About Us
Thank you for being on this beautiful and wild journey with me.
Kimberly Stevenson, Owner & Creative Director
Directed by Kimberly Stevenson, The Happening Dance Company is a dynamic dance studio in Vancouver that celebrates all bodies and all individuals, while creating first-rate dancers. The Happening enters its twelfth season in September 2024, and has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. Our studio welcomes hundreds of dancers between the ages of 2.5-17 through our Fraser Street doors 7-days a week, in the genres of hip hop, contemporary, ballet, jazz, breaking, tap, and acro. Each season we have a year end show that amazes audiences, and is a beautiful showcase of our amazing dancers, choreographers, and community.
Our Five Focus Areas at The Happening Dance:
Accountability, Building Community, Celebration, Initiative, Teamwork
OUR VISION
We celebrate all bodies and all individuals while creating first-rate dancers.
OUR MISSION
Our mission is to invest in children and young adults as people first and dancers second. We encourage the development of technical skills that underlie articulate physical communication; we expect excellence while nurturing each individual’s joy in movement.
OUR CORE VALUES
Perseverance, Authenticity, Creativity, Transformation, Inclusivity
Core Values
Our Promise to You
To be inclusive
To provide high-quality dance instruction
To create a community embodied by kindness
To provide a safe space to explore creativity
To use age-appropriate choreography, costumes, and music
To be patient and give you room to grow and make mistakes
To build you up when we see progress and change
To have fun
Your Promise to Us
To bring a strong work ethic
To release your fear of failure
To be loud: encourage one another and celebrate one another loudly, give positive feedback and energy to instructor and peers
To show kindness, support, and love to yourself, and your peers
To be accountable to your teacher, your peers, and yourself
To be disciplined in your dance practice
To show up on time, prepared to participate
To follow the dress code and grooming code of standards
To have fun
Our Story.
The Happening started when I convinced the strata of a live/work building on East Fourth and Scotia that they should have a small dance studio in their building. They fell in love with the idea (and me, I think!) and I moved into my new live/work space in June 2013. I spent 2 months getting it ready to launch The Happening’s first summer school in August 2013; I had 3 students for that summer camp, and 9 students when our first season opened that September. I’m delighted that 5 of those original 9 students are still dancing with The Happening today!
By January 2014 the studio had grown to 21 students, and when the loft at East Fourth and Scotia sold in April 2014, we moved our classes to The Centre. Our first season finished with a performance at The Vancouver East Cultural Centre (aka The Cultch!)
We started our lease agreement and renovation of the Fraser Street space in April 2014. Because these things always take much longer than you think (more things that I know now) we (myself and 60 students!) had to start our second season using The Polish Community Centre.
We were in our new space on Fraser and 38th Ave by December 2014, and held our Christmas parent viewing in the space we now call home.
The Happening has continued to grow and expand. This year we have over 350 students and 650 enrolments, we have a total of thirteen faculty members, and we have physically expanded with a second studio right next door to our existing space.
The Happening to me has been a dream that I never imagined would take this much work, time, passion, love, tears, and faith. I have wholeheartedly pursued this with everything in me, and convinced many people along the way that this would work (even when I was fighting my own doubts and disbelief).
I could not have done this without the amazing community that surrounds me in and around The Happening; you’ve made a choice to make this studio your dance home, and that has made this dream a reality. Thank you for being on this wild and beautiful journey with me - I cannot wait to write more of The Happening’s story with all of you!