Toronto: DD Inc. celebrated it’s 9th Toronto International Dance Festival (TIDF) with a full house concert which was held on Sunday, October 23 at the Chinese Cultural Center of Greater Toronto in Scarborough, ON, showcasing global dance forms, all on one stage with the aim of promoting multiculturalism, gender empowerment and societal integration through celebration of art.
The festival line-up featured 22 dance performances from Serbian folk dance and Spanish Flamenco to Chinese and Indian traditional dance styles. List of performing dance companies as well as individuals included: Karen Flamenco, Nupura School of Music & Dance, Nirkoda Israeli Dancers of Toronto, Mississauga Chinese Arts Organization, Vivarta Center for Performing Arts, The Toronto Thai Dramatic Arts Troupe, Suprita Trilok & Priya Bangal, AJ Style Cine Dance Company, Toronto Kathakali School, Ensemble Topaz, Gouri Kundu, Kamengo Culture Troupe, Groupo Folklorico Tonatiuh, Sakura Performers, Dantitude Dance, Roosara Dance, SG Expressions, Mayura Creations, Starz Dance Academy, Serbian Folk Dance Ensemble ANIP VEZ, Elite Chinese Arts Troupe and DDA Canada.
All the performers maintained their streak of splendid extravaganzas entertaining the full house attendees at this event.
The show began with an opening note from Mary Ashok, Founder and Managing Director of Dancing Damsels Inc. The festival organizers then offered its tribute to Late Councillor Cynthia Lai, who passed away last Friday. This was followed by a special video message from the event’s Chief Guest, MP Shaun Chen, who is the MP of Scarborough North and a huge supporter of the festival. After the video message, a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held which officially marked the beginning of the 2022 festival by Guests of Honour Ron Royer and Devin Scott of the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra, Angela Chan President of CCCGT, Sponsor Sujith Nair of Wealthkare Financials, Legal Advisor for DD Lata Menon, Lead Choreographers Ljubomir Luka Popovic, Adrianna Castillo, Paromita Kar, Nilantha Karunarathna, Cynthia Chow and Gayathri Vijayakumar.
This year’s festival received tremendous support from the community and around 1000 people including performers and volunteers gathered to enjoy the event. Adding feathers to their cap, the event organizers successfully managed this mega event, resulted in a houseful concert of enthralled art lovers.
TIDF 2022 was extremely versatile and well-rounded with free dance workshops (Bhangra, K-POP and Belly dance) held a day before the festival; a fun and free photo booth experience for participants and guests to enjoy on the day of the festival and finally, free pizza to end the event!
The festival was incredibly well-received by both the audience and the participants. Organizers have already received inquiries about next year’s festival (again, from audience and participants alike). Dancing Damsels is ecstatic to announce that 2023 will mark the 10th anniversary of the Toronto International Dance Festival and the biggest celebration to date. More details about the 2023 festival to follow. To stay updated with all TIDF news, please follow us on Instagram @tidfcanada and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TIDFCanada.
“ I am so grateful for all the performers, audience members, sponsors, partners, volunteers, friends and family who made the event successful. The amount of talent seen on stage was incredible; from traditional African drumming dance presented by the Kamengo Culture Troupe to traditional Israeli dance by the Nirkoda Israeli Dancers of Toronto. I am beyond thrilled and filled with possibilities for next year’s festival.” Parul Verma, Festival Manager.
You can watch all the previous festival videos by subscribing their youtube channel: TIDF CANADA
