TORONTO INTERNATIONAL TAP DANCE FESTIVAL

Join us to experience legacy, tradition, and innovation in tap dance.

AUGUST 21-23, 2026

SHOWS · PANEL DISCUSSIONS · WORKSHOPS · JAM

TITDF 2026 Schedule snapshot - edited.png

After sold-out programming in 2022 and 2024, our biennial festival returns for its fourth edition as a three-day event. Reflecting a multiplicity of histories, aesthetics, and perspectives, the 2026 lineup showcases a range of artistic approaches and lineages through deeply personal and globally resonant works.

TICKETS & REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!

Please scroll down for full festival details!

MILESTONES

Opening this year’s festival, we’ll pay tribute to Joey Hollingsworth - a tap dancer, singer, and conga player from London, ON, celebrating his 90th birthday a few short weeks following our event!

Joey was the first Black man to appear on CBC television in 1954, as a competitor on “Pick the Stars.” Other TV appearances included the Ed Sullivan Show, Wayne and Shuster, and Mister Rogers’ Neighbourhood.

It is with tremendous gratitude that we honour the legendary Mr. Joey Hollingsworth, celebrating not only an extraordinary career, but a legacy that continues to resonate across generations of artists.

1/3

We then shift our focus to Heather Cornell. Marking her 70th year, Cornell reflects on a career spanning more than five decades. Widely recognized for her impact on the evolution of tap dance, her work bridges improvisation, composition, and pedagogy, honours her mentors, and distinctly roots tap as the intersection of music, dance, and theatre.

As co-founder and artistic director of Manhattan Tap, various solo and collaborative projects, she’s spent 40+ years abroad and has recently returned to Ontario as her home base, bringing with her a substantial artistic lineage and international career.

Closing the evening: Bril Barrett (Chicago) - acclaimed solo artist, outreach trailblazer, and leader in training some of the world’s most sought after tap dancers through his company MADD Rhythms, celebrating 25 years. Barrett’s credits include Riverdance and Imagine Tap, and in 2024 he received the National Heritage Fellowship, the United States' highest honour in the folk and traditional arts. He is widely recognized for connecting contemporary practice with tap dance's rich Black American roots.

1/3

By submission only, selected tap dancers ages

18-30 will have the opportunity to be a part of a unique residency program to train with and perform alongside Bril Barrett.

AUGUST 10-20, 2026

Please click here to learn more!

BRIL BARRETT RESIDENCY PROGRAM

CONVERGENCE

Program 2 features a split bill. First up:

Boys’ Club Tap Dance Collective - Laura Donaldson (Calgary), Elise McGrenera (Toronto), and Veronica Simpson (NYC) present Ostinati - a 30-minute piece that explores the cycles we can't seem to escape: personal, emotional, societal, and existential. Set on a stage divided into four quadrants, the piece revolves both physically and thematically as each dancer inhabits a vignette drawn from their own recurring patterns. The piece explores doubts that resurface, the passage of time, and patterns that shape who we are and how we move through the world.

Ostinati is a celebration of community and solidarity among female-identifying artists.

Featuring original music and arrangements, the tap dancers are joined by Alexa Belgrave (piano), Amanda Sum (vocals), Adrian Russouw (bass).

This work was developed through the TOES for Dance Process+Practice Residency Program in partnership with Assembly Hall.

Closing the evening: Boston based ensemble Subject:Matter, presenting With Far Hand - both a touring stage work and the company's sophomore studio recording (following 2024's Songbook)

Created by Berklee Master of Music graduates Ian Berg (tap dance) and André Sudol (drums/composition), the work explores tap as both movement and sonic composition, emphasizing the unique qualities of tap dance as an instrument through original music, improvisation, and contemporary jazz influences. The work expands the boundaries of tap while remaining grounded in its rhythmic lineage and collaborative roots.

Recognized for her consistent presence in Toronto’s most vibrant music venues, Victoria Miller will host our PWYC closing night jam at DROM Taberna where festival artists, community members, dancers, and audience members of all ages come together to celebrate the work, connection, and shared experience of gathering!

In addition, TITDF includes workshops, masterclasses, clinics, and free panel discussions. Click below to learn more about festival classes:

TIX & REGISTRATION

PANEL DISCUSSIONS

Moderated by Artistic Director, Allison Toffan, these discussions will take place on Friday and Saturday as a pre-show talk in the Terminal Theatre Lobby from 6-7pm, and on Sunday at Randolph College For The Performing Arts, following the classes.

The schedule is below:

FRIDAY AUGUST 21:

Impact in Action

Allison discusses the impact of a festival commission with Victoria Miller - this year's jam host, festival producer, and a 2024 commissioned artist to discuss the impact the festival has had on her work two years later.

Terminal Theatre Lobby, 6-7pm

SATURDAY AUGUST 22:

Building A Legacy

Allison will discuss everything from early beginnings, to career highlights with Bril Barrett and Heather Cornell - two incredibly different artists with two significantly impactful contributions to the art form as we know it.

Terminal Theatre Lobby, 6-7pm

SUNDAY AUGUST 23:

Process & Collaboration

A discussion with Boys' Club Tap Collective and Subject:Matter about the development of work, influences, approach to creation, collaboration, and building repertoire.

Randolph College For The Performing Arts, 4-5pm

The State Of The Art

A discussion with all of our 2026 presented festival artists for an intergenerational discussion regarding the state of tap dance today - what is happening in each respective artist's community? How do we function? Globally, where are we at, and what is the way forward?

Randolph College For The Performing Arts, 5-6pm

On behalf of the Toronto International Tap Dance Festival, Toffan Rhythm Projects

graciously acknowledges the generous support from: