Vicki St.Denys, MA has served as the Director of the Dance Program since 2014. She joined Ryerson in 1991 and was the resident choreographer for well over a decade. A leader in the field of jazz dance, Vicki’s research, choreography and teaching are grounded in its roots and relationship to jazz music.
Vicki has toured nationally and internationally as a performer, teacher and choreographer for numerous companies and with a broad array of productions. Her choreography has been featured on television, film, theatre, opera and motion capture projects. From 2000-2007, Vicki was a member of the dance faculty at the prestigious The Banff Centre for the Arts, she was subsequently the choreographer for the Opera as Theatre Program and for the Citadel Theatre program.
She has served as an assessor for the Canada Council for the Arts/Dance Division, Fall for Dance North’s (FFDN), International Presenters Program Artistic Advisory Committee, and the World Dance Alliance.
Since her appointment as Director of the Dance Program, Vicki has dedicated herself to increasing the profile of the program by expanding the curriculum and training, including more Canadian and international guest artists and by partnering with major arts organizations such as FFDN. Through her efforts, Ryerson dancers have shared the stage with world renowned dance companies at the FFDN Festival at Meridian Hall and taken part in the worldwide Cunningham centennial celebrations - demonstrating that Ryerson is home to Canada’s leading BFA dance program.
Vicki is a recipient of the Dean’s Teaching Award for 2020.
- History & roots of Jazz Dance
- Jazz music - its relationship to jazz dance
- Teaching practices related to jazz dance: Vernacular/Latin/Neo-Jazz/Rhythm-Generated
- Choreography
- Afro Cuban Dance and Drum
- Decolonizing dance
(2019) Brubeck, Choreographer, Ryerson Dances, Ryerson Theatre, Toronto, ON
(2018) Red, Hot and Cool, Welcome to Birdland, Choreographer-Co-creator/ Principal Investigator Funded by The Creative School Creative Grant. Hydra and Poros Greece, Toronto, ON
(2018) PULSE…version blue, DanceOntario Weekend 18, Fleck Dance Theatre, Toronto, ON
(2017) PULSE…version blue, Choreographer, Ryerson Dances 2017, Ryerson Theatre, Toronto, ON
(2015-2016) Choreo: The Art of Dance, A la Carte Video Productions, Consultant, Documentary Film Screening, Toronto, ON
(2014) Mingus: Reminiscing in Tempo, Ryerson Dances, Ryerson Theatre Toronto, On
(2013-2014) Is That It?, Commission for Older and Reckless, Choreographer and Performer, (World Premiere) Toronto, ON
(2014) Brubeck, Dance Ontario, Lifetime Achievement Gala 2014, Fleck Dance Theatre, Toronto, ON
(Co-Author/Co-Contributor), Evolving and Involving in Jazz: Discussing the Prime Tenets of Jazz Dance in Relationship to Current Practices to the Form as a Way Ignite Scholarly Understanding. Panel Presentation. Evolve + Involve: Dance as a Moving Question…World Dance Alliance – Americas, Vancouver, BC, July 29 – August 4, 2013
(Co-Author/Co-Contributor), Jazzing Culture/Culturing Jazz. Collaboration: Intersections, Negotiations, Mediations in the Worlds of Dance”, Canadian Society for Dance Studies Conference in Montréal, 2012
(Co-Author), Negotiation, Alliance and Interchange: A Formula for Training Dance Artist. Collaboration: Intersections, Negotiations, Mediations in the Worlds of Dance”, Canadian Society for Dance Studies Conference in Montréal, 2012
Death of Jazz: Metamorphosis and Reconciliation, Dancing Community in Canada: Ideas, Practices, Outcomes - Society for Canadian Dance Studies, 2009