Featured Story: Toronto Dance Week
September 2015
“In the early fall of 2015, we have an unprecedented amount of dance activity happening in the city at the same time,” states Timea Wharton-Suri, Dance Officer at Toronto Arts Council. She’s referring to Toronto Dance Week, a week full of performances, showcases, conferences and meetings for dance artists, professionals and enthusiasts from Toronto and around the world.
Toronto Dance Theatre will be performing at the Fall for Dance North Festival, Program 1
Toronto Dance Week runs from September 27th to October 2nd, and four prominent events inspired the name dedication: Fall for Dance North Festival, Toronto Dance Showcase, Canadian Dance Assembly’s National Conference and CanDance Network’s Annual Presenters' Meeting and National Dance Presenters Conference. Dance impresario Michael Caldwell, who is a dancer, choreographer, curator and advocate, came up with the idea of naming Toronto Dance Week. “He contacted me and said: We have so many dance initiatives happening during that week. Is it possible to call it Toronto Dance Week? And I said, absolutely!” says Timea. After a few discussions and some outreach, Caldwell’s idea became a reality.
One of the goals of Toronto Dance Week is to expand the market for Toronto dance. “This week of activities is also serving as a launch for Toronto’s 2015-16 dance season, and we hope that more people of all ages and walks of life will take in local dance performances throughout the entire season, which runs from late September to May,” states Wharton-Suri.
Peggy Baker Dance Projects. Peggy Baker will be performing with Sarah Neufeld at the Fall for Dance North Festival, Program 2
An excellent event for those who are new to dance is the Fall for Dance North Festival, which features two programs that showcase diverse dance styles from local, national and international dance companies. Audiences can see renowned dance works at the Sony Centre for only $10 per performance.
Toronto is home to a wide range of dance artistry, which makes it a great city to host the four Dance Week events. Timea lights up when talking about the dance scene in Toronto: “The diversity of professional dance that we have includes western contemporary, post-contemporary and experimental forms along-side traditional, contemporary and fusion Indigenous, African, flamenco, urban, jazz, tap, Indian, Brazilian, Latin-American, Asian, eastern European and you-name-it dance forms that other cities in the world don’t have. Of course, that diversity will be showcased during Toronto Dance Week and throughout the dance season to follow.”
For more information on Toronto Dance Week events and dance performances taking place throughout the season, visit Toronto Arts Online, and look out for booklets from Canada Dance Network, Canada Dance Association and Fall for Dance North that will be distributed at the events.