Dance on earth, in air… in trees!

* Tofino Tree Dance Workshops May 23 & 24

* Tofino Tree Dance Community Rehearsals and Performance May 25-29

* Julia’s trip to Bamfield

* Announcing a new partnership with The Underground Circus

Join us in Tofino for Community Tree Dance Classes!

Saturday May 23 & Sunday May 24

North Chesterman Beach Trail at Lynn Road & Osprey Lane, Tofino

Tree Dance for Families | 10:30am-1pm

For Kids Ages 7+ and Parents

Tree Dance for Youth | 2:30pm-5pm

For Youth Ages 14-18

Tree Dance for Adults | 2:30pm-5pm

For Adults Ages 19+

Register Here

Class Description:

Come join Aeriosa’s team of tree dancers and riggers and let us guide you on an unforgettable journey into the forest canopy. Immerse yourself in nature, creativity and adventure as we explore an interspecies dance experience with big trees. Aeriosa instructors will introduce you to rope and harness safety systems and checks while you have fun learning new movement skills, in a supportive environment.

This workshop is suitable for participants of all levels. No previous dance or climbing experience is needed.

Registration: $75 plus tax. Capacity: 8 dancers per workshop.

Learn more about the workshop here

This activity is supported by the District of Tofino. Aeriosa is a Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Park Ally.

Photo Credit: Aeriosa Dance Society

Create with us!

Rehearsals May 25 - 28 | Performance May 29

North Chesterman Beach Trail at Lynn Road & Osprey Lane, Tofino

Community Engaged Rehearsal and Performance

Workshop participants who wish to dive into performance are invited to join Aeriosa company artists for afternoon rehearsals from May 25–28, culminating in a group performance at 6pm on Friday, May 29.

Please note capacity is limited and all interested community performers are encouraged to express their interest in advance with their workshop registration. In order to work safely and thoughtfully together, all performers must have attended a workshop tree dance workshop, and should be available to attend the entire rehearsal and performance process (5 afternoons total). Exact schedule to be agreed upon in person with the Aeriosa team.

Rehearsals: May 25, 26, 27, 28 | 4pm-5:30pm

Technical Rehearsal: May 29 | 4pm-5:30pm

Performance: May 29 | 6pm-7pm

Where: North Chesterman Beach Trail at Lynn Road & Osprey Lane, Tofino

Capacity: 8 participants, any age (who participated in the weekend workshop)

Rehearsal and Performance Registration: FREE with Tree Dance Workshop Registration

Mark May 29, 6pm in your calendar even if you don’t plan to dance with us, we’d love to see you in the audience!

Learn more about the Tofino workshops and performance here

Photo Credit: Aeriosa Dance Society.

Retreat to Bamfield

Changing Tides - The Drift

A report from Aeriosa Artistic Director Julia Taffe

Last weekend I took part in a gathering called Research Drift: Changing Tides, hosted by C.R.A.F.T. Studio and Unidentified Facility.

C.R.A.F.T. /qʷicčiƛma, located on Ahswinnis Reserve, Port Alberni, explores and fosters contemporary arts practice with people of all stripes. UFƟ (Unidentified Facility Onsite) is a Design Collaboratory, exploring future ecologies and emerging cosmologies through design drifting, fieldwork, workshops, and experimental research.

We were a small group coming together from different backgrounds, locations and ways of seeing the world, weaving collective responses to a shared aim of building resilience together and learning from diverse approaches.

We spent a full day traveling aboard the MV Frances Barkley in Port Alberni, following the Alberni Inlet to Bamfield on Vancouver Island, joining the ship’s daily cargo route and observing how it supports local systems. We moved with the river toward its ocean outlet, bringing our practices and communities into shared confluence, staying open, adaptive, and responsive, creating collective moments of encounter and exchange. www.nuniiqa.craftpeople.ca

Here are some of my photos from the weekend:

Above: Departing Port Alberni on the MV Francis Barkley.

Below Left: Cooking salmon the Nuu-chah-nulth way at Craft Studio.

Below Right: Bamfield is on Huu-ay-aht traditional territory.

Above Right: Jihyun Park shared her Tentacular Thinking Research.

Below: Viewing Bamfield from the dock.

All photos by Julia Taffe.

A New Partnership with The Underground Circus!

Announcing our new partnership with The Underground Circus

Aeriosa is engaging in an exciting new partnership with TUC to develop their space for vertical dance practice and to expand our workshop offerings! Stay tuned for more updates as this exciting collaboration unfolds!

Learn more about TUC here

Photo Credit: Peter Boulanger, TUC Artistic Director

In the Community

2026 SOUND OF DRAGON MUSIC FESTIVAL 【龍吟滄海音樂節】

Vancouver’s biennial celebration of Asian sounds in cross-cultural collaboration presented by the Sound of Dragon Society

April 2-4, The Annex (823 Seymour St. Vancouver)
April 5, 8East (8 E. Pender St. Vancouver)

Info & Tickets: https://soundofdragon.com/festival/2026-festival/

The 7th Sound of Dragon Music Festival redefines Chinese music with ground-breaking cross-cultural programming, presenting Little Giant Chinese Chamber Orchestra (Taiwan), PhoneNX Ensemble (Toronto), 88 Strings, Vancouver Erhu Quartet, Multicultural Wind Ensemble and more. The opening concert Jade Emperor‘s Great Race (April 2, 8pm, Annex), inspired by the 12-year zodiac cycle, presents the B.C. premiere of music by 13 award-winning Canadian and Asian composers. The second concert Strum, Bow, Roar (April 3, 7:30pm, Annex) showcases three cross-cultural ensembles of plucked strings, bowed strings, and winds. The final concert Encounter: Taiwan/Toronto/Vancouver (April 4, 8pm, Annex) features JUNO-nominated Métis singer songwriter/composer Wayne Lavallee and the collaboration of Taiwanese, Toronto, and Vancouver musicians. “SONG OF JOY” Music Party (April 4, 2pm, 8East) invites everyone to come to play music together.

Photo Credit: Sound of Dragon Music Festval.

:::::vertical dance network

1 Apr 2026

Aeriosa Dance Society