Brian Webb Dance Company

With our partners, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Canadian Stage and Dance Immersion Canadian Stage [Toronto], and The Yukon Arts Centre, the BWDC applied to the CanDance Network Creation Fund to co-produce the next dance by CRAZY SMOOTH [Yvon Soglo] for his company, Bboyizm Bboyizm Dance Company. And, we were successful! Bboyizm will receive the grant to be put toward Smooth’s new dance. As well, it has just been announced that Smooth has won the Banff Centre's Clifford E. Lee Award for choreography which will contribute to 2 residencies - one for creation and the other for production - to create his new work of choreography. This new work will be presented by BWDC in the future... and we are thrilled! Read more about CRAZY SMOOTH in the BWDC's latest Enewsletter bit.ly/Bboyizm

Check out Brian’s message in his latest Enewsletter including a facebook live event this weekend with Shumka In 1995, I was given the opportunity to choreograph on the Shumka company. What a treat! Collaborating with then Artistic Director John Pichlyk was an amazing opportunity for me which I remember with so much fondness. The piece, Night of Perun, shocked some of the public as it explored pre-Christian Ukrainian rituals. It toured Canada and was televised several times ...nationally by CBC as well! This weekend as part of their 60th Anniversary celebrations, Shumka is going to screen the film of Perun again. It will be followed by an interview of John and myself with Les Sereda, the current Shumka Senior Creative Director. I think this is going to be an event and I really hope you will consider watching it! Tune into Shumka’s Facebook Page at 7pm on July 4th, and read more from Brian here: https://mailchi.mp//shay-kuebler-radical-system-art-and-th

Dear Friends, I hope this letter finds you well and in good spirits. This is what is most important during this unparalleled time. We are well into May and have been sheltering in place for weeks now. I have to say, I am still not comfortable using my mask! But I do. Traditionally, May is the time that the Brian Webb Dance Company (BWDC) connects with all of the wonderful people who support us through their generosity: attending our shows; purchasing art at our annual auction...; and by generously donating to the Company. The BWDC has just celebrated its 41st Season here in our community! I am humbled by that fact. The support both publicly and privately we have enjoyed in our community amazes me! Thanks! We have been lucky, most of our presentations of the 2019-2020 season were completed by the time we entered our COVID-19 pandemic world. I still remember Shay Kuebler’s show, EPILOGOS, which was overflowing with imagination. The fact that he choreographed the show, starred in it, compiled the music for it and devised the amazing visual for it is only a bit overwhelming! And, of course, both Ralph Escamillan and Van Grimde Corps Secrets offered events that were in their unique ways defining what is contemporary dance today. And we will try to bring Fujiwara Dance Inventions’ Eunoia to you as soon as possible. That is what the Brian Webb Dance Company does, offers our community an eclectic array of contemporary dance from across Canada and beyond. The BWDC is at work, planning our next season that will adapt to our uncertain times, conceptualizing new work, and building dance opportunities for younger dancers in our community. We are building a collaborative team for our next dance. I am really excited to be working with Gary James Joynes again as I feel his music is so amazingly beautiful. Joining us is visual artist, Brad Nesyk whose virtual worlds take you on a most amazing ride! Three fantastic performers, Lin Snelling who is a most beautiful dancer, Michael Kennard, one of the outrageous members of Mump & Smoot, and Deepak Paramashivan, a superb singer and musician will round out the team. You can not imagine how excited I am to be working with these artists! Contemporary dance is as diverse as our community is. And, this is so exciting! I hope you will consider donating to the Company so that we may continue to do what we do best. All donations are tax deductible. There are also other ways to contribute to the success of the BWDC, the Company is looking for new board members to round out our team. If you are interested, please contact us at [email protected] and we will get in touch with you to discuss that potential. I am wishing you well in this most uncertain time. Warmest Regards, Brian

I always say: WITHOUT THE DANCING THERE AIN’T NO DANCE I really believe this, and so I salute all people who are dancing, who define themselves as dancers.... Dancing is a human activity. If we feel the beat of our heart, we know dancing. I can’t believe that I, born in 1951 and having never had a dance class until my first year of university, have danced my whole professional life. I am so thankful to that very first teacher, Dorothy Harris [University of Alberta] who helped me say when I started dancing, Oh! This is who I am!" Thank you Dorothy. And, thank you to all who inspire people to dance. To touch our humanity. Brian Webb Artistic Director Brian Webb Dance Company #InternationalDanceDay #TogetherAtHome See more

Fujiwara Dance Invention: EUNOIA Rescheduled dates to be announced Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh