GD Dance Initiatives GD Initiatives en Danse
Learn, Dance, Collaborate, Initiate
S'épanouir, danser, collaborer, initier
GD Dance Initiatives GD Initiatives en Danse
Learn, Dance, Collaborate, Initiate
S'épanouir, danser, collaborer, initier
What's going on?
The Broad Strokes
GD Dance Initiatives (GDDI) is a registered non-for-profit Arts Organization based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, dedicated to tangible professional development mentorships for emerging dance artists, community networking & outreach, as well as contemporary dance creation & production.
The Pitch
Through educational templates, and comprehensive skill-building programmes, GD Dance Initiative strives to help local dance artists create new opportunities for themselves and their immediate communities. Ranging from introductions to, or the expansion on, improvisation-based movement creation, to foundational technical work, to using creativity to bolster large outreach, administrative, educational, or entrepreneurial projects within the Arts, GDDI offers a wide spectrum of services to a selected annual roster of artists and organizations to help support Ottawa and Eastern Ontario’s growing dance community.
The End Game
Building resilient, diverse communities through collaborative networking for cross-cultural, and interdisciplinary projects is also at the forefront of what makes the organization unique within the National Capital Region. Be it for Dancers who aim to learn more about launching their professional career as a performing artist, or be it for other organizations who seek assistance in creating effective outreach incentives, GDDI is a valuable and reliable resource whose sole purpose is to facilitate and instigate new connections by engaging with, and creating work which generates a sense of collaboration, collective growth, and unity.
The Leadership
Geoffrey Dollar is a graduate from the School of Dance Contemporary Dance Diploma Programme. Since graduating in 2016 he has remained an active member of Ottawa’s growing dance community. He has worked with many organizations and artists such as Ottawa Dance Directive, NAC Dance, Canada Dance Festival, The University of Ottawa Theatre Department, Propeller Dance, Aroha Fine Arts, Upasana: The Spirit of Dance, the Ottawa International Salsa Convention, Sinha Danse (Montreal), MASC (Multicultural Arts for Schools and Communities), FESFO (Fédération de la jeunesse franco-ontarienne), the National Center for Dance Therapy with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Lycée Claudel, as well as the CEAO (Centre d’excéllence artistique de l’Ontario) at De-La-Salle High School.
He has performed and choreographed in Ottawa and Toronto for festivals and events such as New Blue Emerging Dance Festival, The 6th and 8thannual HUM TV Awards, Series Dance 10: Floorplay, to name a few. He aims to bridge gaps between various performing arts communities by creating and engaging with work which creates a sense of collaboration and unity.
His work as an educator and arts administrator has allowed him to perform outreach within various communities in the hopes of spreading his vision of dance as well as his love of the performing arts. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Mr. Dollar has familiarized himself with video production and editing to continue to serve and support the communities and organizations with which he is working.
He is currently actively pursuing Classical Indian Dance training under the tutelage of renowned Gurus:
Anjali Patil (Kathak – Ottawa, Canada),
Rahul Acharya (Odissi – Bhubaneswar, India)