dance: made in canada / fait au canada Festival Returns This August with Bold, Honest Storytelling Through Movement — Tanveer Alam, one of the featured artists at this year’s dance: made in canada / fait au canada Festival, reimagines traditional South Asian dance through a contemporary lens in his powerful solo performance.

TORONTO, ON — The city’s dance scene will take center stage this August as dance: made in canada / fait au canada (d:mic/fac) Festival returns for its eighth edition, delivering a compelling slate of performances, premieres, and immersive encounters. Presented by princess productions, the 2025 Festival runs August 14–24 across two venues and invites audiences into powerful narratives shaped by movement, culture, and lived experience.

“Every edition of the festival reflects where we are, as artists, as people, and this year feels especially raw and real,” said Yvonne Ng, Artistic Director of d:mic/fac. “The works in 2025 are bold, heartfelt, and deeply human. They speak to who we are right now, and who we’re becoming.”

A Festival of Three Pillars

This year’s d:mic/fac unfolds over two weekends and features three key programming streams:

Mainstage: Stories of Urgency and Transformation

Curated by Jera Wolfe, Louise Lecavalier, and Yvonne Ng, the Mainstage presents performances that grapple with media, identity, inclusion, and resilience. Highlights include:

BESIDE by Marie Béland — A provocative examination of how the media influences perception and connection.
What Belongs to Us / Ce qui nous appartient by Suzanne Miller — A haunting embodiment of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
New works by Tanveer Alam and Cristina Bucci, reimagining traditional dance forms for a contemporary stage.

WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get

This open-format series celebrates spontaneity, risk-taking, and accessibility. Featuring works chosen by lottery, WYSIWYG offers emerging and established artists a shared platform that dismantles hierarchy in favour of creativity and community.

Arts Encounters: Where Dance Meets Dialogue

Led by dance artists, Arts Encounters includes workshops, discussions, and multimedia explorations. It’s a chance for audiences to deepen their connection to movement and discover new ways of experiencing dance beyond the proscenium.

A Festival First: Haute Couture

In an exciting first for the festival, d:mic/fac will present a full-length work under the new Haute Couture banner. Audiences can experience Still Life by Marie Lambin-Gagnon, a moving piece from a 2023 WYSIWYG alum, co-presented with SummerWorks and Citadel + Compagnie.

Festival Dates & Venues

Week 1:
🗓 August 14–17, 2025
📍 The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance – 304 Parliament Street, Toronto

Week 2 (as part of SummerWorks):
🗓 August 21–24, 2025
📍 Betty Oliphant Theatre – 404 Jarvis Street, Toronto

🎟️ Tickets: All performances are Pay What You Can, starting at $15. This includes Mainstage, WYSIWYG, Haute Couture, and dance film screenings.

With performances that bridge generations and genres, d:mic/fac 2025 promises to be a powerful celebration of Canadian dance, showcasing stories that are timely, brave, and beautifully human.

Learn more at: www.princessproductions.ca

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Dance: Made in Canada Festival Returns This August with Bold, Honest Storytelling Through Movement

Princess Productions celebrates Canadian dance in all its forms with five days of cutting-edge performances across Toronto