Fall for Dance North is celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2024, and they’ve prepared a fittingly spectacular lineup for the occasion. Robert Binet and Lily Sutherland have recently been appointed as Co-CEO’s as well as Artistic Director (Binet) and Festival Director (Sutherland) this season. I asked the duo some questions about getting their start in dance, what the 2024 Fall for Dance North has to offer, and what the future hold for the Festival.

1. Could you please introduce yourselves to my readers?

R: My name is Robert Binet, I am a choreographer and curator and am very excited to be stepping into the role of Artistic Director and Co-CEO of Fall for Dance North. I grew up in Toronto and trained as a dancer at Canada’s National Ballet School. I always had a greater interest in how a show was made than in being onstage myself, and was drawn to choreography early in my training. Choreography has given me the opportunity to work with amazing artists all over the world, and through that I became passionate about supporting other artists in realizing their ambitions and building audiences for a broad range of dance styles. Dance enriches our lives and makes us better communicators, so I want more people seeing more dance more often.

L: My name is Lily Sutherland, I’m a performing arts producer and programmer and currently serve as Executive Producer at Fall for Dance North. Having worked with the festival since 2018 in a variety of roles, I am thrilled to be appointed as Festival Director and Co-CEO beginning November 2024. I hold a degree in Theatre from the University of Ottawa, and I’ve had the pleasure of working with theatre, dance and multidisciplinary arts festivals across the country. I’m passionate about festivals as a place to create unique shared experiences, and introduce audiences to a broad and diverse range of dance styles and forms. 

2. What inspired you to start a career in dance?

R: My grandmother took me to see a performance of The Nutcracker when I was 9 years old and I was hooked.

L: I’ve been an artist for as long as I can remember, and have always been curious to discover new forms of artistic expression. As a young adult, I loved theatre, storytelling, and performing on stage, however I always knew it was important to me to find a career path where I could make a positive impact on the world and give back. It wasn’t until I started producing my own work and presenting work professionally that I realized how much I loved supporting the creative process of other artists, and bringing people together to experience live performance. I believe that dance has the ability to help us explore, understand and connect more deeply with the world around us and I feel very fortunate to have found a career that allows me to stay artistically curious, while serving my community. 

3. Fall for Dance North is celebrating its 10th season! What’s it like to take over an established event such as this one?

R: It is an honour to step into a leadership role in an organization that has been built with such care by Ilter Ibrahimof. The festival has made a much broader range of dance accessible to Toronto audiences and we are excited to build new and exciting dance experiences for this city.

L: It has been a joy and privilege to work alongside co-founder and outgoing Artistic Director Ilter Ibrahimof for the last seven festivals, and it’s an honor to step into this new leadership role that Robert and I have designed to fill his shoes. FFDN holds such a special place in my heart, and I’m grateful for this opportunity to continue to work with my wonderful colleagues and new co-leader, Robert, to build on Ilter’s legacy and steer the festival into the next decade. 

4. What can folks look forward to at this year’s festival?

R: There are a number of extraordinary local artists presenting full-evening works in this year’s festival for the first time. Highlighting local artists alongside visiting international companies is something FFDN has always done, and it is exciting to see this aspect of the festival blossoming for the 10th anniversary year. Two that I am particularly excited for are Big Time Miss by Rock Bottom Movement and The Mars Project by Travis Knights.

L: You can’t miss  Autobiography by Studio Wayne McGregor, from London, UK (Oct 1 & 2 at 7:30pm). In creating this work, award-winning choreographer Wayne McGregor takes inspiration from his own DNA by developing a series of unique dance portraits inspired and determined by the sequencing of his own genetic code. Depending which sequence is selected that evening, the work is completely unique each time it’s performed! I am also personally very excited to be bringing Tkaronto Open back this year in its second edition. This is a free/non-ticketed Indigenous pow-wow style dance performance competition taking place at Union Station (Sept 28, 12-6pm) – this year featuring Women’s Jingle Dress, Men’s Fancy and Women’s Fancy Shawl. 

5. I’d love to hear a bit about your vision for Fall for Dance North’s future!

R: We are focussed on building audiences for dance in Toronto by introducing people to the extraordinary breadth of dance styles in our city and offering a range of ways for audiences to experience dance, both inside and outside the theatre. We are excited about placing local artists in their rightful international context through programming that highlights the connections between what is happening locally, nationally and around the world. 

L: Indeed, we are eager to find new ways to develop dance audiences in our city, and design a festival that prioritizes accessibility, nurtures and amplifies Canadian dance artists, and creates global connections.

I want to thank Robert and Lily for taking the time out of their busy schedules to answer my questions. Fall for Dance North takes place in various locations around Toronto from September 26 to October 6. For more information and tickets, visit: https://www.ffdnorth.com

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