kain, artistic director of The National Ballet of Canada (NBoC), has chosen to mentor Robert Binet, a choreographic associate at NBoC, as part of the 2017 Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Mentorship Program. This program allows past recipients of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award to give back to the next generation. Through the program, Binet will further develop his 2015 work Orpheus to be presented in a future NBoC season.
Vancouver-based Meredith Kalaman and Arash Khakpour are the recipients of this year’s Dance Victoria’s Chrystal Dance Prize for Independent Dance Artists. Kalaman was awarded $16,000 toward bringing her work Femme Fatales to the stage in Greater Vancouver and Berlin. Khakpour was awarded close to $20,000 for a new duet with Swedish dance artist Emmalena Fredriksson, with residencies planned for Victoria, Vancouver and in Sweden.
Katherine Semchuk is the recipient of this year’s New Work Award from the Good Women Dance Collective (GWDC). Semchuk is an Edmonton-based dancer, choreographer and instructor. The New Work Award has been presented by GWDC since 2013 and includes $2000 as well as artistic and administrative mentorships and a performance spot at the 2018 Chinook Series.
Ballet BC announced the appointment of John Clark as the company’s new Executive Director. Clark was most recently the Vice President of Development at the National YoungArts Foundation in Miami, Florida, and has had a career that spans both the performingarts and higher education. Clark will work to ensure the sustainability and longevity of the company as well as building financial support and deepening community relationships. Clark replaces Branislav Henselmann who was recently named the new managing director of cultural services for the City of Vancouver.