Artword's Guide to the Arts: Dance Companies in Toronto


Artword's Guide to Dance Companies, Dance Venues and Resources in Toronto
Dance Companies	Dance Venues	More Guide: What's On sources Performance Venues (& map) Theatre Companies Dance Music Film/ Video Information compiled by Judith Sandiford
Ballet Jörgen Canada, founded in 1987 to create an opportunity for Canadian choreographers in classical ballet, is Ontario's second largest dance company, known for its innovative, accessible programming to communities. Ballet Creole, under Patrick Parson, focuses on the performing arts of the Caribbean and Africa, in Canada through "creolization" or fusion of diverse dance and music traditions. Canadian Children's Dance Theatre is a modern dance repertory company of 12-18-year-old dancers based in Toronto. COBA Collective of Black Artists creates and presents the finest traditions in dance and music that celebrate and reflect an Africanist aesthetic. Corpus Dance Projects runs Dusk Dances in parks each summer. Dancemakers. In 1974, a group of independent dancers joined together to create and perform new choreography. In 2002 Dancemakers Centre for Creation opened in the Distillery District. Danny Grossman Dance Company, formed in 1977 by Danny Grossman to present his own choreography and other dance artists "... to reflect my personal values of equality, pacifism, honesty, courage, and social responsibility, sympathy for the underdog and a willingness to reveal the demons." Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company, a Toronto group with roots in Flamenco fused with modern dance forms. HUM, under artistic director Susanna Hood, explores the boundaries between movement, sound, theatre, improvisation and other media. Kaeja d’Dance is a Toronto based dance company under co-artistic directors Karen & Allen Kaeja that creates contemporary dance work, dance films and education and outreach programs. Menaka Thakkar Dance Company is Canada’s oldest Indian dance company, exposing audiences to traditional Indian dance. Nouvel Exposé Dance Troupe, Toronto-based, specializes in traditional and contemporary dance from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Congo and Egypt. Honoring tradition and innovation equally. OMO Dance Company, founded in 1994, is a dynamic multiracial company that engages its audiences through Artistic Director Debbie Wilson’s choreography, and through collaborations with composers, artists and designers. Peggy Baker Dance Projects, since 1990 by modern dancer Peggy Baker, who is dedicated to the partnership of movement and live music to enrich the art of dance, and has performed with many outstanding musicians. REAson d'être productions, founded by Kathleen Rea to create dance events that use dance, vocalization, text and physical theatre to express the human condition. Toronto Dance Theatre, formed in 1968, now under Choreographer Christopher House, creates and performs original Canadian choreography. The TDT also operates the Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester Street. Zeus Opera Dance Company under Artistic Director and Choreographer Janet Atkinson.	Betty Oliphant Theatre, 404 Jarvis Street (north of Carlton), the National Ballet School's professional theatre, seats 297. Harbourfront Centre 235 Queens Quay West, on Toronto's waterfront, Premiere Dance Theatre (450 seats),a theatre created in 1983 specifically for dance. Toronto Dance Theatre operates the Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester Street, east of Parliament, known in the dance community as "The Winch". The Distillery District houses two studio spaces run by performance companies, both in The Cannery, Building 58, on the third floor: Dancemakers Centre for Creation, Studio #313 in the Cannery, seats from 60 to 96 for dance and theatre productions. Tapestry / Nightwood New Work Studio, Studio #315, can seat up to 100, is run jointly by Tapestry New Opera and Nightwood Theatre.
	Dance Organizations / Resources
	Artists' Health Centre, at Toronto Western Hospital, offers health care to professional creative and performing artists. Dance Current is a monthly magazine on the the art and culture of Canadian dance, plus a two-month calendar of events. Dance Collection Danse (DCD), started in 1983 to preserve the works of Canadian dance artists of the 40s and 50s, is committed to the ongoing process of preserving works of artists through documentation. Dance Umbrella of Ontario (DUO), founded in 1988, is a not-for-profit, non-membership-based organization to assist professional dance creators, collectives and small scale dance companies in Ontario. Dance Umbrella clients. Dance Ontario, founded in 1976, is a membership-based association that supports the advancement of all forms of dance and serves the needs of the Ontario dance community. Has a great list of dance performance and rehearsal spaces DanceWorks, a presenter of independent dance, began as a collective of independent dance artists in 1977, and now presents over 20 mainstage and co-presentation events each season. Mimi Beck, Curator. fFIDA presents the Toronto International Dance Festival in the Distillery District in August each year, showcasing independent dance artists and choreographers.