Toronto: Dancing Damsels Inc. presented their 7th annual Toronto International Dance Festival TIDF 2020 and it’s first virtual edition during the month of November. Due to the pandemic situation the festival was held virtually each weekend through their social media pages on Facebook.
True to the theme of the festival; Showcasing World Dance Forms – All on One Stage , they presented various dance styles and performance from all over the world. New submissions were showcased on Saturdays and Sundays were throwback performances from previous editions of the TIDF.
The virtual festival started on November 7 th with a grand production of Nupura Creations called AVANI -Ode to Mother Earth. The following weekends saw performances from Harikishan Nair (Kutchipudi) &
Tanveer Alam – (Kathak), Esmeralda Enrique Spanish Dance Company, Rasool Abbas – Contemporary Dancer from Baghdad, Iraq, Missisauga Chinese Arts Organization (MCAO), Saswathi Sahoo (Odissi), Raagamalika Aadi (Bharathanatyam), TONATIUH (Mexican Folklore), Pallavi Maitry (Odissi), Jojo Zolina (Waacking), Ensemble Topaz, Sankalana Group, Canada’s Ballet Jorgen, Nirkoda Israeli Dancers of Toronto, Dr. Anwesa Mahanta (Shattriya Dance) from India, Foren Narayan (Chau Dance) from India, Mafa Dance Village and Serbian Dance Ensemble VEZ.
The LIVE presentations were enjoyed by more than 5k viewers through various social media pages and groups of Dancing Damsels and the Toronto
International Dance Festival.
The Toronto International Dance Festival was introduced in the year 2014 by Dancing Damsels, a Toronto based not for profit organization; to promote Multicultural Arts and Cultural Exchange in Toronto. The vision of the festival is to provide a professional platform for emerging artists, professional dancers, dance companies and community-based dance groups who practice ethnically specific, culturally diverse, or traditional art forms.
The festival is an opportunity for all artists irrespective of gender, race, colour, sexual orientation, or disability. A major component of the festival is to engage the community/the public with professionals in their artistic practice.
This virtual presentation was funded by Canadian Heritage and supported by Canadian Multicultural Network (CMN). For more information about the festival and how to participate in the future events you can
visit their website: www.tidfcanada.com.
For all the videos of the Toronto International Dance Festivals, you can visit their Youtube Channel ‘tidf Canada’ and Subscribe.
Report by: Jaison Mathew (CMN )
