2018 / 2019 ANNUAL REPORT

Another Year for the Books.

A WOW Season.

To create a healthy environment where the foundation is based on education and creation, we would need a strong team of educators and dancers, Lamondance has been nurturing its dancers for the past ten years with eagerness and a specific direction based on its mentor's expertise, and always focused on what the present time is requiring.

Season 10 was a WOW celebratory season, full of discoveries and accomplishments. The process of training the group of 18 young dancers, a mix of Canadians, Brazilians, France and Colombian dancers made this unique season known as a passionate season. The Addition of "The Apprentice Company" composed of 8 phenomenal Alumni dancers added a force of challenge and determination to the group. Teachers, Dancers, choreographers and guests working together made season 10 a remarkable one.

The season was also marked by a celebratory show to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the company. The production was composed for two acts, in the first act we had the unique performance of "Your, me and them" our very first show performed in 2009 with choreographic voices of Lara Barclay, Monica Proenca (LMD Co-Founders) and Davi Rodrigues. The piece talks about the levels of society, in 10 years a lot of things can change, but to maintain a vision from the past our Artistic Director did not want any of the three pieces to be changed so that we could see the evolution of the company throughout a decade of dance. Our Apprentice dancers debuted on stage performing "You, Me and Them" beautifully which set the tone for the second act.

The company premièred a first full-length show "IELE" Inspired by the Romanian folklore, with original idea and music from the composer and conductor Hal Becket who shared the script of the show with our Artistic Director Davi Rodrigues who sign the choreography of the show.

IELE invited the audience to its world like no other, bringing technology to the stage merging dance and tech Videographer, Cande Andrade created a unique and power world for the Nymphs making the visual work from lighting Design Andrew Pye and Conor Moore to elevate the world of IELE with the unforgettable performance of the dancers.

Our season ended with our final production, “VIVA” which means alive in Italian, brought on stage eight incredible creations to this program with the unique, bold and daring choreographic new works by guest choreographers Noam Gagnon, Heather Laura Gray, Kirsten Wicklund, Alysa Pires, Lara Barclay and Artistic Director Davi Rodrigues. It takes courage to reinvent dance unifying two distinct art forms dance and acting in this theatrical and dynamic contemporary dance world we call VIVA. 

The dancers were able to grow professionally in their awareness and their ability to self-critique due to the success of the show and the support from the choreographers.

VIVA invites you into eight different worlds, each one of them will take you on a different path, investigating themes of celebration, addiction, nostalgia, children's curiosity, empowerment, farewells, crowds, anticipation, solitary, illusion, and life transformations. Eight masterpieces were together setting the future for this remarkable company we call Lamondance solidifying our commitment to helping the evolution of contemporary dance in Vancouver and abroad.

The reviews from our audience members just confirmed our hard work.

"The final piece of the evening entitled VIVA embodied the art of dance crossing the threshold into the theatre. Using props and to the music of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Green Car Motel, Yma Sumac and Osvaldo Queiroz VIVA inspired by the Leonard Cohen quote, "There is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in" ended the evening on a note of hope with colour and light filling the stage.

A company to keep an eye on offering thought provoking dance."

— © 2019 Nancie Ottem / Review Vancouver

A season of WOW moments, reflexions, transitions and new possibilities. We are not only a dance program but a dance company that is committed to creating high-quality shows; Shows that will Evoke all the senses taking the audiences on an unforgettable journey.

Davi Rodrigues / Artistic Director

DANCE IS FOR ALL

Lamondance strives to provide dancers with partial or full scholarships, making dance as affordable and accessible for all.

Every season the company host students from Canada and Brazil, over the years, dancers from different countries have shown interest in being part of our program; Season 10 had dancers from France, Colombia, Brazil and Canada. All these dancers bring their eagerness to learn and so much passion, which is a strong identity of the program.

Connecting the community

The company once again invited the community to take part in our dance Gala, our annual Fundraiser to help our productions and also our scholarship and bursary programs. The show happened at Capilano University Theatre on February 22, 2019.

Our commitment to bringing the community together has gotten stronger than ever, and our community show "Lamondance & Friends" engages the dance community to participate in this unique and so important setup universe allowing them to share their contribution to the dance world. With our last year show, we have the participation of 16 groups and companies from Vancouver mainland and more than 300 dancers sharing this unique passion for the art of dance.

Way more then a fundraiser "Lamondance & Friends" is a way to connect our community in a show where competition is no longer the car driving. The show is set on a pallet of talent, styles, creativity, movement, Its a conversation in between groups, entities and organizations to keep the dance alive and a healthy and safe place.

Afterglow 

In Memory of Maureen Turner

Lamondance is made up of a community of passionate people, and we are honoured to have had the inspiration, dedication, love and respect of Maureen Turner. She was a phenomenal example of community, where she devoted her last years making Lamondance a reality. In September 2019, we lost our friend to cancer. Maureen left us with her passion, countless efforts to help, tremendous gratitude for life and support to the others. Today and always we will celebrate Maureen’s life. 

The company performed a special number in honour of our star Maureen, with the title ”Afterglow” the company transformed the Capilano Theatre into a big sky full of stars with the participation of the audience, that night will be for ever remembered.

VIVA Maureen Turner! 

The video was recorded on February 22nd, 2019 at Blueshore Financial for the Performing and Arts at Capilano University Theatre.

One Step Further 

Ten years ago, Lamondance started its journey, and since then it has changed life's of so many dancers, in so many levels. We were created to facilitate the evolution of contemporary dance.

Since its foundation, some of our dancers have gone to different dance companies around the globe as such as "Batsheva Dance Company" (Tel Aviv, Israel), "São Paulo CIA de dança," 45 Degrees by Cirque du Soleil, Ballet BC (VancouverBC) among others.

Season 10 will be remembered as a WOW season. Twenty-five dancers, three generations of dancers, one community show, and two unforgettable productions with five brilliant guest choreographers from the community and works by our artistic director Davi Rodrigues and not to forget, an incredible collaboration with Music composer Hal Becket.

Since the beginning of his journey as the Artistic Director of the company, Davi Rodrigues dreamed of transitioning the company to become an NPO, and charity as well a learning institute. 

The journey was long, and with the help of our community members on June 2019 Lamondance got incorporated as Lamondance Arts Society. 

The importance of that movement will allow Lamondance to expand Its vision not only as a training program, but to continue to develop a professional dance company based in North Vancouver giving young emerging artists a place to develop their voices as professional dancers.

DID YOU KNOW?

Curiosities

The name Lamondance has two meanings

1- La Mon dance - (would be a closer meaning of (in French) - Le Monde de la danse = The world of dance)

2-Is the combination of the cofounder's names LA (Lara) MON (Mônica): Lamon.

Fun Fact 

For the longest time people thought that LMD was:

L - Lara

M - Monica

D - Davi

Numbers

10 Seasons

3 Artistic Directors 

7 Countries (Canada, Brazil, US, Latvia, France and Colombia)

111 Dancers 

13 Choreographers 

12 shows