Fluid Fest has become, over the past two decades, one of the most anticipated contemporary dance festivals in Calgary, although the festival itself has come to embody more than just that form of artistic expression.

But what has remained constant is the way that performers and audiences can celebrate the human body in motion and, through that, the incredible range of human experiences that lend themselves so well to dance and performance arts.

This year’s festival has been expanded to four weeks of performances, which, in the words of Deanna Witwer, Marketing Lead for Springboard Performance, which runs Fluid Fest, reflects how it has become a hub for performances each year in the fall.

“Nicole Mion, the artistic director, has really shaped the community of Fluid Fest to be a hub, a gathering of people from here and nationally and internationally. She talks about the festival as a clustering of activity and one of our mandates as Springboard performance is to activate public spaces,” said Witwer.

“It’s exciting to see how the festival has shifted over time from primarily dance, or contemporary dance, into physical theatre and more theatrical spaces, to now encompassing more contemporary performance as a whole.”

Long-time performer and first-time choreographer at Fluid Fest, Sylvie Moquin, said that the expansion of the festival to four weeks was quite exciting.

“What we can experience by witnessing bodies, by witnessing stories told through the body is something you can’t find online. It’s the live performance art experience. To me, sitting in this seat in front of a sweaty body, it just gets different, right? I know for myself, that’s definitely what I’ve been exploring,” she said.

Exploring the human body through performance

This year’s Fluid Fest asks the question of what it means to be full of wonder through the theme Bodies of Wonder.

Witwer said that the festival tries to bring together many different performances with a little something for all tastes and ages—from the featured performances of African youth circus in Cirque Kalabante, to contemporary ballet from Edmonton Ballet, to stories of vulnerability that addresses racism and sexual violence from Mayday Danse’s Angélique Willkie and Mélanie Demers in Confession Publique.

Witwer said that the latter work is stopping in Calgary as part of a worldwide tour that has been given incredible acclaim from audiences and awards to match.

“It is just completely renowned to the nth degree, and she is considering what it is to perform as a black woman. And it’s part of a PhD thesis. Considering that it will be very impactful and vulnerable, I really encourage folks to come out,” she said.

That show is running on Oct. 17 and 18, at the Big Secret Theatre.

Witwer said on the other end of the spectrum from seriousness was Why So Serious?, which aims to take a humorous take on contemporary dance gone wrong with a comedy message about feminism and misogyny.

She said that some of the shows meant for adults during Fluid Fest do contain nudity, but that the goal was to display vulnerability, appreciation for the human body, and to build compassion and understanding.

Moquin said the compassion and understanding are something that she had been working on through Rock Me Real as part of the What’s Not Said set of performances on Nov. 1 and Nov. 2.

“I was really looking at my own personal experience of entering motherhood and sharing that story through my body. It almost became a shedding of things that I had to work through and showcase through what I know best, which is movement,” she said.

“Everyone has different experiences, but I’m going to be as specific as I can so that I can access universal experiences like loneliness, transformation, overcoming, a sense of mass resilience. The resilience that it takes to be a parent is insane. I know we will witness moments like that throughout the entire festival, because there’s so many great artists being featured.”

The importance of having all of those artists come together, she said, was an important part of Fluid Fest.

“Fluid Fest has been something that’s that really holds space for our creative community, and to feature works alongside bringing other artists in… there is always a sense of anticipation,” said Moquin.

Fluid Fest runs from Oct. 17 through Nov. 8 at The Grand, Decidedly Jazz Dance Works, Big Secret Theatre, and Contemporary Calgary. For more details on shows and for tickets, see springboardperformance.com/programs/fluid-fest-2025.