Fall For Dance North was based in 2014 by Ilter Ibrahimof and has since turn out to be one of the crucial prestigious dance festivals in Canada.
Following Ibrahimof’s departure in 2024, Robert Binet was appointed creative director and Lily Sutherland competition director. They each function co-executive administrators.
All eyes are on the primary season of FFDN that the brand new group has normal, which runs till October 26.
Robert Binet, 34, is an acclaimed choreographer with a background in mentorship, directing artist improvement and spear-heading the creation of recent dance works.
For over a decade Lily Sutherland, 33, has been an skilled producer and programmer with a number of necessary Canadian dance and theatre festivals. Since 2018, she has held varied programming positions at FFDN.
Our Zoom name about their first season befell with Sutherland in Toronto, and Binet in Vienna, the place he was setting a piece on the junior firm of Wiener Staatsballett. The excerpt that follows is their in-depth dialog about FFDN’s 2025 programming.
Robert Binet & Lily Sutherland: The Interview
(With their permission, the voices of Binet and Sutherland have been mixed into single solutions.)
In taking a look at previous years, the combined invoice programming appeared rather more eclectic, whereas this yr the signature applications appear extra centered, as in the event that they every have a particular connection.
This yr we did determine a key theme inside every program, however in such a means that audiences can really feel launched to all kinds of dance types inside the connection factors.
Which I feel ties into your saying that FFDN would appoint an artist-in-residence who would play a big position within the competition.
Having an artist-in-residence was the very very first thing we introduced about this yr’s competition. It was one of many first issues we had talked about after we have been discussing technique — how can we put native artists into a global context? As a result of we’re a global competition, for a neighborhood choreographer to share their work alongside the work of choreographers on that stage may very well be so inspirational, so significant and such a tremendous studying alternative.
Meaning you’re going to have an artist-in-residence yearly.
And will probably be a Toronto choreographer of some kind who works exterior of ballet as a result of it’s more durable to have a full-time profession exterior of ballet. The concept is that we fee a piece from the artist-in-residence, they usually co-curate a signature program in addition to doing a little group engagement work.
We wish the artist-in-residence program to be a second when a unprecedented native choreographer can actually enhance their profile and work at a bigger scale than they’ve ever labored at below regular circumstances. So, it’s creation, curation, and group, since you want all three to construct a sustainable profession.
You selected the wonderful Esie Mensah to be the primary artist-in-residence.
She is a choreographer we massively admire, and we expect she’s a unprecedented expertise. Her work was developed to the diploma the place it was prepared for extra eyes on it.
Which can be why you’re opening FFDN with the AFROFUSION Signature Program.
Esie co-curated an Afrofusion program as a result of she is an Afrofusion choreographer. A part of choosing an artist-in-residence is somebody whose creative profile lends itself to that sort of signature program dialogue.
We instructed Esie, we need to fee a brand new work from you, however we additionally need to deliver two of your heroes, two of the individuals who work in Afrofusion such as you do, however do it in a different way, do it internationally, individuals that you just actually need to be aligned with. And so, we labored together with her to determine these individuals and convey them right here.
Clarify the variations.
Afrofusion is so many various Afro-diasporic dance kinds introduced collectively that we will present them fused in numerous methods.
Esie’s work relies on conventional West African dance and samba. London’s Dickson MBI’s fashion is road dance and modern dance, and from New York, Sekou McMiller’s Afro Latin Soul focuses extra on salsa, mambo, faucet, and jazz.
So, you actually get that full spectrum of the various completely different influences that exist inside Afrofusion and that’s what we’re hoping to convey via these performances.
In regards to the HOMEGROWN Signature Program that includes Toronto choreographers — Esie Mensah co-curated this one as properly.
To be sincere, we had so many concepts on the Afrofusion program, it made sense to unfold a few of these concepts throughout two applications so we prolonged her co -curation right here. Because it seems, HOMEGROWN is essentially the most combined of all three signature applications as a result of it’s not tied collectively by one fashion of dance.
You get Reverence by Ethan Colangelo, a up to date dance work from the Nationwide Ballet, you get road dance from Woman C, you get conventional West African dance from Lua Shayenne, and also you get African road dance from Kwasi and Ambrose.
With the HOMEGROWN program, we need to actually spotlight what this metropolis has, as a result of with a global competition, we fear that folks suppose that the day after the competition, all these things they’ve cherished for 2 weeks is gone, and we actually need to hammer dwelling that these persons are right here, you possibly can observe their work, as a result of we don’t need to be a blip for 2 weeks, we need to be constructing audiences for the entire yr for these artists,
What’s your rationale for placing Kathak and ballet on the identical signature program?
When Rob first considered this job, one in every of his issues was that FFDN was a spot the place he may deliver Kathak and ballet collectively. He and Kathak dancer Tanveer Alam had usually talked in regards to the similarities and variations between the types, and the way ballet and South Asian dance have knowledgeable one another’s improvement. Tanveer is a co-curator on this program. He’s a unprecedented Kathak dancer and choreographer
These are two dance types which are extremely technical, extremely musical, with actually quick footwork and actually lush arm actions. They hit all the identical pleasure centres for an viewers member, although they’re fully completely different dance types with very completely different histories. This program toggles backwards and forwards between these two types so that folks can actually see the connections and the variations. And a ballet viewers can fall for Kathak and a Kathak viewers can fall for ballet.
And dancers from the Royal Ballet — how did you handle to swing that little cookie?
Rob has been doing a whole lot of work with them in the previous few years, and the Royal’s creative director Kevin O’Hare could be very supportive of this concept of bringing Kathak and ballet collectively.
The Royal dancers are bringing works that aren’t usually seen in Canada — a few of the gems from their repertoire like Kenneth Macmillan’s Winter Desires pas de deux , and Frederick Ashton’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits, issues which are conventional, however can even be new for audiences.
It’s such an thrilling position with the competition to have completely different conversations with ballet and put it in numerous frames, and have it discuss in regards to the variations between East and West, and to get to place it into dialogues like this. Such a excessive distinction could be actually thrilling, as a result of Kathak and ballet, as related as they’re, in addition they are simply such completely different visible and musical experiences.
INTIMATE PAIRINGS and UP NEXT are the 2 new collection you’ve created. What’s the thought behind them?
They each got here from a spot of us wanting to present audiences alternative ways to expertise dance that aren’t essentially “come sit within the theatre for an hour and a half.”
How does INTIMATE PAIRINGS match into that definition?
With INTIMATE PAIRINGS, all of the reveals are 45 minutes, and each seat is a entrance row seat. It’s only one row of seats within the spherical on the Citadel.
As a result of while you’re actually up shut and when it feels actually intimate, we selected works intentionally that are supposed to be at their most extraordinary as a result of that creates a memorable expertise for somebody and that can get them coming again to bop.
This system Braids & Heritage is an element efficiency and half participatory line dance, a piece by Montreal’s Jossua Satinée and Stacey Désilier. The second program options two solo works, gutted by Katie Adams-Gossage and Pendulum by Priyanka Tope.
You may say, you’re within the entrance row, it’s simply 45 minutes, come in your means dwelling from work. And hopefully they’ll take an opportunity on it.
And UP NEXT, what’s its particular function?
The concept was we needed to shut the competition with one thing that doesn’t really feel like an ending, however factors to what’s arising subsequent for dance on this metropolis.
So, on this system, we’ve obtained a collaboration with Luminato that introduces Azzam Mohamed, who they are going to be presenting a bigger work from down the street. We’ve obtained the Champion Dancers from Tkaronto Open, which is our Indigenous powwow-style dance competitors. We’ve obtained a brand-new work from our scholar-in-residence Devon Healy and our artist -in -residence Esie Mensah that appears at how blindness and dance can work together. And, we’ve obtained a efficiency by the graduate yr college students from the TMU dance program choreographed by Sekou McMiller. So, it’s all meant to be issues that time to the place dance goes or performances which are arising within the season.
The format is totally relaxed so individuals can transfer round, they will sit, they will stand, they will seize a drink, they will chat to their mates, they will take a photograph. It’s extra like a celebration the place you get to see some nice dance.
The timing runs on a loop so principally, it’s the identical present that occurs thrice in a row Saturday, and thrice in a row Sunday so individuals can choose the time that fits them. The ticket value is $15, and the 4 works all sit inside a 55 minute loop, and that goes thrice every day.
UP NEXT is happening at The Nice Corridor at OCAD U — I didn’t even know that that venue existed. How huge is it?
It may possibly accommodate about 200 individuals. It’s a extremely stunning area, actually spacious, and really accessible. However the very nice factor is it’s three tales excessive and there’s balconies on ranges two and three so you may also go up and get a chicken’s eye view if you need.
You’re presenting Kate Hilliard and that’s one other new initiative.
We’re co-presenting Kate Hilliard’s dance set up Story Creatures with the AGO. It’s a 7-hour, put up apocalyptic piece about new beginnings, with two new dancers taking up every hour. It was offered as an excerpt just a few years in the past. She’s not dancing in it this time as a result of there’s rather a lot that she wish to oversee as an outdoor eye. However she’s put collectively an exquisite forged. Any FFDN ticket will get free entry into the AGO.
It’s a extremely stunning work, and we took it to the AGO they usually felt like it could be a extremely stunning match with their Joyce Wieland exhibition. And so we went again to Kate and her jaw simply dropped as a result of Wieland is one in every of her heroes, and somebody she had studied in college and who had been fairly an inspiration within the improvement of this work. It was simply a kind of issues that felt like the celebrities aligned.
After which to have that operating all day, Saturday and Sunday, on the AGO after we’ve obtained UP NEXT on at OCAD means we’ve obtained an actual hub of dance proper downtown for the final weekend of the competition.
- Discover particulars and tickets for Fall For Dance North [HERE].
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Paula Citron is a Toronto-based freelance arts journalist and broadcaster who hosts her personal web site, paulacitron.ca. For over 25 years, she was senior dance author for The Globe and Mail, affiliate editor of Opera Canada journal, arts reviewer for Classical 96.3 FM, and dance previews contributor to Toronto Life journal. She has been a visitor lecturer for varied cultural teams and universities, significantly on the position of the critic/reviewer, and has been a panellist on COC podcasts. Earlier than assuming a full-time journalism profession, Ms. Citron was a member of the drama division of the Claude Watson Faculty for the Arts.
