From the outset, the trio of pieces on the Dance Centre’s latest Pulse series program seem to have nothing in common. A performer tapes himself into a cardboard box and then rolls around. Dancers push themselves to physical extremes to embody gluttony. And a quartet moves with modern grace to Arvo Pärt’s haunting music.

Mis Hermanas

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The Montreal choreographer displays her command in strange, daring expressions of joy and curiosity in one of the dance events of the year.

With trademark verve, the East Vancouver choreographer moves to her own coolly inventive beats for International Dance Day.

Peter Pan

Banned from the U.S., Danza Cuba is back with pirouettes and swivelling hips in a fiery new show that’s bound to overcome our national bashfulness.

Victor Quijada’s Rubberbandance Group is known for its street-smart mashup of hip-hop and ballet. But rather than cutting and pasting together moves from each style, his renegade company has spent the past six years aiming for perfect fusion. Asking him to separate out the influences in his choreography, Quijada says, is like asking the Los Angeles–born Mexican-American which parts of him are from which culture.

The best thing about the Tomorrow Collective is that its works are rooted squarely in today. Dance can seem rarefied, but this trio of female upstarts is devoted to capturing the here and now. They make dance cool.

Local choreographer Alvin Erasga Tolentino draws heaven down from the abstract to suggest that it lies within each of us

Timber/Timbre

Presented by the Vancouver International Dance Festival. At the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre on Saturday, March 8. No remaining performances

Chiasmata

Vancouver choreographer Joe Laughlin has made a name for himself by teaching his dance audiences to expect the unexpected. In the dozen years since he founded Joe Ink, the insanely versatile artistic director has featured his performers swinging on giant metal scaffolding, spent years shuttling between here and South Africa to collaborate with the racially integrated troupe Moving Into Dance Mophatong, and delved into high-tech experiments with digital projections.

Find Paradis/Paradise at the Roundhouse, or just let Sarah Williams, Rita Cioffi, Joe Laughlin, and Christopher House inspire you as they transcend styles and twist genres.