The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

dance by Leanne Campbell A Dancin' and Kìssin' Anniversary has always i n c o r p o r a t e d an i n c r e d i b l e v a r i ety o f t h e a t r e and dance w o r k s h o p s . T h e w o r k s h o p s , w h i c h are g e a r e d t o the n o v i c e but given by professionals, are so p o p u l a r that many sell o u t as s o o n as they are announced. W h a t b e t t e r way to get a kiss of knowledge witho u t signing up f o r an eightweek course? T h e p r i c e is right, t o o . A t $ 1 2 a crack, w h o w o u l d n ' t t r y the tango? Marcuse expects t o see 300 t o 400 drummers at o n e of t h e first events o f t h e Kiss P r o j e c t , K i s s P r o j e c t Photo by David Photo Courtesy of Promo Cooper. dell'arte called A Drumming Jamboree with D i d o , on d a n c e r f r o m C u b a , w i l l teach a t w o - h o u r advanced/professional class every m o r n i n g at P e r f o r m a n c e W o r k s . T h e class is o p e n t o the public at n o charge. M a r c u s e is o b v i o u s l y e x c i t e d a b o u t the 5th-annual K i s s P r o j e c t , as a r e t h e f o l k s at G r a n v i l l e Island. They're c e l e b r a t i n g t h e i r 2 0 t h a n n i v e r s a r y in t a n d e m w i t h Kiss's 5 t h . and co-present a Swing Party o n January 22 w i t h the Jazzmanian D e v i l s . Pre-party w o r k s h o p s are g u a r a n t e e d t o m a k e y o u dance f l o o r - r e a d y , and f o u r e x p e r i e n c e d c o u p l e s will d o a s w i n g d e m o in the break. It's n o t s u r p r i s i n g that several N o r t h S h o r e residents are involved in the K i s s P r o j e c t , c o n s i d e r i n g that a l m o s t 2 0 0 artists will p a r t i c i p a t e in the four-week festival. D a n c e r Sandra B o t t n e n , a f o r m e r m e m b e r of C i r q u e d u Soleil, is a N o r t h V a n c o u v e r r e s i d e n t and w i l l be appearing in several pieces. D i r e c t o r R o b e r t Metcalfe is w o r k i n g o n o n e of the c r e a t i o n s , a n d Judith M a r c u s e s daught e r R a c h e l is m a k i n g h e r s e c o n d on-stage a p p e a r a n c e at t h e P r o j e c t . "She's really e x c i t e d a b o u t it and the best part is that it had n o t h i n g t o d o w i t h m e . T h e c h o r e o g r a p h e r r e q u e s t e d R a c h e l specifically," beams a proud Marcuse. I t d o e s n ' t s e e m like five years since Judith M a r c u s e first kissed Vancouver, but it is, and she's c e l e b r a t i n g w i t h the Best of the Kiss P r o j e c t . M a r c u s e , a 20-year H o r s e s h o e Bay r e s i dent, is the nmission five-minute dance o r theatre creations, each of w h i c h had t o c o n t a i n a kiss. C a l l e d T h e Kiss C r e a t i o n s , t h e s e w o r k s have b e e n w i l d l y s u c c e s s f u l . T h e o n l y p r o b l e m is that each year brings n e w w o r k s , yet p e o p l e w e r e talking a b o u t past p e r f o r m a n c e s a n d w o n d e r i n g if they'd be s e e n again. Since t h e r e aren't a lot of f o r u m s t o s h o w five-minute pieces'. M a r c u s e d e c i d e d t o m a k e t h e fifth year a B e s t o f T h e K i s s P r o j e c t . " W e ' r e bringing back t h e best because it's t h e fifth anniversary. So many things d i s a p p e a r i n t o t h e air a n d w e n e v e r see t h e m again," says M a r c u s e . " Y e t , s o many of the pieces we've p r o d u c e d at Kiss have had o t h e r lives. A l o t o f t h e m have d e v e l o p e d i n t o full-length pieces and many o f the pieces have been seen in o t h e r places. T h e y ' v e b e e n like seeds, like r i c h seeds. S o w e t h o u g h t , w h y n o t c e l e b r a t e them? A n d a lot of p e o p l e w o n ' t have seen all f o u r years [of p r o g r a m s ] , a n d s o m e p e o p l e w o n ' t have seen K i s s at a l l . " T h e s m o o c h i n g starts January 17 and e n d s a p p r o p r i a t e l y e n o u g h o n F e b r u a r y 14. In a d d i t i o n t o the p e r f o r m a n c e s , the festival M o n d a y , January 19. O t h e r best-selling w o r k s h o p s are belly dancing, Irish dancing. F l a m e n c o , and Pilates. A n e w w o r k s h o p called Kiss and Tell features H e a d l i n e s Theatre Artistic Director David Diamond. S o u n d i n g a bit like Truth o r D a r e and h o l d ing the p r o m i s e o f being a s o m e w h a t s t e a m y s e s s i o n . D i a m o n d p r o m i s e s t o take s t o r i e s a b o u t first kisses and t u r n t h e m into t h e atre. A l s o n e w this year is the Dance Educator's Workshop. F o r the first two weeks of the p r o ject, f r o m J a n u a r y 19 through to 29. M a r a y Gutierrez, a leading c o n temporary The Kiss Project takes place at February Performance I 7 to Works on Granville Island January 14. In addition to the workshops, per- formances, and parties, discussions, onsite art installations, and late-night performances Night Kisses) are scheduled. Tickets are at (604) 280-3311. (Lateavailable For a ^3 through TicketMaster Kiss Project brochure, call DanceArts at (604) 6425.0 Vancouver 606- Leanne Campbell is a freelance Vancouver writer. 1 Kiss Project Photo by David Cooper. Photo courtesy Promo of dell'arte