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DCD

@dancecollectiondanse

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The only national archive, publisher & research centre dedicated to CA dance history

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10 hours ago

We invite you to join us on November 8th as we honour Elizabeth Langley who trained generations of dancers after founding the dance program at Concordia University as well as guiding artists of all ages through their creative process.

⭐Tickets and information: LINK IN BIO

Elizabeth’s dance roots began in her native Melbourne, Australia where she was a performer, choreographer, and teacher. After training at the Martha Graham School in New York City in the early 1960s, she immigrated to Canada in 1965. Working in Ottawa, Elizabeth developed her choreographic and performance practice while also teaching all ages from children to adults in community and post-secondary settings as well as through her own studio. Through the 1970s, she taught at several universities including the University of Ottawa, and Carleton, Dalhousie, and McMaster Universities. She was invited to design and chair the dance program at Concordia in 1980, developing a curriculum specifically to train choreographers. Elizabeth retired from Concordia in 1997 and immediately began work on a solo show. She continued to perform her work and that of others well into the 2010s including her one-woman show "Journal of Peddle Dreams" (2003), "Fragment of a Myth" (2005) with visual artist Walter van Broekhuizen, and the short film "Light Years" (2003) by Jenn Goodwin. Throughout her career, she has worked as a mentor, dramaturge, and rehearsal director for numerous artists including Denise Fujiwara, Sashar Zarif, Maxine Heppner, Maglorzata Nowacka, Yvonne Ng and Karen Kaeja, among others.

Photos:
Top: Elizabeth Langley in her one-woman show in camera or not”, (translation “in private or not”), Montreal, 1998 / Photo: Steve Leroux

Bottom (L-R)
Elizabeth Langley teaching in Melbourne, Australia, late 1950s; Elizabeth Langley at the Graham School, 1965; Elizabeth Langley at Le Groupe de La Place Royale, Ottawa, 1978/ Photo: Ormsby K. Ford; Elizabeth Langley delivering the keynote address at Society of Dance History Scholars Conference, Toronto, 2011 by @dancecollectiondanse

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5 days ago

On November 8th we will be honouring dancer, Balanchine Répétiteur, writer, arts activist, and mentor Joysanne Sidimus for her extraordinary impact on dance in Canada.

Join us as we celebrate her and a host of other Canadian dance luminaries

🎟 Tickets and ℹ️ Info: LINK IN BIO

A native of New York City, she trained at The School of American Ballet, and performed with the New York City Ballet (1958-1963), London Festival Ballet (soloist) (1963), The National Ballet of Canada (Principal Dancer 1963-68), and the Pennsylvania Ballet (1968-1970 ). She has taught widely including Canada's National Ballet School, L’École supérieure de ballet du Québec, York University, George Brown Polytechnic, Ballet Hispánico, North Carolina School of the Arts, and The Dance Theater of Harlem. As a répétiteur for The George Balanchine Trust, Joysanne has staged ballets for The National Ballet of Canada, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Alberta Ballet, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal, La Scala, and Beijing Dance Academy.

Joysanne’s impact on the welfare of the dance community in Canada has been significant. In 1985, she founded the DTRC / CRTD - Dancer Transition Resource Centre, serving professional dancers as a resource for career development and transition, and was its Executive Director until 2005. (visit halloffame.dcd.ca for full bio)

Photos
Top: Joysanne Sidimus Final Curtain Call / Photo by Karolina Kuras. Courtesy of The
National Ballet of Canada
Bottom (L-R): Joysanne Sidimus in Antony Tudor’s Lilac Garden, Pennsylvania Ballet, c. 1960; Sidimus in her role as Répétiteur on assignment for The George Balanchine Trust, rehearsing Balanchine work in Beijing; Joysanne Sidimus after a photo shoot in the early days of the DTRC (c. 1984-85) / Photo: John Selleck; Joysanne Sidimus and Jeremy Blanton in Grant Strate’s The House of Atreus, National Ballet of Canada, 1964 by @dancecollectiondanse

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12 days ago

Fall for Dance North Festival 2026 takes place October 15th to 25th!

Headlining artists include Olympic Champion ice dancer Tessa Virtue in her stage debut, internationally renowned dance companies such as Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and the UK’s Liam Francis Dance Company (in the image for this post), Toronto’s own Carmen Romero, a Canadian premiere of a new ballet by Robert Binet with Devon Healey, a new full-length FFDN commission from Alyssa Martin performed by Rock Bottom Movement - and more!

🎟️All tickets are $25 + fees
❣️Save 15% with Festival Passes that allow you see 4-6 shows! While quantities last, so be sure to book now!

#ffdn #danceTO by @dancecollectiondanse

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13 days ago

Join us on November 8 to celebrate Crystal Pite. A woman whose bold and original vision has earned her international acclaim and inspired an entire generation of dance artists.

👉For tickets visit the LINK in BIO
#dancehistory #dcdhalloffame #dance #ballet #contemporarydance by @dancecollectiondanse

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13 days ago

DCD was delighted to welcome students from Dance Arts today to talk about dance and oral histories. We’re excited to be collaborating on an oral history project with these students and their teacher Evadne Kelly.

DCD is grateful for support from Dolphin Gaming in making our space available to students. by @dancecollectiondanse

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14 days ago

We hope you can join us November 8th as we honour one of the nation’s most accomplished choreographers, performers, and investigators of the art and practice of dance - Denise Fujiwara.

🎟️ Get your tickets and info at: LINK IN BIO

Denise H. Fujiwara’s work as a dance artist involves 46 years of investigation into the art of choreography and the practice of dance. Her most influential mentors include Butoh master Natsu Nakajima and master dramaturg, Elizabeth Langley. Born in Tkaronto/Toronto, Denise began her life in movement as a champion gymnast representing Canada on its national Rhythmic Gymnastics team in two World Championships in the 1970s. Upon completing an Honours BFA in Dance at York University, she became one of the founders of T.I.D.E. (Toronto Independent Dance Enterprise). She created her first solo concert, "Spontaneous Combustion", before T.I.D.E.’s notable dissolution in 1990. She formed Fujiwara Dance Inventions in 1991 and toured her solo concerts across Canada and to festivals in the United States, South America, Europe, and Asia. Her intense study of butoh led to "Sumida River" (1994), a work created for her by Natsu Nakajima. In 2006 Denise began developing ensemble work resulting in "Conference of the Birds". Current repertoire includes "Moving Parts", danced site-specific with local choirs in 3 part harmony, and "EUNOIA", a multimedia adaptation of Christian Bök’s prize-winning poetry, which continues to tour. She has collaborated with filmmaker William Yong on award-winning short films including "Noppera-bo" and "Valley of Shadows", featuring Gerry Trentham. She is Artistic Director of Fujiwara Dance Inventions, a co-founder of the CanAsian Dance Festival and Choreographers Network-Toronto.

📸 Photos...
Top: Denise Fujiwara / Photo: Denise Grant
Bottom, L-R: Denise Fujiwara in “Making Waves”, c. mid-1980s; Denise Fujiwara in “Great Wall” / Photo: Cylla Von Tiedemann; Denise Fujiwara in Natsu Nakajima’s “Sumida River”, premiere 1994; Denise Fujiwara in “Unearthed”, 1994 / Photo: Gino Lorcini by @dancecollectiondanse

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17 days ago

Join us on November 8 to celebrate one of the nation’s most accomplished choreographers, performers, and investigators of the art and practice of dance - Denise Fujiwara.
👉Get Your Tickets at: LINK IN BIO

#dancehistory #dance #dcdhalloffame #butoh by @dancecollectiondanse

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18 days ago

On the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, Dance Collection Danse acknowledges the painful and traumatic history of the Residential School System and continues to follow the recommendations for archives and museums in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's Calls to Action.

Approximately 150,000 children from First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities were forced into a violent assimilation process that robbed them of their cultures, languages, family relationships, and identities. The period also overlapped the ban on Indigenous dances that existed from 1884-1951. In many communities, the dancing did not end, it just went underground, but children taken from their families lost any chance of learning their ancestral dances and passing them onto future generations.

DCD's work is informed by the Reconciliation Framework from the Steering Committee on Canada's Archives, which includes the following statement:

"Canada’s archival communities must respect First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples’ intellectual sovereignty over archival materials created by or about them. This monumental step cannot be overlooked. Acknowledging First Nations, Inuit, and Métis intellectual sovereignty is critical to changing current professional practice and essential to taking collective action toward reconciliation, relationship building, and healing."

To learn more about the TRC's Calls to Action or the Reconciliation Framework for archives, visit:
👉 LINK IN BIO

Banner image courtesy of Patrimoine canadien / Canadian Heritage • #NDTR
#EveryChildMatters
#OrangeShirtDay by @dancecollectiondanse

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19 days ago

DCD is sad to hear that Sarah Murphy-Dyson, a long time friend and someone who has worked with us on several Hall of Fame events organizing performances, recently lost her home to a devastating fire. She and her daughter were not injured but, having lost everything, they are facing an uncertain future. If you can donate, please do.

DONATE 👉 LINK IN BIO

#SupportSarahAndRiley #CommunityHelp by @dancecollectiondanse

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19 days ago

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

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.

This bursary 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 LINK IN BIO to send your application material via Google Form by @dancecollectiondanse

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21 days ago

If you're in St. John's - OR you wish you were and want to see this - our Executive and Curatorial Director Amy Bowring is speaking Thursday about the role women played in supporting the war effort by raising funds and lifting the morale of the community. Bowring looks at how this women-led effort laid some of the groundwork for the post war suffrage movement - a foundation built in part by dancers, dance creators, and stagers under the banner of the Women's Patriotic Association.

Drop by room A1043 at Memorial University, or tune in...

Thursday September 24th, 7:30PM (NT) or 7:00PM (AT)
The virtual link (via Webex) is available at: LINK IN BIO

Also, if you missed the “Still With Us” book launch in St. John’s, you can still get a copy at the Merch Table at the Festival of New Dance all week! taken in Memorial University, Newfoundland and Labrador by @dancecollectiondanse

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25 days ago