Overview

Our second mixed bill at Meridian Hall opens with the visually arresting Light-Print, choreographed by Gibney Company Artistic Associate Jesse Obremski on 14 recent graduates of Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance. FFDN’s ongoing partnership with the dance program continues to bear fruit and gives these emerging artists a chance to showcase their tremendous talents on the festival’s largest stage, while providing creative opportunities to emerging voices from within the presented companies.

New York’s Gibney Company continues to inspire, returning to the FFDN stage with OH COURAGE! by Tony Award winning (Moulin Rouge) dancemaker Sonya Tayeh, featuring live music by The Bengsons from Brooklyn. Themes of struggle, self-reflection and sacrifice shine through Sonya’s movement and the singers’ dramatic voices.

We continue with the highly anticipated live performance premiere of My Mother’s Son, created by South African choreographer Mthuthuzeli Novemberand danced alongside his brother Siphesihle November.Originally presented by FFDN on film in 2021, the touching duet between the two siblings comes to life for the first time on the festival’s stage, evoking belonging and interconnection. 

Prepare to be moved by Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black from London, UK in an awe-inspiring finale: NINA: By Whatever Means, a heartfelt homage to the extraordinary life and unwavering activism of the incomparable Nina Simone. Choreographed also by Mthuthuzeli November, this production forms part of Ballet Black’s Canadian tour debut and their first ever appearance in Toronto.

View the playbill for this event.

PRODUCTION IMAGES

View the gallery

UNBOWED: Signature Programme 2 is a curated mixed bill of Canadian and international companies showcasing works by some of today's most exciting dancemakers. Below you'll find more detailed information about each dance work featured on the programme, as well as biographical information about the choreographers.

TMU School of Performance in Light-Print by Jesse Obremski

Gibney Company in OH COURAGE! by Sonya Tayeh
Presented with live music, composed and performed by The Bengsons from Brooklyn

Mthuthuzeli and Siphesihle November in My Mother's Son by Mthuthuzeli November

Cassa Pancho's Ballet Black in NINA: By Whatever Means by Mthuthuzeli November

OPEN STUDIO

Open rehearsal of Light-Print, by Jesse Obremski
Featuring 13 recent graduates from TMU’s School of Performance

Sunday, Oct 1 from 2:00 - 5:00 PM
Union Station, West Wing
65 Front Street West

Photo by Jeremy Mimnagh

Open Studio, hosted in Union’s spectacular West Wing, offers passersby an opportunity to witness a behind-the-scenes glimpse of dancers as they prepare to perform. Come and be a ‘fly on the wall’ and watch Gibney Company’s Associate Artist Jesse Obremski lead a rehearsal for his new work Light-Print, before it hits the stage at Meridian Hall on Oct 6 & 7, as part of Fall for Dance North’s UNBOWED: Signature Programme 2. 

Light-Print comes from a personal discovery of what it means to be analytical and factual, and explores how ideas can overwhelm, ignite, and excite our conscious and collective energies. Enhanced by an original composition by composer Trevor Bumgarner, this work utilizes raw and pristine physicality to connect movement, music, and production. 

Joining this rehearsal is Tanya Evidente, Associate Professor of Dance at Toronto Metropolitan University, School of Performance. She teaches classical ballet and mentors all four years of dance students in the program. She is the producer of EnChoreo and serves as a rehearsal director for the dance program, which includes rehearsal director for Light-Print.

Open Studio, co-presented by FFDN and Union, helps to build a growing awareness of dance in our city, and provide a direct connection to new audiences from across the city and province.

Gibney Company Workshop

Taught by Jesse Obremski 

Thursday Oct 5, 2:30 - 4:00 PM at Meridian Hall Rehearsal Hall
Please enter through the stage door, at 10 The Esplanade. You will be required to check in at the security desk before entering the building, then will be greeted by an FFDN representative to escort you to the studio.

No registration is required, but capacity is limited so please arrive early!

While infusing choice-making, moments to listen, and opportunities to expand each person's physical language, participants will experience a community based movement workshop with multiple movements phrases culminating with some material from Obremski's Light-Print. There will be moments for conversation, physical and dynamic artistry, and time to see one another through a humanistic approach to dancing.

Please wear stretch clothing you can sweat in. It is recommended dancers arrive ready to participate. Private change rooms are not provided, but public washrooms are available. 

Learn more about the Gibney Company by visiting their website.