Dancing to Remember

Venue: Vancouver Playhouse

At the Vancouver Playhouse

Aeriosa Dance Society presents Dancing to Remember featuring Butterflies in Spirit

Dancing to Remember, is a curated evening of performances and presentations to raise awareness of MMIWG2S, honour our lost loved ones and mark the 10th Anniversary of Butterflies in Spirit. In addition to a presentation of works by Butterflies in Spirit, this event features special commissions and performances by Aeriosa, Git Hayetsk Mask Dancers, JB the First Lady, Kin Balam, M'Girl, Sierra Tasi Baker, Spakwus Slulem (Eagle Song Dancers), Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolf Pack), and more!

Founded in 2011, Butterflies in Spirit (BIS) mission is to raise awareness of violence against women and Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and Two Spirit people across Canada. The group consists of family members of MMIWG2S. BIS signature performances combine Hip Hop, Contemporary Dance and Traditional First Nations dance forms. They have performed across Canada and in the United States, Mexico, and Colombia. Dancing to Remember shares a retrospective of past BIS works as well as premieres new songs and dances featuring aerial dance elements.

Aeriosa Dance Society was founded in Vancouver by choreographer Julia Taffe in 2005. Aeriosa creates dance in unexpected places, in unusual ways. Aeriosa’s artistic direction merges choreography, environment, and theatre to dance on earth in air. Aeriosa explores the transformative potential of vertical dance in collaboration with diverse performers, visual artists, composers and designers. Our creative vision and community is rooted in the geography and cultural context of the Pacific Northwest Coast. By working with local and international peers, tracing connections between traditional and contemporary practices, Aeriosa contributes to the worldwide impact and relevance of the vertical dance art form.

Dancing to Remember Acknowledgements: Government of Canada and Women and Gender Equality Canada, City of Vancouver, Canada Council for the Arts, Vancouver Foundation, Vancouver Civic Theatres, BC Arts Council, Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre, Vancouver Aboriginal Community Policing Society, WAVAW (rape crisis centre), Full Circle First Nations Performance, Luminesque Dance and Supernaturals Modeling.

With gratitude and respect for these lands and their first peoples we acknowledge the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh)