just dance! readers tell us why they dance p. 17
Spring 2016 | Vol. IV | Issue III
Choreographing a Career Path with our cover dancer...
Heather Laura Gray hy Learn w ing RWB's Go– Truth ar Home St nciliation o and Rec f Canada's
Lamondance is grooming professionals & fusing cultures with dance
is one o ortant p most im ts balle
Pre-habilitation: What it is + how it can help you p. 29
! s u l P Dancing
Diversions p. 27
Meet Paul Destrooper:
The Late Beginner @ the Helm of Ballet Victoria
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INThISISSUE
Features: Meet the pro: Paul Destrooper................................................................ 9 by Jacqueline Steuart Going home star – Truth and Reconciliation.................................... 13 by Jacqueline Steuart Lamondance: Fusing Cultures with Dance......................................... 21 by Heidi Turner ONE: Singular Sensation How 3 Competitions Formed 1 Final...... 24 by Lori Straus
Knowledge Base: Balance: Pre-habilitation & Injury Prevention for Young Dancers!... 29 by Maegan Mak, BSc, BKin, MPT
in every issue: Publisher's Letter...................................................................................... 4 In the spotlight: Taylor Hubert............................................................... 5 by Jillian Groening just dance! Wants to Know...Why do you dance?............................... 17 Suzanne Sits down with Heather Laura Gray............................... 18 by Suzanne Ouellette Dancing DIversions............................................................................. 27 just dance! Directory............................................................................ 30
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Cover photo by: Chris Randle Heather Laura Gray posing for Choreographer Claire French's "Outside Out" at the Hotel Vancouver.
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FromThePublisher
H
appy new year! I hope that everyone’s year is getting off to a good start. At just dance! 2016 brought an exciting new change to our operation. I am very pleased to announce that Jacqueline Steuart has expanded her role at just dance! from contributing writer to that of Editor and Public Relations. Jacqueline brings invaluable expertise to just dance! She trained as a dancer with the National Ballet School in Toronto, the Pacific Ballet Theatre school and company in Vancouver, The Academy of Dance in San Francisco, and the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School. She has also performed with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet under the artistic direction of Arnold Spohr. After years of teaching dance in Metro Vancouver, Jacqueline became a film and television actress and a mother. She performed numerous principal and supporting roles in film, television and commercials while raising her three children. More recently Jacqueline expanded her creative education and earned a diploma in professional writing. I am thrilled she has agreed to join just dance! and look forward to see her contributions to the magazine grow. This issue of just dance! is jam-packed with wonderful articles. Particularly noteworthy is Jacqueline Steuart’s article about RWB’s Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation. We at just dance! believe this ballet is of particular importance and encourage you to not only read the article but also go see the show when it passes through your community. I am sure you will also enjoy Heidi Turner’s article about Lamondance and how their artistic director has brought his Brazilian culture to a North Vancouver dance studio. And falling right in line with our mandate to support dancers and the dance industry, I am excited that three major dance competition organizers have decided to cooperate and work together to form a brand new event. Read Lori Straus’ article ONE Singular Sensation on page 24 to learn more about this new Canadian venture. As always I hope you are informed and inspired by this issue, I know I always am. Keep dancing.
justdancemagazine.com facebook.com/jdmagazinebc Publisher & Managing Editor Racquel Foran racquel@justdancemagazine.com Editor & Public Relations Jacqueline Steuart jacqueline@justdancemagazine.com General Inquiries info@justdancemagazine.com Art Director (Ad production, layout & image submission guidelines) Laura Bellis laura@justdancemagazine.com Advertising Sales info@justdancemagazine.com Contributors Jillian Groening | Maegan Mak Suzanne Ouellette | Lori Straus Jacqueline Steuart | Heidi Turner Contributing Photographers Andy Batt | Miles Clark Emily Cooper | Derek Ford Michael Higgins | Samanta Katz Chris Randle | Rich Reynolds | Laura Zeke
just dance! magazine is available for $14 per year (4 issues) To subscribe visit justdancemagazine.com Please return undeliverable addresses to: 0970200 BC Ltd. 1220 Gabriola Drive Coquitlam, BC V3E 1G3 Tel: 778 239 9194 Publication Mail Agreement No. 42721520 Copyright © just dance! magazine 2016: Material appearing in this publication may not be reproduced in print or electronically without written permission of the publisher, and without proper credit given. Editorial viewpoints and opinions do not necessarily reflect the view of the publishers. Advertising and Photo Submissions: Ads must be submitted as a PDF or a high-res TIFF file. Photos embedded in ads must be converted to CMYK. All ads and photo submissions must be a minimum of 300 dpi. Please contact the art director at laura@justdancemagazine.com with any questions regarding advertisement or photo submission guidelines.
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TaYlor HuBert is in the Spotlight by Jillian Groening
Taylor Hubert lives & breathes dance...
The 20-year-old performer from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, got her start after her parents enrolled her in classes at the tender age of three. Beginning with the classic tap, jazz, and ballet regime, Hubert quickly added lyrical, modern, contemporary, hip hop, and pointe. Spending approximately 35 hours a week at the studio, Hubert was assisting classes by the age of 11 and teaching by 15. Not to mention beginning the intensive competition circuit at five years old. “I loved it immediately,” Hubert recalls of her first dance experiences. “I remember I couldn’t wait to go to dance. It was always the best part of my day and it was everything. My life revolved around dance.” Wanting nothing more than to spend her days sashaying and jeté-ing, the eager young performer was hit by adversity at the age of ten. Diagnosed with epilepsy after a playground accident, the typical physical challenges of dancing like flexibility, strength, and exhaustion seemed distant. Now, every backbend, bump on the head, or flash of bright light was a possible trigger for a seizure. But Hubert wasn’t going to let that stop her.
Michael HIggins
Supported by her parents, her teachers, and peers at her home studio, Kristy’s Dance Fusion, as well as by her biggest fan, younger brother Jeffrey, Hubert was back in class training with her usual infectious enthusiasm. “Taylor has shown so much drive and determination to push past the boundaries that she has been faced with,” says Kristina Derrick, office administrator at Kristy’s
{inthespotlight} Dance Fusion. “She is always composed, collected and strong, and ready for any challenges that may arise.” Travelling across Canada and the USA, Hubert participated in every dance competition she could. In 2007, just two years after her epilepsy diagnosis, Hubert received the highest standing at Triple Threat Dance Convention in Hawaii and was presented with The Award of Excellence, making her one of the youngest contestants ever to receive the honour. Working with just as much vigour as before her diagnosis, Hubert channelled strength from her situation. If she had a seizure in class, she would take a breather before getting up and joining back in. Once at a competition in Edmonton, Hubert had a seizure on stage. After performing lyrical solos, the emcee had the dancers barrel roll in for their adjudication. Taylor Hubert The movement and the lights were the last straw for Hubert after an already exhausting day of performing. Thankfully her mother, who was waiting in the wings, noticed her daughter’s struggle and was able to gather Hubert’s fellow studio dancers backstage to form a protective circle around their colleague.
Her dedication to the group meant having to make the seven-hour drive to Edmonton, Alberta, from her hometown, every weekend for a whole summer. Led by choreographer Vince Akinyode, Eye Candy travelled to World of Dance Seattle, the largest international urban dance competition. And in that same year, Hubert received very high standings at the Candance Nationals in Kelowna, BC. Despite her high achievements and a true passion for dance, Hubert recently came to the crossroads that many dancers face, she had to decide between pursuing a professional dance career or going to school full time. Pursuing a dance career would mean she would have to move to Vancouver, where she would be away from her parents and from Jeffrey, and then there was the inescapable obstacle of her epilepsy, also a factor. After much heart-wrenching deliberation, Hubert
“It was both a scary and a beautiful moment,” Taylor’s mother, Barb Hubert, remembers. Always joined by her mother and her brother while travelling, Hubert would make sure to give Jeffrey a big hug after leaving the stage. “He’s my little hero,” Hubert says of her younger brother. “At every convention he’s always on the sidelines cheering me on.” In 2014, 19-year-old Hubert auditioned for Eye Candy Studios hip hop dance crew and made the cut. Spring 2016 | just dance! 5
{inthespotlight} decided to cut back on dance and pursue a full-time Paralegal education.
Hubert remains connected to her studio
Still teaching one hip hop class a week—a big drop from last year’s 22—
to other students, Hubert is able to assist
and her dance community. As a mentor fellow dancers with technique and also
helps to guide others through their own life dilemmas. “Not only is she an amazing dancer but she is an inspiration and fearless leader to all of us at the studio,” Derrick states. Through the support of her family and friends and an eternally optimistic
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{inthespotlight} outlook, Hubert has been able to make the best of life without performance. “I definitely think that having epilepsy has made me a stronger person,” explains Hubert who says the obstacles she has had to face have shown her that nothing can really break a person down in life. “What doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger,” she says. “Just because something in your life may have negativity attached to it, doesn’t mean that your whole life has to be negative.” The clever student has also been able to use the two differing worlds of law and dance to her advantage. Utilizing the discipline needed to succeed in dance, Hubert is able to adapt to the demands of her current career path.
Left (pg.6): Taylor with Kristy's Dance Fusion owner Kristy Neumeier Sotnikow. Above: Taylor. Right: Taylor poses with her students.
“The focus and time management [involved in dance] definitely helped me throughout elementary and high school, so it’s nice to bring that to college,” Hubert says. “It’s also helped with different ways of thinking artistically and that has carried into every aspect of my life.”
When asked what advice she has for other dancers going through the same predicament of choosing dance versus school, Hubert responds, “Once you’re a dancer, you’re always going to be a dancer.
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meetthePro
Paul Destrooper, Artistic & Executive Director of Ballet Victoria
A Late Start Leads to a Life’s Passion
B
allet Victoria’s Artistic Director Paul Destrooper didn’t begin dancing until he was 21 years old. At an age when many dancers, if they hadn’t already ‘made it,’ might consider a career change, Destrooper was just getting started.
Better late than never isn’t really a welcomed expression in the dance world, but for Destrooper being late was better than never because he’d discovered his true passion in life: Ballet. Montreal-born and of Belgian descent, Destrooper was raised in Switzerland in a small countryside town outside Lausanne where he often worked on a farm to earn extra money. He also played volleyball and participated in track and field, but says, “Ballet was not within my scope.”
Derek Ford x2
When he turned 18, Destrooper was expected to complete two years mandatory military service in Belgium. However, a loophole in the system allowed him to apply for post-secondary study outside of Europe. With that in mind, he enrolled at the University of Victoria in British Columbia to study English and French literature. While in Victoria he fell in love. With the encouragement of his new girlfriend he followed her into the dance studio to take a ballet class. “I always felt very coordinated,” says Destrooper, who admits to being a confident sportsman, so he figured ballet wouldn’t be that hard for him to learn. “But I could not
By Jacqueline Steuart pick it up to save my life!” he exclaims. Destrooper says he found out quickly how “complex the operations of the brain are to accomplish all these things in dance.” He even says despite the fact that he’d had several years of Judo training in Switzerland, and he’d had no trouble learning complex games like tennis and racquetball, it wasn’t until he took ballet class that he discovered “how truly uncoordinated I was.” Destrooper continued to take ballet seriously in Victoria and trained for a year and a half while completing his bachelor’s degree before he decided to audition for the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s summer school. “I saw the RWB company perform, and I remember thinking, ‘Wow, this is really a job? You can be paid for this?’” He says he briefly considered moving forward with his academic career to pursue his master’s degree and maybe even a PhD in literature, but when he saw the ballet he thought, “This has everything I love: It’s highly physical like sports, it is theatrical, it includes music, and I can spend all day with beautiful women! Where can I sign up?”
Awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal (2012) and the Paul Harris Award (2014).
Destrooper admits signing up was just the beginning of a long, hard journey, though.
Achieved Bachelor of Arts, University of Victoria, BC 1991
Once he was accepted into Winnipeg’s summer school he says he worked like a “maniac” and became truly passionate about dance. “I had an epiphany there, and that was that.” And at the ripe age of 23, Destrooper became a full-time student of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet School.
Quick Facts about Paul: Fluent in French and English.
Recipient of the University of Victoria’s Adrienne Deloumé Scholarship Award for excellence in French Literature and Language in 1987 and 1988. Recipient of the Arnold Spohr Scholarship and The Prince Edward Award. Has travelled extensively as a dancer touring Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America. Paul has a 23-year-old Arabian gelding named Woody that he rescued when the horse was six years old.
Ballet Victoria Principal Dancer Andrea Robyn Bayne with Paul Destrooper in Belong. Spring 2016 | just dance! 9
{meetthepro}
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The dedicated dancer complemented his already full training schedule with lower level ballet classes, often working alongside girls and boys much younger than he was. “There were 12 year olds who could kick my butt,” he laughs. Destrooper says he worked diligently to change the shape of his body, his legs, and his overall musculature. “There were many people who thought I would not make it. They thought the stress on my joints would be too much. But not making it was not an option for me. This was the life I wanted.”
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Although by any measure, Destrooper’s career would be deemed a success— he moved through the ranks of the corps de ballet to become a soloist in Winnipeg and later a principal dancer with Alberta Ballet and Oregon Ballet Theatre—he says he secretly felt at times that because of his late start he might have fallen short of what his teachers or artistic staff expected of him. “You know, as a dancer you live a bit of a duality.”
Derek Ford
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Three years later his determination paid off and Destrooper was offered a contract with Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet.
{meetthepro}
Paul Destrooper is enjoying
On the one hand, he says, you might not feel like you are pleasing the artistic staff, or that you will ever be good enough, but on the other hand, what really matters is the connection you make with the audience.
his 9 season as the artistic th
director of Ballet Victoria, located in Victoria, BC. He describes BV as a platform
“The audience doesn’t care as much about your turnout, but they do care about whether or not you touched them with your performance. You could be performing in Swift Current, Saskatchewan and give that little boy or that little girl in the audience the inspiration to dance, and they could end up one day becoming the next Karen Kain or Rex Harrington.” Destrooper says that for him dancing is the truest emotion. “You can make a deep connection with someone in the audience and you will never know it.” The relationship with the girl he’d fallen in love with and followed into his first dance class didn’t last, but fortunately Destrooper’s passion and love for dance did.
for emerging artists and choreographers. In 2015/16, the company’s 12 dancers including four aspirants and one guest artist from Japan will undertake a 42-week season presenting four different programs to audiences throughout BC. Ballet Victoria’s repertoire and performance schedule can be found at balletvictoria.ca
PRO ARTE CENTRE #3 - 1225 E Keith Road, North Vancouver 604-984-2783 www.proartecentre.com / info@proarte.ca
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The Concert by Jerome Robbins, Destrooper playing the lead role of Husband.
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Samanta Katz
RWB dancers in Going Home Star-Truth and Reconciliation.
Spring 2016 | just dance! 13
When the Royal Winnipeg Ballet comes to your city to perform Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation during its 2016 tour of Canada, it’s a performance you will likely not want to miss.
CBC writer and art critic Robert Enright wrote in 2014 Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation by acclaimed choreographer Mark Godden “May be the most important dance mounted by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet in its illustrious 75 year history.” He writes this not just because the dancers’ performances are outstanding, or that Godden’s choreography is powerful, and the original music,
RWB dancer Yosuke Mino.
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Going Home Star is based on the testimony of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which is part of the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement. The purpose of the commission is to document the truth behind the residential school system and give its survivors the platform they need to tell their stories so all Canadians become aware of this tragic chapter in our country’s history. Creating the ballet was an enormous and exhilarating challenge for Godden who says he was always aware of the fact that he was making a ballet about a culture he was not a part of. “It was only difficult at the beginning,” he says of the yearslong process of taking a personal and deeply ingrained Aboriginal Peoples story and making it into a ballet. “Everyone was mindful and sensitive in the beginning to the fact that ballet is a ‘white European art form’ and here we are telling a story about what happened to Canada’s First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. It was important to me that I didn’t put anything sacred on stage,” he explains. “I did not want to exploit anything because this is not my story to tell.” In addition to live-streaming hours of gut-wrenching survivors’ testimonies online and researching the Truth and Reconciliation Commission reports, Godden also worked collaboratively with a high-profile creative team. The team included award-winning novelist, Joseph Boyden, who wrote a very simple storyline based on two characters from his second novel, Through Black Spruce—“despite
14 just dance! | Spring 2016
Samanta Katz
Dance & Craft Camp
costumes and set design are haunting and exquisite, but also because the story behind the ballet is one of utmost cultural and historical significance to Canada and all its people.
Going Home Star – Truth and Reconciliation choreographer Mark Godden.
knowing nothing about ballet”—, and Cree activist, former Member of Parliament and North of 60 actress, Tina Keeper, who acted as a producer and guide to the production as a whole. Godden says he typically does not talk too much about his choreographic process with dancers because he knows dancers have an intuitive sense about where to go emotionally, “they want to be up and moving” but with this ballet he says the process was quite different. “The dancers wanted to know this story they were telling, they wanted to know what had happened to these children who had been taken from their homes, and they understood how important this project was.” He says there was a big desire from Keeper to make sure everyone involved in the project knew and respected what they were taking part in. And Keeper, with the permission of her community, had the dancers and Godden participate in traditional tobacco and sweat lodge ceremonies. “The sweat lodge was actually the worst part for me,” recalls Godden, who admits to being claustrophobic, and he says the added assurances from the dancers that he shouldn’t worry because “they would all be in there with him” didn’t help.
Spring 2016 | just dance! 15
Tri-City Dance Centre
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art that moves
16 just dance! | Spring 2016
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is touring Going Home Star - Truth and Reconciliation across Canada with the support of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commission hopes audiences will recognize the truth behind the dark legacy of the Indian Residential Schools system and move forward as a country into a bright, new future.
Samanta Katz
RWB Dancers in Going Home Star-Truth and Reconciliation.
Another major contributor on the creative team was composer Christos Hatzis, whose powerful and original musical score acts as a bridge between the heart- wrenching story and the ballet company telling the story. “It’s the music [featuring Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Steve Wood and the Northern Cree Singers] that ties together the rawness of Going Home Star,” says Godden. In fact, Paula Citron of The Globe and Mail wrote Hatzis’ score “may be the best ballet composition ever created in Canada.” Godden adds he and the composer worked meticulously moment-to-moment detailing each scene before the music was created. “My hope was to get the ideas from Joseph to create a theatrical storyline that I could communicate to Christos and then the music would become our script.”
just dance! wants to know: Why do you dance? Sponsored by:
Sarah
Age: 13
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I dance because it never fails to calm me down. I have anxiety and often coming from school or even just at home I’ll be very worried or stressed about something but I look forward to dancing. Dance makes my brain focus on something else, something more positive. Dancing just makes me feel like I am a part of something and it makes me feel like I belong.
Émilie Age: 15
Danse DNA Dance, Dieppe, NB
I dance because dance is everything. Dancing makes me feel like I’ve accomplished, learned, and created something, and it makes me a better person. Dancing makes me smarter. Dancing gives me experiences to talk about and look back upon later in life. It makes me feel healthy and confident. It is an escape from a long day of routine events.
Ella
Age: 8
CDE Dance Academy Pembroke, ON
I dance because it is fun. I get to see my friends and teachers and I get to learn new things. I really like dressing up in fun outfits for competitions. And when people watch me dance they smile; it makes me feel good to make other people happy.
Respond to Win!
For Summer 2016 just dance! wants to know...What is the best dance advice you have ever received? Send your response including your name, age, and studio you dance with, along with a photo of yourself to: info@justdancemagazine.com. All respondents will be automatically entered to win a FREE one-year subscription to just dance! magazine and a leotard of your choice from Ainsliewear! (Contest submission deadline is April 26th, 2016)
Emma
Age: 11
CDE Dance Academy Pembroke ON I dance because I LOVE it! When I dance I feel excited, happy and beautiful. I love the challenge of learning new choreography, and pushing my mind and body to achieve new goals. DANCE is my EVERYTHING.
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Age: 16
Danse DNA Dance, Dieppe, NB
I love dancing because I can be myself and let go of all my emotions through my movement. It’s my escape from all my problems and it’s a way of forgetting everything else that’s going on for a couple of hours! My dance studio is like my second home where I get to do my favourite thing with people I love! Spring 2016 | just dance! 17
SuzanneSitsDownWith
Gray in her first full length "Pieces".
Gray in Martha Carter's full-length piece "Speaking in Ligeti" premiere.
Bottom (right): Gray participating in an Industry Dance Magazine Calendar photoshoot with Ben Ritter.
How old were you
HeatherLauraGray Having taught Heather when she was a
studios before getting obsessed with
young dancer at Arts Umbrella, I wanted
ballet. I studied with the ballet master for
to share with my just dance! readers the
Ballet BC at that time (William Summer),
talent of this amazing lady.
and with you, Suzanne, when you were
I am so proud of who she has become, I actively follow her career and eagerly look forward to seeing any of her performances.
Where did you grow
with Arts Umbrella, which is where I met you for the first time.
wanted to pursue a professional dance career? Eleven. Then I doubted it at 17 and thought I would be an airline stewardess. Luckily, it was you, Suzanne, who convinced me not to give up and advised me to move to Toronto. I did, and I’m very thankful to you for that conversation.
When I was 14, I attended Les Grand
As a young artist
Ballets Canadiens’ professional school
who and what was
L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec
up and do your
in Montréal. At the age of 16, I trained
your inspiration?
formative training?
and toured to China and France with Goh Ballet. It was at Goh Ballet that I met
I was hugely influenced by pop and hip hop culture through music videos in contrast to being obsessed with ballet dancers like Karen Kain, Sylvie Guillem, and Mikhail Baryshnikov.
I grew up in various suburbs around
Rachael Poirier who started Danzmode
Vancouver and started training at the
Productions. I decided to train with her
age of 10 in tap, jazz and ballet in a few
for a year before moving to Toronto.
18 just dance! | Spring 2016
Rich Reynolds (main photo), Emily Cooper (top), Miles Clark (bottom).
Suzanne sits down with...
when you knew you
{ S u z a n n e S its D o w n Wit h } Dancers Mj Lee, Navid Charkhi and Katie Lowen in Gray's new work The Tunnel.
Do you have any specific choreographers that drive your work and inspire you? William Forsythe, Willdabeast Adams, Sasha Waltz, Crystal Pite, Hofesh Shechter, Victor Quijada are some of the choreographers I have spent time studying with because they inspire me.
Do you think your career path is one that a young dancer today might want to follow? I would say that everyone carves their own path in this industry based on who they are and what drives them.
When and why did you start choreographing?
Laura Zeke Photography
I think my mother would say I started at the age of four for every guest we had over. The first time I remember putting my choreography in front of an audience was in Grade 5. I sang, danced, and choreographed The Little Mermaid’s “Part of Your World” and Michael Jackson’s Smooth Criminal. Then in Grade 6, I was asked to choreograph the school musical. From there, I was given an afterschool dance class where I taught and choreographed all through Grade 7.
What was your breakout opportunity? I would say—before doing a few smaller musical theatre jobs in Eastern Canada and the USA—getting the opportunity to sing, dance, and act in three musicals for Disney on one of their ships was my breakout opportunity. Performing for
two thousand people a night over six months was the best way to refine my performance skills.
How has your work evolved over the YEARS? My work has evolved by learning a lot of the contemporary approaches to movement and creation. I’ve also delved into street styles and honed my acting skills. All of these disciplines helped me to acquire a more diverse arsenal of tools, but what affected me the most was being able to dance for other choreographers. Getting a chance to learn from them through their processes was profound for me. To answer your question, my work is more informed and honest. There is a clarity and trust in my own process to get the desired result. I’m willing to embrace not having all the answers and can truly enjoy discovering with my dancers.
What do you have coming up that some of our readers might be able to see? I have a work in process coming up called The Tunnel presented by New Works. It is part of a double bill with the OURO Collective, February 28, 2pm at Performance Works on Granville Island. You can purchase tickets from the newworks.ca site. The Tunnel has been developed in collaboration with Emily Tellier, Navid Charkhi, and Katie Lowen. You can also see excerpts of the piece at Pop Up Dances February 21 and 22 as part of Winterruption on Granville Island. We will also be offering a free fundraising workshop at the end of January for refugee families in need. Go to newworks.ca for more information.
Where do you see yourself in five or ten years? I’m not sure where I will be, but I know I’ll be choreographing.
About Suzanne: Suzanne Ouellette has performed with, taught, rehearsed and enjoyed the company of some of the world’s most famous dance movers and shakers. She has trained and danced with the world’s finest ballet companies from Stuttgart Ballet to Royal Winnipeg, as well as performed professionally as a lead dancer, singer and actress in theatres across Canada. She was ballet mistress for Ballet BC, rehearsal director for Mascall Dance and Ballet BC; and founder of the BBC mentor program. She is a creative and innovative choreographer of dance for film and television, as well as opera and theatre. Suzanne’s passion, enthusiasm, and extensive background in many facets of the performing arts, make her in great demand as a teacher, choreographer, director, and adjudicator. Spring 2016 | just dance! 19
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Bleiddyn Bellis, Artistic Director Fellow and Examiner CSC-CICB Enrico Cecchetti Final Diploma
Miles Clark
avi Rodrigues, artistic director and choreographer for Lamondance, which is a pre-professional training company in North Vancouver, BC, started jazz dancing when he was six years old in Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil. Four years later, he began to study ballet and by the time he was 15 he had earned his first professional role with Aplauso Cia de Dança. Soon after, Rodrigues added contemporary and gymnastics to his repertoire of talents and he studied physical education at university. Before coming to Canada, Rodrigues spent 15 years directing and dancing in his own company, Cia Criatividanca, which involved choreographing eight full-length dance shows. By Heidi Turner
Lamondance dancers Devan Genereux and Douglas Nossa.
Rodrigues says his experience in Canada began when RNB Dance in North Vancouver wanted to create a six-month exchange program between Brazil and Canada; Rodrigues came to Vancouver as part of the exchange. Later in 2009, during the first year of Lamondance, its co-founders Lara Barclay and Monica Proença offered him a role as a dancer and choreographer, a role that paved the way for him to eventually take the helm at Lamondance. As artistic director and choreographer for Lamondance, Rodrigues has the opportunity to educate Canadians about his home country, Brazil. “Canadians know Brazil for football [soccer] and Carnival,” says Rodrigues. “That’s what we show the world. But Brazil is a gigantic country. Even as a Brazilian, I still discover dances and food and vocabulary that amazes me.”
Lamondance: fusing cultures with dance Spring 2016 | just dance! 21
While learning to dance in Brazil helped form Rodrigues’ passion for dance, being in Canada has also had an impact on his choreography. Working with a variety of dance schools and being exposed to Canadian companies has helped him blend the two cultures in his work. For him, that means combining the passion of Brazil with the welcoming quality of Canada in his pieces.
Rodrigues says his style has changed since coming to Canada and he’s been influenced by the voices in Canadian dance, like Crystal Pite. “I don’t do movement for the sake of movement. Movement has story and emotion behind it. I choreograph with the eyes of whoever is watching. If they remember the piece, that’s what I want. They don’t need to remember my name.”
For those who want a career in dance Rodrigues says it’s best for dancers to study different dance companies and their styles, while training in new types of dance. He believes that focusing on one style is too limiting and young dancers should take advantage of their time to try various dance styles. Part of encouraging dancers to try other styles involves motivating them to experience other types of art, as well. Rodrigues says dancers should explore museums and concerts so they have more to draw from when they dance. And he believes traveling and experiencing the cultures of other countries also expands a dancer’s worldview. “We went to a festival in Brazil where the Canadian dancers had an opportunity to participate and they were mesmerized by the dancing,” Rodrigues says. He adds international exposure helps prepare dancers for a career that can take them around the world. Dancers from Lamondance have gone on to perform with companies like São Paulo Companhia de Dança in Brazil, Halle Opera House in Germany, and Wen Wei Dance in Canada. Rodrigues says he focuses on combining his culture with Canadian culture when creating works. Lamondance includes a cultural exchange that mostly involves Canada and Brazil, but has also included dancers from China, the United States, and Bolivia. “It’s amazing how the company [Lamondance] embraces the two cultures and dancers help each other,” Rodrigues says. “The Brazilian exchange brings passion. The dancers would die to find a company. They dance because they love. When we bring them here to share dance, Canadians get more. That blends into something amazing onstage. People might be from many different places and speak different languages, but there is one universal language: dance.” See Rodrigues’ choreography in the Lamondance Show June 10 – 12 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver.
22 just dance! | Spring 2016
Lamondance is a pre-professional ballet and contemporary training company in North Vancouver, which rehearses in RNB’s studios (but is not an RNB project). Lamondance prepares dancers for life as professionals. On weekdays, dancers train from 10am to 2pm in ballet and body conditioning, plus they learn choreography and experience some of the aspects of being in a professional company like putting on productions and attending photo shoots.
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Alexandra Shigetomi training with fellow Lamondance dancer Gustavo Madubuike in the RNB studios.
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Lamondance’s Alex Shigetomi has been dancing since she was five years old. Having graduated high school, she was accepted to Lamondance and is now in her fourth month of training with the company. “Lamondance has been great,” Shigetomi says. “It’s a professional atmosphere. It’s really positive; Davi treats us as dancers, not as students. We learn something new every day.” When Shigetomi auditioned for Lamondance she recalls the audition took three hours and involved a ballet class, a contemporary and modern class, strengthening exercises, and dance combinations. Although she says the audition was long, Shigetomi says it wasn’t tense because the focus was on seeing what artistic choices the dancers made, as well as their technical ability. There was also a 10-minute interview, which Shigetomi says was to determine how passionate those auditioning are about dance; an important component to becoming a successful professional. In only four months, Shigetomi says she has matured as a dancer and has a better understanding of how her body moves. She also says she has more appreciation for other people’s artistic choices. Shigetomi’s future dance goals include traveling so she can see how dance is approached in various companies around the world.
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Davi Rodrigues
“If you love what you do, stick with it,” Shigetomi says. “Let your passion show through your movement. That will get you in the door and get someone’s attention. And you’ll love it more.” The next auditions for Lamondance will be held May 22 at RNB Dance & Theatre in North Vancouver, and June 19 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver. For more information about Lamondance visit lamondance.com/lamondance.
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ONE
singular sensation
How 3 Competitions Formed 1 Final
U
by Lori Straus p until 2015, Be Dance, MOVE, and Fever dance competitions had never held any finals competitions. So the
directors of each competition decided to change that. They banded together, locked themselves into a room, and planned a single big competition they’ve called ONE. In less than one year, Julie Gabriele and Christina Morgani from Be Dance, Shawn Desman and Beatriz Leonardo from MOVE The Ultimate Dance Competition, and Jerome Bobb from Fever International Dance Championships managed to get it all planned. Each director brought something unique to the table, which helped the planning go well. 24 just dance! | Spring 2016
The directors, from left to right: Beatriz Leonardo (MOVE, movedancecomp.com), Shawn Desman (MOVE), Christina Morgani (Be Dance, BeDance.ca), Jerome Bobb (Fever, feverdancechampionships.com), Julie Gabriele (Be Dance).
“The coolest thing about the five of us is that we each have our different strengths and we come from slightly different backgrounds,” says Gabriele. “It’s almost been a natural kind of process in terms of, ‘Yeah, I got production, that’s my thing,’ ‘Yeah, I got judges,’ ‘Yeah, I got the financial aspect, I’ll take care of the banking.’ We all kind of fit into our places, I think, pretty well at this point.” With categories and time limits requiring some time to sort out, Desman says, “I think honestly, that was the most difficult thing, making it work across the board.” One of the reasons the three competitions decided to join forces was to offer a $15,000 cash prize to the top studio. But deciding who can win that was also a contentious topic among the directors. “Putting together the studio award dance
off, the $15,000 cash prize, was very laboured. That took us a really long time,” says Gabriele. It was decided that in order to qualify for the overall prize, a studio must enter at least ten groups in the competitive division, including at least one group in each age division. The overall score will then be calculated based on the studio’s top entries in each age division, “But, with one rule: they cannot
When & Where
This new and exciting finals event will be held July 4 to 9, 2016 at Harrah’s Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The organizers chose Atlantic City as the location because it offered a vacation destination feel and it is more affordable than places like Las Vegas and New York City.
How to qualify
ONE finalists can qualify by competing at any of the regionals of Be Dance, MOVE, and Fever dance competitions. For Americans and anyone who did not make it to any of the regionals, there will be pre-qualifying rounds in New Jersey. Competitors in the final are not segregated based on which competition they qualified at: they will all compete against each other. overlap dance styles,” says Desman. “It’s about showing diversity. How strong you are as a studio and all ages. I think Jerome [Bobb] is the one who actually was very strong with that and being able to show diversity. Right now we all know contemporary is the hot thing, but that’s not all that happens at a studio, so we wanted to make sure that we showcased everything.”
for us, but for everybody, is that we’re three very well established competitions joining forces.”
He admits that although they had to “battle it out” sometimes when it came to working out the set of rules, pulling the entire concept together and carrying it out in so little time is a testament to how well all five have worked together.
Bobb feels that ONE has started to inspire other competitions and studios to work together. “I ran an event this summer where, because of it, competitions are actually starting to talk to each other about their issues and their troubles, what we have in common, and how we can fix certain things that are going on in the industry that have to do with our events.”
Gabriele, Morgani, Desman, Leonardo, and Bobb wanted to show that three competing companies can actually team up and work together. “We were really all of each other’s biggest competitors in more ways than one,” says Gabriele, while Desman adds, “The selling point for this competition, not just
Let’s hope the inspiration spreads.
Bobb explains further that contemporary’s popularity means it would win out if the top studio score were only based on the top scores of any dance. “We’ve had comments from teachers and studio owners that there’s no way a tap number will ever win, or there’s no way a musical theatre number will ever win, so with this we wanted to set the bar and show diversity and award it based on that merit.”
Dates July 4th to July 29th Junior and Senior programs. For more info and registration visit www.balletvictoria.ca
However, it wasn’t just the opportunity to create a large cash prize that inspired these five to collaborate. They also wanted to just work together. “We’ve been seeing that people don’t like working together, they won’t even talk together, especially in the dance community,” says Bobb, “which is really hard. Nobody wants to talk to each other and give each other advice or just ask questions. There’s a lot of friction going on between studios and even competitions.”
Paul Destrooper - Artistic Director - www.balletvictoria.ca
Bobb says the five of them have benefited from working together and have even improved their own competitions. “I think Shawn [Desman] and Julie [Gabriele] would agree with me on that because we’ve been able to actually open up and talk to each other about our individual events. Somebody can ask ‘Do you deal with this kind of thing going on?’ And we’re like, ‘Yeah, how do you deal with it?’ And we just try and figure it out together.”
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Spring 2016 | just dance! 25
Spend summer 2016 learning from the pros in LA!
is awarding two $500 Scholarships to The Hollywood Summer Tour
(1 Kidz and 1 Teenz available) Send us a link to a video of you dancing along with a brief paragraph explaining why you would like to attend the HST to info@justdancemagazine.com with the subject line HST Scholarship no later than March 30, 2016. Winners will be announced April 15, 2016.
This INVITATION ONLY career dance intensive is for advanced dancers who are interested in learning about the commercial dance industry in Hollywood. Participants are mentored by top industry professionals who are actively working in the entertainment industry in LA. HST accepts only a select group of dancers who apply from all over the world to attend this prestigious program.
thehollywoodsummertour.com | justdancemagazine.com
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dancingdiversions Word Origin & Definition Riverdance
Definition: People mistakenly call Irish step dancing, riverdancing. But, Riverdance is the name of an Irish dance show, made famous by one of its dancers, American-born, Michael Flatly. The highly entertaining Riverdance is popular with audiences worldwide because it combines traditional Irish dancing with flamenco, tap, modern and tango. Riverdance’s 20th Anniversary World Tour ends its Canadian tour at Toronto’s Ed Mirvish Theatre May 17 – May 29, 2016
" Dance is a powerful ally
for mutual understanding & communication as nations strive for peace, friendship & freedom. May dance continue to delight & inspire, to enrich the lives of all people of this earth."
ling Dance
Facts
In 2016 Japan will lift its ban on dancing in clubs after 12pm! The original law that proh ibited dancing after midnight was enacted in 1948. Meanwhile, in Sw eden it is still illega l to move your fe public space! Ye et to music in a s, it’s true. The Sw edish governmen t has upheld a law that bans unlicen sed dancing in pu blic, even in 2016 .
A Must See!
International Dance Day Vancouver 2015: (left) South Asian Arts performed bhangra at the Vancouver Public Library. (middle) Port-O-Swing Vancouver. (right) Outside Vancouver Art Gallery, students from Windermere Secondary School learned a routine from Shiamak Vancouver.
April 29th is International dance day...How will you celebrate?
Since 1982 the International Theatre Institute in Paris, France, has declared April 29th as International Dance Day. The date was selected because it is the birthday of modern ballet’s founding father, Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810). On April 29th, dancers, companies, schools, and artists alike come together in public spaces like parks, plazas, theatres, and performance spaces to celebrate and share the world’s most universal language: Dance! In Canada, we even go one step further declaring a whole week around April 29th as National Dance Week. (Exact dates vary.) Keep an eye on the following websites for up-to-date information about International Dance Day and National Dance Week events in your city and province. Alberta: abdancealliance.ab.ca Manitoba: dancemanitoba.org Quebec: quebecdanse.org Newfoundland: dancenl.ca
Drawn to Dance is an exhibit of drawings and paintings from Dance Collection Danse’s visual arts collection depicting the development of ballet in Canada. The exhibit also includes costumes and artifacts. Now showing at the Dance Collection Danse Gallery in Toronto. dcd.ca
Yw WP o n rd L S c r a m b lA e o Unscramble the letters to reveal the answers.
EVERY DAY STARTS WITH THIS cehrttnsig
OLD SCHOOL DANCER & KING OF POP aMhlcei
knosJca
SCRAMBLE ANSWERS: stretching, Michael Jackson
joke Source: young-dancers.org/fun/jokes/jokes1.html | Chris Randle courtesy of The Dance Centre.
t cross th he dancer e road? A : Becau do it on se she had to the othe r side!
Mind Bogg
— Robert Joffrey, International Dance Day message 1985
British Columbia: thedancecentre.ca Saskatchewan: dancesask.com Ontario: danceontario.ca Nova Scotia: dancens.ca
Danc e Fun ny Q : Why did
Spring 2016 | just dance! 27
informing, inspiring, and celebrating young Canadian performing artists since 2012 We are proud to be sponsoring competitions right across Canada in 2016. Look for our subscription cards in the lobbies at these events.
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Good Luck to All Performers This Competition Season! viewdancechallenge.com 28 just dance! | Spring 2016
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{Balance}
PREN O I T A T I L HABI & INJURY R O F N O I T PREVEN ! s r e c n a young d By Maegan Mak, BSc, BKin, MPT At this time of year, you are likely working extra hard to prepare for competition season. It is during these busy times of practices, rehearsals and competitions that we often see dancers coming in with all kinds of injuries. Injuries can happen for a variety of reasons, however there are ways to prevent them! This article will introduce you to prehabilitation, and educate you on how attending physiotherapy throughout the year can benefit you and your dancing. To prevent injuries and pain, it is important to ensure that you have proper technique and muscle function, and adequate muscle strength. Here are some important points to consider: 1. As you grow your muscles lengthen as well. If muscle length is not addressed it can lead to muscle strains, especially with lots of activity and training. Proper technique and education about which specific muscles need to be targeted is
necessary to prevent injuries. A physiotherapist can educate you about which parts of your body you need work on and the correct techniques to use.
2. Physiotherapy can also address muscle compensations. Most people have certain muscles that are not “recruited” properly by the brain, which leads to other muscles overworking to compensate for that underworking muscle. For example, with all the sitting people do these days, the gluteal muscles of the hip are often “turned off.” You are still able to function and participate in high level activities, however, oftentimes there is another muscle that is overworking for the turned off hip muscles. Over time and with increased activity, this can lead to pain and eventually more serious injury. Using a technique called Neuro Kinetic Therapy, physiotherapists can identify exactly which muscles are working too hard and which muscles are not working properly. This is an invaluable tool to prevent future injury. 3. Physiotherapy at this time of the year is also a great time to work on muscle imbalances. This ensures that you will
be moving optimally and thereby preventing injuries that result from poor mechanics and alignment, and muscle strains due to lack of strength 4. Physiotherapy can treat minor issues so they do not progress into more serious problems. Catching little aches and pains before they progress gives you an opportunity to rehabilitate and limit the amount of time missed from dance for the remainder of the season. A great example: I have been treating a young dancer who dances 12-15 hours per week. Her mother wanted her to learn more about how her body moves and its limitations. She noticed how hard her daughter was pushed at dance and wanted her to learn proper techniques to prevent pain and injuries. My patient was also complaining of slight heel pain during the initial assessment. I found that one of her calf muscles was over-working for her hip muscles (as described above). After one week of treatment and home exercises, the heel pain was resolved. If the heel pain had been left unattended it would have worsened and she most likely would have had to take several weeks off to recover. We also have been working on proper form for various stretches—core strength and leg strength—that are commonly performed in the dance class. This parent was proactive and helped fix an issue early before it became a problem! Her daughter is also learning how to stretch and strengthen her body safely to help her excel in dance for the remainder of the season. Typical pre-habilitation consultation will include an initial assessment and two to six follow-up sessions. Costs for sessions vary, as does insurance coverage.
About Maegan: Maegan Mak is a physiotherapist with Kids Physio Group. She graduated from the UBC Masters of Physical Therapy. Working out of both the North Vancouver and Vancouver, BC clinics, she has experience working with babies with plagiocephaly and torticollis, developmental delay, neurological conditions, congenital issues, sports injuries and concussions. Maegan has been Level 1 certified in Neurokinetic Therapy (NKT) and has completed the second level training as well. NKT looks at the connection between the brain and muscles. This technique is used to help identify muscles that are over-working for other ones. When this happens it could lead to pain, awkward movement patterns and eventually injury. Using this technique, Maegan has been able to assist several children overcome pain and/or poor movement patterns. kidsphysio.ca Spring 2016 | just dance! 29
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info@thehollywoodsummertour.com 1 818 574 8365 Los Angeles, CA
Washdolly washdolly.com customerservice@washdolly.com
Millennium Productions Dance Competitions millenniumproductions.biz
Professional companies
MOVE: The Ultimate Dance Competition movedancecomp.com Move with the Beat movewiththebeat.com Northern Stars Dance Competition northernstarsdance.com Showtime Dance Promotions showtimedancepromotions.com info@showtimedancepromotions.com 250 768 7202 Toronto Dance Teacher Expo torontodanceteacherexpo.com danceattackworkshops@gmail.com 519 365 0272 Toronto, ON VIEW Dance Challenge viewdancechallenge.com
Performing arts retailers & SUPPLIERS Abantu - The Place for Hair shopabantu.com info@abantu.com 1 800 615 9899 Vancouver, BC Ainsliewear ainsliewear.com orders@ainsliewear.com 1 855 310 4555 Avalon Dance Shop of Canada avalondance.ca info@avalondance.ca 604 874 2461 Vancouver, BC
Ballet Victoria balletvictoria.ca info@balletvictoria.ca 250 380 6063 Victoria, BC Citie Ballet citieballet.ca 780 472 7774 Edmonton, AB XBA DanceCo xba.ca info@xba.ca 604 220 9679
Services The Dance Training Project danceproject.ca info@danceproject.ca Toronto, ON Dancin' at Sea dancinatsea.com 800 742 5053 Gemini Visuals geminivisuals.com info@geminivisuals.com 604 312 6330 Surrey, BC Kids Physio Group kidsphysio.ca admin@kidsphysio.ca Vancouver, Surrey, & North Vancouver, BC Techno Monkey Media tmmedia.ca dance@tmmedia.ca 1 800 350 3137
Theatres Evergreen Cultural Centre evergreenculturalcentre.ca 604 927 6550 Coquitlam, BC
Royal City Youth Ballet Company Society presents
RCYB is a leader in training young dancers in the performance skills they will need to excel in the performing arts. Don’t miss this opportunity to develop your skills as a dancer, training with world-renowned teachers and other dedicated dancers.
August 2016
Dates TBA
at the
NEW Anvil Centre 777 Columbia St, New Westminster
Ballet Repertoire • Pas De Deux Lyrical Jazz • Musical Theatre Special Boys’ Classes All levels from Juniors to Seniors Classes will be conducted under the watchful eye of our Artistic Director, Camilla Fishwick-Kellogg from Los Angeles California, and our Executive Producer, Trisha Sinosich-Arciaga
There will be a presentation on the last day of summer school, followed by
auditions to be a part of the company, and next year’s Nutcracker tour! (Auditions are for dancers age 7 and up)
Register early, as space is limited For more information: email: rcyb@telus.net
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!
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