Dance Collection Danse

Only a few days away! A reminder to join us this Saturday Sept. 19th as we celebrate the St. John's launch of "Still With Us - Stories of HIV/AIDS and Dance In Canada". Presented in partnership with the Tommy Sexton Center. The event will feature a conversation between the book's editor, choreographer Christopher House and writer, educator, actor and arts administrator Robert Chafe

⭐Space is limited so be sure to RSVP - https://forms.gle/UX4bo3zU6j5PQgy38
Launch Details:
• Date – Saturday, September 19th
• Time – 3-5 pm
• Venue – Leanto, 140 Water St. (Main Level), St. John's, NL

Special thanks to Leanto and Sarah Stoker for donating their new space for the event.

The book includes contributions from Assistant Editor Jon Davies, Seika Boye, Rodney Diverlus, Doug Durand, Sylvain Émard, Ralph Escamillan, Jose Miguel “Miggy” Esteban, Theodore (Ted) Kerr, Brent Lott, Marcus Merasty, José Navas/Compagnie Flak, Jeffrey Prentice, Sébastien Provencher, George Stamos, Philip Szporer, Veronica Tennant, Stephen Thompson, Shelly Tognazzini, Ricky Varghese, Brian Webb. Plus tributes and anecdotes from Micah Barnes, Shannon Cooney, Margie Gillis, Amanda Hancox, Vanessa Harwood, Elizabeth Langley, Louise Lecavalier, Judith Marcuse, Judith Marinoff, Patricia Miner, Silvy Panet-Raymond, Kenny Pearl, Lynda Raino, Vivine Scarlett, Mavis Staines, Nicole Voyer,
Max Wyman.

𝘼𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙀𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝘿𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙨
𝗦𝘂𝗯𝗺𝗶𝘁 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗺 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺𝘀 𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗕𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗮𝗿𝘆
Deadline: Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 11:59pm (in your time zone)
Supported by: William J.S. Boyle
Amount Awarded: $5,000

“𝐹𝑜𝑟 𝑇𝑜𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑜, 15 𝐷𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝐿𝑎𝑏 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑠𝑜𝑙𝑖𝑑 𝑏𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑐𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑒𝑛𝑣𝑖𝑟𝑜𝑛𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑒𝑛. 𝑆𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑎𝑡 15 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑔𝑜𝑑-𝑎𝑤𝑓𝑢𝑙 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑜𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑛 𝑑𝑜𝑛’𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑗𝑢𝑠𝑡 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢’𝑟𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑖𝑡.” – Miriam Adams

Miriam Adams, C.M., (co-founder of Dance Collection Danse and 15 Dance Lab) has a history of supporting work that breaks through conventional barriers. From the early days of 15 Dance Lab, Lawrence and Miriam Adams created a space that welcomed all and laid the foundation for what would become Toronto’s independent dance scene.

In the spirit of 15 Dance Lab and Adams’s own work, this bursary, supported by William J. S. Boyle, offers emerging professional dance artists an opportunity to train, research, and investigate, with a financial commitment to help ease the burden of advancing their professional career. The bursary is not intended for the creation of new work or choreographic processes, but rather for the training, research and investigations that further the individual’s dance practice, such as mentorships and special training opportunities.

Note: This bursary is not for students or recent graduates who have not embarked on a professional career, but rather for company or independent artists over the age of 18 who have performed professionally in at least 3 productions

The Bursary of $5,000 covers expenses for one year, beginning upon the candidate’s receipt of funds towards, for example:

• Further education or training for an artist who has demonstrated a commitment to a professional dance career
• Concentrated study with a specialized mentor
• Examination of a particular area of interest related to dance

The application process:
• Prepare a video no longer than 2 minutes in length telling us about yourself and how you would use the $5,000 to further your training exploration. A mobile phone quality file is fine.
• In a written statement of no more than 250 words, explain how your program would serve your development and align with the Bursary’s exploratory objectives.
• Send your bio and up to 3 video samples of you in performance with links to YouTube or Vimeo.

Visit https://forms.gle/iVzuc4CSPKZN6x5f8 to send your application material via Google Form. Application deadline is Sunday, October 4, 2026 at 11:59pm (in your time zone).

The recipient of the Miriam Adams Exploration Bursary will be announced at the 2026 Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame in Toronto on Sunday, November 8th, 2026.

𝗗𝗖𝗗 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗺𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗶𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘁. 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸.

𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟵 - 𝗦𝘁. 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻'𝘀 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗨𝘀: 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗛𝗜𝗩/𝗔𝗜𝗗𝗦 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗱𝗮. Presented in partnership with the Tommy Sexton Centre. The event will feature a conversation with Christopher House and writer, educator, actor and arts administrator Robert Chafe. Special thanks to Leanto and Sarah Stoker for donating their new space.

Limited space, so be sure to RSVP at: https://forms.gle/zQafapNQjvBA68um6

Launch Details:
Date – Saturday, September 19th
Time – 3-5 pm
Venue – Leanto, 140 Water St. (Main Level), St. John's, NL

𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟰 - 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗟𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘄𝗳𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗟𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗲𝘁𝘆.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 "𝗗𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗳𝗳" 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸: 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝘁. 𝗝𝗼𝗵𝗻'𝘀 𝗗𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗪𝗮𝗿. While the Women's Patriotic Association (WPA) mobilized its members to produce socks, bandages, and other items of comfort for the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, another contingent of these motivated and productive women chose to stage performances in order to aid the war effort. Largely under the direction of WPA member Helen Colville, a variety of dance performances and tableaux vivants were presented at St. John's theatres and garden fêtes to boost morale and raise funds.

In this context, can we consider dance another form of distaff work?

This talk will reveal the role of dance performances in Newfoundland's war effort, the women who staged them, and the links between female performers and the post-war suffrage movement.

Thursday, September 24th, 7:30 pm (NT) / 7:00 pm (AT)
In-Person: A1043, Memorial University. Free Parking in Lots 1A and 15B

Presented by the Newfoundland & Labrador Historical Society
Research supported by Gatherings: Archival and Oral Histories of Performance

𝗦𝗲𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟯-𝟮𝟳 - 𝗔𝗺𝘆 𝗕𝗼𝘄𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗝𝗼𝘀𝗵 𝗠𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗵𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗗𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 DCD's Amy Bowring has been engaged as Maker-in-Residence by the Festival of New Dance. A passionate fibre artist as well as dance historian, Amy will be leading Response Labs for the festival to guide participants on using their fibre and textile skills to create new works in response to performances at the Festival. Amy will also lead the post-show chat for SaMel Tanz's performance of Championess on Sept. 26. And Collections Assistant Josh Murphy, who is also a choreographer, performer and burlesque artist, is curating the Festival's edition of An Evening of Odditease on Sept. 25. DCD author Kaija Pepper will be on hand at the Festival too, as a Writer-in-Residence leading her own Response Labs with interested writers and members of Writers NL. Kaija has authored three books published by DCD and edited a fourth – watch for her article on Jai Govinda and Mandala Arts and Culture Society in the upcoming issue of DCD Magazine.

For more information on workshops, performances, response labs, and how to register, visit: https://www.neighbourhooddanceworks.com/fnd2026

It is with immense pleasure that we present Jean Grand-Maître, C.M., LL.D. h.c. as an inductee into the 2026 DCD Hall of Fame.

Join us in Toronto on Nov. 8th as we celebrate his legacy alongside a host of other brilliant Canadian dance luminaries.

Get Your Tickets At: https://www.eventbee.com/v/2026halloffame #/tickets

An internationally acclaimed dance maker, Jean Grand-Maître has created over 100 ballets across Europe, North and South America. Having trained at L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec with Ludmilla Chiriaeff, his choreographic career launched in 1994 when Reid Anderson brought Jean’s Frames of Mind into The National Ballet of Canada’s repertoire and on its European tour. Within a few years, Grand-Maître was receiving commissions from companies such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, The National Ballet of Canada, National Norwegian Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Ballet BC, Munich Opera Ballet, Ballet Municipal de Lima, The National Ballet of Cuba, and Teatro alla Scala. Following this intense European decade, he was the Artistic Director of the Alberta Ballet from 2002-2022. During his 20-year tenure, he curated more than 100 different programs. In 2007, during a close collaboration with Joni Mitchell, he launched a new series of Portrait Ballets, inspired by the greatest singer-songwriters of our time. This series brought new audiences to the theatre and offered a new aesthetic in ballet narrative and design. Joni Mitchell was followed by collaborations with Elton John, k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan, Gordon Lightfoot, The Tragically Hip, and with the David Bowie Estate. In 2009, he was appointed Director of Choreography for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Jean continues to fulfill commissions for companies such as Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Ballet Municipal de Lima, L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec, and he continues to teach and choreograph for The School of Dance in Ottawa.

Photographers
Top: Oscar Nunez
Bottom L-R: Chris Chapman; Will Young Photography; Paul McGrath

St. John's! A reminder to join us on Sept. 19th as we celebrate the launch of Still With Us - Stories of HIV/AIDS and Dance In Canada. Presented in partnership with the Tommy Sexton Center. The event will feature a conversation between the book's editor, choreographer Christopher House and writer, educator, actor and arts administrator Robert Chafe

⭐Space is limited so be sure to RSVP - https://forms.gle/UX4bo3zU6j5PQgy38

Launch Details:
• Date – Saturday, September 19th
• Time – 3-5 pm
• Venue – Leanto, 140 Water St. (Main Level), St. John's, NL

Special thanks to Leanto and Sarah Stoker for donating their new space for the event.

The book includes contributions from Assistant Editor Jon Davies, Seika Boye, Rodney Diverlus, Doug Durand, Sylvain Émard, Ralph Escamillan, Jose Miguel “Miggy” Esteban, Theodore (Ted) Kerr, Brent Lott, Marcus Merasty, José Navas, Jeffrey Prentice, Sébastien Provencher, George Stamos, Philip Szporer, Veronica Tennant, Stephen Thompson, Shelly Tognazzini, Ricky Varghese, Brian Webb. Plus tributes and anecdotes from Micah Barnes, Shannon Cooney, Margie Gillis, Amanda Hancox, Vanessa Harwood, Elizabeth Langley, Louise Lecavalier, Judith Marcuse, Judith Marinoff, Patricia Miner, Silvy Panet-Raymond, Kenny Pearl, Lynda Raino, Vivine Scarlett, Mavis Staines, Nicole Voyer, Max Wyman.

We are looking forward to Sasha Ivanochko’s 20th anniversary remount of Heaven.

Heaven celebrates legacy by bringing together a new cast and design in dialogue with this seminal work and the dancers who originally performed it: the remount features performers Jessie Garon, Scott McCabe, and Sully Malaeb Proulx, with lighting design by James Proudfoot. Original Heaven dancer Louis Laberge-Côté returns as the work’s remount consultant, and Anisa Tejpar joins as intimacy coordinator. Heaven, in association with The Theatre Centre, runs for six performances only from September 29 to October 3.

HEAVEN
Presented in Association with The Theatre Centre
On stage September 29 to October 3, 2026 (six performances)
Opening night is September 29 at 8 p.m.

The Theatre Centre (1115 Queen St. W, Toronto, ON M6J 1J1)
Run Time: 60 minutes, no intermission
❗️Content Notice: Full Nudity and Mature Content
Age Recommendation: 18 and up

👉Tickets: https://eventmanager.vbotickets.com/tickets.asp?Page=Event&eid=200776
👉Show Page: https://theatrecentre.org/event/heaven-legacy-collective/

For over 30 years, Ivanochko has developed a rigorous and distinctive choreographic practice as an award-winning artist working across performance, creation, and pedagogy within Canadian contemporary dance. Grounded in the body as a site of primary knowledge, her work engages questions of embodied codes, perception, and transformation through movement research and interdisciplinary approaches. The run of Heaven will be accompanied by professional-level workshops, artist talks, and facilitated conversations exploring pedagogical lineage and the history of nudity in dance.

Anna Blewchamp (1947-2026)
Dancer, choreographer, scholar, and educator Anna Blewchamp died in her sleep on the night of August 26th/27th. Many in our community will remember Anna as their beloved Graham technique teacher at York University – myself among them. Anna always taught in footless tights and a leotard so we could clearly see what she was demonstrating … with her long, burgundy hair draping over her shoulders from its middle part. That hair was iconic. So iconic that when a contingent of the dance community was gathered for the “Renegade Bodies” conference in Ottawa in 2010 during the Canada Dance Festival, choreographer and mentor Peter Boneham commented on it when he saw Anna for the first time in many years. He was speaking on a panel and Anna raised her hand to ask a question. Peter, with astonishment, said, “Is that Anna Blewchamp? You still have that long hippy hair,” to which Anna replied flatly, “And you don’t,” wittily commenting on Peter’s, by then, relatively hairless head. An example of Anna’s quick mind and dry humour.

Anna was born in London, England, and trained at the Corona Theatre Academy and the Ballet Rambert School. She also studied and danced with Gary Cockrell’s jazz company and then continued her jazz training in New York with Luigi and Matt Mattox. Later studies include the Martha Graham School and Alvin Ailey, among others. She moved to Toronto in 1969 and soon connected with Elizabeth and Robert Swerdlow and their Global Village Theatre where she taught and performed. That relationship led her to Factory Theatre founder Ken Gass who engaged Anna to teach movement classes to actors.

Freelance teaching in the early 1970s put her in contact with students at Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) who spoke glowingly of the Martha Graham technique. Though she did not enjoy her experience of Graham in England, she found a new affinity for the technique at TDT and was inspired by founders Peter Randazzo, Patricia Beatty, and David Earle. By 1973, she was teaching and performing with the company – a favourite role being the Lady in Red in Randazzo’s Nighthawks.

Anna did the first show in 1974 at 15 Dance Lab, a theatre created by DCD’s founders Lawrence and Miriam Adams. By the mid-1970s, Anna was choreographing regularly for the newly created company Dancemakers (where she was associate artistic director from 1977-1978) including Arrival of All Time, Baggage, A.K.A., Terminal, and Homage. Arrival of All Time, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s su***de note, was later remounted by the Danny Grossman Dance Company. The original costumes reside in DCD’s collection.

Anna continued to choreograph on a freelance basis through the 1980s including her 1981 work Shadows of Formal Selves for Toronto Dance Theatre, with text by Graham Jackson, and she was engaged in 1986 as choreographer for There’s Always Been Dance – a DCD presentation at Expo ’86 following the reconstruction project that began DCD. Reconstruction would inspire Anna’s graduate work at York University in the 1990s when she brought Gweneth Lloyd’s 1942 ballet The Wise Virgins back to life. After watching National Film Board outtakes in the archives at DCD, Anna was inspired by the more modernist movement in the work. She set the work on the York Dance Ensemble complete with its raked stage set piece and cypress trees. She had guest taught at York in the 1980s and was brought on as an assistant professor in 1989 where she taught until 2013.

In the 2000s, Anna engaged in mixed media visual art pieces that she called “assemblages”. She used found objects, antique pieces, natural elements and fabrics that she combined inside vitrines, old clocks, wooden boxes and other interesting housings.

Human relationships, the isolation of artistry, social concerns, how people operate in the world, humour, and the joy of pure movement are all aspects of Anna’s choreography. However, her career as a whole cannot be summed up merely by her choreography, for her contributions as a teacher, advisor, and scholar are part of the complexities that made up this extremely private artist. She told me once she had always had a love/hate relationship with dance, at times completely frustrated by it, others times uncontrollably drawn to it. She told me, “Dance has true eloquence and speaks from the soul.”

– Amy Bowring

📸: (Top Row L-R) (L to R) Anna Blewchamp, c. 1972; Poster for Anna Blewchamp’s Homage at 15 Dance Lab, 1974; Anna Blewchamp (right) in class or rehearsal in the 1970s

(Bottom Row L-R) William Douglas, Carol Anderson, and Pat Fraser in Ann Blewchamp’s Arrival of All Time, Dancemakers, c. 1975; Anna in her booth displaying her “assemblages” at Toronto’s Outdoor Art Show, 2014; Vanessa Harwood and Richardo Keens-Douglas in There’s Always Been Dance, choreographed by Anna Blewchamp for Dance Collection Danse, 1986 / Photo: Cylla von Tiedemann

St. John's! Join us on Sept. 19th as we celebrate the launch of Still With Us - Stories of HIV/AIDS and Dance In Canada. Presented in partnership with the Tommy Sexton Centre. The event will feature a conversation between the book's editor, choreographer Christopher House and writer, educator, actor and arts administrator Robert Chafe

👉Space is limited so be sure to RSVP. https://forms.gle/wVCZjaLVoiStBTVF9

Special thanks to Leanto and Sarah Stoker for donating their new space on at 140 Water Street (main floor level) for the event.

Crystal Pite - 2026 DCD Hall of Fame inductee. She is known for works that courageously address themes such as trauma, addiction, conflict, consciousness, and mortality

⭐ Celebrate her induction with us. Get your tix at: https://www.eventbee.com/v/2026halloffame #/tickets

📷
Top: Crystal Pite. Photo by Chris Randle

Bottom L-R:
Crystal Pite in rehearsal for "Angels’ Atlas". Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada

Crystal Pite. Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. Photo by Anoush Abrar

Crystal Pite portrait. Photo by Karolina Kuras

Crystal Pite with artists of The National Ballet of Canada in rehearsal for "Emergence". Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The National Ballet of Canada