Get big bang for your 10 bucks
Dance Weekend features everything from hip hop to flamenco in three-day festival
Everyone likes a bargain and where the live performing arts are concerned it’s hard to beat the $10 deal Dance Ontario has been offering Toronto audiences each January for more than two decades.
Under the banner “Dance Weekend,” Dance Ontario again convenes a mini-festival including 29 companies or solo artists in short performances spread over three days. It’s programmed to be family-friendly, and as much fun for newcomers as for seasoned dance fans, with a broad range of styles and up-and-comers as well as established artists. You can sample everything from hip hop and belly dance to classical Indian dance, flamenco, ballet, contemporary and much, much more.
Dance Ontario also commissions new works from local artists, the only ones performed on all three programs. This year’s artists are the much lauded dancer-choreographer Louis Laberge-Côté and Jacob Niedzwiecki, known for his experimental exploration of technology in dance and virtual or augmented reality.
It’s hard to cherry-pick from such a vast array of offerings, but here are some sample highlights. Note that the times shown are approximate. Friday Linnea Swan (CORPUS): In her amusing Swan Lake Syndrome, cocreated and directed by David Danzon, veteran Toronto dance artist Swan, portraying an over-the-hill ballerina, begins the proceedings right in the box office lobby. Her white tutu and toe shoes are the only signs of traditional ballet you’ll likely see all weekend. (6:30 p.m.)
Battle (TUDS-Gadfly): Toronto urban dance mavens Apolonia Ve- lasquez and Ofilio Sinbadinho are behind Dance Weekend’s first dance battle. Talented street dancers duke it out in improvised displays of agility and individual flair. If you ever thought dance was boring, Battle will change your mind. (9:20 p.m.) Saturday Sampradaya Dance Creations: If you’re curious to sample the diversity of Indian classical dance, the Toronto premiere of Sampradaya’s Nritya Sangam is just the ticket. It draws on four major traditional styles, weaving a rich tapestry of gestures, rhythms and captivating music. (5 p.m.) Ryerson Dances: Pre-professional students in Ryerson’s BFA program present an excerpt from a stunning 90-minute work made for them last fall by internationally celebrated Canadian choreographer James Kudelka. It’s a tour de force as 24 dancers negotiate complex unison moves and evolving patterns without any
Petits rêves,
musical score. (6 p.m.) Sunday Arkan Dance Company: This youthful performing wing of Toronto’s Ukrainian Academy of Dance kicks up its heels in Polissian Suite, characterized by surging energy, intricate stamping and dazzlingly high leg movements. You may leave wanting to learn the hopak. (1:35 p.m.) Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre: These high-school aged performers put many a “professional” troupe to shame. For Dance Weekend they revive Petits rêves, a recent commission from choreographer Sylvie Bouchard, and a company classic, Les Belles Heures by Carol Anderson. (6:15 p.m.) Dance Ontario’s Dance Weekend is at the Fleck Dance Theatre, 207 Queens Quay W., Friday to Sunday. Friday shows start at 6:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday run 1 to 7 p.m., but you don’t have to sit through everything. Visit danceontario.ca for more information.