Toronto, (July 15, 2017) – DanceWorks, Toronto’s longest running contemporary dance series, is delighted to announce that TD Bank Group will be sponsoring the presenter’s upcoming matinee and workshop activities for young audiences at Harbourfront Centre Theatre as part of Harbourfront Centre’s NextSteps Series.
This funding will allow DanceWorks to create opportunities for young people to develop an appreciation of the diversity of contemporary dance. Our 2017-18 season will bring globally inspired works to our matinee roster ranging from Flamenco, Kathak and Indigenous forms to a dance collaboration with choirs. Groups presented on the series will include Dreamwalker Dance and Gadfly Dance from Toronto, Dancers of Damelahamid (BC), and a mixed program of stellar artists – Esmeralda Enrique, Joanna de Sousa, Holly Small, Denise Fujiwara and Learie Nicolls – to celebrate DanceWorks’ 40th
Anniversary.
DanceWorks’ outreach includes free noon-hour events in collaboration with the Canadian Opera Company. An audience-friendly format in the Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre of the Four Seasons Centre allows DanceWorks to appeal to a largely music-affiliated patronage.
Planned performances and in-school activities include those around both Gadfly Dance and Denise Fujiwara’s collaboration with choirs. Fujiwara has commented “Audience engagement is a fundamental and integral aspect in this work. The songs will be well known and loved.”
TD sponsorship in the past has allowed us to offer free matinees to schools in priority neighbourhoods and this renewal will facilitate this important initiative for students who may not otherwise have the opportunity.