The seventh biennial Dance in Vancouver will be taking place from October 14 to 18 at the Scotiabank Dance Centre. More information can be found at TheDanceCentre.ca

Dance in Vancouver, in a nutshell, can be described as the climax of every dance movie you’ve ever seen. Presented by the Dance Centre, Dance in Vancouver is a showcase featuring the contemporary dancers of B.C., running from October 14 to 18. It features both new and previously performed works by some of the hardest working contemporary dances in Vancouver. As a dancer friend of mine put it, “everyone who dances in Vancouver will be there.”

However pretentious this might sound, it is true. From the hugely hyped 605 Collective to Simon Fraser’s very own Rob Kitsos, the event promises to deliver beautiful performances from seasoned local dancers, featuring 11 companies in total. Dance in Vancouver is a chance to see some wonderful hits re-performed as well as several original pieces. It is a particularly good chance for students to experience the arts, as the performances take place on shared evenings and the series offers a student rate. Rob Kitsos, assistant professor at Simon Fraser’s school of Contemporary Arts, took time between teaching and practicing in order to speak with The Peak about Dance in Vancouver, his featured piece WAKE — a discussion of the urban environment — and the future of dance in B.C..

The Peak: Tell me about WAKE. What made you want to do a piece about the urban environment?

Rob Kitsos: WAKE is a piece that premiered on September 11 and 12 at the dance centre. The piece is about urban environments and the body. There’s a lot of video projection in the piece of downtown Vancouver. The seven dancers in the piece are also in the video, and myself as a character. [It’s about] noticing how people move in cities and how it correlates to architecture and urban environments.

When I was in Hong Kong the training was very different there than training is in western culture. Thinking about the architecture, in Hong Kong there are very straight, erect buildings, skyscrapers, lots of confined spaces, and the dancers were very clear at making lines, but it was much harder for them to release. You start to make connections between cultures and their urban environments and how we absorb our surroundings.

*P:* Is WAKE specifically inspired by Vancouver?

RK: Not necessarily. I’ve been making pieces about urban environments for a while; I think it began when I was teaching in Hong Kong. I was making a film with students out in the middle of the street in Hong Kong doing movement in the midst of this human traffic and crowds going through and then I did a lot of video footage of buildings there. So I think it started there, I started doing architectural pieces around urban environments.

*P:* So what observations have you made about Vancouver and its dancers?

RK: In Vancouver there’s a lot of pieces and a lot of content around nature. Specifically [with] nature and city, you see a lot of artists making pieces around that. There’s also a good mix here, there’s an international feel. Here, we have a huge Asian culture and a lot of other cultures coming through, which is a nice mix — it means there are lots of different artists, different voices and movers.

*P:* How do you think living in the big city shapes your perception? How does it influence your dance?

RK: I think it shapes your perception about movement and also unconsciously affects the way we move literally, the pace that we walk, our daily routines, the rhythm of getting on a bus or crossing a street, knowing to be aware of traffic. It affects the way our bodies are built and how we move. You can see it in the problems people have as well, with knees and joints and things like that. Environment has a huge effect on our physicality.

*P:* Tell me about Dance In Vancouver. What is it all about and what made you want to take part in it?

RK: I had built this work WAKE, and I was looking for other opportunities . . . you work so hard on something for a year, [so] you want to show it more than once. Part of the nature of this business is that you work a long time on something, and then after three nights of performances, it’s over. [Dance in Vancouver is] a good opportunity to show excerpts of it, and it’s a good venue — sometimes producers come through and watch things so it may lead to other opportunity. I also like the chance to be part of a community. I feel honoured to be in that series because it makes me feel like I’m included in a community of artists, which sometimes is hard when you’re working at SFU, particularly Burnaby, you’re up here on this hill . . . though next year we’ll be downtown, I think that will change a lot of things. I’m hoping that with all the work we do, SFU will be more mainstream, part of the community.

*P:* What can viewers expect from Dance in Vancouver this year? What are you most excited to see performed?

RK: They do a very good job of seeing the kind of work that’s out there over the course of the year. When they plan Dance in Vancouver, they look for specific excerpts of works that artists are doing to include. They usually have a curator who does a very good job of getting a good mix of artists.

I’m excited for Day Helesic’s piece because I didn’t get a chance to see it, it’s called Surge, she’s doing an excerpt of that and it will be the same evening that I’m performing. I like her work a lot so I’m excited to see that.

*P:* WAKE was partially funded by a Canadian Council grant and a B.C. Council grant. Are you concerned about the arts cuts that B.C. is currently facing? How do you think this is going to impact the Vancouver dance scene?

RK: I didn’t actually lose funding since I received my funding before the cuts happened, but it’s going to have a huge effect. It’s over a 90 per cent cut for provincial funding so it’s going to have a huge effect on the next couple years in dance in terms of companies that do projects, or series like this one, Dance in Vancouver, that they may not be able to offer next year. We don’t know . . . artists depend on [series like this] to present their work and [gain] funding to do their research and projects so it’s going to be tough. I’m hoping there will be some change. What’s good to see is people speaking out, writing about it. People writing letters and students protesting in front of the art gallery. Hopefully they’ll reconsider some things and replenish some of the things that they’ve cut, but it’s one of these corporate decisions, and with the economy like this it’s going to be tough.