April Dance Events in Vancouver: National Dance Week, International Dance Day & the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s Svengali
The Dance Centre and Vancouver Biennale celebrate National Dance Week with free dance performances at Vancouver’s outdoor Biennale sculptures. Photo: The Dance Centre
April is a big month for dance in Vancouver: Not only will Vancouver’s The Dance Centre celebrate National Dance Week April 22 – 29 and International Dance Day on April 29 (with a full day of free performances), the Royal Winnipeg Ballet presents the Vancouver premiere of Svengali from April 20-22 at the Centre for Performing Arts, too.
The Dance Centre celebrates both National Dance Week and International Dance Day with a wide array of public events—many of which are free—featuring performances that range from flamenco and contemporary to bharata natyam and Pow-wow. One of main highlights of Vancouver’s Dance Week celebrations is the partnership between The Dance Centre and the Vancouver Biennale Open Air Museum: local dance artists will perform for free outdoors alongside the Biennale’s monumental sculptures throughout the city, April 23 – 28.
605 Collective performs for The Dance Centre’s National Dance Week. Photo: The Dance Centre
Indoor events during National Dance Week include a performance of The Dance Centre’s Discover Dance! series by local favourites The 605 Collective, a partnership presentation with Co.ERASGA featuring Germany’s COCOONDANCE, and a day of free events on International Dance Day, April 29. Find a complete schedule of The Dance Centre’s National Dance Week and International Dance Day events here.
Before The Dance Centre kicks of National Dance Week, there’s a must-see for ballet fans: From April 20 – 22, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet presents Svengali at Vancouver’s Centre for Performing Arts.
Created by Mark Godden, the same choreographer responsible for the company’s hugely successful Dracula, Svengali, adapted from the famous novel Trilby by du Maurier, is the story of a young man (Svengali) who has the ability to hypnotically control women, a power he uses to turn a young woman named Trilby into the most celebrated ballerina in 1930s Germany….until she begins to resist his control.
A spectacular ballet with incredible sets and costumes and performed to a mesmerizing score featuring Rachmaninov, Liszt, Richard Strauss, and Philip Glass, Svengali is a much-anticipated presentation from the acclaimed Royal Winnipeg Ballet. I’ll be attending the Friday night premiere and I can’t wait! Check out a trailer for Svengali here and grab tickets while they last.
