See brilliant performances from some of the brightest lights in Canada’s dance scene at each festival event. Learn about these stellar companies and check out previews of their exciting works on our website and social media channels.
Nobody Likes a Pixelated Squid by Montreal urban dance duo Tentacle Tribe

Featured at the June 30th Community Day Showcase
7pm in Ivey Park
Choreographers & dancers: Emmanuelle Lê Phan & Elon Höglund.
Geometrical shapes and patterns. Lines, angles, circles, cubes and icosahedrons. Complex structures of movement possibilities. Loops, flows and freezes. On a vibrational roller coaster of sacred geometry, they are flowing through life. Like particle scientists of rhythm, they are breaking down movements. Dissecting the soundscapes of reality. In a delectable fusion of music and movement, they invent a geometry of harmonious urban contemporary dance that they call “conceptual hip-hop” or “deconstructed street dance.”
Check out some of the works such as “Origami Mami” and “When They Fall” by Tentacle Tribe or visit their website for more www.tentacletribe.com
Tentacle Tribe. Drawing from their wide scope of dance experience, co-founders Emmanuelle Lê Phan and Elon Höglund create conceptual hip-hop with a contemporary twist, while intermingling organic influences from earthly creatures. This Canadian-Swedish creative alliance experiments with intricate partnering, refined musicality and a saturated dose of physical choreography. Their repertoire includes magnetic duets & trios such as Body to Body, When They Fall, Nobody Likes a Pixelated Squid, Origami Mami and Fractals of You, which has been presented in over 40 international cities. Active participants in the street dance scene as B-boy and B-girl, and as seasoned stage performers, the two combine movement techniques that transcend style boundaries and create works that express the embodiment of music beyond technique. Although the two artists have worked together since 2005, it wasn’t until 2012 that Tentacle Tribe was formed when they performed their first official collaboration choreographed for the Cirque Du Soleil stage in Quebec City. This duet was adapted into a short film by director Natalie Galazka called Elon & Emmanuelle, which screened at film festivals in the United States, Canada, and Italy. They performed their second creation, When They Fall, at Festival Quartiers Danse in 2012 and 2013 in Montreal, as well as at London’s Hip Hop Theater Festival Breakin’ Convention in 2014. The duo has also been hired as an act for Special Events with Cirque Du Soleil and Cirque Éloize in Antalya, Turkey and Tignes, France. Their first full-length piece, Nobody Likes a Pixelated Squid, was extremely well received and toured the world in 2015-16-17 with more than 40 stops in North America and Europe. Sections of this Tentacle Tribe choreography were adapted by director Marites Carino into award-winning dance film Vanishing Points (2014), which has been screened at more than 50 festivals internationally. A follow-up dance-for camera short Crack the Cypher, also directed by Carino in 2016, uses a drone to capture the duo’s dynamic choreography. Tentacle Tribe’s work goes beyond the stage and screen. The York University Dance Department and the Arizona State University Urban Dance Program invited the duo as resident guest artists to lecture, teach workshops, and set pieces on department students. The company has also been commissioned to create a work for Vancouver’s OURO Collective. Currently, Tentacle Tribe is working on their upcoming full-length production with six dancers, and the all female trio Origami Mami.
Opera with Staircase World Premiere by Sharon Moore of Toronto

Featured at the July 2 Emerging Artist Performance
6pm at Wolf Performance Hall
Get tickets at www.onstagedirect.com/ldndancefest
Choreographer: Sharon Moore
Dancer: Hilary Knee
In this solo created for dancer Hilary Knee, a muse recounts her tumultuous journey with life on the stage; fantasy, beauty, hope, wealth and poverty. It is a survival story of epic proportions. Grand and miniature, strange and heartbreaking, it explores a world of the dramatic heart.
Check out some of the works by Sharon Moore:
Learn more about Sharon’s works at her website www.sharonmoore.org
Sharon B. Moore creates as a choreographer, director, and movement coach for dance, theatre, film, and circus. She is the Head of Movement at Humber College Theatre Performance Program. Alongside Canadian director, composer, and dramaturge Derek Aasland, she helps run Cinetic Creations, a company dedicated to picture-wide movement worlds for feature film and large-scale original works. Their 2015 creation, The Thirst for Love and Water, a site-specific spectacle custom-built for the reflecting pool at Toronto City Hall, was shared with over 80,000 viewers at Panamania Live!
Conversations Never Had by London’s Breath in Mvmt. company, led by Melisa Boose

Featured at the July 1 Canada Day Celebration
3pm & 4:30pm at Harris Park
Choreographer: Melisa Boose
For when we lose people and don’t have the chance – for when we are misunderstood or unheard – our words can be so lost on you, so let us express through movement.
Melisa Boose’s work has been described as breathtaking, powerful and delivers much for the senses to absorb. Students and professionals from various disciplinary backgrounds and studios audition to take part in her work. Assistant Artistic Director at Sound in Motion and founder of Breath in Mvmt., Melisa has been a choreographer and instructor for seventeen years and is gracious to continuously learn alongside her students. Melisa’s work is crafted collectively around the narratives of the dancers’ lives, giving her pieces an authentic foundation. Award winning and known for creations that challenge the imagination while evoking visceral reactions, Melisa is proud to train dancers in movement and views dance as a way to build community.
Check out some works by Breath in Mvmt
Learn more about Melisa Boose & Breath in Mvmt at their Facebook page.
The Art of Breaking, a celebration of hip hop culture by London’s Ill at Will Crew

Featured at the July 1 Canada Day Celebration
3pm & 4:30pm at Harris Park
Choreographer: Jim Han
Dancers: Joseph Yao, David Ortiz, Rob Loebach, Jim Han
B-boys and friends of Ill At Will crew will put on an upbeat, dynamic performance bringing back all kinds of old school dance moves. Taking inspiration from films such as Beat Street and Netflix series, The Get Down, the audience will have a chance to witness a live breakdance battle on stage with a mix of choreography and freestyle solos.
Check out some of the works by Ill at Will Crew
Learn more about Ill at Will Crew at their website www.illatwill.com
Ill at Will Crew. Formed in the summer of 2008, we provide dynamic entertainment for weddings, brand promotions, birthday parties and various festivals all across Ontario. We also organize and participate in numerous dance workshops and events for London, Windsor and Toronto, Ontario. Members of Ill At Will crew have been representing the authentic hip hop culture – spreading the knowledge on breakdance for the youth community on multiple platforms. Focusing on the positive message behind the hip hop movement, the crew has connected with thousands of children of all ages at school assemblies, dance studios, including their current home base, O.N.E. Dance Centre. During our adventures over the last decade we’ve performed at multiple corporate events for Adidas, Bacardi, Nokia, Shoppers Drug Mart, RBC, 3M and Scion Canada. Some of the local company events we were hired to provide performance or workshop include United Way of London & Middlesex, London Public Library, Thames Valley District School Board, Forest City Beer Fest, London Knights and London Lightning. Each year, Ill At Will crew has participated in the annual festivals in London, such as Our Street London/Car Free Festival, and O.N.E. Dance Showcase.