Dancemakers 50th Anniversary
In the summer of 2024, Dancemakers turns 50.
Through the organization’s storied history, there have been many different structures, leaders, and artists who have contributed to half a century of making dance. Change has remained a constant, and the intensified transformation of the last 3 years has begun yet another life cycle for Dancemakers.
Photo by Henry Chan [Image Description: Ravyn Wngz, wearing a brown head wrap and aqua blue tank top gestures mid speech to Brodie, standing to her right wearing a white t-shirt with his arms crossed in front of him]
Welcome Dancemakers’ Archival Research Project Artists Researchers!
[ID: A collage containing headshots of the 10 archival research project artists. Artists pictured from top left to bottom right: Lucy Rupert, Roxy Menzies, Emily Solstice Tait, Four Scythe, Raymundo Moreno, Katie Adams, Mairéad Filgate, Carol Anderson, & Chris Dupuis & Tamara Jones.]
In a time of crucial and critical looking back, Dancemakers will work with these 10 artist researchers to engage with our archive, which is housed at Dance Collection Danse (DCD) located at 2 Carlton St Unit 1303 in Tkaranto.
Katie Adams-Gossage
Carol Anderson
Chris Dupuis
Mairéad Filgate
Tamara Jones
Roxy Menzies
Raymundo Moreno
Lucy Rupert
Four Scythe
Emily Solstice Tait
It is intended that each artist researcher will create at least one piece of writing, a photo essay, video compilation or multimedia work that will permanently live on Dancemakers' new website (set to launch summer 2024).
Currently, the Dancemakers' website only includes programming from 2006 until the present. In order to share more of Dancemakers' history (from 1974-2006), we are hoping that dancers/researchers will create connections, unearth alternate narratives and reveal these histories in ways that reflect the current contexts and changes for the company. We are open to artist researchers reading against the grain, writing from lived experience and engaging with this archive from a wide range of intersectional perspectives.
Each artist researcher will be given a one-week Writing Residency at Dance Collection Danse (or remotely using DCD's digital archives) with the intention to produce content that will permanently live on Dancemakers' new website (set to launch summer 2024). Dancemakers will provide all technical and webpage updating, done in collaboration with the dancer/researchers.