Josh Murry-Hawkins can dance anywhere. Just about any surface will do. He’s danced in libraries, art galleries, community centers, city sidewalks, beaches, forests and rivers.
“I’ve danced to music and no music, I’ve danced to live music and canned music, I’ve danced to spoken words, I’ve danced with props and no props. I’ve been on concrete floors and I’ve been suspended from the ceiling. I’ve broken all the barriers,” he said.
“Dance can be accessible and part of the community. It doesn’t have to be this elitist thing” that requires expensive tickets and a proscenium arch, he said.
Murry-Hawkins has taken an unusual approach to launching Washington Dance Creative, which he calls Vancouver’s first professional dance company. There are many dance schools and studios and “a huge audience of students and families” interested in dance performances, he said — but to spread the word about a new pro-level dance group, the first thing he did was hit up local photographers.