The festival is bringing dance outside, inviting the community to watch or take part in a celebration of different dance styles and cultures. (Luis Zablah / CHLY 101.7FM)

Downtown Nanaimo gets ready to turn up the music and hit the dance floor, as the city's first Street Dance Festival takes over Diana Krall Plaza this weekend. The festival is bringing dance outside, inviting the community to watch or take part in a celebration of different dance styles and cultures.

The co-founder and director of the festival, Nathaniel Tougas, dropped by CHLY to talk about the inspiration behind the event.

He explained his inspiration originated when he spotted a youth dance group performing on the street during Nanaimo’s Commercial Street Night Market.

“They heard the music, and that enticed them. And they came to see what was going on, and they saw dancing, and people dancing all together as a community, and then, even if they're a little bit anxious, and even better if they started out with butterflies in their stomach, and then they decide that they're going to join in the dance with other people.”

Tougas added that a visit to the Vancouver Street Dance Festival back in 2024 solidified the idea. He was inspired by the festival’s open atmosphere at Robson Square, where people could watch dancers perform for free and join in themselves between sets.

Tougas explained the deciding factor that motivated him to organize the event

Tougas explained his inspiration originated when he spotted a youth dance group performing on the street during Nanaimo’s Commercial Street Night Market. (Luis Zablah / CHLY 101.7FM)

“I found out that the Vancouver Street Dance Festival stopped after years and years of running theirs; they stopped for lack of funding or lack of volunteering, and I was like, okay, now's the time to recreate that vibe in Nanaimo downtown.”

Tougas worked with the city to get the festival started, using a grant known as the Downtown Event Revitalization Fund (DERF), to provide a portion of the funds to get the festival off the ground.

A mix of different cultures and dance styles that have been in Nanaimo for years will be featured, including Afro Fusion, Salsa and Bachata, Bhangra and Bollywood, as well as HipHop. Tougas scoured Nanaimo to find instructors and dance specialists around the area.

He explained how he gathered the instructors.

“There's actually a whole bunch of dance culture representatives in the Nanaimo region, and I've witnessed them either personally, like firsthand. I've joined their classes, or I've just seen them out in public, like down at Maffeo, putting on free, you know, drop-in lessons or whatever. And sometimes I've joined, sometimes not, but still been able to check out their vibes,” said Tougas. “So I've witnessed all them, and I've felt their high vibe, and I'm like, yes, all these I love, and there's more out there, but this is our sort of first go, and these are the four that came to mind. And I pitched to my sister, and she immediately fell in love too. And I reached out to them, and they were all down for this.”

Tougas explained each instructor is a dance cultural representative who will have a dedicated hour during the festival to showcase their style and entice participants to join in and dance.

Among the instructors is Sukhi Sangha, the founder of Vancouver Island Bhangra. Sangha moved to Nanaimo in 2020 and began offering Bhangra and Bollywood dance fitness classes after finding the dance styles were largely missing from the area.

She described Bhangra style ahead of the event.

“Bhangra is a very joyful dance. So it was done to celebrate like the harvest festival in India at weddings, so the steps they kind of correlate with … they're like big movements, big happy movements. I always say you are never gonna see an angry Bhangra dancer.”

Sangha explained she has been dancing since elementary school and later joined Simon Fraser University’s Bhangra team, competing at events across North America before teaching.

For the upcoming festival on Saturday, Sangha says she will adapt her lessons for newcomers, starting out with basic movements that attendees can understand. She wants attendees to understand the meaning and culture behind what they are learning.

“Usually the movements have some meaning to it, and so when I'm teaching, I always try my best to explain the song that we're dancing to, because sometimes you know not everybody understands the words of like South Asian music, so I try to translate the music,” said Sangha.

Sangha added that tries to translate the music used in her lessons to explain how the choreography connects with the meaning of the song. She has previously been part of other dance activities including the Nanaimo Commercial Street Night Market and during Canada Day celebrations. Sangha says people can initially be hesitant to take part, but once some people get involved others tend to follow.

“It just takes a few people to get out there and start dancing, and then slowly others start to join. And then when you're in the moment and dancing, you forget about all your surroundings.”

The festival takes place this Saturday August 23rd, from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Diana Krall Plaza. It’s free for the public and open for all ages, cultures, and experience levels with no dance experience needed. Tougas encourages the community to come watch, learn some moves, and meet new people as they have fun in the heart of downtown Nanaimo.

Further information is available on Tourism Nanaimo's website.

Funding Note: This story was produced with funding support from the Local Journalism Initiative, administered by the Community Radio Fund of Canada.

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