Arts Umbrella brings Mixed Nuts back to the Playhouse for 2024, December 13 to 15

The annual show is a highlight on the seasonal cultural calendar

Arts Umbrella Dance Company presents Mixed Nuts at the Vancouver Playhouse on December 13 and 14 at 7 pm and December 14 and 15 at 2 pm

IT’S BACK: Arts Umbrella Dance Company is remounting its beloved annual holiday production, Mixed Nuts, at the Vancouver Playhouse from December 13 to 15.

Performed in Vancouver every festive season, the show offers a contemporary take on Tchaikovsky’s classic The Nutcracker. Anchored in classical ballet, the production also features hip hop, ballroom, and contemporary dance. Interspersed within so many different styles are fan-favourite scenes like the Sugar Plum Fairy pas de deux.

The Arts Umbrella Dance Company is a pre-professional repertory company with more than 60 members.

Featured

Gail Johnson

Gail Johnson is cofounder of Stir. She is a Vancouver-based journalist who has earned local and national nominations and awards for her work. She is a certified Gladue Report writer via Indigenous Perspectives Society in partnership with Royal Roads University and is a member of a judging panel for top Vancouver restaurants.

Articles

Vacant Lot sees a married couple contemplate their fragile existence in the universe

At the Firehall Arts Centre, Hiromoto Ida’s production based on the Japanese play Sarachi weaves together elements of contemporary dance and theatre

Dance review: From mourning to solace, Eternal Gestures honours emotions we feel for the land

Co.ERASGA’s Alvin Erasga Tolentino performs three solos by Indigenous choreographers Starr Muranko, Margaret Grenier, and Michelle Olson

Firehall Arts Centre stages profound dance-driven piece Myokine, October 30 to November 1

Work by Anne Plamondon Productions is centred on the molecules released by the muscles during physical effort

In Eternal Gestures, Alvin Erasga Tolentino embodies multifaceted relationships to the land

Co.ERASGA world premiere features commissions by three Indigenous women choreographers: Starr Muranko, Margaret Grenier, and Michelle Olson

Review: Circa's Wolf kicks acrobatics into artful hyperspeed

At the intimate York Theatre, honed Aussie performers mix feral energy with a new level of circus sophistication

Ballet BC opens 2025-26 season at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre with TRILOGY, November 6 to 8

Triple bill includes return of global sensation BOLERO X, Medhi Walerski’s SWAY, and world premiere from Italy’s Sofia Nappi

Circa's acrobats run as a pack in raw, animalistic Wolf

Presented here by The Cultch, the Australian company’s piece is packed to the brim with ferocity and carnal energy

Flamenco Rosario celebrates 35 years with international guests at Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, September 27

Event at the Vancouver Playhouse includes Barcelona-born singer José “El Cachito” Díaz and magnetic Sevillian dancer-choreographer Macarena López.

DanceHouse stages Daniel Léveillé’s striking Amour, acide et noix (Love, Acid and Nuts), October 24 and 25

Vulnerable and visceral, the iconic work uses muscle, skin, and sinew to explore humanity’s deepest needs and desires

Palabra Flamenco blends spoken poetry and age-old Iberian art form at Vancouver International Flamenco Festival

Poet Garth Martens says the Victoria-based troupe’s performances are a visceral and intimate conversation between words, music, and dance

Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney's Figures in Extinction wins Sky Arts Award

Former Ballet BC head Emily Molnar praises artists in acceptance speech for Europe’s Nederlands Dans Theater and Complicité

Dance review: With Take Form, Ballet BC dancers show their penchant for dreamlike details

In prelude to full season, artists explore their choreographic side with surreal touches like a piñata head, multitasking coatrack, and bubble-wrap sculpture

Stir Cheat Sheet: 5 artists to catch on Granville Island at New Works’ Pop Up Dances Festival

Curator Amber Barton shares all the unique outdoor locations where this year’s dance performances will appear

Co.ERASGA's Eternal Gestures premieres at the Scotiabank Dance Centre, October 9 and 10

Alvin Erasga Tolentino performs three solos commissioned from Indigenous choreographers Starr Muranko, Michelle Olson, and Margaret Grenier

Joshua Beamish unveils new pointe-based company Ballet Vancouver

First show takes place in April 2026, featuring Christopher Wheeldon’s After the Rain, Wen Wei Wang’s Swan, and more

Take Form grows to 10 pieces by Ballet BC dancers, at the BMO Centre from September 11 to 13

The rare chance to see performers choreograph their own cutting-edge pieces regularly sells out

Stir Q&A: Dancers break free from the fog of routine in Shion Skye Carter’s in the wake of a sleeping machine

New ensemble work presented by Odd Meridian Arts draws inspiration from Studio Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle

Camino y Despedida (Walking Farewells) reveals bittersweet aspects of migration, August 29 and 30

Copresentation by TEMPO Dance & Visual Art and VLACC weaves contemporary movement with live music, video projection, and multilingual text

Flamenco Rosario's Soulfulness celebrates 35 years of the Vancouver International Flamenco Festival, September 27

Evening of ensemble works and solo pieces features local company dancers alongside international guest artists from Montreal, Spain, and Mexico

In La Marée Noire, dancers express hope and despair in the aftermath of an oil spill

Presented in Vancouver by Pi Theatre, Fleuve | Espace danse’s site-specific piece references the pollution caused by the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster

Pop Up Dances and Isak Enquist’s Fall(se) Cirque(us), as New Works reveals 2025-26 season

Packed program features Dance Film Masterclass, Jezebel at the PuSh Festival, residency showings, and more

Belle Spirale Dance Projects announces 2025-26 season that reaches from Kelowna to Spain

Highlights include a new piece by Wen Wei Wang, a commission for Ballet BC Annex, and the return of The Dance Deck in summer 2026

All Over the Map brings capoeira moves, traditional Nahuatl songs, and more to Granville Island, August 17

Part two of New Works series highlights artists Sudhesna Mohapatra, Judith Colibrí, Ysadora Dias, and Punit & James

Vancouver International Flamenco Festival announces 35th edition, September 20 to 28

From short film “SOIS” to fiery masterclasses and a flamenco-infused take on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, there’s plenty in the lineup

Stir Q&A: Mireille Lebel and Rachel Fenlon dish on new dance-opera meld Pierrot entre 3 lunes

Vancouver team that includes Ne.Sans Opera and Dance reimagines the clown in Schoenberg's Pierrot lunaire at Festival d’opéra de Québec

Ry Jackson and Reed Jackson connect to their roots in Stump, as part of All Over the Map series

Presented by New Works, the dance piece will draw inspiration from natural surroundings on Granville Island

Co.ERASGA, Action at a Distance, Plastic Orchid Factory, and more as Dance Centre unveils a 2025-26 season with local names

Offerings also include world premieres from Corporeal Imago and FakeKnot, plus Ame Henderson + Matija Ferlin’s Show Gone

The Dance Deck marks its 10th anniversary at the Eastside Arts Festival, starting July 19

Belle Spirale’s backyard shindig features performances by Action at a Distance’s Vanessa Goodman, Paper Rabbits collective, Ballet BC dancers, and more