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When dance is not just a dance

The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­International Song Institutes Arts of Conscience is a five-day series of talks and films exploring the power of art as a catalyst for positive social change. It runs June 11 to 15 at VanCity Theatre (1181 Seymour).
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The Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­International Song Institutes is a five-day series of talks and films exploring the power of art as a catalyst for positive social change. It runs June 11 to 15 at VanCity Theatre (1181 Seymour).

One of the presenters is Judith Marcuse, internationally renowned dancer/choreographer and director of the International Centre of Art for Social Change at SFU. Her talk is June 11 at 5:30pm.

Full details at

When did you first realize that the arts were going to play an important role in your life?

Being involved in the arts was never a decision,asmuch as it was a verdict. I started taking dance lessons at the age of four and grew up in the world of dance and the arts. There was never any one moment that determined my role in the arts; it was always just a part of my life.

Who was your biggest influence?

My mother is a pianist and my aunt was my first dance teacher. Both were major influences as was, when I was growing up in Montreal, being taken to see lots of music, dance, theatre, and visual arts. Then, at the age of 15, I was privileged to attend the Royal Ballet School in London. There it was a feast for the senses! Being a teenager in London during the time of Carnaby Street and The Beatles was amazing. The arts were exploding and new worlds opened up for me.

Do you feel you had the power to affect change as an artist?

My family is very politically and socially aware, and I enjoyed a childhood where the arts and social change went together. My choreography often contained social content. One example was the five-year ICE Project (through Judith Marcuse Projects) which addressed the issues that can lead to teen suicide. Over the course of the project, we received many letters from young people, telling us that doing our workshops or seeing the performance kept them from attempting suicide. It was one of the most powerful experiences of my life.

Â鶹´«Ã½Ó³»­wants to be known as the greenest city in Canada. What can we do to make it the most artistically/culturally aware city?

We could make it a city in a province that supports the arts and artists themselves. We need to make it possible for artists to afford to live here; we also must increase BCs provincial support of our sector which is presently one-third of the average in Canada. Right now, were experiencing the worst crisis weve had in the arts in the 35 years that Ive lived here in BC. I see colleagues making the difficult decision to move elsewhere so that they can make a decent living and support their families.

Other feature talks in , presented each day from 5:30 to 7pm, features include:

Reena Lazar, executive director of Peace it Together, a filmmaking program for youth

Cyndy Chwelos, program director at Moberly Arts and Cultural Centre

David Diamond, artistic director of Headlines Theatre

Dr. Susan ONeill, Professor of Music Psychology at SFU and director of the Research in Youth, Music, and Education Project (RYME)

Tickets for the Innovator Lecture Series are $5 per session, at the door.

Max Wyman, O.O.C., past president of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, author of The Defiant Imagination, and activist for arts advocacy, will launch the film series with a keynote speech on June 11 at 8pm, followed by the film Rhythm Is It!, featuring the Berlin Philharmonics music and dance project with German youth.

Throughout the weeks film series, distinguished community leaders will present ideas about work in diverse realms, including Sam Sullivan, former mayor of Vancouver, director of the Global Civic Policy Society, and founder of the Disability Foundation, and Susan Summers, president of the Music Therapy Association of BC and Board member of the Arts Health Network of Canada. Reena Lazar will introduce the films from the Peace it Together project.

The Ideas and Images Series includes talks and films presented each evening from 8 to 10pm,.

Tickets for the Ideas and Images Series are $11 at the door, or at . Full details on Arts of Conscience and all SONGFIRE Festival events are at SongFire.ca.