In 2010, Gadfly artistic directors Apolonia Velasquez and Ofilio Sinbadinho along with Jennifer Wan collaborated to present the first edition of the Toronto Urban Dance Symposium (TUDS). What began as a one-day event has now evolved into a three-day festival of workshops, panel discussions, performances, battles and awards celebrating urban dance culture. Concluding TUDS this year was the third edition of the Gadfly Awards. This year’s winners were announced on October 20 and included dancers from Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.
Taking home the award for Dancer of the Year – for demonstrating professionalism in his craft as well as exceptional skills and great personality – was Mariano Abarca.
Luca “LazyLegs” Patuelli was named this year’s Groundbreaker, for going above and beyond offering opportunities to the street dance community. And House of PainT was given the award for Outstanding Production for staging their yearly hip hop event in Ottawa and “showing the community how it’s to be done”.
Tagged: Uncategorized, Urban, ON , Toronto
