Guelph Dance is always eager to get to know the dance community better – local, national and international, and to be kept abreast of what artists are up to. We encourage you to fill out this form if you have a project (new or pre-existing) or skill set that you would be interested in sharing for our 2024 or 2025 events and programs. Please note that we will be most active in keeping up with proposals in September and October for events taking place the following year and respond to artists in November/December if we hope to hear more.
The Guelph Dance Festival takes place the first weekend of June each year with events including In the Park -short outdoor works, On the Stage -mixed programs or full-length works, In the Studio -informal or in process works, and Youth Moves -professional choreographers working with dancers 19 years and younger. We also host workshops, panel discussions, talks, etc.
Throughout the year Guelph Dance supports the local and national community through our Artistic Residencies, Community Projects, Emerging Artist Intensive, Short and Sweet, and Co-presentations and our Arts Explosion March Break and Summer Camps.
We are therefore always looking out for artists who are interested in:
- Engaging in our Artistic Residencies and creating new work
- Proposing community projects
- Teaching workshops at schools, the festival, camps, intensives
- Speaking at our panels and intensives
- Presenting work in one of our festival or co-presentation events
Guelph Dance selects artists using our Four Pillars to guide decisions:
GD remains committed to showcasing the very best in Canadian contemporary dance, while emphasizing opportunities for people of all ages and stages of development to experience dance in ways that extend beyond being audience members.
Our artistic and community engagement programming will be informed by these four pillars:
- To increase community engagement in contemporary dance. We wish to provide opportunities where everyone can dance, engage in the creative process and be exposed to high quality artists in the dance field. We are interested in bringing community members and dance artists together in collaborations that enable all parties to build stronger relationships around dance.
- To increase support for local professional dancers by providing space to create and explore regularly throughout the year and to provide opportunities for networking and collaboration through both shared space and online networking and story sharing.
- To work with communities in isolation so that they can share, tell stories, engage in the creative process, feel validated and heard. This includes many aspects of what we are currently working on including: 1) supporting our local dancers who are working outside of a metropolitan area and often feel isolated and alone 2) choosing artists from across Canada who are not already on the touring circuit and who can really benefit from the exposure and support 3) bringing together community members and dance artists in collaborative projects. 4) continuing to provide relevant and responsive community engagement activities year-around.
- To increase exposure to innovative artists and increase collaboration amongst youth artists.
History
Established in 1998, Guelph Dance was founded by Co-Artistic Directors Catrina von Radecki and Janet Johnson. With the firm belief that dance artists should be able to live and work outside major metropolitan areas, the two began to teach, choreograph, and perform in the City of Guelph. Today, we offer many different dance events and programs including the annual Guelph Dance Festival, March Break and Summer Arts Explosion Camps, Workshops in Schools and Local Initiatives.
