Toronto Dance

Hot Hip Hop Action in Ithaca

2008-02-18T17:18:00.000-08:00

Hot Hip Hop Action in Ithaca

Dance / Dancing Equals Increased Intellegence !

2007-08-26T13:56:00.000-07:00

Dancing Makes you Smarter!

A major study added to the growing evidence that stimulating one's mind can ward off Alzheimer's disease and other dementia, much as physical exercise can keep the body fit. Almost no physical activity studied seems to offer any protection against dementia, except for frequent dancing.

This paper by Richard Powers muses about why this might be so. It concludes that intelligence is maintained and improved by activities which require split-second rapid-fire decision making, as opposed to rote memory, or just working on your physical technique.
Powers argues that dancing integrates several brain functions at once, increasing neural pathway connectivity. Dancing simultaneously involves kinesthetic, rational, musical and emotional processes. In particular, it seems that freestyle SOCIAL dancing is the best kind of dancing for maintaining mental fitness, since it requires a lot of split-second decision-making, especially in the follower role. And the more partners one has the better, as each offers a new opportunity for learning and adjusting.

Source Toronto Dance News

National Ballet of Canada

2007-08-05T16:55:00.001-07:00

March 5, 2007...Toronto, Ontario... Tina Pereira, 24, of The National Ballet of Canada and Ulrik Birkkjær, 22, of the Royal Danish Ballet won The Seventh International Competition for The Erik Bruhn Prize on Saturday, March 3 at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto.

Tina Pereira began the competition dancing with Keiichi Hirano in an excerpt from Le Corsaire for the classical portion of the competition. During the performance Mr. Hirano tore his Achilles tendon and Ms. Pereira continued on her own. During the intermission Artistic Director Karen Kain made a quick programme change, replacing the planned world premiere of veer by Canadian choreographer Sabrina Matthews with the balcony pas de deux from Romeo and Juliet. Principal Dancer Guillaume Côté, who was in the audience for the performance, stepped in to partner Ms. Pereira. The pair had performed the piece together at a recent guesting engagement.

Ulrik Birkkjær, a member of the Royal Danish Ballet's corps de ballet, danced the pas de deux from Flower Festival in Genzano and a new work by Tim Rushton, opus, with Yao Wei.
Eight dancers in total from The National Ballet of Canada, American Ballet Theatre, The Royal Ballet and the Royal Danish Ballet competed for the prestigious prize. Each company was represented by one male and one female dancer between the ages of 18 and 26 who danced a classical and contemporary work.

Veronica Tennant and Rex Harrington, hosts of the evening, paid tribute to National Ballet of Canada founder Celia Franca, who passed away at the age of 85 on February 19, 2007 in Ottawa. The National Ballet of Canada performed Voluntaries in honour of Glen Tetley who died on January 26, 2007 at the age of 80.

Toronto's Social Dance Scene is growing:

2007-07-05T11:16:00.000-07:00

Toronto's Social Dance Scene is growing and with every month new dancers are coming to the fore to show their moves.

Heres the samples;

Salsa Dancing Toronto Here the a Salsa Congress is now sponsoring competitions and advance training seminars.

Ballroom Dancing Toronto Ballroom Social Dancing is now getting to be just as strong as Hip Hop.

Latin Dancing Toronto What has come next is staged musicals with dance themes. Next is Broadway, New York City.

Swing Dancing Toronto Another youth groups are now learning the more youthful dance coloration of the Lindy and Swing.

And its all attracting younger and upward mobile crowds.

These blogs gives you a taste of whats coming, and coming big in Toronto.

The National Ballet of Canada

2007-07-02T12:30:00.000-07:00

A Message from Karen Kain

All art forms, if they are to remain vital, creatively strong and true to their purpose, must continually replenish themselves. Ballet is no exception. While unusually blessed with a centuries-old tradition upon which to draw, it must still find new ways of presenting and invigorating that tradition. But it must also open itself to the influences and impulses of the contemporary to keep the dialogue between artist and audience fresh and vigorous.

The National Ballet of Canada’s 2007/08 season is an especially exciting illustration of this principle. We open the season with an extraordinary mixed programme of works by the great American choreographer Jerome Robbins. It was Mr. Robbins’ signal accomplishment to wed the stylistic imperatives and techniques of classical dance to a modern and distinctively American idiom, creating in the process one of the richest and most admired bodies of work in 20th century ballet. On the tenth anniversary of his death, I am especially proud to be presenting this programme, which includes his enormously popular West Side Story Suite, featuring some of the best-loved sequences from one of the greatest works of the American musical theatre. This piece, along with the equally astonishing Glass Pieces and In the Night, are ample evidence of the exceptional genius of this wonderful artist.

The National Ballet’s commitment to honouring and rejuvenating its treasured heritage will be displayed in James Kudelka’s gloriously entertaining version of Cinderella. At the same time, the season includes new works by some of the most eloquent new and established choreographers working in Canada and abroad, including, in addition to Mr. Kudelka, whose full-length work An Italian Straw Hat returns, Marie Chouinard, Dominique Dumais and Christopher Bruce. Their work—ranging from the cutting edge modernism of Ms. Dumais’ Skin Divers to the pop-inspired artistry of Mr. Bruce’s Rooster—encompasses an extraordinary range of expression, one indicative of the vibrancy and excitement of the art of ballet today, but also of our company.
I hope you will join us as in enjoying and celebrating the riches that these and the other works in our season convey with such passion and delight.

Toronto Dance Scene @ DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS

2007-06-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

A Brief look at the Toronto Dance Scene........

dance video of the day Neil on a roll

Neil Nisbet is masterful with this camera and getting the video up on the site for all to see. What a great service he does for dance company's in the UK and Europe! Thanks Neil!

Credits as per usage link.

The Toronto Alliance for the Performing Artspresents the 28th annual

DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS
Toronto’s Theatre, Dance and Opera Awards / The biggest opening night of the year!
Monday June 25, 2007

8pm Awards Show at the Winter Garden Theatre, 189 Yonge St.10:30pm After-Party in the Cascading Lobbiesof the Elgin & Winter Garden Theatre Centre

For Recognizing the outstanding achievements in Toronto’s performing arts community, the Doras honour the creators of over 200 theatre, dance and opera productions annually in the following categories: General Theatre, Independent Theatre, Dance, Opera and Theatre for Young Audiences.

The Doras are named for Dora Mavor Moore (1888 – 1979), a well-loved teacher and director who helped establish Canadian professional theatre in the 1930s and 1940s. Each…Awards Show at the Winter Garden Theatre

http://www.ticketmaster.ca/

VIP Tickets: $160 416-536-6468 ext 27For information visit http://www.tapa.ca/

Mr. Roger M. Christian / Reporting whats on the Internet