Rare Beauties at DJD brings high dance drama to the rodeo
Posted Jan 14, 2026 11:54 am.
“I’m opening the doors to transformation,” says Kimberley Cooper.
Her new Decidedly Jazz Danceworks work, Rare Beauties, premieres Thursday as part of the 40th annual One Yellow Rabbit High Performance Rodeo.
She calls it “lights and costumes and props and high drama, high theatre.”
Cooper is the artistic director of Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and choreographer to the show.
She calls it a “deeply theatrical” dance piece that explores beauty in many forms: “beauty in wisdom and strength, beauty in whimsy and humour, beauty as a weapon, beauty in anger, beauty in hope.”
Cooper wants to “take the audience on a journey” and “surprise them.”
And there will be one big surprise for DJD audience vets… there is no live band this time. Cooper says last season’s anniversary shows pushed the budget, and for this one she chose recorded music to open new creative doors.
“When it’s recorded music, you can have any band you want,” she said.
The score features contemporary jazz voices like Brandi Younger, Makaya McCraven, Emma-Jean Thackray, Shabaka Hutchings, Nubya Garcia, with touches of McCoy Tyner and John Lee Hooker.
The dancers step into the sound too. Cooper says there is one live piece, a drum feature taught by local musician Raul Tabera that the company performs themselves. She is clear that design is a co-author here: collaborating with Steve Isom on lights and Hannah Fisher on costumes to “play with beauty and what that can mean,” using light and texture to morph the space.
“Choose to look at a beautiful thing, appreciate beautiful dancers, and feel beautiful yourself,” Cooper says. And an invitation to the audience to wear whatever makes you feel beautiful, even pajamas.
Tickets and more information can be found here.
