Year In Review 2022
Here are our highlights from 2022:
Citadel/Nova Dance Retreat — We kicked off the year with a hybrid company retreat with our partners Citadel + Compagnie. Artistic Director’s Nova Bhattacharya and Laurence Lemieux worked in person with the respective teams online. We connected, laughed and planned for the upcoming year as the world continued into the “new normal”.
Celebrating Menaka — In March, we celebrated the life and contributions of Menaka Thakkar (1942-2022), through a virtual gathering. Find a collection of refelections about Menaka here
Discover Dance — This season we presented 9 Discover Dance artists, and called aboard 3 new hosts including Dainty Smith, Travis Knights and Susie Burpee! We love working with our partners at TOLive and Baycrest@Home you can read about the presentations here
Farewell Tours — Our artistic director, Nova Bhattacharya found herself on a little “farewell tour circuit”. In March the dance film Elemental was screened at CanAsian Asian Festival 25! which was Denise Fujiwara’s last festival as Artistic Director; in April, Nova performed “Heart”, co-choreographed with Peggy Baker, at the Gala celebrating the winding down of Peggy Baker Dance Projects; and in November, she performed Calm Abiding, at Older & Reckless presented by Moonhorse Dance Theatre for the last season curated by Claudia Moore.
“it has been a profound honour to be a part of celebrating the transitions of these leading legends of Canadian dance. I have had the privilege of working with each of them on a range of projects over the years, and it was a true pleasure to be included in their programs.” Nova Bhattacharya
Reconnections: Body/Heart/Mind - In May, we received funding from Canada Council’s Digital Greenhouse program to prototype a “dance machine” where dance meets technology. Working with UKAI Projects, Company Dancer Rachana Joshi and Associate Artist Sukruti Tirupattur, are leading this project to create an online platform (game!) that will create new entry points into dance for inter-generational publics.
Deep End Week - In July, Nova Dance expanded our Deep End Weekend into an entire week. Dancers participated in a series of workshops through the week including: Body Un-break with Neena Jayarajan; repertoire and improvisation with Nova Bhattacharya; vocal coaching by Sonia St-Michel and Rhythm & Recitation workshops by Ed Hanley. Denise Bolduc and Vivine Scarlett were guest artists, spending the day with us in practice as well as sharing stories and answering questions about their life in the arts. Dance, practice, conversation, learning, self-care, singing AND a movie night where we screened works from the company cannon.
Svāhā! - In September, Nova Dance finally premiered our full length production Svāhā!, on September 16-18 at the Bluma Appel Theatre in Toronto. This epic journey which began in 2016 was well worth all the energy and effort. Originally inspired by acts of gathering, the work evolved into a celebration of dance itself as the ultimate ritual of gathering!
The Festival of New Dance - Nova Dance went on tour to Newfoundland in November where company members performed Decoding Bharatanatyam, Broken Lines among other company works. Check out the trailer here!
Larry’s Cabaret - This Festive Season, Nova Dance performed at Larry’s Christmas Cabaret hosted by Citadel + Compagnie! Catch our award-winning performance in the Company Throwdown below: