Deirdre Kelly
The Globe & Mail

I have been savoring DanceWorks productions since I was a wee schoolgirl in tie and Oxfords, sneaking out after hours from the library to catch the latest in contemporary dance at any number of obscure venues dotting the mean streets of Toronto. The allure was simple: a) their tickets were a lot cheaper than the National Ballet's and b) all their performances were subversive and therefore highly appealing to a teenage rebel with dance on the brain. DanceWorks wasn't the only game in town at that time -- I remember huddling on the cold floor of Lawrence and Miriam Adam's 15 Dance Lab -- but it was always the most fun -- at least to my mind. When I successfully translated this pubescent dance lust into a career as dance critic at The Globe an Mail, happily I began chronicling the highs (and occasionally the lows) of the city's premiere presenter of Experimental dance. In various reviews over the years, I have called DanceWorks "a forum for free and unabashed expression," and "a dark den of surprises, a lush land where serendipity rules supreme."It is at DanceWorks where I gleaned a deeper understanding and appreciation of the varieties of dance expression and where I encountered, for the first time, such a formidable talent as Bill T. Jones. DanceWorks was backing him before the rest of the world knew how good he was. This is all tribute to the singular ability of curator Mimi Beck to suss out the creative mavericks within our midst and give them a platform on which to strut their stuff. I once did a profile on her in which she said she had been a social activist during her radical student days south of the border. Ask me if I were surprised. Dance, such a precious commodity because so fleeting, needs brave and courageous people like Mimi to push the boundaries and inspire excitement in both participant and observer to ensure its survival as a vital art form into the future. I applaud her efforts and am grateful for having benefited from her generosity in wanting to share the dynamic spirit she continues to nurture in dance. May the next 25 years be as exhilarating -- and as instructive to students of the new.