Last weekend, the university’s collective dance talent blasted through Hart House Theatre for the tenth annual U of T Festival of Dance, turning it into a spectacular three-night dance party marathon. Diversity was the guiding theme, with a mosaic lineup that included baladi, ballet, bharatanatyam, Bollywood-style, club, contemporary, flamenco, hip-hop, Irish, jazz, Latin, modern, and Persian dance. The design elements were outstanding, with colourful and stylish costumes supplied by the performers, and lighting by Paul Andersen that was always spot on, showcasing the dancers at their best.
Friday night’s highlights included the Egyptian dance troupe El Kawakeb, whose five barefoot warrior goddesses, in opulent fringed and beaded costumes, wove their way through a dance with swords balanced on their heads. Divya Bhardwaj’s dazzling choreographic fusions traveled from Bollywood to urban hip-hop. Katrina Craigwell’s hip-hop crew ignited the stage with an electrifying performance of “Lotus.” Balletic nymphs, entwined with chiffon scarves, floated through “Alegria.” Jennifer Bennett, another talented choreographer to watch, furnished several festival pieces, among them the smart and sophisticated “Let It Die,” to music by (this weekend’s double Juno winner) local It Girl chanteuse Leslie Feist, and “Big Lost,” a polished group work in which twisting and contracting torsos melt into soft balletic moments and snappy jazzy phrases.
Greg Pintilie, yet another emerging festival star, dazzled with agile solo dancing and graceful partnering work, notably in “Grasslands” and “Darkness and Light” (with the gifted Michelle McClory). The Step It Up dance team wowed the audience with an unrelenting performance that turned 12 human bodies into a unified percussive machine with hands and feet clapping, slapping, and tapping out steady rhythms. But it was the UT Dance Club that really brought the house down, earning thunderous applause for their energetic hip-hop technique in “Vybe Dance!”
Saturday’s crowd-pleasers included “Raining on the Sky,” which cleverly united Irish step dancing with a barefoot contemporary aesthetic. Ilana Salazar’s troupe of seven undulating beauties challenged expectations of what contemporary belly dance can or should be. Nikki Little’s thrilling “Funk Soul Sistas” nearly sparked a riot. “Cha-Cha in Harlem” was a sleek and charming little number choreographed by Jason Ng. Caryl Mostacho presented “Wise Up,” a gorgeous modern ballet poem for three women in long white satin gowns.
Jarek Piwowarczyk and Zoia Petrossian sizzled in a delicious mix of spicy and playful Latin dance styles that had the audience roaring its appreciation. But once again, it was hip-hop that stole the show-the house went wild for the spectacular body grooving served up by the Fo’ Real dance crew. Backed by a superb ensemble, the crew’s three frontmen (headed by Chres Kim) thrilled with their hard-core popping and locking moves and explosive body flips.
Missed the dance festival this year? Give yourself a good kick and vow to treat yourself to some amazingly varied campus choreography next year.
