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

By emily lyth

(From left) Elle Derkitt, Nathan Coburn, and Sophia Makarenko of Paper Rabbits. Photo by David Penny

Belle Spirale Dance Projects presents The Dance Deck at 1745 Napier Street on July 19, 20, 26, and 27 as part of the Eastside Arts Festival

FOR 10 YEARS NOW, Alexis Fletcher and Sylvain Senez of Belle Spirale Dance Projects have been staging performances in their East Van backyard.

Dubbed The Dance Deck, the pair’s summer series is their way of providing a platform for fellow artists to showcase their works on a grassroots level. The open-air event will be presented on July 19, 20, 26, and 27 as part of the Eastside Arts Festival.

This milestone year will feature a roster of multidisciplinary artists. Among the dance-based offerings, Vanessa Goodman of Action at a Distance will perform an excerpt of a brand-new solo piece. Orlando Harbutt has choreographed a duet for himself and Joziah German; both are Ballet BC dancers, and this premiere will be a chance to catch them off the expansive Queen Elizabeth Theatre stage and in a more intimate setting.

Paper Rabbits, a dance-theatre collective founded by emerging artists Elle Derkitt, Nathan Coburn, and Sophia Makarenko, will remount its 2024 piece PROM NITE along with a site-specific epilogue. The experimental coming-of-age work explores love within complex character dynamics. Soprano Taryn Plater will accompany the collective members.

Cristian Márkos performing at a previous edition of The Dance Deck.

In the realm of music, violinist Jack Campbell will perform solo works throughout the program. He’s fresh off a UK tour of his composition Sounding Bombe: Enigma Project, on which he was joined by Fletcher, who performed a dance piece to his live instrumentals. And on July 26 and 27 only, cellist Cristian Márkos—who performed at the very first edition of The Dance Deck in 2015—will grace the open-air stage. Márkos regularly plays with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Cello Quartet, and the cutting-edge sextet Standing Wave.

“Nobody in Vancouver is doing this,” Senez told Stir last year, referring to The Dance Deck. “There’s kind of a magic in it. Even though it’s a setting in East Van in a backyard, we really tried to create this sacred space and to cultivate an environment that has the same kind of sanctity you would have in a theatre.”

All four shows will start at 4 pm, and tickets are moving fast—the July 27 performance is already sold out.

The Eastside Arts Festival runs from July 18 to 27 this year. Stay tuned for Stir’s coverage of more festival offerings, such as Henry Tsang’s 360 Riot Walk, as the annual celebration approaches.  

---

Related Articles