Fall For Dance North Announces Line-up For 2021 Festival

Toronto's premier international dance festival Fall for Dance North (FFDN) is thrilled to announce its seventh edition from Sept. 11-Oct. 29, 2021. FFDN will present its largest festival line-up to date, showcasing a hybrid mix of electrifying in-person performances and original digital content for its local and global audience, including the world premiere of 10 festival commissions.

The innovative program will feature a collection of real-time, livestream performances from Toronto and films shot on location in India, Cuba and London, UK; the launch of a new outdoor performance series, Heirloom - performed in Toronto's surrounding communities; the premiere of an interactive, jazz-themed photo and augmented reality exhibit at Union Station - curated by FFDN Artists-in-Residence Natasha Powell (Toronto) and Kimberley Cooper (Calgary); and a short documentary that follows the development of a new creation during a two-week, isolated residency in Orillia with Powell and 11 students from The School of Performance Dance program at Ryerson University.*

"This year's hybrid edition of FFDN brings us one step closer to our vision for a new festival format fit for our changing and increasingly virtual world," says Ilter Ibrahimof, FFDN Artistic Director. "We are thrilled to partner with acclaimed filmmakers to elevate the quality of our digital dance presentation with striking original content produced specifically by FFDN for a worldwide audience. With our continued presentation partnership with Union Station and our new outdoor performance series Heirloom, we are excited to bring safe and sustainable in-person dance experiences to life.

"I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge and thank our incredible audience, supporters, board and team for their tireless support and efforts throughout the challenges of the last 18 months. I am very proud to say that, through our collective efforts, FFDN has not only weathered the storm but has emerged revitalized and ready to continue our work bringing the best of Canadian and international dance to as wide an audience as possible, in more places than ever and with a continued focus on accessibility."

This year's festival presents a strikingly diverse series of works from some of today's finest international and Toronto-based dance artists. Premiering on October 13, the 2021 Signature Program features a hotly anticipated, globally-inspired three-part performance film directed by acclaimed Indo-Canadian filmmaker Vikram Dasgupta. The program captures the world premiere of Bloom from Canadian choreographer Aszure Barton performed by Cuba's Malpaso Dance Company, filmed in Havana; and My Mother's Son by South African choreographer Mthuthuzeli November (Ballet Black) performed with his brother and one of The National Ballet of Canada's newest principal dancers, Siphe November, in their first-ever duet, filmed at the Battersea Arts Centre in London, UK; as well as a transcendent performance by the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, filmed in Bangalore in the dynamic dance community, Nrityagram Dance Village, where dance is a way of life.

Additional livestream presentation highlights include an Ontario premiere of the full-length work +(dix) from Côté Danse, choreographed by Guillaume Côté, live streamed from Harbourfront Centre Theatre on Sept. 23; a double bill presentation directed by William Yong, featuring world premieres by Toronto choreographer Sara Porter and Dancemakers resident artist Danah Rosales, live streamed from The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance on Oct. 7; and a Canadian premiere of More Forever from U.S. collaborative duo, tap and jazz dancer Caleb Teicher and contemporary pianist and composer Conrad Tao, live streamed from Harbourfront Centre Theatre on Oct. 26.