TNO celebrates Sudbury’s history of dance

Greater Sudbury is not only a mining, medical and education hub, it is also a centre for dance, said organizers for Where We Are/Où Nous Sommes, a celebration of dance’s local history.

The contemporary dance event runs Dec. 10 to 12, at Le Théatre du Nouvel-Ontario (TNO), 21 Lasalle Blvd. Shows will take place nightly at 8 p.m., with a matinee performance at 2 p.m. Dec. 12. Tickets are $20 for adults and $17 for students, and are available at the door and at Black Cat, Jett Landry Music, and Sudbury School of Dance.

Dance troupes and performers from Sudbury and Toronto will participate, including Lauren Pero from elleQ Dance Factory, Denise Vitali from the earthdancers, Sunny Horvath from Toronto’s Company Blonde Dance Projects, and Brian Soloman, formerly of Killarney.

“I am really excited about this show,” organizer Heidi Strauss said. “This a one-of-a-kind event.”

In 2007, Strauss founded Adelheid, a Toronto-based dance company that does choreography work, and presents and produces dance works in Europe and Canada. Adelheid is co-hosting the event with Sudbury’s earthdancers troupe.
“It is a homecoming event for dancers who have left the city to pursue their careers elsewhere and it’s also a celebration of dance in Sudbury,” she said.

Strauss is originally from New Sudbury and has been involved with dance since she was five years old. She left the city in 1991 to pursue her career with the Toronto School of Dance Theatre — one of the larger dance troupes, she noted.

Since then she went on to train and perform in New York City and Europe. She still has family in the city and returns regularly.

Strauss said the city is a hub for dance in northern Ontario.

“This city is a dance centre. It is heavily populated with private dance schools and dance studios, and there are dance programs in local schools, such as Sudbury Secondary School.”

She said dance has been part of the city’s culture since the 1930s.

In 1989, she was one of the founders of the earthdancers, a local dance troupe that raises money for environmental causes.

“I can’t believe we started the earthdancers 20 years ago. Sunny Horvath and I were co-founders of it. Denise Vitali was our producer,” Strauss added.

She said, at that time, there was a tremendous awareness about the environment — positive and negative — and that influenced the young dancers.

“We started it because we loved to dance and we were affected by what was going on — the impact of the mining companies and the re-greening that was happening.”

She said she and other earthdancers got involved with some of the tree planting efforts near Coniston.
“It is amazing to see how much things have changed over the years.”

Strauss said she appreciated the support the troupe received from the community. “What was incredible about Sudbury was how open people were to supporting us. We used to perform at the Steelworkers Hall. For youth, it is important to be able to dream. The community allowed us to dream.”

Strauss said she looked forward to reuniting with some of the current crop of earthdancers. “I performed with them two years ago. I really am excited about seeing them again.”

For more info, phone 674-0190.