Stage Door News

Toronto: Toronto Dance Theatre announces its 2022/23 season

Thursday, August 4, 2022

Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) is thrilled to unveil a robust season of creative programming under the Artistic Direction of Andrew Tay who was appointed to the position in August 2020.

From a picnic in the park fusing culinary and dance expressions, to a duet of contemporary works that puts Bharatanatyam alongside Vogue and Ballroom styles, this season offers an exhilarating program of work that finds points of intersection between dance, community, and a broad palette of artistic expression.

“This season’s programming invites us to consider different artistic practices and the ways that they intersect – how can they be in dialogue and relate to each other, when the ways we create or the forms that we express ourselves through can seem so different?” comments Tay. “By supporting works that explore the relationship between divergent dance forms, projects that stimulate conversations between communities, and events that put dance into a conversation with other mediums (even food!), we hope to simultaneously celebrate our points of connection as well as the distinct perspectives of the artists involved in this ambitious season! We are also really excited to be collaborating with many new guest dancers this year, including those never seen before in TDT productions. I hope you will join us with curiosity and in the spirt of discovery!”

Bringing a characteristically fresh program for 2022/23, the season begins this September with DISKO PIKNIK, a free, one-day outdoor event in Earl Bales Park that celebrates food, dance, and creative exchange with the community. Offering a curated four-course meal, with each dish inspired by a choreographic work, DISKO PIKNIK will feature performances by Laurence Lemieux and Andrew Tay, Tanveer Alam, Matthew "Snoopy" Cuff, and the dance collective Flvr Squad. Details about the guest chef are coming soon.

In February, TDT presents a new premiere production featuring the TDT ensemble with choreographer Ashley Colours Perez and local music duo LAL (Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murray) in conversation with TDT’s artistic director Andrew Tay, THE MAGIC OF ASSEMBLY. Taking an experimental approach, the work will emerge from provocations between Tay and the invited artists.

In March, contemporary dance collides with Bharatanatyam, Vogue, and Ballroom for a captivating double bill, CONVERGENT DIVERGENCY, featuring new work by Atri Nundy and Danah Rosales.

RESIDENCY & COLLABORATION

Continuing their legacy of nurturing creative exploration and development, TDT’s residency and creation projects continue this season. Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis will be continuing their expressive residency at TDT to further their project, Ease + Agita (soft place to land). Initiated during the 2021/22 Season, Leelee returns to spend dedicated research weeks collaborating with the TDT company and selected guest artists as they continue to develop this new creation.

The Pilot Episodes residency program returns for a third iteration, in which six choreographers or creators will have their first experience collaborating with TDT company dancers. Consisting of an immersive, one-week residency in the spring for each creator to experiment in the studio, Pilot Episodes creates an open space for artistic risk-taking without the pressure of producing a finished work. Each week culminates with a community sharing, as part of TDT’s effort to generate engaging discussions around working methods and choreographic processes. A Call for Artists will be issued in Fall 2022.

Lastly, throughout the 2022/23 season TDT will be collaborating with fellow performance companies and collectives to help bring unique public activations, movement workshops and more to the Toronto community. Partner companies will include Art Spin, dance Immersion, RT Collective, and the Toronto Dance Community Love-In, with new details of the upcoming collaborations coming soon.

Ticketing

Free tickets to Disko Piknik are now available and tickets for the remainder of the 2022/23 programming will launch on later determined dates. For more information, visit www.tdt.org or call 416-967-1365, x123.


TORONTO DANCE THEATRE 2022/23 SEASON

Disko Piknik

September 17, 2022

Earl Bales Park

Free dance event; registration is required

This is not your average picnic lunch! Taking place at Earl Bales Park in North York, Disko Piknik celebrates the love of food, diverse dance forms, and creative exchanges between communities. The event will involve a curated four-course meal, with each dish inspired by choreography that audiences will enjoy from their picnic blanket. Featuring performances from Laurence Lemieux and Andrew Tay, Tanveer Alam, Matthew "Snoopy" Cuff, and the dance collective Flvr Squad, this culinary-dance fusion event is going to be a feast for all senses.

Disko Piknik’s guest chef to be revealed soon!

This is a free public event supported by the City of Toronto’s ShowLoveTO Partner Activation program and Toronto Arts Council’s Animating Toronto Parks initiative.


The Magic of Assembly

February 2 – 11, 2023

Winchester Street Theatre

We are thrilled to develop a new production featuring the TDT ensemble with choreographer Ashley Colours Perez and local beloved music duo LAL (Rosina Kazi and Nicholas Murray) in conversation with TDT’s artistic director Andrew Tay.

Taking an experimental approach, the work will emerge from provocations between Tay and each of the invited artists, privileging the meeting of artistic practices towards a less linear way to collaborate. They will explore the magic created from the act of assembling as artists, and the irreplaceable experience of gathering to witness performance in the current moment.


Convergent Divergency

New works by Atri Nundy and Danah Rosales

March 23 – April 1, 2022

Winchester Street Theatre

Get ready for a captivating double bill where contemporary dance practices meet Bharatanatyam and Vogue/Ballroom with new creations from Atri Nundy and Danah Rosales.

Choreographer Atri Nundy will be expanding upon research from her recent Pilot Episodes residency at TDT, in which she will bring together 3 TDT company dancers and 3 Bharatanatyam dancers in her latest work. Meanwhile, former TDT dancer and the Mother of Kiki House of Siriano’s Toronto Chapter, Danah Rosales, will be collaborating with company dancers as well as dancers from the Vogue/Ballroom community. Join us at the theatre next spring to see what sparks when these dance forms intersect!


Ease + Agita (soft place to land)

Expressive Residency (pt. 2) with Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis

Ongoing

Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis will be continuing their expressive residency at TDT to further their project, Ease + Agita (soft place to land). Initiated during the 2021/22 Season, Leelee will return to spend dedicated research weeks collaborating with the TDT company and selected guest artists as they work towards a development of their new creation. While exploring themes of rigour and care, Ease + Agita (soft place to land)addresses the past, present, and future context of dance theatre.


Pilot Episodes

Residencies: April – May 2023

We’re bringing back Pilot Episodes for its third iteration, where 6 choreographers or creators will have their first experience collaborating with TDT company dancers. Consisting of an immersive, one-week residency for each creator to experiment in the studio, Pilot Episodes creates an open space for artistic risk-taking without the pressure of producing a finished work. Each week will culminate with a community sharing, as part of our effort to generate engaging discussions around working methods and choreographic processes. Stay tuned for when we do a Call for Artists in Fall 2022.


Collaborations in the City

Throughout 2022/23 Season

TDT will be collaborating with fellow performance companies and collectives to help bring unique public activations, movement workshops and more to the Toronto community. This includes partnerships with Art Spin, dance Immersion, RT Collective, and the Toronto Dance Community Love-In. Stay tuned for when we share more details about each partnership!


About Toronto Dance Theatre

TDT is the legendary artistic home and collaboration hub where, since 1968, curious creators, ensemble performers and audiences inspire each other to create and celebrate new explorations of dance – playful to provocative, from near and far – that reflect our times, our diverse cultures, and communities. Ever fresh and adventurous, TDT is one of Canada’s leading innovators in contemporary dance while being one of the very few dance companies in the country with an ensemble of dancers.