Timeline
Beginning from the early 1900s to the present day, this historical timeline highlights notable events, figures, companies, relationships, transitions, places, productions, performances, openings, closures, arrivals, and departures that have shaped the history of contemporary dance in Vancouver. The majority of historical points on the timeline are gleaned from all seventeen Coming Out of Chaos oral history interviews and either directly or indirectly relate to Coming Out of Chaos and its original members. Conceived as a “living document,” we invite contributions to continue expanding and refining the historical timeline.
1900s–1950s
1903
The Lim Sai Hor Kow Mock Benevolent Association building at 525 Carrall Street is built, which later becomes home to the Terminal City Dance Studio
“The Lim Sai Hor Kow Mock Benevolent Association Building houses the Canadian headquarter of Lim Societies. The Lim Sai Hor Kow Mock Benevolent Association has been in Canada since 1908 when the Lim Sai Hor Society was founded in Victoria, BC to unite and assist the Lim clansman in Canada. In 1926, Vancouver became the headquarters of all Lim Societies in Canada.”
The building was constructed for housing by the Chinese Empire Reform Association, founded by the famous Chinese scholar and statesman Kang Youwei. In 1945, the Empire Reform Association sold the building to the Lim Sai Ho Kow Mock Benevolent Association.
From: Savannah Walling Interview and source
1951
The Potlatch Ban, implemented in 1884, is lifted from the Indian Act (1876)
“Section 149 of the Indian Act was deleted and people of the Northwest Coast were able to hold potlatches in public. The repeal [ceremony] was hosted by Mungo Martin in Victoria, BC.”
From: source
1960s
1960s
The Dancers of Damelahamid is founded by Chief Ken Harris and Margaret Harris
Following the lift of the potlatch ban in 1951, the Dancers of Damelahamid from the traditional territories of the Gitk’san Nation is established to restore cultural traditions as a professional Indigenous dance company.
Margaret Grenier, daughter of Ken and Margaret Harris, is the current Executive and Artistic Director of the group.
1964
The Pacific Dance Theatre is co-founded by Joy Camden and Norbert Vesak
1965
The Paula Ross Dance Company is founded in Vancouver
From: source
1965
Simon Fraser University (SFU) opens
From: Renegade Bodies, pg. 141
1965
”The Centre” begins at SFU
The experimental, non-credit dance program colloquially known as “The Centre” begins programming under Iris Garland
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 141
1965
The interdisciplinary program, the Centre for Communication and the Arts (aka ”The Centre”), is offered at Simon Fraser University
"Non-credit pursuits in the fine and performing arts, including dance, were organized under the umbrella of the interdisciplinary Centre for Communication and the Arts, commonly referred to as 'the Centre.'“ This program saw two broad stages: "the experimental non-credit Centre (1965-1975) and the academic fine and performing arts program housed there (1975-present)."
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 141
1967
Intermedia artists’ association was founded by Glenn Lewis, Jack Shadbolt, and others
Intermedia was a Canadian artists' association active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.
From: source
April 1967
Anna Wyman and Max Wyman move to Vancouver from London, UK
Max Wyman would become a highly influential dance critic and cultural advocate who has made significant contributions to the arts and the preservation of dance history both in Vancouver and across Canada.
Anna Wyman would go on to open Anna Wyman Dance Theatre, and is recognized as being the “first modern dance troupe” to tour Canada in 1975.
From: Max Wyman Interview, source and source
1968
The Anna Wyman Studio of Dance Arts opens
From: source
1968
Linda Rubin graduates from the Vancouver School of Art (now Emily Carr University of Art & Design)
From: Linda Rubin Interview
1968
Savannah Walling immigrates to Canada
Savannah Walling begins attending dance classes in SFU’s non-credit dance workshop with Anna Wyman (who replaced Iris Garland during Iris' sabbatical)
1968
Barbara Clausen immigrates to Canada
Clausen begins taking classes with Anna Wyman and then Santa Aloi at Simon Fraser University after Iris Garland promotes the classes to her.
July 25th & 26th, 1969
Mediums, Karen Jamieson’s first choreography, is debuted at Simon Fraser University’s Mainstage Theatre
“Showcasing the works of five members of the school’s dance workshops. Other performers featured in this showcase included Maureen McGinness, Debbie Bowes, Cecalee Coffey, and the director of the workshop, Iris Garland, who also presented a new work choreographed to an electronic score by Pierre Henry.”
From: source
Fall 1969
Iris Garland takes a sabbatical for several months to do intensive dance work with students from her Simon Fraser University dance workshops
Dancers include: Savannah Walling, Karen [Jamieson], Sharon MacDonald, Dickie Uhte, Edith Feinstein, and Betsy O’Neill. Rehearsals take place at the Alexandra Neighbourhood House.
During this time, Savannah Walling creates her first group choreography, Group Maya, with Jim Bryan, Edith Feinstein, Betsy Klein, Karen Jamieson, Sharon MacDonald, Diki Uhte, and David Dressler with face masks made by Martha Smythe. Group Maya is performed at the Simon Fraser University theatre at the Festival of Religion and the Arts, sponsored by the Simon Fraser University Chaplaincy and the Centre for Communications and the Arts.
1969
Maria Lewis establishes the Maria Lewis Ballet Ensemble
This marked the beginning of Maria Lewis’s career in Vancouver. She would go on to take over Ballet Horizons, a small dance group, in 1974, and establish a new company called Pacific Ballet Theatre. She retired as Director of the Pacific Ballet Theatre in 1980, and in 1985 it became Ballet British Columbia.
From: source
1969
Western Dance Theatre is founded by Norbert Vesak, former resident choreographer at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre (1964)
Prior to founding the Western Dance Theatre, Vesak was the former resident choreographer since 1964 at the Vancouver Playhouse Theatre. Western Dance Theatre is considered “the first professional modern dance company and school” amongst some.
Late 1960s
Intermedia, an artists’ association, operates out of a building at 575 Beatty St. in Yaletown where Helen Goodwin teaches workshops
“Intermedia was a loose association of Vancouver artists who worked in a variety of media, collaborated on and staged events. It was founded in 1967 by Jack Shadbolt and Glenn Lewis, among others”
From: source
“Intermedia was a building in Yaletown before Yaletown was what it is today, it was just complete industrial warehouses and so forth. So, a group of artists got a bunch of money from the Canada Council, and got this building – called it Intermedia – and it was filled with artists and all different media.”
From: Karen Jamieson Interview
1970s
1970s
The Touring Office of the Canada Council is established
1970
Canada's first University dance program begins at York University in Toronto, ON
The program is initiated by Grant Strate, who left the National Ballet in 1971 to being the Dance Program at York University. Strate later re-locates to Simon Fraser University in 1980 to became the Director of the Centre for the Arts at Simon Fraser University, now known as The School for Contemporary Arts (SCA)
Jennifer Mascall graduates from York University in 1974.
From: source
1970
The Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts is established at 1457 Marine Drive in West Vancouver, BC
From: source
May 1970
Dance Loops, organized by Karen Jamieson, is presented at the Vancouver Art Gallery
An evening of choreographed performances titled Dance Loops by Karen Jamieson is presented at the Vancouver Art Gallery for Dome Show, Intermedia’s 3rd and final multi-art exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery. Each dance was choreographed collectively, with each dancer taking responsibility for one of the domes.
From: Savannah Walling Interview and source
Jennifer Mascall, graduate of York University’s dance program. 1975. Photo by John Mahler. Toronto Star Photograph Archive. https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/objects/289039/a-graduate-in-dance-of-york-university-22yearold-jennifer
Fall 1970
Karen Jamieson goes to New York City to study dance at the Louis-Nikolais Dance Theatre Lab
From: source and Savannah Walling Interview
Late December, 1970
Savannah Walling goes to New York City to join Karen Jamieson at the Louis-Nikolais Dance Theatre Lab
February 12, 1971
Western Dance Theatre folds
Norbert Vesak relocates to San Francisco, California to become the Director of Ballet for the San Francisco Opera, while also serving as the Director of the Modern Dance Program, resident choreographer, and Director of Interdisciplinary Arts Development at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta.
Vesak’s dance studio business is sold to Anna Wyman.
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 11, Linda Rubin Interview and source
Summer 1971
Savannah Walling is hired by the Simon Fraser Mime Troupe for a summer in the parks project, where she meets Terry Hunter
1971
The Anna Wyman Dancers debut a series of performances at the Vancouver Art Gallery
From: source
1971
David Rosenboom brings Frederic Rzewski to York University to perform his seminal composition Coming Together (1971)
Coming Together (1971) becomes a highly influential piece for Jennifer Mascall, who created a ten-minute dance to the composition; her first choreography for a theatre. Paula Ross also made a work by the same name, Coming Together (date unknown), which “...was nineteen minutes of absolute, utter choreographed chaos,” in the words of Lola Ryan.
From: Jennifer Mascall Interview, Linda Rubin Interview, and Lola Ryan Interview
1971
Synergy Movement Workshops Inc. is established under the direction of Linda Rubin
Synergy Movement Workshops were originally held at a studio on Robson and Granville, then later moved to Western Front, the Arcadian Hall, and Chalmers Church.
Peter Bingham, Lola Ryan, Savannah Walling, and Kaija Pepper were all students of Linda Rubin.
“When [Linda] Rubin left the Western Front to move into her own space on the upper floor of the Arcadian Hall, a simple wooden building built in 1905 by the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, [Peter] Bingham joined the eager work crew. Situated on Main Street next to an auto wrecking operation and just a few blocks northwest of the Western Front, the large studio had lots of windows, a high ceiling and a sprung wood floor. The crew painted the walls and ceiling white, added some plants and mirrors, and installed a good sound system.” – From: The Man Next Story Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham by Kaija Pepper.
From: Linda Rubin Interview and source
May 1972
Savannah Walling returns from New York City to Vancouver
Fall 1972
Members of Simon Fraser Mime Troupe, including Savannah Walling and Terry Hunter, work with Vancouver Lab Theatre
The Vancouver Lab Theatre teach movement and physical theatre workshops at schools, institutions, and the Matsqui Prison Farm, as well as training and exploring in physical theatre. Vancouver Lab Theatre is the precedent for the formation of Mime Caravan.
1973
Linda Rubin re-locates Synergy Movement Workshop from a studio on Granville and Robson to the Western Front
1973
Susan Berganzi attends the Institute of Fashion Technology in New York City, after attending CUNY, a liberal arts school in 1971
From: Susan Berganzi Interview
1973
Jennifer Mascall’s first dance composition is performed in a video arcade in California
1973 - 1980
Burnaby Mountain Dance Theatre (later known as Mountain Dance Theatre Company) is founded on the Simon Fraser University campus by Mauryne Allan, Freddie Long, Zella Wolofsky, and Betsy O’Neill
In the early 1970s, upon returning to Vancouver from the East Coast of Canada, Barbara Bourget joins the company.
Mountain Dance Theatre continues to exist until 1980, under the direction of Mauryne Allan and Freddie Long.
1973
The Anna Wyman Dance Theatre is formally created
1973
The Paula Ross Dance Company is formally incorporated
From: source
1973
The artist-run-centre, Western Front, is founded in Vancouver, BC
Founded in Vancouver, Western Front offered artist live/work studio space and residencies. Dance companies, such as Linda Rubin’s Synergy Movement Workshops and EDAM operated out of the main floor studio, which continues as an active dance space today for EDAM and Jane Ellison’s Boing classes.
From: source
1973-1974
Mime Caravan is founded by Doug Vernon, Savannah Walling, and Terry Hunter
From: Savannah Walling Interview & Savannah Walling’s Timeline
June 1974
Jennifer Mascall receives her first grant from the International Women's committee
Seventeen site-specific performances were organized with Mascall’s site-specific collective, GRID. GRID included Johanna Householder and Joan Phillips.
1974-1984
Prism Dance Theatre emerges from Simon Fraser University
Prism Dance Theatre is located in a studio on Hastings St. in Downtown Vancouver and is run by Gisa Cole and Jamie Zagoudakis.
1974
Barbara Bourget, Terry Hunter, and Savannah Walling meet at a workshop hosted by Gladys Bailin at Simon Fraser University
1974-1978
Barbara Bourget returns to Vancouver from Winnipeg to perform with Mountain Dance Theatre
From: source
1974-1979
Savannah Walling and Karen Jamieson are active in the Dance Faculty at Simon Fraser University
See, for example, Snakes and Ladders, “a group piece created by Karen Jamieson during her time as a Resident Artist at SFU, with a percussive score composed and played by Chris Dahl” that featured choreography by Iris Garland, Karen Jamieson, and Savannah Walling during their time as Resident Artists at Simon Fraser University.
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 149
1975
15 Dance Lab in Toronto, Ontario produces Jennifer Mascall’s first Solo concert
15 Dance Lab produced a total of ten works by Jennifer Mascall.
1975
Susan Berganzi attends the Vancouver School of Arts (now Emily Carr University of Art and Design)
From: Susan Berganzi Interview
1975
Karen Jamieson returns to Vancouver from New York City
Karen Jamieson takes up a full-time teaching position at Simon Fraser University as a Sessional Lecturer until 19
From: Karen Jamieson Interview & source
1975
Peter Bingham takes his first dance class with Linda Rubin at a Synergy Movement Workshop
1975
The Centre becomes a credited program at SFU
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 141
1975-1976
Savannah Walling contributes choreography to and performs with Contemporary Jazz Dance Theatre, directed by Gisa Cole and Jamie Zagoudakis
Contemporary Jazz Dance Theatre is later renamed as Prism Dance Theatre.
1975-1979
Savannah Walling becomes a sessional lecturer in contemporary dance at Simon Fraser University
September-December, 1975
Synergy Weekend Movement Workshops are held at Western Front, facilitated by Linda Rubin
From: Linda Rubin Interview
Early 1976
Peter Bingham joins Synergy for his first contact improvisation workshop
From: The Man Next Door Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham, pg. 28
Summer 1976
Peter Bingham, Helen Clarke, Andrew Harwood, Seamus Linehan, and Lola Ryan go to Boulder, Colorado to the Naropa Institute to study contact improvisation with Nancy Stark Smith
August/September 1976 - “The same group convenes in Berkeley to do a month-long, intensive contact and related-disciplines workshop put on by Mangrove, an all-male dance group. There were ten people from Vancouver who attended the intensive and were referred to as ‘The Vancouver Group.’”
From: Linda Rubin Interview and Lola Ryan Interview
1976
Terminal City Dance is co-founded by Terry Hunter, Karen Jamieson, and Savannah Walling as an “experimental movement collective”
The group also includes Karen's sister, Marion-Lea Dahl, as well as Hugh McPherson, Peggy Florin, Menlo MacFarlane, and Michael Sawyer.
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 152 & Savannah Walling Interview
1976
Santa Aloi is hired into a tenure-track Assistant Professorship at SFU’s The Centre
Aloi, a New York-based dancer and teacher, was trained extensively in Cunningham dance technique and was “…selected to fill in perceived knowledge gaps in faculty.”
Aloi is the Centre’s first external faculty hire and works closely with Iris Garland to develop “…a dance program that grounded choreographic technique and improvisational curiosity in technical proficiency.”
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 143 & 149
Terry Hunter, Karen Jamieson and Savannah Walling, founders of Terminal City Dance.
Photographer unknown. Source: Lake District News. Wednesday, April 2, 1980.
February 28, 1977
RE: Union, a one-week residency of contact improvisation is held at the Western Front, consisting of workshops facilitated by Nancy Stark Smith, Nita Little, Curt Siddal, and Danny Lepkoff
“The name [Re: Union] is a reference to Grand Union, the post-modern dance/performance group in New York which included Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainer and Barbara Dilley, where Paxton first developed the form that would be called Contact Improvisation. This workshop was very important for a group of dancers that were working with Linda Rubin’s company, Synergy, in the studio at the Western Front. In that group was Peter Bingham, now artistic director of EDAM (currently resident dance company in the Western Front studio) and still very much informed by Contact Improvisation. I was also in that group and continue to work and teach in the studio.” – Jane Ellison.
From: source
May 2-June 18, 1977
Synergy Movement Workshop: Seven Week Spring Session is held at 2214 Main Street, Vancouver with Helen Clarke, Linda Rubin, Morley Wiseman, Lola Ryan, and Peter Bingham as workshop leaders
Synergy Movement Workshop. Handbill. May 2-June 18, 1977. Source: Linda Rubin, Synergy Movement Workshop Collection
1977
Lola Ryan goes to Vermont and encounters the East Coast version of contact improvisation for the first time
From: Lola Ryan Interview
1977
Jennifer Mascall and Ulla Koivisto bring Fatty Acids to the Dance in Canada Conference in Winnipeg
1977
A Minor in dance is offered at Simon Fraser University
"A featured discipline in the academic program, dance was also the first of the arts to develop a minor (1977) and also the first to offer a major (1980)."
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 141
October 28, 1977
Terminal City Dance is incorporated as a non-profit Society
The original subscribers were Savannah Walling, Terry Hunter, Michael Sawyer, Karen Jamieson, Peggy Florin, Menlo-Skye Macfarlane, Marion-Lea Dahl, and (witnessed by) A.S. Robertson.
The first Board of Directors (dated Oct. 8, 1977) were L. R. Postans (chartered accountant), Wendy Newman (Arts administrator, Vancouver East Cultural Centre), G. H. Gron (writer, editor, broadcaster), Diana Davidson (lawyer), Peter Fraser (Lawyer), John McFarlane (Technical Director, Simon Fraser University), Stuart Jamieson (Universty of British Columbia professor), and Marion-Lea Dahl (society secretary)
From: Correspondence with Savannah Walling
December, 1977
Fulcrum is founded by Peter Bingham, Helen Clarke, and Andrew Harwood
The group presents “contact-based dance performances and workshops in Vancouver and across Canada”
From: source
1977-1978
Barbara Bourget performs her first choreography
February 5, 1978
A contact Improvisation Workshop with Nancy Stark Smith and Steve Paxton is held at Western Front
From: source
February 1978
Fulcrum performs at the Vancouver Playhouse as part of the Festival Concert Series
This performance is considered Fulcrum’s first formal, one-hour show which “constituted a real development in their presentation and goals.”
From: The Man Next Door Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham, pg. 31
1978
Jay Hirbayashi is hired as a member of the Paula Ross Dance Company
From: source
1978
Goh Ballet is founded by Chiat Choo Goh
From: source
1978
Grant Strate initiates the The Dance in Canada Conference choreographic seminar with Robert Cohan in Ottawa, Ontario
Jennifer Mascall meets Karen Jamieson for the first time and presents Q/O with Peggy Baker and Terry Crack.
After that conference, Jennifer Mascall comes to Vancouver to take a two-week contact improvisation intensive at Western Front with Fulcrum (Peter Bingham, Helen Clarke, and Andrew Harwood). This is where Jennifer Mascall meets Peter Bingham and Sara Shelton Mann for the first time.
1978
TIDE, a group consisting of Jennifer Mascall, Susan MacKenzie, Paula Ravitz, and Denise Fujiwara, is formed
TIDE emerges from the The Dance in Canada Conference choreographic seminar earlier in the year.
The group tours in September ‘78 to Edmonton, San Francisco, and Victoria and performs at the Western Front.
WFIM1571: Jennifer Mascall and Susan McKenzie in a performance by Toronto Independent Dance Enterprise (TIDE) (1978). Courtesy of Western Front. Photo: Unknown.
WFIM1571: Denise Fujiwara, Paula Ravitz and Susan McKenzie in a performance by Toronto Independent Dance Enterprise (TIDE) (1978). Courtesy of Western Front. Photo: Unknown.
1978
Peter Bingham has a knee operation
Shortly after the operation, Peter Bingham travels with Helen Clarke for five and a half months to the Eastern coast of Australia where the wave action stabilizes his knee.
From: Peter Bingham Interview
1979
Fulcrum dissolves
From: source
1979
DUET: 2 PERFORMERS VELCRO, with Tony Giacinti and Lola MacLaughlin, premieres at Simon Fraser University’s Mainstage Theatre, premiering Susan Berganzi’s first dance costumes
From: Susan Berganzi Interview
1979
Jennifer Mascall and Sara Shelton Mann participate in a residency at Le Groupe de la Place Royale where they meet Ahmed Hassan
1979
Barbara Bourget joins the Paula Ross Dance Company
From: source
1980s
1980
Jay Hirabayashi leaves the Paula Ross Dance Company to work with the Evelyn Roth Moving Sculpture Company
From: source
1980
Savannah Walling and Ahmed Hassan meet at the 2nd Annual Choreographic Seminar in Banff, Alberta
1980
Judith Marcuse arrives in Vancouver and establishes the Judith Marcuse Dance Projects Society
From: source and Barbara Bourget Interview
1980
Jennifer Mascall moves to Vancouver from Toronto and joins the Paula Ross Dance Company
1980
Barbara Clausen is hired to be Joyce Ozier’s Assistant at Terminal City Dance
1980
Lola MacLaughlin and Tony Giacinti graduate from Simon Fraser University’s Dance program and premieres Brain Drain
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 151 and Jennifer Mascall Interview
1980
A Major in dance is offered at Simon Fraser University
"A featured discipline in the academic program, dance was also the first of the arts to develop a minor (1977) and also the first to offer a major (1980)."
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 141
1980
Grant Strate joins Simon Fraser University as the Director for the Centre for the Arts
Grant Strate is the Director for the Centre for the Arts at Simon Fraser University until 1989.
From: source
Fall 1981
Terry Hunter begins choreographing Drum House
Terry Hunter performs inside a wood structure that incorporates tune-able drums. By 1982, a new vision, Drum Mother, becomes a drum-dance choreography in which Hunter could move freely throughout the space and interact with audience members.
1981
Terminal City Dance Research begins programming Performance Exchange and brings together choreographers and artists from many disciplines to meet and exchange ideas through informal studio-performances
January 1982
Banana Split, performed by Savannah Walling and Ahmed Hassan, is presented at a Performance Exchange event in the Terminal City Dance Studio
Banana Split was choreographed by Savannah Walling with music composed by Elyra Campbell. Ahmed Hassan also contributed vocalizations for the score. The Performance Exchange event also featured Jennifer Mascall and Lola MacLaughlin in their choreography, Rosebleed.
February 1982
Terminal City Dance becomes Terminal City Dance Research
The organizational structure of Terminal City Dance shifts into an umbrella organization with three main areas of dance: Exchange Performances series (curated by Savannah Walling), a dance company directed by Karen Jamieson, and dance collaborations by Savannah Walling and Terry Hunter. The directors also assumed the following roles and present under the same name, Terminal City Dance Research:
Artistic Director: Karen Jamieson
Associate Directors: Savannah Walling and Terry Hunter
The change of name to Terminal City Dance Research is reflected in a performance review in Toronto, published in May 1982
From: Karen Jamieson Dance Archives, Savannah Walling Interview, and Savannah Walling’s timeline
February 1982
Rehearsals for Coming Out of Chaos begin at the Terminal City Dance Research studio for eight weeks
Spring 1982
Linda Rubin leaves Vancouver for Saskatchewan
Linda Rubin continues to run workshops, teach, and choreograph for theatre and dance. She teaches workshops for students at the 25th Street Theatre School in Saskatoon.
From: Linda Rubin Interview
April 1982
Videographer Michael Goldberg’s film Terminal City Dance at Work, premieres at Video Inn in Vancouver
Terminal City Dance at Work documents the creative process and thinking behind Terminal City Dance members Savannah Walling, Terry Hunter, and Karen Jamieson
April 23, 1982
Coming Out of Chaos premieres as a three-day run at the Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island in Vancouver, BC
From: The Man Next Door Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham, pg. 39 & Coming Out of Chaos review in the Karen Jamieson Dance Archives
April 26-May 17, 1982
The Coming Out of Chaos group embarks on a cross-country tour
The Coming Out of Chaos production travels to Victoria, Québec City, Montréal, Peterborough, and Toronto.
From: Savannah Walling’s timeline and Coming Out of Chaos tour itinerary
May 1982
Drum Mother is performed by Terry Hunter and makes an impromptu appearance at the Vancouver Children’s Festival
This drop-in appearance led to over a decade of touring with The Festival Characters, followed by Samarambi: Pounding of the Heart.
June 23-27, 1982
Solo from (Coming Out of) Chaos premieres at the 10th Annual Dance in Canada Association conference in Ottawa, Ontario
The performance takes place at the National Art Centre in the evening, and is performed by Karen Jamieson. Costumes are designed by Karen Jamieson and the conference is organized by Grant Strate.
From: Savannah Walling’s timeline and source
August 12, 1982
Coming Out of Chaos is performed at the Vancouver ArtsClub Theatre
This production is co-produced by Simon Fraser University and Terminal City Dance Research for the program, Art and Reality.
From: Savannah Walling’s timeline
October 1982
EDAM’s first performance occurs at the Dub Club on West Hastings
From: Renegade Bodies: Canadian Dance in the 1970s, pg. 44
1982
Mascall Dance, a nonprofit society, is founded by Jennifer Mascall
Jennifer Mascall uses the society name Mascall Dance for independent contract work outside of EDAM before she officially begins her company in 1989.
1982
Drum Mother, performed by Ahmed Hassan, premieres at the Chinese New Year’s Parade in Vancouver
“Drum Mother emerged with drums and mask, totally transformed by Terry [Hunter’s] vision from the character’s origin in my [Savannah Walling’s] 1976 choreography, Pastorale, a role originally performed by Hugh Macpherson.”
From: Savannah Walling Interview and the Terry Hunter & Savannah Walling Archives, Terminal City Dance Collection
1982
EDAM (Experimental Dance and Music) is founded as a non-profit by members Peter Bingham, Ahmed Hassan, Barbara Bourget, Jay Hirabayashi, Jennifer Mascall, Lola Ryan, and Lola MacLaughlin
The first EDAM meeting occurs in Summer 1982
From: The Man Next Door Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham, pg. 41
Ahmed Hassan is designated as the one who coined the name “EDAM”
From: The Man Next Door Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham, pg. 41
Sept 10, 1982
EDAM Performing Arts Society is formed
From: The Man Next Door Dances: The Art of Peter Bingham, pg. 41
1982-1983
Jay Hirbayashi begins collaborating with Karen Jamieson Dance
From: source
January 7, 1983
Steve Paxton: Performance and Workshop is hosted at Western Front
“Steve Paxton [hosts] a performance and workshop at Western Front featuring ‘Contact Improvisation’ and other post-modern experimental modes of movement. Other dancers who collaborated with Paxton were Lola Ryan, Helen Clarke, and Peter Bingham.
From: source
January 21, 1983
Karen Jamieson Dance Company is officially founded
The original mandate of the Karen Jamieson Dance Company is “to discover the elemental structure of dances that speak a mythic, poetic language.”
“At the time of its founding, the company was located at 901 Main Street and consisted of seven members: Karen Jamieson, Paulette Bibeau, Alison Crawford, Jay Hirabayashi, Lyne Lanthier, Aaron Shields, and Tom Stroud.”
July 6-7, 1983
A meeting occurs between Savannah Walling, Terry Hunter, Karen Jamieson, and Barbara Clausen regarding the future of Terminal City Dance Research
“The decision is made to separate [Terminal City Dance Research]. Karen [Jamieson] will develop her dance company with manager Joyce Ozier, find a new studio space and office space and tour. [....] Terry [Hunter] and Savannah [Walling] will maintain the Carrall St. studios, form a new society to house their creative work, produce shows in town, residencies in Eastern Canada, festival appearances, and a European tour.”
Terminal City Dance Research is eventually handed to Barbara Clausen, who is elected as the new Director of the Terminal City Dance Research Centre, and who continues to program works under Terminal City Dance Research, including: “workshops and exchanges among performing artists.”
From: Savannah Walling’s Timeline, Savannah Walling Interview, and Barbara Clausen Interview
September 1, 1983
Savannah Walling, Karen Jamieson, and Terry Hunter formally submit their letters of resignation to the Board of Directors at Terminal City Dance Research
Joyce Ozier, Managing Director of Terminal City Dance Research, also resigns.
“The company’s assets are divided between Karen [Jamieson’s] company, Terry [Hunter] and Savannah [Walling’s] emergency company, and Terminal City Dance.”
“Terminal City Dance Society [continues] to support the work of the Terminal City Dance Research Centre by means of the Performance Exchange series, the Independent Program, and the creation of a centre for information and exchange in Vancouver.”
“In it’s later years, the Society will change its name from Terminal CIty Dance Society to the Vancouver Dance Centre Society”
From: Savannah Walling Interview and Savannah Walling’s timeline
October 29, 1983
Vancouver Moving Theatre (VMT), an interdisciplinary company co-founded by Terry Hunter and Savannah Walling, is incorporated as a non-profit society under the name Special Delivery Dance Music Theatre in the Downtown Eastside
VMT created original interdisciplinary choreography and toured regionally, nationally, and internationally, as well co-produced Brecht in the Park theatre productions and Tales of the Ramayana (with Jai Govinda's Mandala Arts and Culture). As of 2021, VMT continues to co-produce festivals, theatre, opera, and interdisciplinary productions (often involving dance) in collaboration with artists, organizations, and knowledge-keepers from many art forms, cultural traditions, and ancestries.
From: Savannah Walling’s timeline and correspondence with Savannah Walling
November 1983
Karen Jamieson’s seminal work, Sisyphus, premieres at Vancouver Dance Week
Sisyphus included a score by David MacIntyre, costumes by Susan Berganzi, and was later included in the official premiere of the Karen Jamieson Dance Company in February 1984. Dance Collection Danse has since named Sisyphus one of the ten Canadian Choreographic Masterpieces of the twentieth century.
Sisyphus dancers included: Paulette Bibeau, Alison Crawford, Jay Hirabayashi, Karen Jamieson, Lyne Lanthier, Aaron Shields, and Tom Stroud.
From: source
November 1983
The Board of Directors of Terminal City Dance Research moves to recognize Karen Jamieson, Terry Hunter, and Savannah Walling as founding members of Terminal City Dance Society
November 28, 1983
Terminal City Dance Society changes studios from 525 Carrall St. to 280 East Cordova St.
The resolution is signed by Barbara Clausen (Director, Terminal City Dance Research Centre) and by Board of Directors Joyce Ozier and Suzan Zimmering.
From: Correspondence with Savannah Walling and Savannah Walling Interview
1983
EDAM is successful with grant funding and creates their first collaborative work, Run Raw: Theme and Deviation (1983)
1983
Lola MacLaughlin joins the Robert Desrosiers Dance Company in Toronto
From: source
1983
Judith Marcuse establishes the Judith Marcuse Repertory Dance Company of Canada, later the Judith Marcuse Dance Company
From: source
1983-1984
Barbara Bourget performs in Pandora's Box, choreographed by Savannah Walling
The piece includes working with a live dove and music was composed by Philip Werren.
From: Barbara Bourget Interview and Savannah Walling Interview
1984
JumpStart Performance Society is founded by Olympic runner Lee Eisler and writer Nelson Gray
“JumpStart Performance Society quickly made a name for itself with its dance-theatre works characterized by a potent mix of words and movement and its pursuit of theatrical applications for emerging communications technologies.”
JumpStart emerged from Simon Fraser University and was based out of the Burnaby Arts Centre.
From: Terry Hunter Interview and source
1984
Gisa Cole, Nicola Follows, Helen Evans, and Andrea Porter co-found the collective studio, Main Dance Place
Terry Hunter describes Main Dance Place as “a pre-professional dance training program, which was very influential probably for about two decades and unfolded from 1984 (at the Arcadian Hall) and from 1994 (at 828 East Hastings) until the early 2000s.”
From: Terry Hunter Interview
“Housed in the former Arcadian Hall at 6th and Main it became the home of MainDance until an arson fire of December 1993 destroyed the heritage building. The new revitalized studios [were] located on Hastings Street in Vancouver's downtown eastside.” In 2007/2008, The Bridging Program ceased to enroll students, but the outreach component of MainDance continued.
From: source
February 6, 1984
Karen Jamieson Dance Company premieres performances at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre
From: Savannah Walling’s timeline and source
1985
Terminal City Dance Research co-produces the 2nd Annual Dance Week, a program of independents from Vancouver and across Canada, at the Firehall Theatre
1985
EDAM premieres the multidisciplinary, site specific installation work EDAM/MADE at Western Front
Peter Bingham: “...We had performances downstairs, and up here [in the Western Front], and it was a video installation piece. There was a big Evelyn Roth net hanging over the stairs, people who would climb around over it.”
1985-1986
A project proposal is collectively compiled by local creatives for a centralized dance centre, which would eventually become The Dance Centre
Signatories include: Terminal City Dance Research, and the BC Regional Office of Dance in Canada, along with many other notable local and regional companies (Anna Wyman Dance Theatre, EDAM, Pacific Ballet Theatre, Paula Ross Dance company, Special Delivery Dance Music Theatre, Mountain Dance Theatre, and Judith Marcuse's Repertory Dance Company of Canada).
From: source and Savannah Walling Interview
July 31, 1986
Kokoro Dance Theatre Society is incorporated as a non-profit society
“Its [Kokoro Dance Theatre Society’s] mandate is to re-define the meaning of Canadian culture through teaching, producing, and performing new dance theatre with an emphasis on multi-disciplinary collaboration and cross-cultural exploration.”
From: source and Barbara Bourget Interview
August 5, 1986
A special resolution is passed by the Terminal City Dance Society Board to change its name to the VDC Dance Centre Society
The document is signed by Grant Strate, Chairperson of Terminal City Dance Society.
From: Terry Hunter & Savannah Walling Archives, Terminal City Dance Collection, Savannah Walling Interview, and Terminal City Dance Research board meeting minutes
August 12, 1986
Terminal City Dance Society officially changes its name to VDC Dance Centre Society
Terminal City Dance Society officially changes its name to VDC Dance Centre Society.
From: Correspondence with Savannah Walling and Terminal City Dance Research board meeting minutes
November 4, 1986
A special resolution was passed by VDC Dance Centre Society to adjust the society’s constitutional bylaws
The resolution is signed by Grant Strate, Chairman of VDC Dance Centre Society
The most significant changes to the society's constitution were:
ADDITION - to provide services to the dance community
DELETION - to research established dance forms and to explore dance idioms developing within the community and to apply this research to the events produced by the Society.
From: Correspondence with Savannah Walling and Terminal City Dance Research board meeting minutes
1985-1986
Credits for VDC Dance Centre Society-funded projects are assigned to The Vancouver Dance Centre
VDC Dance Centre Society’s name, non-profit, and charitable status were utilized to access funding for a feasibility study for a new dance centre.
Crediting for TCD-funded projects taking place in 1986 was assigned to The Vancouver Dance Centre – including a feasibility study for a new Dance Centre.
Joyce Ozier was hired to coordinate the one-year “Dance Centre” pilot project from 1985-86.
From: Savannah Walling Interview and Terminal City Dance Research board meeting minutes
1986
Ballet BC is founded by David Y.H. Lui, Jean Orr, and Sheila Begg, with Annette av Paul as first Artistic Director
“…The company has been under the artistic direction of Reid Anderson, Patricia Neary and Barry Ingham, followed by John Alleyne for 17 years and Emily Molnar for 11. As of July 2020, the company is proudly under the directorship of Medhi Walerski.”
1986
The Dance Centre is founded as a resource centre for dance professionals and the public in Vancouver
From: source
1986
Jay Hirabayashi is elected to the Board of Directors of The Dance Centre
From: source
1986-1987
The Paula Ross Dance Company Dissolves
The company dissolved due to financial problems and Paula Ross moves to Vancouver Island with her family.
From: source
1987
Barbara Clausen is hired as the first Executive Director of The Dance Centre
1987
Ahmed Hassan is diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis
From: source
1989
Lola MacLaughlin leaves EDAM and founds her own company, Lola Dance
From: source
1989
Jennifer Mascall leaves EDAM and begins to focus on developing Mascall Dance as an independent artist
From: source
1989
Peter Bingham becomes the individual Creative Director of EDAM Dance
From: Peter Bingham Interview and source
1990s
1990
The Dance Centre presents City on the Edge, a month-long, multi-disciplinary performance festival set in the Fountain Plaza of the Vancouver Art Gallery
Jay Hirabayashi is the Artistic Director of City on the Edge, which involves seventy artists, including musicians, dancers, actors, visual artists, and poets.
1991
Karen Jamieson begins a two-year process of discussion with Gitk’san artist and writer, Doreen Jensen, and the Director of the Museum of Anthropology, Michael Ames, leading to the development of Gawa Gyani (1994)
The performance, Gawa Gyani, was created in 1991 through a process of collaboration between Karen Jamieson and Chief Kenneth Harris (Hagbegwatku), hereditary chief of the Fireweed clan of the Gitk’san Nation, with contributions from Margaret Harris (Maskawasew Iskewew), the Dag’m Haast Dance Group, company dancers and guest artists. In 1994, the Karen Jamieson Dance Company and eighteen performers, including the Dag’m haast Dance Group from Hazelton, BC, toured to Tokyo, Japan.
From: source
1991
Anna Wyman's company, The Anna Wyman Dance Theatre, disbands
Anna Wyman continues to administer, operate, and teach at the Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts.
From: source
1991
Barbara Clausen leaves her role as Executive Director of The Dance Centre
1991
Linda Rubin publishes The Creative Dance Keys
The Creative Dance Keys is a multimedia creative dance program for fine arts educators that became an approved English and French learning resource for British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan Ministries of Education, which is used in schools across Canada and the States.
From: Linda Rubin Interview
January/February 1991-April 1995
Kokoro Moon begins publishing
Kokoro moon was a paper newsletter written, published and distributed by Kokoro Dance and Jay Hirabayashi, as a public forum to create a dialogue about dance and the nature of grant funding in the Vancouver dance community.
Kokoro Moon archives are available for viewing here: https://kokoro.ca/kokoro-moon/
1992
Special Delivery Moving Theatre changes their name to Vancouver Moving Theatre
1993
Lola Ryan moves to Ottawa, Ontario after a brief hiatus in France
From: Lola Ryan Interview and source
1993
Linda Rubin moves to Edmonton, Alberta
Linda Rubin begins teaching actors in the professional conservatory BFA program at the University of Alberta and fulfills many independent contracts choreographing productions at the Citadel Theatre, smaller theatre companies, and independent productions. She retires in 2008.
From: Linda Rubin Interview
1993
New Performance Works Society is founded
Founded by Barbara Clausen, Wendy Newman, Julie Poskitt, Gina Sufrin, Fran Brafman, and Janet Miller “as a vehicle for the development, production and presentation of contemporary performance-based work and to provide support and performance opportunities for artists working in the contemporary performing arts.”
1993-1995
A massive reduction in federal arts funding occurs
1993-1995
Jay Hirabayashi is re-elected to serve a two-year term on the Board of Directors of The Dance Centre
From: source
1997
New Performance Works Begins Dance Allsorts programming
“The series was to be an enormous diversity of dance types because nobody was presenting work from places like China or Africa, locally. Amateur and semi-professional groups from different cultural traditions, that hadn't been shown at all in Vancouver, except within those cultural community settings.”
The programming was free of charge.
1998
New Performance Works begins All Over the Map programming
All Over the Map becomes an outdoor version of Dance Allsorts.
1998
The Vancouver Butoh Festival (now the Vancouver International Dance Festival) begins programming
The Vancouver Butoh Festival later transitions into the Vancouver International Dance Festival, with Jay Hirabayashi and Barbara Bourget as the Executive Directors.
“In addition to educating audiences about the Butoh aesthetic, the Festival is an important promoter of local contemporary dance artists, as well as presenting contemporary and culturally diverse dance artists from around the world.”
From: source
2000s
2000
Jay Hirabayashi and Barbara Bourget begin producing the annual Vancouver International Dance Festival
From: source
2001
The Dance Centre (Scotiabank Dance Centre) opens in Downtown Vancouver
The Dance Centre opens as a physical space in Downtown Vancouver under Executive Director, Mirna Zagar, who has been at its helm since 1998. It is designed by Architectura, in collaboration with the renowned Canadian architect, Arthur Erickson.
2003
Vancouver Moving Theatre begins the production of “In the Heart of the City: The Downtown Eastside Community Play”
The production includes 80 performers from the Downtown Eastside.
From: Correspondence with Savannah Walling
2004
The Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival is Founded
The festival is launched with the intention to build on the tremendous success of the Downtown Eastside Community Play (2003).
From: Correspondence with Savannah Walling
2005
Karen Jamieson Dance starts the Dance in the Downtown Eastside project
The Dance in the Downtown Eastside project is a program of dance education and performance for multicultural and intergenerational residents of the unique and historic Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia.
From: source
Late 2006
605 Collective, later Company 605, emerges as a collective group of dancers
The five dancers in the collective are: Josh Martin, Lisa Gelly, Shay Kuebler, Sasha Kozak, and Maiko Miyauchi.
From: Josh Martin Interview
2007
Karen Jamieson’s seminal work Sisyphus (1983) is remounted
With Karen Jamieson, Darcy McMurray, Amber Funk Barton, Josh Martin, and Lisa Gelly.
From: source
2008
Darcy McMurray opens Full Circle Pilates Studio in Vancouver
From: source
2008
the response., a project-based contemporary dance company in Vancouver, is founded by Amber Funk Barton
2008-2009
Solo from Chaos (1982) is re-created as a duet between Karen Jamieson and Darcy McMurray
2009
Lola MacLaughlin passes away from cancer
From: source
2010s
2010
Barbara Clausen resigns as Executive Director of New Works Performance Society
Barbara Clausen is succeeded by Joyce Rosario.
2011
Ahmed Hassan passes away from Multiple Sclerosis
From: source
2013
Kaija Pepper becomes Editor of Dance International magazine
From: Kaija Pepper Interview
2013-2014
605 Collective changes its name to Company 605
From: Josh Martin Interview
2018-2019
Solo from Coming Out of Chaos (1982) is re-created as a part of Karen Jamieson’s Body to Body project
Body to Body: Solo From Chaos is re-created by Josh Martin, Darcy McMurray, Amber Funk Barton, and Karen Jamieson.
From: source
2020s
July 1, 2020
Anna Wyman passes away
The Anna Wyman School of Dance Arts is transferred “...to Vanleena Dance Academy to carry on the tradition of dance at the studio.”
From: source
March 14, 2021
Darcy McMurray’s Full Circle Pilates Studio closes due to COVID-19
From: Darcy McMurray Interview
2021
Amber Funk Barton steps down as the Artistic Director of the response.
the response. is renamed as The Falling Company and is succeeded by Marissa Wong as the Artistic Director.
From: Amber Funk Barton Interview and source