Decidedly Jazz Danceworks threw a pretty catchy party Saturday night. The Calgary dance company’s new show Party Time is a kind of celebration of springtime and it was hard not to watch the company’s dancers trace out the steps of a night on the town and feel a little spring in your step, no matter how close we are to the tax filing deadline (Tuesday!). In fact, at DJD’s gorgeous 12th Avenue ..read more

The image of a drunken party-dweller with a lampshade drunkenly perched on their head at a party may seem a bit old-fashioned. Nevertheless, it was one of the ideas — perhaps indirectly — that first inspired Decidedly Jazz Danceworks Kimberly Cooper when it came to choreographing the company’s newest production, Party Time. The piece, set to live music composed by Carsten Rubeling, has a simple premise on the surface: A ..read more

We spoke with Party Time Composer and Musical Director Carsten Rubeling about the inspiration for the song Party Robot as well the music behind this over-the-top performance choreographed by Kimberley Cooper. Carsten is one of Canada’s most active and dynamic trombonists and composers. Carsten has performed and/or recorded with such artists as Sean Jones, Ingrid Jensen, Seamus Blake, Gil Goldstein, Brian Lynch, Brad Turner, David Braid, Nick Fraser, Laila Biali, Jens Lindemann ..read more

Carsten Rubeling – Musical Director, Keys, Trombone Carsten Rubeling is one of Canada’s most active and dynamic trombonists and composers. Originally from Rocky Mountain House Alberta, Carsten performs a wide array of styles from jazz and classical music to salsa, hip-hop and nearly everything in between. His recorded works as a leader include VOLK//PEOPLE (2019) and Headwaters (2022), both on Inner Ocean Records. After last year’s Nervous Systems, this is Carsten’s second ..read more

Welcome. Joy and wonder are crucial to our existence. As I and many other people have said, it is the role of the artist to make us think, to lift us up and give us a chance to escape, to say things words can’t. William Parker, a brilliant and prolific jazz artist with whom we have collaborated with a couple of times, once said to me — artists are like ..read more

See Malpaso Dance Company with Arturo O’Farrill and the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra on March 7 at Arts Commons On March 7, Cuba’s Malpaso Dance Company will bring the rhythms of the “dancing island” to the Jack Singer Concert Hall at Arts Commons for an exclusive Canadian engagement. Accompanied live by the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, led by multi-Grammy Award-winning composer Arturo O’Farrill, audiences can expect a night of sizzling energy. Established ..read more

The performing arts mean different things to different cultures. In Eastern Europe for decades, theatre was a medium that was feared by those in power, because of its ability to use metaphor to send a political message. For Cuban Fernando Sáez, one of the co-founders of Malpaso Dance Company, dance and live music mean a little more there than they do here. They’re tools of change. “We are an island ..read more

Every February, Canadians are invited to participate in Black History Month to honour the legacy of Black Canadians and their communities. This year, the theme is “Black Excellence: A Heritage to Celebrate; a Future to Build”. The DJD organization owes gratitude and pays an abundance of respect to Black Culture and the African-American experience both of which are the architects of jazz dance. In the final weeks of Black History ..read more

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Decidedly Jazz Danceworks’ new show takes the people up front – the dancers – and transforms them into the architects of the show. Olio, which opens Thursday night at the DJD Dance Centre as part of the 2024 High Performance Rodeo, is even more of a collaborative effort than usual for the jazz dance company, which was founded in Calgary in 1984. Rather than being choreographed by a single individual, Olio is a ..read more