Your Gift at Work

Fundraising accounts for 34% of DJD's operating revenues. On average, tickets sales cover just 40% of the true cost of mounting a DJD production. We typically create two new works every year and incorporate live music whenever possible. 

Thanks to our individual, corporate, foundation and government funders, DJD has:

• Created 50 original full-length works and performed for over 311,146 people locally, nationally and internationally.
• Enriched educational experiences for over 245,400 children and adults through our School of Decidedly Jazz and many Arts in Education programs.
• Enabled hundreds of kids from low-income families to receive bursaries to participate in a Summer Camp or class at the School of Decidedly Jazz since 1997.
• Provided intensive training through full and partial scholarships for talented young dancers in our Professional Training Program. 

Enriching Lives...Thanks to You!

Below is some of the fan mail we received from children and adults who recently attended a DJD production or participated in one of DJD’s many educational programs…

I can feel my heart (spoken by a wide eyed kindergarten student who personally felt it as a new thing, according to her teacher)

You couldn’t help but want to try a few steps yourself. I mean, if someone had held out a pair of tap shoes for us as we left the theatre after the premiere of 2010: A Tap Oddity, you got the sense that there probably would have been any number of takers. You could almost reach out and touch the fresh joy and spontaneity the dancers seemed to have tapped into.

Before DJD I thought dancing was hard, but now I know it is fun!

WiseApple: sweet, crunchy and delicious! This fresh new work showcases the strong, versatile company dancers and Cooper’s boundless creativity.

I never knew that there were so many styles of dancing!

Dance makes you happy, you can move, it makes you feel good.

Thank you for coming to our school to teach dancing. We really enjoyed dancing! For me, I really enjoyed the 1,2 Scooby-Doo. My favourite type of music is Hip-Hop! We feel funky now!

Thank you for coming to my school. I liked West African the best because there were the drummers. I also liked the four and five corner warm-ups and the story of how jazz was born. Can you come back next year?

DJD partners with the Kids Up Front Foundation to enable kids from low-income families to attend our shows. One of the many thank you letters we received was from Spectrum Youth & Family Service Association: "Welcoming [our kids] to DJD's show "Pulse" is more than getting them off the street or away from the television. It's their first experience of losing themselves in a world of rhythm and dance, of sharing the energy of an audience, of seeing that creativity is limitless and valuable. AND - not only was it a great show, but the dancers were so strong and healthy and vibrant, demonstrating the beauty of every body type and not deifying some weird, anorexic shape."

In 2004, DJD conducted a residency for the students at Cecil Swanson Elementary that focused on jazz history and also integrated math curriculum. A grade 5/6 class was assigned to explore dances from the 1930’s and 40’s swing era. The dance they learned was the Jitterbug Stroll, a relatively simple pattern dance but a good challenge for this class as most of the students had little dance experience. DJD Company member Sarisa helped the students learn the dance by having them sing the specific rhythms of each pattern. As the class practiced their dance on the final day, a teacher who was watching came up to the DJD instructors and pointed out a student who was dancing quite well. She explained that the young boy was mentally challenged and couldn’t spell his name, yet remarkably he could do the Jitterbug Stroll. Dance clearly touched his soul and spoke volumes!

To make a secure donation online please visit CanadaHelps.org. Or download a pledge form that can be mailed or faxed to DJD.

For more information, or to make a gift, please email Whitney Mercer or phone 403-228-8178.

Decidedly Jazz is a registered charity (#118883545RR0001).