Toronto: The Dancing Damsels Inc. is proudly hosting the 2016 Toronto International Dance Festival (TIDF), on Saturday December 17th from 6pm -9pm at the Fleck Dance Theatre located in the Harbourfront center of Toronto – 207 Queens Quay W, Toronto ON M5J 2G8 · 416-973-4000.
The artistic vision of the dance festival is to showcase “All World Dance Forms on One Stage”. Tying in with the theme of the festival, dance styles ranging from Classical to Modern, Folk to Contemporary are included each year. Toronto’s leading performing artists and dance companies showcase their expertise in each dance style.
This is the 3rd year of the prestigious Toronto International Dance Festival and in
keeping with the festive season, this year’s show will have Santa taking the audience for an exhilarating cultural experience around the world. This event is a family friendly event and is open to all members of the public including youth and children.
Tickets for the 2016 Toronto International Dance Festival are available through the Harbourfront Centre Box Office
235 Queens Quay West
Toronto, ON
M5J 2G8
Phone: 416 973 4000, press 1
Fax: 416 954 0366
tickets@harbourfrontcentre.com
The Main Box Office at 235 Queens Quay West is open Tuesday through Saturday, 1pm – 6pm.
Prices are $25-$30 only.
History of the Dance Festival:
Launched in 2014 as the DD DanceFEST, the dance festival aimed to provide a platform for professional and emerging dancers from various cultural backgrounds in Toronto and at a reasonable cost to the general public.
Most dance festivals are focused on a specific dance styles or provide opportunity only to selective dance companies in Toronto. Such festivals are attended mostly by fellow artists of the same dance style or a small community of art lovers. Multicultural festivals on the other hand are segregated according to ethnicity thereby forcing people to be able to attend one or the other. Many such dance festivals do not feature emerging artists or dance groups who are new to Canada.
Being a group of passionate dance lovers, Dancing Damsels felt the need to fulfil these gaps by introducing an inclusive dance festival that will provide an opportunity for professional and community artists and showcase as many International dance forms as possible in a format that will be appealing to the general public.
In 2015 DD DanceFEST was renamed as the Toronto International Dance Festival (TIDF) to align with the festival mission of showcasing International dance forms on on stage. To this date the dance festival has showcased more than 60 dance styles with the participation of dance companies such as Regatta Kala Kendra, Nrutha Kala Kendra, Pallavi Arts, Adi Shankara School of Performing Arts, Nupura School of Music & Dance, Dancing Damsels Team, Arpan Academy of Performing Arts , S.G Expressions, Raagini Dance, Ree’s Move n Dance, All Stars Bhangra Toronto, CANOSA Dance Group, Prima Dance, Lavani Dance, Momentum Dance Toronto, Latin Energy, The Hawaiian Pacific Magic, Belly Up , Ayame-Kai Group , Chinese Collective Arts Association (CCAO), Tdot Tdat Thai, Ayemai-Kai Japanese , LLS , School of Irish Dance, Starz Dance Crew, Nirkoda-Jewish Dance group, Jo Jo Zolina, Sanskriti Arts, Korean Culture Community and “Tatry” Oshawa, Mississauga Chinese Arts Organization (MCAO), What’s On Tap Dance Company, Nirkoda Israeli Dancers of Toronto, Mexican Folkloric Group “TONATIUH”, That’s swing, Tarana Dance Centre, Korean court dance, Bialy Orzel Toronto, Momentum Dance Toronto, Egyptian Dance Academy, Latin Energy, Sanskriti Arts Ensemble, Culture Shock, Spanish Dance Company, Ballet Folklorico Puro Mexico.
In 2017, the festival organizers wish to make TIDF as a 3-day October weekend festival where authentic dance presenters Internationally will be invited to participate as well.
“As our community evolves so does our vision with TIDF. In the coming year we want Toronto to be the cultural hub for the performing arts…..where International & Canadian artists flock each year in October to participate at the prestigious TIDF. It will be my pleasure and honorable duty to make sure that the festival best serves the needs of our community artists and Toronto audience alike”. Mary Ashok, Artistic Director of TIDF.
About Dancing Damsels Inc.
Dancing Damsels is a registered not-for-profit multicultural arts promotions company for women empowerment. The objectives of the company are –
- PROMOTE – cultural arts and cultural exchange
- EMPOWER – women to exercise equal opportunities
- APPRECIATE – women success and achievements
- CELEBRATE – womanhood and motherhood
- ENCOURAGE – women to pursue their dreams and aspirations
Founded in 2013 the company’s artistic mandate and programming vision is to present International and Multicultural art forms through various events organized throughout the year. Among them, International Women’s Day Canada (DD Women Achiever Awards) and Toronto International Dance Festival (TIDF) are it’s 2 major events. By hosting TIDF each year the Dancing Damsels’ goal is to broaden the public awareness of the myriad dance forms and foster collaboration among Toronto’s artistic/dance community.
Under Mary Ashok’s visionary leadership as Founder & Managing Director, Dancing Damsels has established itself as a unique organization that truly empowers women through performing arts. Since it’s inception in 2013, Dancing Damsels has successfully organized 8 major events. 40 women have been recognized with the DD Women Achiever Award for the outstanding contribution to the community through their line of work. More than 60 dance companies and more than 500 dance performers have been provided an opportunity to showcase their talents and expertise during each of their events and festivals.
Dancing Damsels is ably supported by a highly accomplished Advisory Board members – Anu Srivastava, Jayadevan Nair, Gita Shankar, Mercy Elengikal, Jobson Easow, Joy Verghese, Sudharshan Meenakshisundaram, Balu Naliel, Ramesh Bangalore, Sabita Panigrahi, Pushpa Johnson, Nirmala Thomas, Jayasankar Pillai, Lata Menon, K. Varadharajan and Sandhya Srivatsan; Cultural Organization Leaders and countless volunteers.
Social Media:
Website: www.tidfcanada.com / www.ddshows.com
Facebook: TIDFCanada
Twitter: @tidfcanada
General & Sponsorship enquires:
Mary Ashok, Dancing Damsels Inc. 416-788-6412, info@tidfcanada.com
Media & Marketing enquiries:
Jaison Mathew, Canadian Multicultural Network (CMN)
647-781-2393, tidfcanada@gmail.com.
