DJD turns 40 and goes to the High Performance Rodeo to celebrate with Call and Response

December 22, 2024 Canuck

Decidedly Jazz Danceworks (DJD) turns 40 in 2025 and they’re kicking off a milestone birthday by throwing a celebration of movement at the High Performance Rodeo.

All you need to know about their season-opening show Call and Response, opening Jan. 16, is that it features the Falling Bullets Jazz Band from New Orleans.

That means a performance that the company described in a media release as a “toe-tapping, foot stomping, finger snapping, head nodding, torso wiggling, groove busting” show designed to pump up the energy level of the Rodeo.

DJD is one of the only professional dance companies to employ live jazz music, in addition to employing between seven and 12 full-time dancers every year since 1987.

In 2016, DJD raised $28.5 million to build its own 40,000 square foot dance centre on 12^th Avenue, which has become an arts hub for the city.

The company also offers education and outreach programs that have brought professional-level dance to more than 120,000 Calgary children over the years.

As the City of Calgary looks to revitalize its core in the post-COVID landscape, one of the brightest lights still shining are the lights at the DJD Dance Centre.

DJD is presenting Amplify, a series of pieces created by the dance company, at a free drive-in performance Jan 14-15 and Jan 21-22 at 7:30 p.m. and 9 p.m.

‘Unique organization’

“We are a unique organization in many ways,” said company artistic director Kimberley Cooper in a release. “Our beautiful DJD Dance Centre is a hub for local dancers and dance organizations, and dancers come from all over the world to study here.

“And then, of course, there is the professional company that remains at the core of DJD. From the first show Body and Sole that sold-out in 1984 to performances at some of the most prestigious dance and music festivals in the world, and cross-Canada tours, we have attracted fans from far and wide.”

Among those national and international tours were appearances at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa and as part of the Jacob’s Pillow Dance in the U.S..

Calgary’s Decidedly Jazz Danceworks performing Kimberley Cooper’s Family of Jazz at the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in Becket, Massachusetts, Aug.9, 2023. (Photo; Jamie Kraus/Courtesy Jacob’s Pillow)

“DJD has made it to our 40- year milestone because of many amazing things over our history,” said DJD executive director Kathi Sundstrom.

“DJD has made huge contributions to the dance community at large,” she said, “but continues to live, breathe, dance, and invest in the artistic and social fabric of Calgary.”

For more information about Call and Response, go here.

For more information about The High Performance Rodeo, go here.

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