Catherine Romano’s monthly column examines the rich underground dance scenes in Toronto. Covering performances, events and parties, Stage RIGHT offers a peek into dynamic subcultures through engaging interviews, observations and photographs.

what:

Technical rehearsal for Dance Weekend 2012

where:

Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, Toronto

when:

In the performing arts, technical rehearsals are where the real magic happens. The dancers have (hopefully) mastered the choreography and determined emotional intentions, and there is the opportunity to witness a choreographer carry a piece from a studio to a theatre. The exact moment when lighting cues are given, spacing set and sound levels checked, an artist’s vision appears on stage for the first time.

I got a chance to watch the technical rehearsals for Dance Ontario’s Dance Weekend 2012, presented in association with NextSteps at Harboufront Centre. I know, a rather long description, but it is worth noting each piece of this performance puzzle.

Dance Weekend is an annual event in Toronto with over twenty-six companies, hundreds of dancers and live musicians. The choreography ranges from ballet to b-boying, bharatanatym to modern, jazz to Middle Eastern–a cross-section of dance subcultures from all over the province.

Last Thursday night, I stood backstage watching COBA and LR Productions rehearse. It was fascinating to see two very different companies on the same stage, each with distinct movement styles (African dance and commercial jazz), contrasting musical choices (African drumming and Rihanna) and various levels of dancers’ technical training. I assume this is exactly what the presenters wanted to see: A collection of professional companies and youth groups, showcasing a specific style, resulting in a very unique audience sitting in the house.

Intent on getting a sense of the scene during the show, I made my way back to the Fleck Dance Theatre on Sunday afternoon. The house was almost at capacity with the typical dance audience (a few note-worthy names, B.F.A. students, TDT graduates), a handful of older couples, and teenagers (likely there to support dance studios). But most surprising was the amount of children in the audience.

In fact, during Ballet Creole‘s performance, as I sat high above the crowd in the balcony, I noticed some lively movement in the darkness a few seats away from me. I quickly glanced over, expecting to see someone searching for a Blackberry. Instead, there was a young boy, about three years old, excitedly hopping to the beat of a drum, attempting to mimic the dancers on stage.

No one in the audience seemed to mind the distraction, but it made me think: This may very well be what a ‘dance weekend’ is supposed to be about–inspiring a young child to dance, and, lucky for Ballet Creole, this little boy may become a subscriber to an upcoming performance season one day.

P.S. Perhaps, the magic isn’t only happening in the technical rehearsal, but in one of those theatre seats. Lesson learned.

dance, Dance Ontario, Dance Weekend, NextSteps, performance Dance, Theatre