Turning heads on stage
Toronto/Montreal-based contemporary dance company bring eye-popping, expressive production to the Homburg Theatre
Stepping its way onto a P.E.I. stage later this month is contemporary dance company, Gadfly. Presented as part of Sobeys LIVE @ the Centre!, the troupe has turned heads nationwide, being named The Globe and Mail’s breakthrough performance of the year, dubbed “a class act…top of the line urban contemporary dance”.
Its body of work includes acrobatic performances at Ted Talks Toronto, Nuit Blanche and Luminato.
The crew is led by directors Ofilion Sinbadinho and Apolonia Velasquez, who created their signature Aybrid Movement style, an urban dance style with a twist. Born from Chilean and Guatemalan parents, Velasquez and Sinbadinho, Salvadorian native, have been creative collaborators for almost two decades.
Both francophones raised in Montreal, they established Gadfly in Toronto, an urban dancerooted company that “challenges established formats with moves that will set you back in your seat”, according to a recent Toronto Star review.
As a repertoire dance company, Gadfly has been moving people, posing provocative questions through their works and fusing styles and inspirations since 2006. With its full evening production of “Klorofyl”, Gadfly was the recipient of the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance. It has also been commissioned to create work across Canada for events and organizations such as Festival DansEncore, Nike, Ryerson University and for several charitable organizations.
“Extraordinary choreography,” says Christopher Hoile, in a review of the crew for EYE Weekly. “It’s terrifically exciting to see street dance liberated from the robotics of music videos and imbued with emotional expression.”