Digital – Projects and Properties
It’s all about access
Since its earliest days, DCD has used technology to preserve and share the collection. From co-founder Lawrence Adams’s desktop archiving system in the 1980s, to publishing e-books in the 1990s, to virtual exhibits in the 2000s. And as the final backstage work finishes for DCD Discover, we will soon launch this major online collections portal. For this summer’s campaign we’re highlighting the core things we do and where your donations go.
We need your help to preserve the legacies of Canada’s dance community. Please consider donating today.
DCD.CA IS MORE THAN YOU THINK
If you visit our website and look around you’ll see that it is a portal into decades of work dedicated to telling the story of Canada’s rich dance history.
Series
Over the years we’ve dedicated ourselves to highlighting the myriad people, places, and organizations that make up our community. Here are a few examples:
- Enter, Dancing … Narratives of Migration. Initiated and co-ordinated by Carol Anderson, “Enter, Dancing” records the stories of eight individuals who have brought their dancing to Canada and continued to evolve their art and practice here.
- Dance Historian of the Month. Curated by Seika Boye and Carolyne Clare, Dance Historian of the Month presents interviews with Canada’s first generation of dance writers/historians illuminating their behind-the-scenes work.
- Touring Through Time. This series allows the visitor to select a city they’re curious about and explore a map that chronicles the studios, theatres, and landmarks of interest from that community’s dance history.
- Encore, Encore. These virtual exhibits offer an in-depth view of some of Canada’s key dance artists and highlight historical research in the field. Each exhibition contains a large assortment of images, biographical text, multimedia and memorabilia.
Exhibitions
Whether we’re partnering with others, capturing a digital version of a live exhibit, or simply showcasing our collection, virtual exhibitions are a way to connect with the community and highlight stories that need to be shared in order to understand who we are and what we do
- Rocking the Boat – Celebrating Queer Content in Canadian Concert Dance.(Curated by Pamela Grundy) This exhibition celebrates a sample of dances that were intentionally created to illustrate queer themes. The choreographers featured here consider sexual identity, overlapping in some cases with gender and race, to be an important part of their artistic vision.
- Bringing Ballet Abroad – Pioneering Women of the RAD in Canada. (Curated by Amy Bowring) This exhibit celebrates the women who developed the Royal Academy of Dancing syllabus in Canada and was created to celebrate the RAD’s centenary.
- Maud Allan – An Edwardian Sensation. (Curated by Katelyn Roughley) Canadian-born Allan attained international stardom through her tasteful “dance interpretations”, which she cleverly contrasted with the daring costume she wore in her chef d’œuvre The Vision of Salomé. Learn more about her remarkable life and the conservation of DCD’s most famous artifact – the Salomé costume from 1906.
- Ripple Effects – 30 Years of New Works (1993-2023) Created in partnership with Vancouver’s New Works (and a sister to a live exhibition), this is a celebration of their milestone 30th season. New Works gathered the community to profile 30 individuals who have impacted the shape of New Works over the last three decades.
EYoutube, Socials, and Friends of DCD
You don’t have to visit dcd.ca to keep up with what we’re doing. DCD is active on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. We also use Youtube to share videos from our collection and celebrate events like the DCD Hall of Fame. If you really want the inside track, our Friends of DCD mailing list is your best bet – not just because you’ll get the news there first but all subscribers get free access to the entire digital back issue catalogue of DCD Magazine.
We need your help. Donate today by clicking the link below.
https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/dance-collection-danse
