by Charlie Smith on February 24th, 2021 at 5:25 AM 1 of 4 2 of 4 Renowned Vancouver dance artist Joshua Beamish has thought a great deal about the differences between being a choreographer and a dancer. In a phone interview with the Straight, he describes choreography as “really intellectually demanding” because it involves understanding how to communicate with a dancer while learning how they work and what their body is capable of doing. “So there’s a lot of investigation,” Beamish says. “It’s like scanning. I feel you’re constantly scanning through material, seeking things that are resonant or vital.” He explains that dancers, on the other hand, “are kind of in an unknown state” as they set out to achieve the choreographer’s vision and decode certain requests.