The Body in conversation with its environment

Generative Systems

Sonic and Physical Performance-Based Artworks

Action at a Distance Dance Society is a contemporary dance company located on ancestral and unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples, including the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō, səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. The Company is directed by choreographer Vanessa Goodman, a woman and mother who shares her experiences through physical, visual and sonic practices. Focusing on creating experiential generative systems to build immersive environments. The Company's work is driven by questions surrounding intimacy through performance-based practices.  Since Goodman became Artistic Director in 2015, the Company's work has been presented locally, nationally and internationally in Canada, The USA, Europe, the UK and South America.

The Company is inspired by artistic collaboration across multiple disciplines, with a mission to create environments and facilitate engrossing experiences for those who engage with the work. An inclusive dialogue is fostered with the community as part of each project through open studio showings, workshops, and discussions surrounding the work. Performance is made possible by those who witness it, and the Company views the audience as the final collaborator in each project.

Collaboration is a critical core value and creative tool. Incorporating an array of voices within each project illuminates different perspectives. The Company deeply values community and views dance as a way to build relationships and strengthen human connections. Action at a Distance strives to create welcoming, performative environments, inviting audiences and participants to have unique, nuanced experiences, whether responding purely to the aesthetics or parsing deeper underlying themes.

Goodman has received several awards and honours, including The Iris Garland Emerging Choreographer Award (2013), The Yulanda M. Faris Scholarship (2017/18), The Chrystal Dance Prize (2019), The Schultz Endowment from Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity (2019); and the "Space to Fail" program (2019/20) in New Zealand, Australia and Vancouver.

Action at a Distance's work has been presented in Vancouver by PuSH Performing Arts Festival, DanceHouse, SFU Woodwards, Music on Main, The Firehall Arts Centre, The Dance Centre, The Chutzpah! Festival and The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts. Presentations further afield include the Crimson Coast (Nanamio), Arts Spring (Salt Spring Island), The Living Things Festival (Kelowna), Fluid Festival (Calgary), The Brian Webb Dance Company (Edmonton), La Rotonde (Quebec City), The Mai (Montreal), CINARS official programming (Montreal), Kinetic Studio (Halifax), The Dance Made in Canada Festival (Toronto), On the Boards (Seattle), The Seattle Symphony, Risk/Reward Festival (Portland), Third Angle (Portland), Offset Dance Fest (Brooklyn), Estrogenius Festival (New York), Switch Lab (Bucharest), L1 Festival (Budapest), Estorgenuis (New York), BioFriction/ FACTT (Lisbon), Tanz Bremen (Germany), Tanzmesse (Germany), Spellbound Orbita (Italy), The National Centre of Dance (Bucharest), The Tranzit House (Cluj-Napoca), EDN Showcase (Timișoara European Capital of Culture in Romania), Vitlycke Centre for the Performing Arts (Sweden), Antistatic International Festival for Contemporary Dance and Performance (Bulgaria), The International Contemporary Dance Festival FIDCDMX (Mexico City) and The Bienal Internacional de Dança Do Ceará (Brazil).

The Company has been artist-in-residence at Cutivamos Cultura/BioFriction (Portugal), The Dance Centre, Dance Victoria, Harbourfront Centre, The Shadbolt Centre and The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, where Vanessa was also on faculty. Vanessa also presented work and was a facilitator for Trinity Laban's 2020 Co-Lab Project (London). Commissions include "Tuning" for Alexis Fletcher, "Edictum" for Juan Villegas, "Strike Tone" for Votive Dance, the plastic orchid factory (remix project with Ame Henderson) and works for professional training programs such as Springboard Dansé Montréal, Lamon Dance, Modus Operandi and The SFU rep class.

This past season's collaborations include works with artists Scott Morgan (Loscil), Caroline Shaw (USA), and Simona Deaconescu (Romania). Recent touring this past fall includes Mexico City, Sweden, Montreal and Quebec City. Upcoming touring includes "BLOT - Body Line of Thought," a collaboration with Simona Deaconescu at Tanzmesse NRW Mainstage Düsseldorf Germany and the following presenters with support from Perform Europe; Institution Students Cultural Centre in Novi Sad (SKCNS) Serbia, Museum of Contemporary Art North Macedonia, National Experimental Theatre "Black Box Hall" Albania, Hrvatski kulturni dom na Sušaku (HKD) Croatia, Španski Borci Main Hall  Slovenia, Teatro Arena del Sole - Sala Salmon Bologna Italy, Architekturhaus Klagenfurt (or Burghof Klagenfurt) Austria, L1 Association Hungry, Stere Popescu Hall (CNDB) Romania. "Graveyards and Gardens," a collaboration with Caroline Shaw, will be presented by BC MOVEMENT ARTS in Port Alice, Sointula and Powell River in BC and in Boston U.S.A. presented by Celebrities Series. "SOFT CURRENTS" and an excerpt of "Tuning" will be presented by -Dance in Vancouver, through the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver, BC.

Action at a Distance is a non-for-profit registered charity, all donations made are tax deductible. 

DONATE & SPONSOR

If you are interested in supporting the company, please connect with us through our contact form to further discuss making a one-time, monthly or in-kind donation.

Registered charitable number: 872374897BC0001

FOR BOOKINGS:

Please contact Belsher Arts Management

FUNDERS AND PARTNERS

Action at a Distance gratefully acknowledges the support from the funders and organizations that help to make the company’s work possible. 

The Canada Council for the Arts, The British Columbia Arts Council, Metro Vancouver's Regional Cultural Project Grants, John Robinson, The Province of British Columbia, Gaming, The Scotiabank Dance Centre, The Chutzpah! Festival, The City of Vancouver, The Shadbolt Centre for the Arts, SFUW and plastic orchid factory/Left of Main.