The School of Dance
The School of Dance was founded by Merrilee Hodgins and Joyce Shietze. It opened its doors on Wellington Street, in the west of Ottawa, in 1978, as a nationally-registered, educational, charitable, non-profit organization designed to provide professional training for dance. The budget was $11,000, with three staff, and the studios were rented.
In 1979, Celia Franca, a longtime friend and artistic colleague of both Hodgins and Shietze, joined, as co-artistic directors. With the addition of the legendary Franca, founder of the National Ballet of Canada and co-founder of the National Ballet School, Its unwavering standards of excellence became crystallized, and the stage was set for it to grow into the world class arts education institution it is today.
Students come from across Canada, many other countries, and every ward in Ottawa; graduates of can be found wordwide, as dancers, choreographers, teachers, arts administrators and directors.
Irt has grown in virtually every aspect of its operations from its professional programming and its accessibility projects and outreach activities to its arts education classes for the community, reaching more than 70,000 people each year. It is recognized in Ontario as a private career college and a seminary of learning. The Contemporary Dance Programme is approved as a vocational program under the Private Career Colleges Act, 2005.
Hodgins directs it with an operating budget of over $1 million and a growing staff of 3 full-time and 70 contract teachers, musicians, choreographers and artists.
From the mid-1980s to 1999, it rented a three-studio facility on Catherine Street.
In 1996, it added professional modern dance training and teacher training.
In 1998, it began its co-operative relationship with the National Arts Centre, producing choreography in orchestral settings to introduce dance to children.
In 2000, it purchased 200 Crichton Street, the former Crichton Street Public School.
In 2001, it launched DanceONTour as its outreach vehicle of arts education for academic schools in Ottawa and surrounding areas.
In 2002, it doubled the number of its outreach programmes to the over 300 projects it now delivers per year. In the same year, it launched DanceAbility, a specially designed dance programme for individuals with disabilities.
In 2003, it launched the Inside Out Series of creative process lectures and performances, now named ISO 200, and hired a co-ordinator to manage the outreach and arts education projects.
In 2004, it expanded its bilingual programming, with the recognition that its enrollment included an increasing number of francophone students. It also launched its Artists in Residence Programme, with five visual artists and a poet.
In 2005, itl more than doubled the DanceONTour projects to 59 and included tours to Montreal, Quebec City, Cornwall, Hamilton, and the Upper Ottawa Valley.
In June 2006, it produced a theatrical celebration for Franca's 85th birthday. In 2006, Collected New Works on Film, a 30-year archival collection of choreographic materials, was launched, as a national project with the support of the resident Stuart Conger Learning Centre.
In 2007, it began expanding its guest choreographers to include some of Canada's finest im contemporary dance: Emmanuel Jouthe, Heidi Strauss, Marc Boivin, Serge Bennathan, Sarah Williams, Dana Gingras, Louise Bedard, Tedd Robinson, Peggy Baker, Sasha Ivanochko, Chick Snipper, Ginelle Chagnon and many others. Its guest teachers eventually included Andrew Harwood, Peter Ryan, Annemarie Cabri, Shaun Amyot, Jane Wooding, Eliot Rudolph, Massimo Agostinelli and many others.
In 2008, it completed 107 DanceONTour projects, produced over 20 theatrical performances, and launched Dancing in the Street, a series of urban events in the City of Ottawa. Shall We Dance? was a specialized movement programme that began in Ottawa hospitals.
In 2009, it celebrated its 30th anniversary, with a gala performance at the National Arts Centre with national stars and current students, creating an additional 30 events for the community.
In 2010, its Extension Services expanded to include workshops, short courses, guest lectures, a book and video library and mentorship for Ottawa's new and emerging choreographers, dancers and musicians. It provides more than 3000 h of studio space to Ottawa's arts community, either free or with a substantial discount, and it welcomes more than 40 organizations and artists to use space. Also, it launched the DragonFly Programme for Learners with Down's syndrome.
In 2011, it launched SODA, its alumni organization.
In 2012, it was recognized as a private career college, and the Contemporary Dance Programme became a diploma-granting program. Also, it launched Gallery 200 and its new community spaces on the second floor of its building, including two new dance studios.
In 2013, Senator Jim Munson presented Artistic Director Hodgins with the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in recognition of her contributions to arts education. Also, the Ontario Trillium Foundation committed three years' funding to its DragonFly programme for Learners with Down Syndrome
In 2014, it employed 70 of Ottawa's artists and created NEW employment opportunities and mentorships for 6 young artists in our Dances for Youth by Youth mentorship project, 11 young artists for the Dancing in the Street and JUMP! animation projects, and 12 artists in the health-oriented Dance of Life program.
In 2015, it launched Dance is BEST, with new funding from the Ontario government for 40 dance workshops and arts activities designed to encourage physical activity, provide challenges for the brain, expand enjoyment of the arts and build new connections, both literally and figuratively, by connecting seniors and youth. The Dance is BEST projects will be presented in collaboration with Bruyère Continuing Care of Ottawa at four centres: Élisabeth Bruyère Residence, Saint-Louis Residence in connection with the Bruyère Village senior apartments, Saint Vincent Hospital, and Élisabeth Bruyère Hospital.
In September 2015, it began a year-long celebration of 37 years in Ontario, with a performance collaboration with the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the launch of Connecting With Dance for patients with Parkinson's disease.
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Coordinates: 45°26′24″N 75°41′01″W / 45.439959°N 75.683613°W