Commissions & Creative Partnerships

Commissioning of new works or Creative Partnerships from both established and emerging choreographers. Works are presented at DanceWeekend in January. To date choreographers commissioned include Nenagh Leigh, Meagan O'Shea, Terrill Maguire, Lucy Rupert, Vivine Scarlett,Jenn Goodwin, Sasha Ivanochko, Marlee Cargill, Malgorzata Nowacka, Nova Bhattacharya & Louis Laberge Cote,Sashar Zarif & Holly Small, William Yong, Lacey Smith, Amy Hampton & Keiko Ninomiya, Jessica Westermann, Lucy Rupert and Barbara Pallamino, Pamela Rasbach and Robert Stephen.

2010 Recipients

The Dance Ontario Selection Committee is delighted to announce that the Creative Partnerships for 2010 will be awarded to Gadfly Dance Company and AKA Dance Company. These artists will receive support to create and premiere their work at Dance Ontario's DanceWeekend 2011 running January 22 and 23, 2011 at the Fleck Dance Theatre, part of Harbourfront Centre's NextSteps Series.

Gadfly Dance Company's Apolonia Velasqusquez and Ofilio Portillo will create Klorofyl, an exciting new work for seven dancers exploring the essence of passion. A true mirror of Toronto's multicultural society, Gadfly represents youth with a mature take on life. They will infuse their thrilling exploration with a variety of styles such as contemporary, hip-hop and b-boying.

Originally from Montreal, Apolonia Velasquez and Ofilio Portillo have a remarkable dance repertoire that has been constantly evolving. They are captivating dancers, maverick choreographers and passionate about their art. Their dance background includes Hip-Hop, House Dancing, Contemporary, Locking, Popping, B-boying, Ballet, Jazz, Waacking, Afro Brazilian and Latin forms. They have trained with Luther Brown, Brian "footwork" Green, Poppin Pete, Don Campbellock, Shanon Mambra, Tony McGragor, Suga Pop, Caleaf, Anna "Lollypop" Sanchez, Frank Boogie and Hiro from Japan. Noted for their versatility they have experience in television, entertainment and the dance industry in general. They have worked with Kreesha Turner, Feist, Thunderheist, massari, danny Fernandes, Jully Black, AnJulie, Eva Avila, Masia One, Cory Lee and Rochester. Movie credits include Turn The Beat Around, Camp Rock II (featuring The Jonas Brothers) and Beat The World. They can be seen in commercials for Nike, MTV, Bell and Virgin Mobile. Their work has been presented at Luminato, Toronto Fringe Festival, Break Beats & Culture and they have contributed to organizations such as Keep-A-Breast and Rethink Breast Cancer. Together their knowledge and understanding of street dances and conventional dance styles make Apolonia and Ofilio a force in their field. Collectively they are committed to increasing the visibility of street dances and to bring to the concert stage work that showcases outstanding dancers.

Amy Hampton and Keiko Ninomiya of AKA Dance will create Oh no!, a work for four dancers that will blend ballroom techniques with contemporary dance and butoh. The title is a reference to one of the founders of butoh, Kazuo Ohno who died recently at the age of 103. Nostalgic, romantic and slightly absurd the piece will juxtapose the partnering work in ballroom with the freedom of contemporary and butoh styles. Hampton and Ninomiya will be joined by dancers Tim Spronk and Zhenya Cerneacov and DJ Gerald Belanger.

AKA Dance was founded in 2007 by dance artists Amy Hampton and Keiko Ninomiya with the purpose of creating and presenting contemporary dance works that blend Japanese and Canadian traditions to a broad audience. Drawing from diverse forms from butoh to ballet,AKA's pieces are physically exciting and visually stunning. The company is known for its ability to create and perform accessible dance that resonates with children and broad multicultural audiences. The company debuted with a street theatre work, Ura, based on Japanese ghosts at the Junction Arts Festival in 2007. Their previous Dance Ontario commission In A Single Bound has been performed over 40 times since its premiere in 2008. The work has been shown in Toronto, Hamilton, Guelph, Brampton, Vancouver and Tokyo in festivals, schools, site-specific events and main stage productions.