The Alchemy Festival Dance Showcase is back for its second year at LabO bringing the unique and exciting world of Canadian dance to Ottawa audiences.
“It’s a blend of contemporary and fusion dance that really harmonizes the balance of traditional and contemporary modern blends,” organizer and founder of the Alchemy Festival, Ophelia, says.
Violeta Mauve (Quebec City) and Ruth Cameron (Ottawa). Photo provided.
This year’s festival will include performances from 17 different performers spanning generations and concepts of time.
“We’re really looking forward to seeing some interesting fusions with dance styles we haven’t seen previously, such as flamenco and tango,” says Ophelia. “We’ve got artists coming in from as far as Quebec City and Toronto, with a really dynamic blend of styles.”
Ophelia says that the Alchemy Festival is an opportunity to take a chance on some interesting and unexpected performances.
“We did a piece last year that incorporated AI,” she says. “Audiences were giggling in the best way possible, and that’s not something anybody really expects when you go to a dance show — it really is a lot of fun.”
Voices Dance Project, Ottawa. Photo provided.
As Ophelia mentioned, these performances are also all from Canadian artists. She says that they received very strong applications from dancers to participate in this festival, both from across the country and from right here in Ottawa.
This gives a great opportunity for Ottawa audiences to experience local dance, as well as dance from other parts of the country.
“We wanted to give artists from Ottawa as much of an opportunity [to perform] as possible,” says Ophelia, “and for audiences in Ottawa who haven’t had a chance to see dance outside of Ottawa as often, we tried to bring in different dancers to Ottawa so we could really get a beautiful blend of talent and artistry for audiences to appreciate.”
Jill Otter, Quebec City. Photo provided.
While this is only Alchemy Festival’s second year, Ophelia says they’ve learned a lot and have incorporated those lessons into this year’s fest. Most importantly, Ophelia hopes to spread the word about this fest to as many folks as possible to shine a light on Canadian fusion dance in the city.
“We don’t want our event to be a secret, and we are super happy to talk with people about it and share it,” she says. “Everyone seemed to really enjoy what we put on last year and artists also shared how much they enjoyed being a part of the event. That, for us, was what really made it special.”
You can check out the Alchemy Festival Dance Showcase on Sept. 20 at LabO. For more information about the Alchemy Festival, you can check out their website, Instagram or Facebook. Tickets can be purchased online via eventbrite.
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