News & Spotlights 

Today I’m finishing a cycle with New Works, getting ready for a new adventure in arts administration as Manager of Education & Engagement at Ballet BC, and reflecting with gratitude on my journey at this organization (New Works)—one that has accompanied me through many life transitions in Canada: immigration, shifting from being only a dance artist into a cultural worker, transforming cocoon beliefs and self-distrust into feeling empowered and in the right heart to keep making spaces where artists and communities intersect so we can become better humans together. Below are scattered thoughts as I recall bits of the journey. I’m sure this is not an end—its ripples will keep spreading, because we are our interactions, and the genealogy of our relationships.

..."Putting on our own show was an immense high. But, following that experience we had a ton of questions about how to do this long term with more resources and efficiency. Essentially, now what? That’s when we received a DM from Marco (New Works Community Engagement Manager) saying that we should apply to the New Works Cohort 2025. The application process helped us nail down the specific support we were looking for. We didn't have the tools or resources to facilitate our big ideas. We often felt like we were walking in the dark. Everything felt makeshift and DIY. We began to establish questions and specific goals"...

"I have been tending to a growing self-taught digital practice under the umbrella of extended reality for the past two and a half years. The expansive possibilities of what movement can be when it is shared through technological applications has been a driving curiosity of mine since this still recent beginning. I wanted to learn more about motion capture because focusing all my energy towards live movement was not satisfying enough at the time. I participated in NWXR in 2023, rapidly uncovering what “XR”, or “extended reality” meant. "- danielle Mackenzie Long