Ziyian Kwan and Alvin Erasga Tolentino Honored with Dance Centre Awards

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The awards recognize achievements by British Columbia choreographers and dance artists.

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The Dance Centre has named Ziyian Kwan, Artistic Director of Odd Meridian Arts, as the recipient of the biennial Lola Award, and Alvin Erasga Tolentino, Artistic Director of Co.ERASGA, as the recipient of the annual Isadora Award.

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The Dance Centre has recognized two British Columbia dance artists with awards honoring choreographic achievement and contributions to the field. Ziyian Kwan has received the Lola Award, while Alvin Erasga Tolentino has received the Isadora Award. The awards are administered by The Dance Centre and selected by juries of peers.

Mirna Zagar, Executive Director of The Dance Centre, said, "I am so pleased that we are able to celebrate the accomplishments of two of BC's most exciting and influential dance artists through these awards. The Dance Centre has been presenting awards for over twenty years as part of our mission to support BC's dance sector and to recognize talent. Each year I am thrilled to see the depth and diversity of the artistry in our community."

The Lola Award is designed to encourage the work of mid-career and senior choreographers. The biennial $10,000 award is supported by the Lola McLaughlin Endowment Fund with the Vancouver Foundation and administered by The Dance Centre. Since its initiation, the award has been presented to Crystal Pite , Lee Su-Feh, Rosario Ancer, Justine A. Chambers, Paras Terezakis, Helen Walkley, and Company 605.

The annual Isadora Award, named after dance pioneer Isadora Duncan , was instituted by The Dance Centre in 1999 to recognize the achievements of BC's dance professionals. The recipient receives a specially designed award created by glass sculptor Mary Filer, studio/theatre space up to a value of $4,000, and $1,000 cash. Previous recipients have included Crystal Pite , Wen Wei Wang, Jennifer Mascall, Gabrielle Martin and Jeremiah Hughes of Corporeal Imago, Margaret Grenier, and Vanessa Goodman.

Ziyian Kwan 子嫣 is a Hong Kong-born Chinese Filipina settler who lives on the ancestral, unceded, occupied territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm, Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ Nations. She began dancing professionally in 1989 and has interpreted more than 100 original works. She received The Dance Centre's 2014 Isadora Award for excellence in performance.

Kwan began choreographing in 2013 and has created fourteen full-length works, along with many shorter works, for presentations in Canada and Europe. Since 2015, as founding Artistic Director of Odd Meridian Arts, she has led the organization’s programming, including paid residencies for artists, festivals celebrating Asian artistry, commissions, and presentations of choreographers. In July 2020, she spearheaded Morrow, Odd Meridian's cultural space.

Alvin Erasga Tolentino, a Filipino-Canadian artist, has worked in contemporary dance for three decades in Canada and internationally. He founded Co.ERASGA in 2000 and has created 21 full-length works, including SOLA , Bato/Stone , OrienTik/Portrait , Field , Paradise/Paradis , ADAMEVE-Man/Woman , Shadow Machine , EXpose , Colonial , Unwrapping Culture , Passages of Rhythms , Offering , and Accumulation .

Tolentino’s work explores identity, gender, redress, migration, and cross-cultural collaboration, and has reached audiences across four continents. His touring engagements and collaborations have taken him and Co.ERASGA to more than 65 cities internationally and throughout Canada. In 2010, he received the Vancouver Mayor's Arts Award for his contributions to dance, and in 2018, he was honored with the Pan Asian Award for Arts Contribution by EXploreAsian Vancouver. In 2025, he was named one of the outstanding Filipinos in Canada by filpino.net.

Established in 1986 as a resource centre for dance in British Columbia, The Dance Centre presents performances and events, supports dance professionals working in all genres, operates one of Canada’s flagship dance facilities, and works to promote BC dance.

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_Originally reported by [BroadwayWorld](https://www.broadwayworld.com/bwwdance/article/Ziyian-Kwan-and-Alvin-Erasga-Tolentino-Receive-Dance-Centre-Awards-20260504)._