ODD: The Dance Compulsion

If you thought contemporary and modern dance in Ottawa was dead, think again. Ottawa Dance Directive has stepped out of the ashes of Le Groupe Danse Lab as a beacon of hope. Portrait of a dancing phoenix.

Ottawa Dance Directive (ODD) is a company of four Ottawa based contemporary choreographers and performers. Sylvie Desrosiers, Natasha Bakht, Yvonne Coutts and Lana Morton have combined their efforts to keep the flame of modern and contemporary dance thriving in the capital.

What sparked this movement was the dilution of Le Groupe Danse Lab in 2009. What contributes to making ODD a fantastic initiative is a bouquet of passion, determination, pride, attachment and living memory.

When Le Groupe closed its doors, they left a significant hole in the professional dance scene. Suddenly, the city had no resident dance company anymore, and with it, died the hopes of finding relatively stable employment for our dance students. Dancers could no longer look forward to working with Peter Boneham in the wonderfully renovated studio at Arts Court. There wouldn’t be an opportunity to invite guest choreographers to share their experiences and there would be no more haven for contemporary dance. “I never would have come to Ottawa for my dance career if it hadn’t been for Le Groupe. I believe my colleagues feel the same way. This was our second home.” explains Lana Morton. These pioneer choreographers decided that something needed be done. “We weren’t going to let brilliant Ottawa dancers leave for lack of a better career option” says Yvonne Coutts, the conviction coming through. “In addition, we weren’t going to let this perfectly suited space go to another art form when it was specifically conceived for dancing” reasons Coutts.

Ottawa Dance Directive thus fulfils a need, but it’s more than that. It’s the evolving collaboration of four different dancers who have chosen to share a space, a passion, a goal and a sense of responsibility towards the community and the company that have given them so much already. Often times, they choose to work on each other’s projects but Coutts insists they remain independent artists. “We work together because we enjoy it  but there’s no hierarchy, we all foster creative ideas of our own” says Coutts.

Courtesy of The School of Dance (Ottawa)

ODD has created Series Dance 10, which is thematic and brings guest choreographers to present their work. The collective has also founded BODYSpeak, which is a festival that runs parallel to Canada Dance Festival. The four women hope to recreate a hub of dance at Arts Court. Moreover, they hope to inspire local dance students. In fact, part of their strength is the quality of their relationship with The School of Dance, Canterburry High school and École secondaire De La Salle. Coutts believes that the way to achieve a strong dance community is through sustaining the next generations. “We want to provide a general career mentoring for dance’s youth.”

While this initiative is a crucial one for the survival and continued blossoming of modern and contemporary scene in Ottawa, the road is a bumpy one. ODD faces financial hiccups, as would any not-for-profit organization. “What we’re lacking is operating funds. We are relying heavily on grants for our projects however; we need a certain amount of those under our belt before qualifying for operation funds. In the mean time, it’s a balancing act to keep the collective running smoothly” admits Coutts.

When there is a will, there is a way. “We’ve managed so far. Thankfully, we have had the support of Ontario Arts Council, the City of Ottawa and of Arts Court. Because we believed in this, so did they” says Morton.

Stay tuned for next season’s Series Dance 10 programming this winter at Arts Court.