Toronto gets its first taste of the Fall for Dance experience.
A continuation of the internationally acclaimed Fall for Dance festival in New York, the three day Toronto event opens September 29, featuring 11 dance companies. Ranging from ballet, to tap, and contemporary, the diverse programs includesInter-Hoop, a First Nations dance directed by York alumna Santee Smith.
Smith, who graduated with an MA in York’s dance program in 2004, is an Onkwehon:we woman from the Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from Six Nations of the Grand River. She serves as the founding artistic director of Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, a contemporary and Indigenous dance company she opened in 2005.
“I think it is significant the Fall for Dance North presents First Nations artists on the world stage at the Sony Centre,” says Smith.
“To be able to share contemporary Indigenous performances with audiences is important for the recognition of dance and performance that emanates from this land and traditional territories. Our bodies, songs, and dances come from this land, past, present and future.”
Inter-hoop features four traditional Indigenous hoop dancers, who use hoops as props to aid in their storytelling through dance. As a circle, it holds significance in the dance, as it has no beginning nor end. It stands to honour the Aboriginal beliefs of continuity of spirits, and the union of inter-tribal nations who are united in music and dance, adds Smith.
The festival takes place at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, from September 29 to October 1. One of the key features to this festival is its accessibility. Tickets are only $10, with a variety of performers jammed into each day’s programming.
“We have two unique programs, and each program has six different works on it, and each of those works are wildly different,” says artistic director Ilter Ibrahimof.
Despite being one of the largest metropolitan cities in North America, Ibrahimof believes the dance audience is relatively small, and hopes festivals like Fall for Dance would encourage Torontonians to take a bigger interest in local dance companies.
Ibrahimof, who was the artistic advisor for the 2013 and 2014 Fall for Dance festivals in New York, collaborated with Mark Hammond and Madeleine Skoggard of the Sony Centre.
“We thought that this type of varied and highly accessible dance festival would help Toronto cultivate a stronger dance audience and expose the future generation of arts lovers to high quality dance,” says Ibrahimof.
In the material world we live in today, isolation and disconnection are common to come by. Arts and dance bring people from all cultures and beliefs together to celebrate life and unity. Much like the hoops, we are all connected, and artistic expressions remind us of the link that hold us together.
Doris Pozo, Contributor
Featured image collage courtesy of Fall for Dance North
