Dance in Vancouver, held once every two years, shows that creativity isn't always tied to cash.

Is there a distinctive Vancouver dance aesthetic? Even the experts don't know for sure, but this year's edition of the biennial Dance in Vancouver showcase might help amateurs and pros alike make up their minds.

The event's curator, Stephen White, seems reluctant to offer a definitive opinion when reached in wintry Alberta, where he's visiting family. He shuffles around the question, refers to the three dance professionals he's bringing in to address the issue at a panel discussion, and quickly shifts focus to the programming itself.

Later on, however, he throws out one provocative suggestion: dance in Vancouver probably lacks any kind of shared aesthetic, but it just might be defined by economic deprivation. Starved by provincial funding rates that rank below those of cultural hotbeds Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, local choreographers must find innovative ways to solve production problems that just need an infusion of cash.

"This sounds like I'm going to be a proponent for lack of funding, but one thing that has really coloured the development of dance in B.C. is the lack of provincial support," White says. "I don't mean to be political; I'm just talking about an aesthetic sense that has demanded that artists be more creative with the few dollars that they have.

"The negative impact is that few dance companies are able to give their pieces the production values that they should have," he continues. "The positive has been that they've been very inventive, and I think that our dance is more 'dance-y', whereas Montreal dance, for instance, has a tendency to be more conceptual."

Unsurprisingly, Mirna Zagar agrees with White's assessment: as executive director of the Scotiabank Dance Centre, Dance in Vancouver's host and principal sponsor, she lobbies for more money for the arts. But she, too, finds it difficult to characterize the local scene that her organization helps nurture, and similarly defers to the out-of-town experts that White has assembled for Outside In/Inside Out, which takes place at the centre on the morning of November 17.

"There is clearly not one single answer," says Zagar, "but I think this will be a good and healthy discussion."

Perhaps in this collegial setting, the three invited guests will define what unites local choreographers although judging by the essays they've submitted for a Dance in Vancouver pamphlet, that's a slim hope.

"The dominant wellspring of Vancouver dance has been individuality.”¦every choreographer in Vancouver is doing something different," writes Toronto-based critic Paula Citron. Edmonton choreographer Brian Webb says, "In general, I see Vancouver dance artists working quite separately from each other." And Montreal dance observer Dena Davida posits that the notion of cultural identity on a municipal level might be passé, asking "Could it be that our collective dance identity has finally gone global, with only shallow roots in the localities where we dance?"

That last opinion seems particularly appropriate for a scene that increasingly draws on the nonballetic forms of contact improvisation, butoh, bharata natyam, hip-hop, and Chinese classical dance. But if this cultural diversity puzzles dance theorists, it represents a choreographic feast for local audiences. Dance in Vancouver's four main-stage presentations, which run from Wednesday to next Sunday (November 14 to 18), offer an exciting survey of our city's most adventurous movement makers.

As curator, White is understandably reluctant to single out any of his babies for praise. But the Victoria Dance producer cites the pairing of Wen Wei Wang's intercultural exploration Three Sixty Five and Lola McLaughlin's environmentally inspired Provincial Essays (November 15 and 16) as emblematic of current directions in local performance. "What the two of them share is a very clean aesthetic, although they're quite different," he notes. "I think Lola has a very finely honed sense of irony that is absent in Wen Wei's work, which is more earnest, more heartfelt. But both share this very clean, very precise aesthetic."

He's also excited about a "solos" program (November 14 and 17) that features excerpts from Noam Gagnon's A Vision Impure, Su-Feh Lee's The Whole Beast, and Sarah Chase's Number Theory. "Sarah Chase is a storyteller, Su-Feh is very eclectic in terms of where she draws her influences from, and Noam is much more passionate, and very involved in what lies just below the skin," says White. "So I think that's going to be a really interesting evening although by pointing out those two, I don't mean to minimize the other programs."

"I'd just like to say that this is a really great opportunity for anyone who is even mildly interested in exploring contemporary dance," adds Zagar. "I'm sure they'll find something that intrigues them, or that satisfies their quest for something new. Because it's a curated show, it's the best of what we have and it comes in small pieces, so it's quite edible."

Link: Dance in Vancouver official brochure [pdf format]