Visit the new Film Releases page to view CCDT's recent dance films and mini-documentaries, created in the time of Covid-19.
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Artistic Director | Deborah Lundmark
- digital programme -
SpringSong 2025
WELCOME NOTE
Welcome to SpringSong 2025! I can’t quite believe it is this time of year again, and I find myself even more impressed by the poignant, brave and mature work of all of these young artists. I am so thrilled to welcome you to the iconic and historic Winchester Street Theatre; some of my most formative performance and audience experiences have happened in this theatre, and I am overjoyed to share the magic of this space with 15 of my favourite dancers, and you, their families and friends. With SpringSong coming one week early this year plus us preparing a whole extra piece, these dancers still navigated every Saturday with positivity, passion and enthusiasm, cementing my belief that dancers are truly the most incredible of humans and dancing is the most fun! Obviously, this level of commitment and dedication would not be possible with the tremendous support of their families and cheerleaders; so thank you for all that you do to make their dreams come true. Working with the ATP dancers truly remains one of the greatest honours of my life. And this afternoon I invite you to witness their brilliance on stage in SpringSong.
Heartfelt thanks to Deborah Lundmark, Michael deConinck Smith, Ryan Lee, Dana MacDonald, and everyone at CCDT for creating a space for us to work, play and grow. And a special thanks to all of our guest teachers and accompanists this year; you are all uplifting, guiding, and endlessly inspiring. We are grateful for you all. And a warm thank you to you, our audience, for being here with us this afternoon; we grateful for your presence. Please enjoy the show.
- Megan Nadain
Director, Accelerated Training Progam
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
CCDT would like to acknowledge that this performance takes place on the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee the Wendat and other nations both recorded and unrecorded. The students, faculty and staff are grateful to be able to learn, share and dance on this land. Dance is a vital part of Indigenous culture with generations of Indigenous peoples practising on these lands, yet colonization has deeply impacted their ability to freely express and pass on these practises. As we share in movement and expression this afternoon, I invite you to reflect on your own connection to this place and consider how we can work together toward meaningful reconciliation.
PROGRAM INFORMATION
Loved into Being: The Mr. Rogers Piece (2019)
Choreography: Megan Nadain
Music: Jonathan Kirkscey, Andrew Gulledge, Jill Govan, C.J. Allegre, Utayae Lee, Fred Rogers
“As human beings, our job in life is to help people realize how rare and valuable each one of us really is, that each of us has something that no one else has - or ever will have - something that is unique to all time. It’s our job to encourage each other to discover that uniqueness and to provide ways of developing its expression” - Fred Rogers
A heartfelt thank you to these dancers, and all the dancers of the piece that have come before for all that they brought to it.
Wonder (2024)
Choreography: Ryan Lee
Music: Grandbrothers
Surprise, mingled with admiration.
You've created something beautiful, unexpected, unfamiliar and most definitely inexplicable.
EverEnd (2024)
Choreography: Megan Nadain
Music: Dustin O’Halloran (with remix by Aminolen)
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While we set out to investigate the many meanings of an ending, we ended up landing in a whole world of beginnings. Heavily informed by some of the books I was reading during the creation period about the multiverse (including ‘Dark Matter’ by Blake Crouch & ‘The Midnight Library’ by Matt Haig), we found ourselves exploring different possibilities within relationships between each other, the space and time. As dance legend David Earle says, “If you change anything, you change everything.” Despite the potentially overwhelming nature of the endless possibilities, it has encouraged us toward a feeling of gratitude to be where we are right now, in this timeline, with these people, dancing together, for you.
~intermission~
colour + (premiere)
Choreography: Judy (Jia Yi) Luo
Music: Müne, Chappel Roan/aiden's aesthetic's, Soundscapes mixed by Judy Luo
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From top to bottom, curve left, swerve right,
this is...
colour + sky
colour + sound
colour + story
colour + ground
colour + memory
colour + each other
colour + more colour,
it’s spring and almost summer!
R-O-Y-G-B-I-V: Gestures created by each dancer are the building blocks of this work. Guided by the colours of the rainbow, we followed their streams and + them together.
In the Flicker, A Spark (premiere)
Choreography: Megan Nadain
Music: Aaron May & David Ridley, Travis Lake, Alex G
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I had a vague impression of the feeling I wanted to convey with this new work when suddenly I came across a comic on Instagram by Niall Breen and exclaimed, “AH HA! This is it!” (A copy of the comic can be found on your seat.)
Boundless thanks to the dancers for diving in with such ‘full hearts & strong spirits’, eagerly committing to counting the seemingly uncountable music and reminding me that no matter what there is ‘still time for dancing and falling love.’
SpringSong
Artist Biographies
Deborah Lundmark
Co-Founder, Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer
Deborah Lundmark, Co-Founder, Artistic Director and Resident Choreographer, has created more than 40 works for her company. These include collaborations with the Danny Grossman Dance Company and blues artists Thompson Egbo-Egbo and Jerome Godboo. From her Street Songs (1980) to Salients (2023), Lundmark has impressed audiences and critics alike with the power, precision and artistry of her unique company. She has commissioned over one hundred works from a who’s who of Canadian choreographers including David Earle, Carol Anderson, Tedd Robinson, Santee Smith and from abroad, Colin Connor, Sidra Bell, Kevin Wynn, Roderick George, Jennifer Archibald and Alexander Whitley. Her company won Toronto Arts Foundation’s prestigious Arts for Youth Award and has been critically acclaimed as "a national treasure… numbered among the ranks of Toronto’s top dance companies" by The Globe and Mail. Her dancers have gone on to perform with many of the world’s leading companies including the Limón Dance Company, Mark Morris Dance Group, Doug Varone and Dancers, Gallim Dance, Company Wayne McGregor and Skanes Dansteater, among many others.
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Photo by Gary Ray Rush
Michael deConinck Smith
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Michael deConinck Smith, Co-Founder, Managing Director and Tour Manager, has directed the staging of over three hundred CCDT productions including five appearances at the Canada Dance Festival. He conceived and produced CCDT’s acclaimed collaboration with the Toronto Boys Choir and the Hanson Singers, the original WINTERSONG – dances for a sacred season, now a three-decade-old tradition. In 1990, Michael led CCDT’s first international tour to the People’s Republic of China, and the following year the premiere of Songs of Innocence and of Experience, featuring commissions by ten leading choreographers, realized one of his long-cherished dreams. From 1997 to 2000 he planned CCDT’s extensive tours of Northern Ontario, and in 2002 led the company’s return to Southeast Asia with performances in Singapore and Malaysia. In 1994, Michael oversaw the purchase and renovation of CCDT’s 509 Dance studios, now an intergenerational crossroads for Canadian dance. Since 1997, Michael has led his company’s Ontario Arts Access program introducing more than 350,000 young people to contemporary dance. He led CCDT’s Scotland tour to the Commonwealth Youth Dance Festival and, his touring highlight, managed the Company’s inaugural appearances at the storied Joyce Theater in New York City as part of the José Limón Company’s International Dance Festival in celebration of their 70th Anniversary.
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Photo by Gary Ray Rush
Megan Nadain
Accelerated Training Program Director & Choreographer
Megan Nadain (she/her) is a Toronto-based dancer, choreographer and dance educator originally from North Vancouver, BC. She is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre and was the recipient of the The Hnatyshyn Foundation Developing Artist Grant during her first year. She has performed as a company member with Dancetheatre David Earle and has worked independently with Darryl Tracy, Nicole Nigro, inDANCE, Toronto Heritage Dance and Miranda Abbott.
She has the pleasure of being a faculty member at The School of Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre and directs CCDT’s Accelerated Training Program. Megan is part of the Artist Leadership Team at Dance Arts Institute (formerly the School of Toronto Dance Theatre) where she also teaches in The Professional Program. Also at Dance Arts Institute she has worked as a Rehearsal Director for Darryl Tracy, Keith Morino and Mohammadreza (MOMO) Akrami. She has worked as a Dance Educator at York University and The National Ballet of Canada's In Studio program and facilitates the dance programs for JK-Grade 10 at the York School. Two projects that she has been involved with recently that she is exceptionally passionate about are Bridging Generations Through Dance with Dancing with Parkinson’s and Moving together: Choreographic mappings of children with diverse dis/abilities and their neurological responses to a dance-play event with Coralee McLaren.
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Photo by Dancetheatre David Earle
Ryan Lee
Choreographer
Ryan Lee is a dance artist whose versatile roles encompass choreographer, performer, rehearsal director, educator, and mentor. Graduating from Toronto Metropolitan University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, he is grateful to have worked with companies such as Human Body Expression, ProArteDanza, Toronto Dance Theatre, Kaeja d’Dance, Anandam Dancetheatre, inDANCE, The Chimera Project, Frog in Hand, and Transcendance Project. Ryan has made works for Dance Arts Institute, Centennial College, George Brown College, The Emerging Artist Intensive, Etobicoke School for the Arts, Cawthra Park, and Rosedale School of the Performing Arts. ​
Photo by Drew Berry
Judy (Jia Yi) Luo
Jia Yi (Judy) Luo is a Chinese-Canadian dance artist based out of Toronto, Ontario, and in her trusty blue suitcase. Voyaging with faith and gifts of grit and grace, physical movement and dumpling parties are her chosen mediums to bridge communities. Judy is a former member of touring company Rambert 2 (London, UK). She holds her BFA in Performance Dance from Toronto Metropolitan University and is a laureate of the Hnatyshyn Foundation’s Developing Artist Grant. Known for her stage presence and versatility, her commercial credits include Nike, SportChek, Tim Hortons, Hallmark Channel, Jessie Reyez and Feist. Judy collaborates alongside Anne Plamondon (Montreal), Liam Francis (UK), Nova Bhattacharya (Toronto) and Dreamwalker Dance Company (Toronto/Vancouver). Switching between the hats of performer, rehearsal director and educator, she marvels at the body's intelligence and delights in sharing this fascination with others. Follow along her creative endeavours on her Substack publication, "mindthemoves."
Choreographer
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre presents
SpringSong
2024/2025 Season
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CCDT and the School of CCDT Founders & Directors
Deborah Lundmark & Michael deConinck Smith
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Director, Accelerated Training Program
Megan Nadain
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Dancers
Avielle Cole-Kim, Petra de Villiers, Maya Greenwood, Violet Harris, Adele Hawke, Inaaya Rajani Kiffer, B Lee, Kate Li, Serena McGinley, Alexis Perritt, Eve Pittendreigh, Nayanne Rayner, Maxine Robert, Annabeth Seedhouse, Kyra Simm-Smith
Production Stage Manager
Tara Mohan
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Lighting Design
Arun Srinivasan
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Accompanists
Raphael Roter, Stich Wynston
Manager, School of CCDT
Kathryn Fallowfield
Director, Marketing & Outreach
Shikha Chowhan
Thank you
Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre is profoundly grateful for the generous support from the friends and family of our aspiring artists. It is thanks to donations from people like you that we are able to foster artistic growth within these young dancers, both in the studio and live onstage.
Thank you to our CCDT Board of Directors
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Philip Akin, President
Paula Prociuk Blacklock, Vice President
Kenny Pearl, Director
Gerry Maddison, Officer Emeritus
and a special thank you to our individual contributors
Farah Ali & Cale Pittendreigh
Vassilios Alexiou & Kaija Vogel
Michael Bellissimo & Christine LeBlanc
Leslie Britton & Marsha Josephs-Britton
Susanna Chwang & Kevin Harris
Lara & Thomas Christoff
Angela Cole-Kim
Etienne De Villiers & Linda Van Den Brink
Naakai Garnette & Tai Simm-Smith
Bruce Greenwood & Tara Norton
Zahra Rajani
Julia Hamilton & Thomas Tyson
Valerie Hawke & Brian Hawke
Zahra Karimi
Rubina Khan
Tae Hee Kim & James Perritt
Andrew Lewis & Sharon Whyte
Anna Manuel
Lisa Mendelson
Emilie McGinley
Kathy & Shawn Morren
Ananda More & Jose Salamo
Kyle O'Hearn & Maija-Lisa Robinson
Judith Prince
Anne-Sophie Ramette & Thomas Robert
Jennifer Rayner
Karen & Jeffrey Seedhouse
Andy Soter & Sonya Teece
Erin & Jason Vandenberg
Nancy William
Jessie Yam
Julie Yip
Ying Xu
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