CoLABenDirect is an online secure video collaboration platform which will allow multiple artists and organizations to co-create with each other in real time, from several locations on various devices with video recording and archiving capabilities.

Most dance artists/companies in Canada are small to mid-sized and are faced with travel and financial barriers to collaboration. This national digital initiative, led by Atlantic Ballet, will give artists and dance companies from across Canada the chance to collaborate seamlessly online in real time. It is from this context that Atlantic Ballet Atlantique Canada is leading this project in cooperation with artistic collaborators, the Canadian Dance Assembly (CDA) and Kaeja d’Dance.

Read more about CoLABenDirect!

The Dance Across Canada Map is one element of a larger study on dance in Canada. In 2011 the Canada Council for the Arts, in partnership with the Ontario Arts Council, launched the Canada Dance Mapping Study to identify, quantify and describe the ecology, economy and environment of dance in Canada. Then, in 2019 the Canadian Dance Assembly, the national service organization for dance, re-developed the mapping site and now manages and maintains the map. Explore the various reports produced as part of this larger study HERE.

How do we know? The nation-wide #YesIdance survey reached out to dancers across the country. Over 8,100 responded, representing 190 dance forms.

Of the 8,124 respondents, 2,176 (27%) were dance professionals and 5,948 (73%) were leisure dance participants. Approximately 190 dance forms are represented in the survey! The 2 most common dance forms are: contemporary or modern dance (34%), and ballroom or social dance (26%). In addition, 80% of survey respondents describe involvement in 2 to 4 dance forms.

• Read the highlights in the executive summary or full report

Presented at Mapping Culture: Communities, Sites and Stories 

international conference in Coimbra, Portugal (May 28-30, 2014)

Recent findings from components of the Canada Dance Mapping Study are presented in the paper. The Canada Across Dance Map, like a geographic map, is drawing a picture of dance in Canada, indicating ‘what’ is happening and ‘where’ it is happening. The map is also adding ‘who’ – how many Canadian lives are touched by dance in some way – including dancers, choreographers, dance teachers, presenters, dance students, support staff and volunteers, and dance audiences. Together the study and the map will together identify, quantify, and describe the ecology, economy, and environment of dance in Canada.

Full Document