Fall for Dance North (FFDN) will be heading into the future under a new co-leadership model with the appointment of Robert Binet as Artistic Director and Co-CEO, along with that of Lily Sutherland as Festival Director and Co-CEO. The new appointments take effect on November 4, 2024.
FFDN celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, and runs from September 26 to October 6, with outgoing Artistic Director Ilter Ibrahimof at the helm of the organization for the last time. He’ll stay on until the end of December 2024 to help the new leadership team fall into place.
The appointments were announced following a national search was led by Marty Bragg & Associates, with guidance from a Transition Committee. Ilter Ibrahimof serving as advisor.
“I am thrilled with the appointment of Robert and Lily as co-leaders of FFDN,” says Ibrahimof, Founding Artistic Director of FFDN. “Over the past eight years, I have seen Lily’s excellence in everything she has produced. She understands FFDN inside and out, has a strong curatorial eye, and is a valued community engager. Robert has partnered with FFDN on many levels, including a major commission for FFDN 2017 created on a global cast of Canadian dancers working abroad. Under his leadership, the Creative Action program at the National Ballet partnered with FFDN on several successful presentations at Union Station. Creating opportunities for the next generation has always been important to me and I will follow this new and exciting team with great enthusiasm.”
Artistic Director and Co-CEO Robert Binet
Robert Binet has been creating and curating dance works for some of the leading ballet companies globally, including The Royal Ballet and The New York City Ballet, along with The National Ballet of Canada, where he served as Director of Artist Development Programs from 2018 to 2024. In that role, he oversaw the development of more than 200 new works by Canadian choreographers.
Binet created new programs for NBC, including Sharing the Stage, and led its Apprentice Program. Robert was a guest curator for FFDN in 2023, and the same year, was the Choreographic Mentor at the Venice Biennale College Danza. He also received the Sandra Faire Next Generation Award from Dance Collection Danse, which recognizes individuals under the age of 40 who are playing a key role in the world of dance in Canada.
Festival Director and Co-CEO Lily Sutherland
Dance producer and programmer Lily Sutherland has more than a decade’s experience leading creative teams in organizations such as Luminato, The Toronto Fringe Festival, and The Hamilton Festival Theatre Company. She has been working with FFDN since 2018, including serving as Executive Producer for the last two years.
Lily earned her B.A. in Theatre from the University of Ottawa, and subsequently studied Clown and Le Jeu at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, France. She co-founded indie company Passing Through Theatre, and went on to produce seven original works and tour nationally for that organization. Her work has been commissioned and performed by several indie theatre festivas, including Frost Bites, and In The Soil, and was named a Board Member of O.Dela Arts/Matriarchs Uprising Festival, which supports the work of Indigenous women choreographers, in 2023.
Looking Ahead
“We are extremely excited to work together in this new co-leadership model to shape the next chapter of Fall for Dance North and build on Ilter Ibrahimof’s extraordinary decade of leadership,” says Binet and Sutherland in a joint statement.
“The festival is a crucial part of Toronto’s cultural sector, and we are committed to continuing to grow audiences for dance through bold and accessible programming. We look forward to placing Toronto and Canada’s most exciting dance artists in their rightful international context through programming that illuminates connections between dance happening here and around the world. FFDN has an exceptional staff and Board with whom we look forward to working in pursuit of the organization’s mission and values; together, we will ensure long-term success for the organization.”
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