Tickets & information on Body and Soul and Digidance at harbourfrontcentre.com
JAMES STRECKER: Please tell us what you want the public to know about the creation of Digidance. What is it, why did it need to happen, and how did it come to be?
NATHALIE BONJOUR: Digidance is a new joint initiative of Canadian dance presenters to deliver exceptional, full length Canadian and international dance content online to patrons across the country. Created in July 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Digidance consists of the following leading dance Presenters: DanceHouse (Vancouver), Harbourfront Centre (Toronto), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa), and Danse Arboriform (Montreal).
JS: What kind of audience will this project interest? What new audience are you also seeking? Why to both questions?
NB: We seek to offer affordable programming at $15 per ticket to our existing, as well new, dance audiences. We hope that the ticket price will be conducive to developing a new audience that wouldn’t necessarily spend a lot on a dance ticket for an in-person show but will give this format a try. The other advantage of a digital offering is that it is accessible for audiences in geographically remote parts of the country. We will also partner with other presenters interested in specific programming for their own audiences—for instance, partnering with Springboard in Calgary to offer Body and Soul to their audiences. And finally, we also add some interviews and historical context for the pieces for a deeper appreciation.
JS: In what ways was/is this project easy to do and in what ways was/is it difficult to realize? How long did it take and why that long?
NB: We have been meeting informally on a weekly basis since last summer. We’re all presenters juggling various other offerings to our audiences, as well as other ways to support artists in our communities. We had to find a formula that we all could support and get behind. One of the silver linings of this pandemic is that we have worked to find new ways to collaborate. We are launching Digidance now but we started working together last year and tested the format with two other films, Dancing at Dusk (the Pina Bausch’s Rite of Spring with l’Ecole des Sables), and the Jack of All Trades livestream from Montreal.
JS: How are you planning to promote, market, and sell this project to the public?
NB: Through our e-newsletters, websites, and social media.
JS: Please give us a brief autobiography, some stuff about yourself, that is relevant to this project.
NB: I have worked as a presenter and producer of Canadian contemporary performing arts for 25 years.
JS: What exactly do you like about your role at Harbourfront Centre as Director of Performing Arts?
NB: I like to work in a multidisciplinary setting, and that we offer so much free and accessible excellent programming. I like the research that goes into programming; I like that we play a vital role in supporting artists in the creation and presentation of their work. And I love the shows—where the artists and audiences meet! There is nothing that beats the feeling of a theatre full of people being moved by a production that’s happening in front of them.
JS: Let’s talk about the state of the arts in today’s society, including the forms in which you work. What specifically gives you hope and what specifically do you find depressing?
NB: We are living in particularly challenging times for performing artists but the changes that we are witnessing in society give me hope for new forms of art and expression, and a more just society.
JS: What’s next for Digidance?
NB: We will have another presentation in March and another one in April—both important Canadian companies in the dance landscape. Details to be announced soon!