Comprehensive Study to Document Whole Canadian Dance Scene

Of great significance to the Canadian dance scene is the ambitious Canada Dance Mapping Study, discussed in some depth during the combined conference of the World Dance Alliance-Americas (WDA-A) and the Dance Critics Association (DCA) in Vancouver, BC, Canada during July 29-August 4. Inspired by ones conducted in the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and two other countries (none has ever been done in the United States), the Study is notable because it is a cooperative effort among national, provincial, and municipal government bodies. (Appropriately, the research team also includes a “B-Boy” break dancer.) All sorts of dancing, including a range of folk dancing (notable are the numerous Ukrainian dance groups in the Manitoba province and the aboriginal dances). A literature search and preliminary data collection have already turned up some interesting, though in some cases questionable, results. In a recent year, 1.2 million Canadians attended 2,400 dance performances, though this is inconsistent with the cited figure of 15% penetration (Canada’s population is about 35 million, so even if only adults were included the 15% seems high), which compares with a 7% penetration in the USA. Another survey showed that 43% of adults living in the Ontario province dance socially at least once per month; this is highly doubtful. But the best is yet to come, as the team is creating a massive email database of individuals by combining lists recruited from all sorts of groups (both government and non-government) and professionals, that will be used to conduct a country-wide survey of individual dancers.

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