What happens when you combine creativity, excellence, and a global vision with an unbridled passion for dance arts? Experience the 2008 Vancouver International Dance Festival!
This month-long adrenaline-driven dance festival presents local, national and international dance artists in free and ticketed performances, as well as workshops, master classes, art and photography exhibitions and post-show chats.

The mandate of the Vancouver International Dance Festival Society is to put Vancouver on the international map of dance through the presentation of performances and workshops by local, national, and international dance artists.

The intention is to create a sustaining environment for the art of dance by increasing audiences for dance and providing a supportive environment for the performance of dance.

This ongoing event is taking place at locations around Vancouver, B.C., including the Roundhouse Community Centre, the Scotiabank Dance Centre, Centennial Theatre, the Norman Rothstein Theatre, Harbour Dance, and Centro Flamenco.

The 2008 VIDF is dedicated to the enduring memory of Larisa Fayad, the talented lighting designer who was killed in September’s plane crash in Thailand.

Ana Arroyo (Spain) kicks off the 2008 VIDF with two rousing performances fusing contemporary dance with lightning-fast Flamenco footwork. Toronto Dance Theatre showcases its world-renowned dancers in Christopher House’s critically-acclaimed Chiasmata.

The 2008 Touring Exchange Project of the Canadian Network of Dance Presenters brings together three distinct aboriginal companies—Gaetan Gingras (Quebec), Kaha:wi Dance (Ontario), and Raven Spirit Dance (B.C.) — for two evenings of dance entitled Indigenous Dancelands. 

Vancouver companies will also shine during the 2008 VIDF: EDAM pushes the boundaries of contact improvisation in The Vargas Project on March 19-22; Co. ERASGA’s PARADIS/Paradise on March 25-26 finds Filipino dancer-choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino collaborating with French composer Emmanuel de St Aubin and Vancouver media artist Donna Szoke; and Kokoro Dance on March 27-29 revisits To-Morrow, & To-Morrow, & To-Morrow, a mesmerizing suite of four pieces blending butoh with orchestral music that was performed to packed houses in Europe in Fall 2007. A highlight of the 2006 VIDF, comedic and charismatic Rita Cioffi (France) returns with familiar and strange bilingual explorations of our funny bones on March 13-15. Sharing the bill is Fabrice Ramalingom (France), who has danced for Mikhail Baryshnikov and Trisha Brown and performs his own evocative choreography. 

For more information about the 2008 VIDF, please call the office at 604.662.7441 or visit www.vidf.ca.

Meanwhile, the VIDF is now seeking a highly energetic, self-motivated individual for the newly created position of Director of Development. Be part of a creative and energetic team that will take the VIDF to the next level.