Every summer, the Toronto Fringe Festival takes place giving the opportunity for artists to showcase their creative work, no holds barred. 140+ productions are featured at 125+ venues across the west end of Toronto drawing in a massive audience to everything from musicals, comedies, drama, dance, family programming, improvisation and anything else you can imagine.

Deciding to give it a try for the first time, Catalyst Dance Company submitted their self-produced show “The 5th Element” that was created after working internationally in the commercial industry and returning back home to Toronto. With beginner’s luck on their side, their show was successfully selected. Re-mounting their show, they have recruited new dancers, revamped key pieces in the show, and as amateurs to the largest Theatre Festival, are continuing to wrap their heads around the whole Fringe experience. Although supported by the Festival, all companies are left to their own...

With an adventurous travelling gene in her blood and a generous heart that gives more than it has to offer, Reina Hildalgo is making movements far and wide. To her, it’s simply being open to the energy that the universe offers her. To others, she is a rare miracle that - quite honestly - the dance world needs more of.

Entering the world on a boat travelling from Cuba to Miami during the Castro movement in 1980, Reina’s parents knew they created something special and worked hard to support their talented, no-fear spirited performer. Knowing at a young age that she wanted to dance professionally, she has turned her dreams into a reality and now shares the stage with superstars such as Rihanna, Pink, Missy Elliot, Miley Cirus, and Paula Abdul, just to name a few.

Being ‘Free’ has its costs especially when becoming a choreographer in the entertainment industry. Choreographer, Free Crawford, has achieved an impressive array of credits choreographing Justin Bieber’s tour and music videos for Omarion, Marques Houston, The New Boyz, Justin Bieber & Tyrese. These accomplishments did not come easy and to this day others question his creative integrity.

As a teenager, Free stumbled upon his hidden talent at a house party. With no intentions of becoming a professional choreographer, he discovered his vocation when performing on stage for the first time. “I started mimicking dance at house parties...

You’ve seen it on YouTube, you’ve seen it on Good Morning America…you’ve probably witnessed it at a wedding…Im talking about surprise dances breaking the old tradition of slow boring first dances and Minerva Mohabir and The Wedding Choreographers & Co. are supplying the brides and grooms with the moves to get down and boogie.

Mateo Magazine: What inspired you to start The Wedding Choreographers & Co. (TWC)?
Minerva Mohabir (TWC): In 2007, a dance was choreographed for my best friend’s wedding. It was an unforgettable grand entrance into the reception to the song of “The Way You Make Me Feel” by Michael Jackson. The bridal party was nervous but within seconds, adrenaline was pumping. All the guests were on their feet and some were even standing on their chairs as the entire bridal party broke out into a full choreographed routine with canes. It was an unforgettable moment not just for the guests but it was a historic moment for the bride and one particular bridesmaid…ME! I was so surprised by the success and positive feedback we were getting from the guests at the wedding that a few months later it hit me that ‘perhaps I should make a business out of this’. I got the pen to the paper (sometimes to post-it notes if ideas fired out of nowhere) and a year later a fun vision became reality.

A true character to hard work, persistence, and amazing talent is Marie Bonnevay aka Marie Poppins. Marie is undeniably an inspiration and exactly what Mateo Magazine represents. She believes in what she does and she never gives up hope. Here is a bit of her story that she shared with us.

Mateo Magazine: What is/are your passion(s)?
Marie Poppins: Dance is my passion. I started young with Jazz, but I found my identity as a dancer when I discovered Hip Hop when I was 18. I fell in love with its freedom, its culture its principles. I started learning different styles: Locking, Breaking, house, choreography. But my favorite style became Popping. I focused mainly on this art form and I was really determined to get better and better.

Dance agents. Chances are, you haven’t heard that much about them even though the profession has been around for over 20 years. Just like the biggest names in Hollywood do, dancers have representatives too. They’re commonly referred to as ‘dance agents’ and they help dancers get jobs, auditions and negotiate agreements, of various kinds, on their client’s behalf. A manager for dancers, however, is rare and for dance educators and choreographers, even more so. That’s where former top ‘dance agent’ Jim Keith comes in. His plan is to transform the commercial dance industry by providing his select group of choreographers and dance educators with the personalized attention, guidance and industry insight he believes are crucial to thrive in an ever-evolving entertainment industry.

Life as a dancer consists of many days of uncertainty and years of intensive training. And it’s also ruled by that simple phone call that has the anxious dancer waiting to hear about landing ‘that’ job. Two inspiring and accomplished dancers in Toronto, La Toya Robinson and Tuch, share with us what life is really like as a dancer and what it takes to be successful in the dance industry.

Tuch, a professional dancer and choreographer in Toronto, has worked alongside Missy Elliot, Jully Black, Eve, and Jay-Z among others, and as a cast member of the motion picture Honey, starring Jessica Alba. He for one can attest to the uncertainty and fluctuations a dancer faces

Bobby Amamizu is not only a student at UC Irvine, but also a talented dancer since the age of five. You can currently catch him dancing in the new Cirque du Soleil show, Viva ELVIS, in Las Vegas, Nevada. From his beginnings as a dancer, Bobby has been under the direction of Monie Adamson of Focus Dance Center and began ballet training with Molly Lynch of Ballet Pacifica just a few years later. His television credits include Fiona Apple’s music video, Paper Bag; an Emmy Award-winning number for the Jerry Lewis Telethon, choreographed by Jason Samuel Smith; the United Television Broadcast; the Walt Disney music video, Your Library; America’s Most Talented Kids; and also Fame, a major motion picture, for which he performed as a feature dancer. This young, yet very experienced and humble dancer dances in a variety of styles, including commercial hip-hop under the direction of Definition of Creativity, based in San Diego, California.