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Fall for Dance North
Toronto’s Premier International Dance Festival
Fall For Dance North
Originating from the heart of Canada’s largest city and beloved for its multicultural breadth, Fall for Dance North (FFDN) is Toronto’s premier international dance festival. Under the artistic direction of Ilter Ibrahimof, FFDN is committed to expanding the audience for dance – in-person and through immersive performances on film. Extraordinary works by Canadian and international artists captured by FFDN filmmakers for Marquee TV include: Lalita Lavanga by Nrityagram Dance Ensemble, My Mother’s Son by Siphe November and Mthuthuzeli November, X (DIX) by Côté Danse, and Bloom by Malpaso Dance Company from FFDN’s 2021 season, all directed by Renette and David Berman Filmmaker-in-Residence Vikram Dasgupta, as well as More Forever by Caleb Teicher & Company and Conrad Tao directed by Oscar-nominated Barbara Willis Sweete.
FFDN’s first festival was praised for its energy: “It felt like the audience’s collective enthusiasm and joy would blow the roof off the Sony Centre.” And 2015 was only the beginning. Since then, the two-week festival has commissioned 30 original works, welcomed award-winning director Vikram Dasgupta as Filmmaker-in-Residence, created first loves and renewed passions for dance in all its many forms. FFDN has been twice named by the Globe and Mail as a cultural event of the year and received consistent critical acclaim: “As this festival inevitably always does, it gave us new perspectives and cracked open the world of dance a little more.”
“FFDN exists to break boundaries and remove barriers”
Watch now on Marquee TV
Meet the Artists
Vikram Dasgupta
FFDN’s Renette and David Berman Filmmaker-in-ResidenceBorn in New Delhi, India into a family of artists, musicians, dancers, and scientists and yet Vikram’s biggest influence was his grandmother’s storytelling. A gold medalist in Fine Arts from Kolkata University, Vikram then came to Canada to pursue cinema. His short film, the multi-award-winning Calcutta Taxi funded by Bravofact! and NFB Canada, was in the races for the Academy Awards in 2014 after winning the Oscar Qualifier at the Aspen ShortFest 2013 and was screened at over 50+ festivals worldwide. His recent feature documentary Dog-Ma – is a deeply personal journey about his mother feeding 500+ stray dogs on the streets of Delhi.
Barbara Willis Sweete
Creator of More Forever, featuring Caleb Teicher & Company and Conrad TaoBarbara Willis Sweete is an Oscar-nominated film industry veteran and Founding Partner of Rhombus Media, specialists in Performing Arts Films. Now with Artemis Pictures, Barbara produces and directs films and tv programs in all genres. Her work has been shown at major international film festivals and has received many top awards, including an Oscar nomination, four Emmys, three Grammy nominations and many Geminis, Genies and Canadian Screen Awards. Over the last decade, Barbara has directed more than 30 Live in HD Operas that were transmitted live from New York’s Metropolitan Opera to 2600 cinemas in 76 countries.
Aszure Barton
Choreographer of Bloom, featuring Malpaso Dance CompanyArtist and choreographer Aszure Barton has collaborated with celebrated dancers and companies including Mikhail Baryshnikov, Misty Copeland, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, American Ballet , English National Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, Nederlands Dans Theater, among many others. She is a Bessie Award Honoree and has received numerous honors including the prestigious Arts & Letters Award. She was the first Martha Duffy resident artist at the Baryshnikov Arts Center and is an official ambassador of contemporary dance in Canada. She is the founder of Aszure Barton & Artists, an inter-disciplinary international dance project.
Surupa Sen
Choreographer of Nritaygram Dance Ensemble’s Lalita LavangaSurupa Sen (Artistic Director, Choreographer) was the first student to graduate from the Nrityagram Gurukula (School) and is a founding member of the Nrityagram Dance Ensemble. She learned Odissi from Guru Kelucharan Mahapatra and Protima Gauri, and Abhinaya (expressional dance) from Guru Kalanidhi Narayanan. For over two decades, Surupa has researched and expanded Odissi dance vocabulary and developed an aesthetic style that distinguishes the dancers from Nrityagram. Surupa has choreographed seven ensemble shows. In 2019, Surupa received the Sangeet Natak Akademi Puraskar, the highest award for the Performing Arts in India.
Mthuthuzeli November
Choreographer of My Mother’s SonBorn in Cape Town, South Africa, Mthuthuzeli started dancing at the age of 15 with the outreach program, Dance For All. In 2011 he was awarded a scholarship to attend the Cape Academy of Performing Arts (CAPA), where He graduated with a Distinction in 2014. He won a gold medal in the Contemporary category in the South Africa International Ballet Competition as a Junior in 2012, and as a senior in 2014. He has worked with Cape Dance Company under the direction of Debbie Turner. In 2015 He danced in the production of West Side Story before joining Ballet Black in September 2015. He made his first ballet for Ballet Black, Interrupted in July 2016 and created his own choreographic platform, M22 Movement Lab, collaborating with musicians, composers and designers to create new choreography for stage and film.
Guillaume Côté
Choreographer of Côté Danse’s X (DIX)Guillaume Côté studied at Canada’s National Ballet School and joined The National Ballet of Canada in 1999. He quickly rose through the ranks and was promoted to Principal Dancer in 2004. Since then, Mr. Côté has danced most of the major classical roles with The National Ballet of Canada and has been the leading male figure of the company. In 2013, in addition to his position as a Principal Dancer, Mr. Côté assumed the role of Choreographic Associate with The National Ballet of Canada. Since then, eight of his pieces entered the company’s repertoire. In 2021, Mr. Côté was appointed Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec.
Ilter Ibrahimof
Artistic Director, Fall for Dance NorthIlter Ibrahimof is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Fall for Dance North, Toronto’s Premier International Dance Festival. Born and raised in Istanbul, Turkey, Ilter moved to North America in 1998, first to attend Emerson College in Boston and then living and working in New York City and Montréal before settling in Toronto. As a creative mind in the dance field, Ilter is regularly invited to participate in various festivals and conferences in Canada and around the globe as a curator and speaker. In 2020, Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame awarded Ilter the Sandra Faire Next Generation Award.
Gallery
Podcast
Mambo, the FFDN Podcast
Connect with the artists of Fall for Dance North, many of which are featured in the festival films presented by Marquee TV. Expand your expectations of the art form through Fall for Dance North’s in-house podcast, Mambo.
Co-hosted by Artistic Director, Ilter Ibrahimof, and Turn Out Radio’s Nicole Inica Hamilton, Mambo brings you behind-the-scenes dance encounters and conversations with international dance artists and beyond.
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