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on the MOVE Conference

Just Beginning your Dance Career?
Don't miss Toronto's on the MOVE conference February 3rd, 2012 at Canada's National Ballet School, Currie Hall

Registration closes January 29th
Graduating dance students and emerging dance artists from all styles of dance are welcome to attend this free career planning and networking event.
Learn how to Network in the Dance Community, Manage your Money as an Artist, Make an impression when introducing yourself to agents, presenters, artists, etc., Dance Internationally - in Canada or abroad, Navigate the business of dance and Fearlessly face your first year out of school!
The conference will also include:
Keynote Speaker - Eroca Nicols (Winner of Dance Ontario's 2010 Innovation Award)

Wrapping it all up is a giveaway with prizes you are sure to love!
*Pre-registration is required. Visit www.dtrc.ca to register today!

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AWHIP: Arts Workers Health Insurance Package Launched

AWHIP has now been launched. For information go to www.aWHIP.ca Click here

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OAC Announces Director & CEO

Martha Durdin, Chair of the Ontario Arts Council (OAC) today announced the appointment of Peter Caldwell as Director and CEO of the Ontario Arts Council. He succeeds John Brotman who is retiring after ten years at the council's helm. "Peter impressed us with his personal experience as an artist, his firm understanding of the arts community and the leadership skills that he brought to the remarkable transformations at OCAD University over the past several years," said Martha Durdin OAC Chair. "He takes over an organization that has not only thrived in the last decade but which, under John's guidance, reflects the growth and diversity of Ontario's arts community." "The arts have been integral to my life, and the Ontario Arts Council is integral to the arts in Ontario," said Peter Caldwell. "I am very excited about playing a leadership role at OAC as it approaches its 50th anniversary of service to artists, arts organizations and all Ontarians. I hope to honour the legacy of the organization, while also maximizing future opportunities."
Peter Caldwell was Vice President, Finance & Administration at OCAD University (formerly Ontario College of Art & Design) from 1994 to April 2011. During this time, he served as chief administrative officer of Canada's largest university specializing in art and design education. Among Caldwell's accomplishments at OCAD, he oversaw the university's expansion from two to 12 buildings, including the architecturally-acclaimed Sharp Centre of Design, designed by architect Will Alsop. In 2009, Peter Caldwell was appointed a Lifetime Honorary Alumnus by the OCAD University Alumni Association. In June 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by OCAD University, recognizing his contribution to the university and to the arts and culture community.
Peter Caldwell has spent his entire career in the arts. He was Executive Director of the Arts Foundation of Greater Toronto (1985-1994), where he was responsible for the programming, marketing and financial management of all activities including ArtsWeek and the Toronto Arts Awards. Prior to that, he was Program Director at Toronto Theatre Alliance (1981-83), Theatre Consultant at the Ontario Ministry of Culture and Recreation (1980-81), and Coordinator of Training Programs at Theatre Ontario (1977-80). Peter Caldwell's volunteer work includes the Boards of Directors of the Laidlaw Foundation, Toronto Artscape Inc., Design Exchange, Performing Arts Development Fund of Toronto and Platform 9 Theatre. He has served on the major grants review panel for the City of Toronto's Cultural Affairs Division.
Peter Caldwell has an MBA from the Richard Ivey School of Business at University of Western Ontario. As an undergraduate at Stetson University in Deland, Florida, he majored in French and minored in Spanish. He will join OAC on February 6, 2012.

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Tre Armstrong/ A New DAEI Inc. Dance Studio

Tre Armstrong, the multi-talented Dancer, Choreographer, Actress, and Celebrity Judge on CTV's "So You Think You Can Dance Canada" is set to open the doors of A New DAEI Inc. Dance Studio.
The studio at 12 Rutherford Road South in Brampton (south of Queen) owned with her business partner, certified dance instructor and choreographer Tonya Burke, will open for classes next week.
The official opening will take place in November with a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and a Free Day Of Dance For Brampton. The official opening will feature" SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE CANADA" dancers, a special performance by duo only seen on "DANCING WITH THE STARS" and a special appearance by Academy Award Winning Bollywood Choreographer for "Slumdog Millionaire," LONGINUS FERNANDES. November date to be announced.

Dance Ontario Announces Connecting The Dots

Dance Ontario Launches Connecting the Dots in June 2012 thanks to a generous $151,800 Grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.
We are delighted to announce innovative funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation for this exciting new initiative that brings together Ontario's diverse dance community. Designed to build connections, collaborations, partnerships and innovations through all facets of the dance community, Connecting the Dots will strengthen the future of dance in Ontario.
In the first year of this three-year initiative, Dance Ontario will host an inclusive dance conference in Toronto from June 26 - 28, 2012. The conference will offer workshops, performances, networking, and break out sessions. Bringing together professionals, students, educators, community groups, dance activists and animators, from all genres of dance the conference will offer a space where the community can come together to share, to grow and to create new possibilities. Connecting the Dots will travel to four regions of the province over the following two years, bringing new opportunities and strategies for a healthy and vibrant dance scene in every city.
Dance Ontario recognizes and thanks the Ontario Trillium Foundation for its commitment to increasing access to dance across the province.
A leading grant-maker in Canada, the Ontario Trillium Foundation strengthens the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. An agency of the Government of Ontario, OTF builds healthy and vibrant communities. For more information on the Foundation, please visit the website at: www.otf.ca

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DanceWeekend'12

I wanted to thank you and all of the performers, staff, crew, and volunteers involved in organizing another amazing Dance Weekend this year! I lived there all day both Saturday and Sunday, and I could gladly do that every weekend!
It is The Most Wonderful Celebration of Dance from a wide array of styles and ethnicities and cultures!
People in the audience talked about being inspired to take lessons, and their only dilemma was which type of dance style to choose. Ariel Len
Thank you to everyone who performed - you are our inspiration!
See you next year!

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INTRODUCING DANCE ONTARIO'S NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The AGM of the Corporation was held on Friday December 2, 2011 at which time Peter Ryan was elected as Board Chair and Jennifer Watkins as Vice Chair joining Debbie Kapp (Treasurer) and Jade Jager Clark (Secretary). New to the Board of Directors are George Randolph (Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts), Tina Nicolaidis (City Dance Corps) and James Kendal who will join Catherine Carpenko (Past Chair), Jacque Foesier, Cynthia Lickers-Sage, Kate Lowe, Yasmina Ramzy, Anjelica Scannura, Samara Thompson, Dave Wilson and Sashar Zarif.
They will all be working hard for you, our members, over the next year.

Annual Report 10-11 here.

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Canada's National Ballet School Announces Incoming Executive Director

Mavis Staines, Artistic Director and Troy Maxwell, NBS' Board Chair are pleased to announce Grant Troop as the incoming Executive Director and Co-CEO.
Grant joins NBS after 19 years with the Ontario Science Centre.

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Dancemakers Producing Director Jeanne Holmes Appointed Artistic Producer For Canada Dance Festival

Dancemakers today congratulates Producing Director Jeanne Holmes on her appointment as Artistic Producer for the Canada Dance Festival (CDF), a national platform for showcasing the best in contemporary Canadian dance.
Dancemakers applauds the CDF's visionary invitation to bring Holmes' strong leadership and curatorial experience to this major Canadian cultural event. "I am thrilled for both Jeanne and the dance sector in Canada," says Artistic Director Michael Trent. "I know that the dance community and audiences alike will benefit from her intelligence, integrity and commitment to the field in much the same way that Dancemakers does," adds Trent.
Holmes takes on her additional duties as of December 1st. Dancemakers' current leadership model under Artistic Director Michael Trent and Holmes will remain in place while Holmes takes on her new responsibilities on a part-time basis.

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Ballet Jorgen Canada

Artistic Director Bengt Jorgen accepted the 2011 National Arts Centre Award for Distinguished Contribution to Touring on behalf of Ballet Jorgen Canada. The award recognizes Ballet Jorgen Canada for its leadership role in the development of touring by professional dancers and companies in Canada, and is the first time that that it has been won by an Ontario performing arts organization.
"We are incredibly grateful and honoured to receive this prestigious award", says Jorgen. "We passionately believe in the importance of consistently connecting ballet with Canadian communities, making it a familiar, ongoing and shared experience. We extend our appreciation to all of our presenters and partners across the country, who worked tirelessly to ensure that all Canadians have ongoing access to high quality classical and contemporary ballet."
Approaching its 25th anniversary next year, Ballet Jorgen Canada has served close to 250 North American communities and is reaching more Canadian communities annually than any other Canadian dance company. The company provides opportunities for innovative Canadian choreographers, and fosters engagement with communities through its outreach activities and educational programs.

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CCDT Wins Mayor's Arts Award

_{"This award belongs first and foremost to the more than 200 extraordinary young dancers who, over thirty years, have tirelessly pushed artistic boundaries. They inspire us everyday" - Deborah Lundmark, Artistic Director.}
At the sixth annual Mayor's Arts Award Lunch, CCDT was honoured to stand as a finalist for the Arts For Youth Award with sister youth arts champions, Theatre Direct and Young People's Theatre whose combined 80 years contribution has made Toronto a world leader in the field.
Other recipients were Jane Marsland (the Rita Davies and Margo Bindhardt Cultural Leadership Award), Dr, Trichy Sankaran (the Muriel Sherrin Award For International Achievement in Music), Adam Garnet Jones (the RBC Emerging Artist Award) and TD Bank Group (the Toronto Arts and Business Award).

For CCDT, the award is a wonderful culmination of an already stellar 30th anniversary which included Galas at Fleck Dance Theatre attended by many fomer dancers, choreographers and designers, and the renaming of the former Canadian Children's Dance Theatre. This $15,000 cash prize was established in 2007 by Martha Burns, Jim Fleck and Jim B. Pitblado. It celebrates an individual, collective or organization that demonstrates an outstanding commitment to engaging Toronto youth in the arts.

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Dance Umbrella of Ontario is proud to announce the appointment of Jay Rankin as its new Executive Director.

Jay succeeds Christine Moynihan who has led the organization since 2002.
Jay comes to the organization with vast experience working in the performing arts and dance. Mr. Rankin joins DUO having played key leadership roles at companies including Ballet BC and Toronto Dance Theatre. His recent posting at Ballet BC saw a remarkable transition for the company, making it a viable and thriving contemporary ballet company. Jay will be known to many people in the community in Toronto as the former Managing Director of Toronto Dance Theatre.

"Jay is a highly respected arts manager in Canada. His many varied skills and vast scope of knowledge will enable DUO to undertake a new direction in service to the community of dance artists in Ontario,"says Michael Du Maresq, Board Chair of DUO. "This is a pivotal time in DUO's history and we're thrilled to have Jay's creative leadership guiding the organization."
"I am very excited for the opportunity to create conditions for dance artistry to flourish in Toronto and this province. I look forward to partnering with the dance artists, arts organizations and the public to celebrate the tremendous creative energies at play in this city," says Jay Rankin.
Jay Rankin is a dedicated and proven leader who has served the professional dance community in Canada for over 30 years. With an accomplished record of successfully guiding organizations, he aspires to be an excellent ambassador at DUO, anchored by a profound respect for the art form, valuing excellence, artistic expression, and integrity. He will bring clear and forceful leadership to the position with financial, marketing, touring and resource development acumen coupled with a creative, strategic and consistent management style. Jay has served on many funding panels at various government levels and has been an active board member at the Canadian Dance Assembly where he currently serves as Board Chair.
Jay will begin his contract at DUO on January 23, 2012.

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New Director Selected to Lead Society for Canadian Dance Studies/La Societe des etudes canadiennes en danse (SCDS/SECD) Toronto writer and teacher Kate Cornell is the incoming director of the Society for Canadian Dance Studies/La Societe des etudes canadiennes en danse (SCDS/SECD). The Society's membership at large met in Toronto on June 23rd to talk about the organization's future following founder/director Amy Bowring's announcement that she would step down after a decade of leadership. Bowring founded the organization in 2000 with a mandate to support and publish Canadian dance research, to disseminate dance studies in schools, and provide and promote discussion of issues surrounding Canadian dance. The organization, via its website, has provided resources and facilitated the publishing of scholarly articles about dance in Canada. The organization has also held conferences across the country as well as collaborative dance literacy projects with The Dance Current and the Canada Dance Festival.
Dr. Kate Cornell is a writer, lecturer and consultant and a founding member of the Society. Cornell comes to the position with a background in both theory and practice, working with organizations such as the CanDance Network, Learning Through the Arts, and The National Ballet of Canada. Cornell looks forward to working with transition steering committee, the new slate of board members to be elected in September, and on expanding the Society's membership. Members made the decision at their meeting to hold a conference in Montreal in 2012 timed to coincide with the Festival TransAmeriques.
More: http://people.uleth.ca/~scds.secd/

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News at The Dance Current
The Dance Current welcomed Kathleen Smith to the team as its new Editor. Kathleen has been writing for the publication for many years and is a former board member. She brings a depth of knowledge of the Canadian dance scene and a wealth of experience as a curator, producer and writer to The Dance Current.
The magazine has also introduced a new bimonthly publishing cycle with the September/October issue.

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Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists, Ontario Chapter (CADA ON)
CADA ON is pleased to announce the publication of Version 3 of its best practices guide, Professional Standards for Dance (PSD). Version 3 includes a new look, new sections including Choreographic Copyright and Touring, many new resources and updates recommending fee minimums based on cost of living increases. It replaces Version 2 that was published in 2009. The publication is distributed to CADA ON members and an electronic copy will be available publicly at no cost on CADA ON's website by June 1.

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Ann-Marie Williams' Learn To Speak Dance
Drawing on years of experience as a dancer and dance teacher, author Ann-Marie Williams exposes every aspect of the world of dance from how to start a dance group to tips on shooting a music video, calming performance jitters, staging, and even managing a potential career.
Learn To Speak Dance will be published by Owlkids Books on September 15, 2011. Illustrated by Jeff Kulak, the book will be suitable for Ages 9-13. www.raincoast.com

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Toronto Arts Council's INCUBATE program
Boundary crossing, multi-disciplinary dance projects awarded support for development Toronto Arts Council's INCUBATE program, now in its third year, has awarded grants totalling $75,000 to nine Dance projects being developed by Toronto arts organizations for international festivals and presenters. Projects chosen for seed funding range from innovative urban dance productions by young artists, to interpretations of award-winning Canadian poetry by our most senior, internationally renowned contemporary dance choreographers. INCUBATE 2011 is funded through a contribution of $25,000 from the City of Toronto through Toronto Arts Council and $50,000 from Luminato, Toronto's Festival of Arts and Creativity through Toronto Arts Foundation.
"We received many eloquent proposals," said Claire Hopkinson, Executive Director of Toronto Arts Council and Foundation. "Interesting themes, such as migration and identity, are emerging from the dance community. We are pleased that the Incubate program can provide seed funding to support great Toronto artists to pursue such imaginative work."
"Luminato is committed to the development and creation of new artistic works, and is proud to partner with the Toronto Arts Council in support of this important program," said Janice Price, CEO, Luminato.

INCUBATE is a juried program, designed to provide seed money to facilitate the early planning stages of project proposals being developed for presentation to international festivals and presenters. Positioned to play a pivotal role for Toronto arts organizations, INCUBATE is often the first major investment for artistic work which later comes to fruition with great national and international impact. The maximum grant available is 85% of eligible expenses up to $10,000. This year's program was dance projects. In 2009 the focus was on music, and in 2010 theatre. The program will continue to target different artistic disciplines in future years. Funded projects 2011 include adelheid dance projects ,Fujiwara Dance Inventions,Gadfly, hum dansoundart not just a dance company, and ipsita Nova Dance Projects.

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