Dance

Award-winning performance collective Speaking Vibrations will be performing at the ODD Box from Oct. 2-4.

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.

In February, Dreamscapes premiered at Club SAW, a short experimental film that acts as an ode to the dreams many of us hold. Now, the short film is on its way to tour Canada, starting in Toronto on July 26.

The Iron Cabaret brings us another fantastic lineup of dancers, aerialists, pole dancers, and burlesque artists in their newest show, Rhythm Around the World, at The Gladstone Theatre until June 14.

On April 25-27, 2025, I took in Ottawa’s first ever Aerial Circus Festival at the LabO Theatre located on the ground floor of the Ottawa Art Gallery (10 Daly Ave.). You had me at Aerial Circus. What a spring treat!

The Irish Film Festival of Ottawa is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year with a three-day extravaganza of music, film, dance, and more. Running from April 25-27 at the Ottawa Art Gallery, promises to be a celebration of Irish culture for Ottawa’s Irish diaspora and beyond. Apt613 chatted with Patrick Murray, festival co-founder, about the festival and what audiences can expect this year.

A new season of Nature Nocturne is here! Join the Canadian Museum of Nature for a night of partying and fun in any of the following themed events, starting May 30.

Danny Arriola immigrated from the Philippines to Canada with his wife and two kids in 1974. A decade later, Arriola founded the Philippine Dance Troupe of Ottawa (PDTO), a local flagbearer of Filipino culture. The troupe has been teaching Filipino folk dance and song for over four decades. Their mission, as stated on their website, is to promote Filipino culture and pass down the heritage to younger generations.

A month ago, students and members of the local community celebrated Black artistry with a dance and rap battle at Algonquin College. Adam and Imarni, the organizers, intended to use school audiences to establish a platform for Ottawa’s unique artists. The inaugural “Mic’s & Moves” event provided an appreciated break from the chilly and snowy weather.

Turn up the heat Ottawa, Broadway is getting sexy with Iron Cabaret’s presentation of Bawdy Broadway Bodies, a sultry cabaret showcasing the best and brightest of local Ottawa talent.

Starting Dec. 14, head to the Arts Court for Pique winter edition. The festival’s got music, visual and interdisciplinary arts, artisan food vendors, and drag and ballroom performances to pique your interest.

After a five year hiatus, subDevision—Ottawa’s coolest site-specific theatre festival experience—is back. From Oct. 2–4, swing by the Ottawa Art Gallery (OAG) for all things performance, collaboration and community.

Connecting the kinship between Indigenous women, their land and their waterways, the National Theatre Centre (NAC) Indigenous Theatre’s performance of HOMELANDS brings storytelling and dance together in one fluid multimedia production from Sept. 19–20.

Starting June 8, Pique takes center stage, taking over three floors of the downtown Arts Court building complex, nine stages and exhibition spaces and half of Daly Avenue. The festival showcases innovative and underground music and art for all ages, and admission is pay-what-you-can. You can party outside and bask in that sunshine, or do the same in one of the many indoor areas to choose from.

Once a month, the Hyde and Seek nightclub in downtown Ottawa buzzes with the sounds of Afro house, Amapiano and Afrobeats. A crowd of bodies surround the DJ, panting and waiting for the beat to drop, and when it does, the energy is enough to blow the roof off.