Sand Flight

June 12-15, 2025
Thursday-Friday at 7:00 PM
Saturday-Sunday at 2:00 PM
The Bentway at Strachan Gate The Bentway , 250 Fort York Blvd, Toronto (VIEW MAP)

Accessibility Info: This space is partially accessible to mobility devices. In addition to flat and sloped paved surfaces, a large surface is covered in compacted gravel. Washrooms are accessible to mobility devices. Recommended entry to the site: from the east or the south.

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A new creation by Ingri Fiksdal and Jonas Corell Petersen (Oslo, Norway)

Commissioned by The Bentway
Co-Produced by The Bentway and Fiksdal dans stiftelse
Presented in partnership with Toronto Dance Theatre

Experience the world premiere of Sand Flight, from internationally renowned choreographer Ingri Fiksdal. Eight dancers and a 50-person choir descend on a massive sand dune under the Gardiner Expressway for a powerful performance that speculates on climates-to-come, where shade-worshipping is the new normal.

In a future-Toronto, an immense sand dune appears under the Gardiner Expressway, encroaching on the concrete columns that support the busy highway above. As the city heats up and our wind patterns change, desert-like formations materialize and move throughout parks and public spaces with regularity, creating new landmarks. Under the shade of the highway, this particular sand dune becomes a place of sanctuary in the city.

Sand Flight explores our changing relationship to the urban world due to global warming. Developed in response to the rapid heating of our urban centres, and long-standing rituals in Scandinavian cultures including the sun-worshipping dances of the Bronze age, this new performance piece by Ingri Fiksdal and Jonas Corell Petersen (Oslo, Norway) imagines a speculative mythology for climates-to-come, where shade-worshipping becomes a new tradition. Eight dancers and a large choir navigate around the newly formed sand dune, exploring the tension between honouring our infrastructure and fighting our new nature.

Featuring an original composition and a cast of local and international performers, this bold new work of climate fiction is a call to closely consider the evolution of our local environments in the not-so-distant future, while creating new customs we’ll collectively value in a changing world.

The Norwegian choreographer Ingri Fiksdal turns the city space into an open stage.
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Performance and ticket information:

All performances are General Admission seating.
The Bentway and Toronto Dance Theatre believe that cost should not be a barrier to experiencing this performance, so tickets are on a sliding scale Pay-What-You-Choose model. Ranging from $10 to $30, audiences are invited to select whichever ticket price option works best for them. All price points give access to the same seating areas.
Seating is first-come, first-served and includes bleachers, chairs, and grassy areas. Chair spots are limited and are not guaranteed aside from accessibility needs. You are welcome to bring blankets or cushions for sitting on grassy areas. Some grassy areas are exposed to direct sunlight, and we encourage you to bring sun protection.

What to expect:

Eight contemporary dancers perform on top of a 17-foot sand dune alongside an original music composition performed live by a local multi-generational choir, exploring themes of climate change and evolving social traditions related to the sun.
The performance will run for 60 minutes.
Accessible and all-gender bathrooms are available on site.
Seating is first-come, first-served and General Admission, and includes bleachers, chairs, and grassy areas. We encourage you to bring blankets or cushions for grassy areas, if you prefer. Some seating is exposed to direct sunlight, and we encourage you to dress appropriately and bring sun protection.
In the event of inclement weather where the performance cannot safely go ahead, all ticket holders will receive communication from The Bentway to reschedule the performance.

Creative Partners

Ingri Fiksdal

Ingri Midgard Fiksdal is a choreographer based in Oslo, Norway. She holds a PhD in artistic research from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts titled Affective Choreographies (2019).

Ingri’s work on affect has in recent years taken her into discourses on perspective and privilege. She is currently working on a number of projects that research the posthuman and with this hegemonies of knowledge and power. Here, choreography is understood as a format of speculative fiction that can propose complex and manyfold understandings of body, gender, species, ethnicity, knowledge and history. Ingri is concerned with how practice and theory are entangled in her work in a way where neither is perceived as anterior to the other. Since 2020, Ingri has been an Affiliated Artistic Researcher with CoFUTURES at the University of Oslo (www.cofutures.org). The CoFUTURES group led by Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay researches global futurisms from non-anglophone traditions.

Ingri’s work has in recent years been performed at Obscene Festival in Seoul, Homo Novus in Riga, Kunstenfestival in Brussels, Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Santarcangelo festival, Beijing Contemporary Dance Festival, Sommerszene in Salzburg, Reykjavík Art Museum, brut-Wien, Teatro di Roma, Harbourfront Centre Toronto, Contemporary Art Center Cincinnati, BUDA Kortrijk, Tanzhaus NRW in Dusseldorf and Steirischer Herbst Festival in Graz, alongside extensive touring in Norway.

Jonas Corell Petersen

Jonas Corell Petersen is a Danish director and playwright based in Norway. He holds a master’s degree in directing from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Department of Theatre (2010). His productions have been performed in Germany, England, the Netherlands, Belgium, and Denmark. From 2015 to 2018, he was the resident director at the National Theatre in Oslo. In 2016/17 and 2020/21, he was the resident playwright at Dramatikkens hus in Oslo.

His diploma production, The Sorrows of Young Werther (2010), won the European Fast Forward Award for young directors. In 2012, he received the Hedda Award for Best Youth Production for Eg-Ik-EG-ICH at Det Norske Teatret, Toneelmakerij (Amsterdam), Theater an der Parkaue (Berlin), among others. Schiller’s The Robbers (2014) at Det Norske Teatret and BABY (2013) at the National Theatre were nominated for the Hedda Award for Best Production. He has directed Othello (Staatstheater Braunschweig), The Notebook (2017) at Staatstheater Stuttgart, Così fan tutte (2017) at the Norwegian National Opera, State (with Ingri Fiksdal) at the Steirischer Herbst Festival (2016), as well as extensive tours in Norway and abroad, including in Tbilisi, Chicago, and Cincinnati. He has also staged The Ridiculous Darkness by Wolfram Lotz at Trøndelag Teater (2019), Bartleby by Herman Melville in his own adaptation at Teatret Vårt (2020), KNOCHEN at Staatstheater Cottbus, Winterreise by Elfriede Jelinek at Det Norske Teatret (2021), The Sandman after E.T.A. Hoffmann, adapted by Christian Lollike at Aarhus Teater (2022), Teater Sort/Hvid, and Holstebro Dance Company, and Billy the Kid’s Collected Works by Michael Ondaatje at the National Theatre in 2023.

As a playwright, he has written and had produced Dead Shadows (1999) at Krudttønden, Copenhagen (winner of Forlaget Drama’s youth playwright competition), Zoo at Black Box Teater (2013) and Det Norske Teatret (2015), We Chew on the Bones of Time at the National Theatre (2015), ISLAND at the National Theatre (2017), KNOCHEN at Staatstheater Cottbus (2020), The Lost Community at the National Theatre (2018), Seeking Unity at Kilden (2022), New Land (2022) at Teater Innlandet, and Greatest of All is Love at Trøndelag Teater (2024).

In 2022, Jonas visited Kilden for the first time as a director for the production Seeking Unity. In 2025, he will return to direct The Count of Monte Cristo.

The Bentway

The Bentway works “to ignite the urban imagination,” using the city as site, subject, and canvas. Anchored under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway and guiding its complex future, The Bentway is a growing public space, and much more. Phase 1 of The Bentway opened in 2018 and is already a vital public space, backyard park, cultural platform, connector for the western Waterfront corridor and a demonstration of what is possible.

Visit thebentway.ca for details about The Bentway’s programming and activities; and follow on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. #thebentway

VIVA Singers Toronto

VIVA Singers Toronto is an inclusive not-for-profit family of choirs for ages 4 through adult. They provide singers with educational opportunities to co-create and achieve artistic excellence in an accommodating, collaborative community. At VIVA, “Every Voice Matters.” VIVA’s efforts to put choristers first inform the rehearsal structures and music-making processes. They embrace the coexistence of a high level of artistry while fostering a truly inclusive environment. VIVA advocates for all voices, and push for inclusivity to ensure that anyone who enjoys music is welcomed and challenged at VIVA.

Performers

Sudesh Adhana

Sudesh Adhana is a choreographer of Indian descent based in Oslo, Norway since 2006. He was educated at KHIO (National College of Arts), Oslo with a Bachelor in Contemporary Dance. Previously he has studied Mayurbhanj Chhau & Kathakali Dance at Shri Ram Bharatiya Kala Kendra, and the International Kathakali Center, both in New Delhi.

In 2007, Adhana established the company Xproarts, with the intention of producing non-commercial performances. He has marked himself both in film and onstage and have received several awards for his works, amongst others a National Film Award (IN) for best choreography for the song “Bismil” (Haider 2014). Adhana has also received the National Arts Grant (NO) and has been Ambassador for Dance Days 2016 in Norway. In 2018, he was awarded Ustaad Bismilah Khan Youth Award from Sangeet Natak Academy, Department of Culture in India.

Camil Bellefleur

Based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal and Tkaronto/Toronto, Camil Bellefleur is an emerging contemporary dance artist. They completed their training at the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal in 2020 and have danced with Daina Ashbee, Charlie Prince, Jean Benoit-Labrecque, LA TRESSE Collective and Le Radeau. They completed their training in inclusive dance approaches with Corpuscule Danse. Bellefleur’s solo work entitled First Layers was presented at Tangente in 2022 and at the first edition of the Mauricie Arts Vivants festival in 2023, for which they were a finalist for the Creative Momentum award of Culture Mauricie. They are currently working on their next creation, Queer Core – Embodiment.

To deepen their artistic approach oriented towards social change, Bellefleur completed a cumulative bachelor’s degree at UQÀM in 2023, which includes a certificate in Critical Sexuality Studies, a second in Feminist Studies, and a third in Sociology. They wish to make their bodily practice a space for emancipatory healing, liberation, transformation, risk-taking, and a safe space for growing together.

Brayden Jamil Cairns

Brayden Jamil Cairns is a Toronto-based performance artist, costume designer, and long-time lover. Cairns left rural Ontario in 2015 to train at Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance. Since his training, Cairns has worked with the likes of Alyssa Martin, Rodney Diverlus, and many of his peers in collaborative processes. Cairns is interested in movement that can be enjoyed by people from all walks of life. He binds dance and lived experience to create tantalizing works of art; combining media such as writing and film to create a living collage. Many of these ideas come from a powerful need to uplift the queer and BIPOC communities. Cairns will often be found researching what it is to feel pleasure and what can come from self-exploration.

Millina Fletcher

Millina Fletcher aka Fletch, is a Tkaronto based dance artist who infuses her queer and Barbadian/French roots in both her creative work and her everyday life. Fletch is a well versed, expressive, outgoing and open-minded individual who sees the world as an abundant site for colour and creativity. She identifies as a dancer, choreographer, music enthusiast, and an extrovert who enjoys expressing her identity and queerness through dance and fashion. Fletch recently obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance Dance at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she trained intensively in a wide range of styles. Fletch had the great pleasure of working with many choreographers including Guillaume Côté, David Norsworthy, Valerie Calam, Hanna Kiel, Ingrid Fiksdal, and Yvonne Coutts. Fletch premiered a self-choreographed piece titled Phoney at The Citadel (2024). Fletch is adamant that in every artistic endeavour she pursues, her art will reflect her identity and bring awareness to the challenges of race and gender in society. She is open, audacious, and always eager to learn about new ways to create impactful art through the medium of her greatest passion, movement.

Rakeem Hardy

Rakeem Hardy is a dance artist, creator, and educator, originally from Mississauga, Ontario. They received their BFA from Purchase College, SUNY, and were the 2020 recipient of the Thayer Fellowship Award. They performed works by Doug Varone, Sidra Bell, Norbert De La Cruz III, and Roderick George. They received additional training at the Taipei National University of the Arts, and Springboard Danse Montreal. They have performed and collaborated with A.I.M by Kyle Abraham, Coté Danse, Loni Landon Dance Projects, LA TRESSE, and Gallim Dance. Rakeem is currently a member of Kidd Pivot, under the direction of Crystal Pite.

Pernille Holden

Pernille Holden is a dancer and creator based in Oslo, Norway. Central in her work are long running collaborations with Swedish choreographer Hagar Malin Hellkvist Sellén and Norwegian choreographer Ingrid Fiksdal. Other performance experience stems from a variety of artistic collaborations with collectives and choreographers such as Bøler Samvirkelag, Helle Siljeholm and Ingeleiv Berstad. Holden has a genuine curiosity for the complexity of the body’s materiality and potential. She strives for dance as possibility, presence, and sensuous poetry, and she is always on the lookout for dance as suggestion, maze, mysticism and luscious corporeality. Understandings of music, affect, gender and collectivity are recurring themes in projects she is involved in. Holden has received several national artistic grants, and since 2018 she has been employed by SKUDA (The actor and dancer alliance in Norway). In 2024 she won the Hedda prize together with Ingeleiv Berstad for best dance performance for their work KNØ.

Megumi Kokuba

Megumi Kokuba was born on the southernmost island of Japan, Okinawa. She studied ballet with joy from the age of two. After graduating from college in Okinawa, Kokuba came across contemporary dance and was smitten. She moved to Toronto to train in dance and is a proud graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (now Dance Arts Institute). Kokuba joined the Toronto Dance Theatre company as a TD Dance Intern in 2012/2013, and she has had many inspiring creation and performance opportunities in Toronto ever since. As a dance artist, her focus is to help the environment. Actions like listening, holding space and prioritizing active communication are at the forefront of her personal practice.

Elizabeth Yip

Elizabeth Yip 葉倩儀 is a contemporary dance artist from Vancouver, Canada. Her dance practice is grounded in passion, dynamics, and emotion. She is a graduate of Modus Operandi under the direction of Kate Franklin, Tiffany Tregarthen, and David Raymond and received the Fall 2023 EDAM Training Scholarship in contact improvisation. Yip has performed and originated roles in work by Yin Yue Dance, Shay Kuebler/RSA, b. solomon, Nicolas Ventura, Khoudia Touré, and Zahra Shahab. Yip pursues work that is that is theatrical, virtuosic, and tender. Her past artistic choreographic residencies include the Scotiabank Dance Centre, Boombox, and Vines Art Festival. Before joining TDT, she was an apprentice with Shay Kuebler/RSA.

Production Credits

Commissioned by The Bentway
Co-Produced by The Bentway and Fiksdal dans stiftelse
Presented in partnership with Toronto Dance Theatre

Artistic Director: Andrew Tay
Interim Managing Director: Michael Toppings
Associate Producer: Sara Khajeh
Communications Director: Katrina Medalle

Producer for The Bentway: Alex Rand
Producer for Fiksdal dans stiftelse: Nicole Schuchardt
Production Manager for The Bentway: Jeremy Forsyth
Associate Producer & Stage Manager for The Bentway: Layne Hinton

Technical Provider: Quest AV

Choreographer & Co-Director: Ingri Fiksdal
Co-Director: Jonas Corell Petersen

Costume Designer: David Gehrt
Composer: Gaute Tønder
Sound Designer: Lasse Marhaug

Dancers: Sudesh Adhana, Camil Bellefleur, Brayden Cairns, Milina “Fletch” Fletcher, Rakeem Hardy, Pernille Holden, Megumi Kokuba, Elizabeth Yip
Choir: VIVA Singers Toronto

With special thanks to: Anna Gallagher-Ross, Ontario Trucking & Disposal, Fort York National Historic Site