Fall for Dance North 2019 Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
with Electrifying Range of Leading and Emerging Artist
October 2–6, 2019
An interview with FFDN Artistic Director Ilter Ibrahimof
• Tickets/Find Out More
"FFDN programming is a tricky business," says festival Artistic Director Ilter Ibrahimof.
Fall For Dance North is a premier international dance festival, celebrating its fifth season this October. Performances will take place at co-presenter TO Live’s MERIDIAN HALL (formerly the Sony Centre), Ryerson Theatre in partnership with the Ryerson School of Performance, and Union Station in three different series.
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| The New Zealand Dance Company – Sigan by KIM Jae Duk. Photo by John McDermott |
Putting together such a diverse lineup is a challenge. "We work with their own arts councils as well as with our own." He intentionally selects companies from a wide range of locations around the world, while juggling international touring schedules, and budgets. With the 5th anniversary season, he wanted an emphasis on new material - hence the slew of new works and premieres.
"Of course, there's that artistic journey we want to take audiences on," Ibrahimof adds. Last year, he mentions that the program presented at Ryerson was female-centric. This year, the focus is on global Indigenous artists.
"We've been building up to this moment. We just wanted it to be a special season."Along with marking a significant milestone for the international dance festival, FFDN is about raising the profile of dance in the city overall, and in Canada in general.
"It's the right time for this dance model in Canada, in Toronto," Ibrahimof says, pointing out that many international dance companies hit Montreal and then NYC, skipping Toronto entirely. He's hoping to change that. "I think the time is right."
In addition to the performances, he's excited about the International Presenters Program, where he invites international presenters to come see Toronto artists in a showcase format. "We already have 20 presenters signed up," he says. Ibrahimof notes that Toronto artists have benefited from this programme over the last three years. "It's already designed to raise the profile of the dance community in Toronto - and Canada."
There is no shortage of dance talent in Toronto, and it's only right that the city should take its place among the dance centres of the world. But, as Ibrahimof notes, it will take a community effort to get the Toronto dance scene a bigger place in the culture mix. There is reason for optimism, and he's excited, in particular, about the upcoming season of dance in Toronto.
"I feel like 2020 will be a dance season like no other."
• Fall for Dance North offers all festival tickets for only $15.
• Find tickets & the full lineup at the link.
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| Grupo Corpo – Dança Sinfônica by Rodrigo Pederneiras. Photo by Jose Luiz Pederneiras. |
AT MERIDIAN HALL (FORMERLY THE SONY CENTRE)
A signature mix of exceptional dance from Canada and around the world
PROGRAM 1
October 2 at 7:30pm (official festival opening) + October 3 at 7:30pm
Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto): GH 5.0 by Hanna Kiel
featuring live music by Greg Harrison
Independent choreographer Hanna Kiel created GH 5.0 with Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) at the invitation of Artistic Director Christopher House.
The New Zealand Dance Company (New Zealand): Sigan by KIM Jae Duk
North American debut I North American premiere
Exploring qualities of meditation and attack, Sigan evokes the traditional Korean martial art of taekkyeon in its movement vocabulary, which integrates the whole body in a quicksilver style.
Skånes Dansteater (Sweden): Dare to Wreck by Madeleine Månsson and Peder Nilsson
North American premiere
In this highly nuanced duet, choreographed and performed by Madeleine Månsson and Peder Nilsson of Sweden’s Skånes Dansteater, the artists access a range of expression through both subtle and intense physicality.
Grupo Corpo (Brazil): Dança Sinfônica by Rodrigo Pederneiras
Canadian premiere
In an act of turning back that is reflected in the movement motifs themselves, Grupo Corpo’s choreographer Rodrigo Pederneiras wove Dança Sinfônica from elements of previous works he created over the Brazilian company’s history, to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2015.
PROGRAM 2
October 4 at 7:30pm + October 5 at 2pm
Shantala Shivalingappa (India/France): Shiva Tarangam by Shantala Shivalingappa
featuring live music
Canadian premiere
Madras-born and Paris-based, acclaimed dancer Shantala Shivalingappa has trained in kuchipudi from a young age, with her mother, Savitry Nair, and then with Master Vempati Chinna Satyam.
Conversation by Caroline ‘Lady C’ Fraser (Toronto) – FFDN COMMISSION
featuring live music by re.verse
World premiere
Caroline ‘Lady C’ Fraser is widely known on the global street dance scene for her versatility. Live music, by the Toronto-based group re.verse, layers six-string electric base, electric guitar, keys and drums with blended beats, grooves and vocal tracks in an integrated set that builds and shifts with the dancers.
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| The National Ballet of Canada – The Vertiginous Thrill of Exactitude by William Forsythe. Photo by Karolina Kuras |
featuring live music by The National Ballet of Canada Orchestra
In this signature work from 1996, William Forsythe takes the vocabulary of classical ballet — its verticality, balance and symmetry — and places it under immense pressure, generating high-speed twisting and torqueing along oblique angles and skewed lines.
FIDDLE EMBRACE by Anne Plamondon (Montreal) – FFDN COMMISSION
with dancers from the Ryerson School of Performance (Toronto)
featuring live music
Anne Plamondon’s process is driven by a quest for meaning, for revelation of her own truth and that of others. With FIDDLE EMBRACE, eighteen dancers from Toronto’s Ryerson School of Performance fully commit to embodying Plamondon’s movement world with resonance and sensitivity. The festival premiere of FIDDLE EMBRACE concludes Plamondon’s two-year residency with FFDN, in partnership with Ryerson School of Performance.
AT RYERSON THEATRE
An international selection of current Indigenous dance expressions
PROGRAM 3
October 4 at 7:30pm + October 5 at 7:30pm + October 6 at 2pm
The New Zealand Dance Company (New Zealand): In Transit by Louise Potiki Bryant
North American debut I North American premiere
In this work, Maori choreographer, dancer and video artist Louise Potiki Bryant evokes a textured weave of earth and beings, of time now and time eternal.
Mani.Deux by Northfoot Movement / Cody Berry (Toronto) – FFDN COMMISSION
featuring live music
World premiere
In honour of two-spirited people, Mani.Deux offers an abstract acknowledgment of the history and revived acceptance of this ultimately non-translatable, non-binary Indigenous identity.
Jasmin Sheppard (Australia): Choice Cut by Jasmin Sheppard
North American debut / North American premiere
Jasmin Sheppard is a contemporary dancer and choreographer, a Tagalak and Kurtjar Aboriginal woman with Irish, Chinese and Hungarian ancestry. Choice Cut explores parallels between her experience as a First Nations woman and the colonization of the land known as Australia.
Bulareyaung Dance Company (Taiwan): LUNA by Bulareyaung Pagarlava
featuring live a cappella
North American premiere
Bulareyaung Dance Company embraces Indigenous practices of the Taiwanese tribes, under the leadership of choreographer Bulareyaung Pagarlava.
FREE Programming at Union Station
Unexpected dance encounters beyond the theatre
September 23–October 5
Open Studio – September 23–25
Our signature ‘dance studio without walls’, returns to Union Station’s West Wing from September 23-25, for three (3) full days of rehearsals and classes from select artists and companies from our Mainstage programs. Catch a behind-the-scenes peek at the creative working processes of our festival artists within the uniquely beautiful context of Canada’s busiest transit hub.
THE BIG SOCIAL – October 5
A full day of social dance awaits… THE BIG SOCIAL offers an opportunity for the general public to dive into the movement of three distinct social dance styles, all with live music. Featuring swing, tango, and Haudenosaunee (Indigenous) social dances, THE BIG SOCIAL is a moment to learn some new moves in a beginner’s workshop and celebrate dancing together in a social setting, in the stunningly renovated West Wing at Union Station.
THE BIG SOCIAL is hosted in partnership with Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Lindy Hop Revolution, and Bulent & Lina Tango.
In addition to its ticketed performances and free programming at Union Station, FFDN features an extensive variety of ancillary events and programming that seek to enrich audience appreciation for the form and offer dance practitioners opportunities to enhance their craft and career. Activities in 2019 will include:
• Complimentary master classes and workshops for dance artists and non-dancers.
• The return of its popular artist talks, both at MERIDIAN HALL (formerly the Sony Centre) and Ryerson Theatre.
• New for 2019, the Harbourfront Centre will act as the main hub of the International Presenters Program.
Fall for Dance North 2019
October 2–6, 2019
Venues: MERIDIAN HALL (formerly the Sony Centre)
1 Front St. East, Toronto, ON
Ryerson Theatre 43 Gerrard St. East, Toronto, ON
Union Station 65 Front St. West, Toronto, ON
Ticket Prices: $15
Tickets and Info: ffdnorth.com
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