International Dance Day (win tickets to Around The Block)

Most of you know that I took intensive dance training, that I have taught dance and that I am working really hard in this 2010 to come back to competitive dancing. So, when The Dance Centre mentioned to me about International Dance Day I got really excited. IDD takes place every April 29 and each year The Dance Centre hosts a selection of events, many of them free: this year features flamenco, salsa, hip hop, contemporary dance and hula hooping.

The ticketed events feature contemporary dance company MovEnt, who are doing a noon show of excerpts and a question and answer period with the audience, and at 8pm perform a full length work. Inspired by New York, and called Around the Block, this full length contemporary dance work runs for 3 nights through to May 1st. I will be attending the April 30th performance with a Plus One (still to be determined). The full schedule for April 29th is below.

To win tickets you can drop a comment on this post. Re-tweeting the post will get you an additional entry. Finally, if you write about IDD and link back to The Dance Centre and here, you will get a third entry. I will be drawing the winner of my tickets on ~~Thursday April 22nd at 5:30pm~~Wednesday April 28th at 2pm, ~~just before my 4th Year Blogiversary Party begins~~. Good luck!

Full event schedule: Thursday April 29

Lola Dance Exhibition of photographs documenting the work of the late choreographer Lola MacLaughlin. Ongoing April 26-May 10.

Vancouver Ballet Society Library open for visitors: dance books, magazines and other materials. 12 noon-5pm.

Choreographic Traces Footprints in and around Scotiabank Dance Centre trace choreographic sequences created by leading Canadian artists. Provided courtesy of Le Regroupement québécois de la danse, Montreal. 12 noon onwards

Discover Dance! series: MovEnt & Friends. MovEnt is well known for bold and kinetic dance creations as well as the hit series Dances for a Small Stage, and Co Artistic Producer Day Helesic’s choreography combines thrilling technical virtuosity and abandoned physicality. This mixed program features an excerpt from Helesic’s ode to New York, Around the Block, plus a sneak peek at new solo works choreographed by company dancers Amber Funk Barton and Shay Kuebler, set to premiere as part of a new collaborative piece at the Canada Dance Festival in June. 12-1pm. Tickets $10/$7 from 604.684.2787

Co. ERASGA gives a studio showing of Alvin Erasga Tolentino’s OrienTik/Portrait, performed by Tolentino and Andrea Nann, with pianist Alison Nishihara and taiko percussionist Jordan Riley. First created in 2005 during Tolentino’s artistic residency at The Dance Centre, the work has since toured across France and Belgium, and in May, will be performed at venues across Canada. 3-4pm.

Spanish Passion Productions presents a demonstration/discussion of the Arte Nuevo Project, combining interdisciplinary elements for a better understanding of flamenco dance and stage production. Followed by an open flamenco class with Artistic Director Eleonora Acuña. Demonstration/discussion 4-6pm, class 6-7pm.

No Hitting Collective of sound and movement artists presents a studio practice of live improvisation in performance, featuring dancers Laura Hicks, Jennifer Clarke, Caroline Liffmann, Anne Cooper, Cara Siu; and musicians Lee Hutzulak, Madoka Hara, and Dave Leith. 5-6pm.

Dance 4U Latin dance specialist Corey Solomon teachers a beginners class in salsa and merengue: all levels welcome. 5-6pm.

SVS Style Open hip hop class, all levels welcome. 6-7pm.

Pixie Hoops presents Hoopdance Momentum. Hula hooping fuses dance, exercise and play, keeping spirits high and bodies engaged. All levels welcome including beginners; hoops will be provided. 7-8pm.

Global Dance Connections contemporary dance series: MovEnt in Around the Block.

The energy and excitement of New York inspires Day Helesic’s Around the Block, a full-length dance work reflecting the spirit of the city and the people who live there. Four dancers travel the streets of Manhattan in a desire to find connection within the chaos, in a physical essay of boldness and intensity. With a driving original score by Marc Stewart, lighting by Rob Sondergaard and striking film by Aren Hansen and Reva Quam, Around the Block is a work of physical devotion and harnessed energy. The dancers are original cast members Day Helesic, Amber Funk Barton and Shay Kuebler, here joined by James Gnam.

Around The Block’s performances take place at 8pm, tickets $15 on April 29 only; then $26/$18 on April 30 & May 1 from 604.684.2787 or online at MovEnt

Be Sociable, Share!