Performing Dance Arts (www. PerformingDanceArts.ca), Toronto’s leading dance studio providing professional dance lessons for kids of all ages, weighs in on the Toronto Harbourfront’s promotion of diverse choreographers from across Canada.
Dance Immersion, which took place at the Harbourfront on the weekend of February 27, featured six of Canada’s most recognized emerging choreographers. The title of this year’s Dance Immersion was Footsteps Across Canada and concluded the Black History Month celebrations. (Source: Crabb, M., “Impressive new choreographers highlighted in Dance Immersion showcase,” Toronto Star web site, February 25, 2016; http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2016/02/25/impressive-new-choreographers-highlighted-in-dance-immersion-showcase.html.)
“Canada is such a diverse country overall and to see that being represented in dance is incredible,” says Ashley Daychak, creative director at Performing Dance Arts. “When most people think of this country they think of our many cultures and so this performance made sense in so many ways.”
Founder and curator of the Dance Immersion, Vivian Scarlett admitted it would have been easy to find choreographers only from Toronto, but chose to take a different direction. She wanted to capture the cultural traditions of choreographers and dancers from across the country and have them present that diversity through her show.
“We have such a large population of residents born outside of the country,” Daychak continues. “Those experiences seep into their expression and offer unique perspectives—all done through dance.”
As is to be expected, most of the choreographers were not born in Canada. The mix of these dance traditions with modern interpretations of dance in jazz, ballet, hip hop, and dance hall, offered spectators visions they may not have experienced.
“Just imagine how creative and how broad these interpretations can be. Dance, like any other artistic expression, is a combination of the individual and the environment he or she comes from,” Daychak explains. “Footsteps Across Canada captured this multitude of expression and put it on display for audiences to see.”
Performing Dance Arts provides both professional and casual dance lessons to children of all ages and levels. It operates out of a dance studio in the Woodbridge area and serves all of the York Region and the Greater Toronto Area.
