DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE/UPDATES Good day everyone! This is Brian Torner and like most, I am in self-imposed isolation at home in Toronto. It is the spirit of freedom in the video filmed impromptu in Havana 2018 below which inspires me to connect with you all today….
THANK YOU Angel Torres for spearheading the “Darkness Breathes Light LATINX gun violence” portfolio, culturally and artistically a significant body of work , also meaningful in its sensitive handling of ten very different PARTICIPANT ARTISTS, plus thoughtful placement and order of the ten works,…
Brian and team/friends (Keren and Brigitt and Diana and …?) all impressed me so much with their technical skill and their wise (deep, effective) teaching and their generosity of spirit. Their passion for and delight in dancing makes Continental Dance Club a top place to go to learn, to create, and to just dance.
P.S. I’ve heard great praise for the food they sometimes serve… 5 Star
Top professional instruction and a warm, friendly and supportive atmosphere allows you to learn in a relaxed setting. A great place to tap any artistic potential that lies inside you. As a teacher of many decades, I know a good thing, when I see it. 👌A pleasure to be associated with people who truly help you to discover your potential. 5 Star
I’d highly recommend the Continental! …the Torner family who own and operate the hall went well out of their way to make sure we had everything we needed. Brian was attentive enough to have pointed out some details we hadn’t thought of. That saved us some headaches.
To the Torners: Thanks again for the lovely venue and we’ll look forward to our next event there. 5 Star
The Continental Dance Club is a pleasure to work with. Everyone is super friendly and very hospitable… can’t wait to see what their future holds! 5 Star
I like the Club. People I attend with are always pleasant and owners of the club seem eclectic mesh with my personality.
Brian and Daniella are passionate about Dance and Pilates/Barre and it shows in the way they teach. They are knowledgeable, expressive and fun to be around! I recommend them, I LOVE MONDAYS for stretching yourself into learning ballroom dancing! 5 Star
I’m so happy I found The Continental Dance Club – it’s a privilege to teach in the club !!
Very nice and big space !! Very clean !!
LOVE THE dance floor
Most life loving and enthusiastic owner ever !!!
My name is Lukas, I am 22 years old, from Germany and visiting Canada this year. I have been in Vancouver since February and I arrived in Toronto the end of June.
One of the best friends of my parents, Ute Spaeth, connected me with Brian Torner , who offered me lodging and work at the Continental dance Club for 6 weeks this summer. I arrived just in time for the opening of the photography exhibition by photographer Angel Torres #URBANMATADOR2 at Mitzi’s Café. This was really exciting for me. Despite the incredible heat during Canada Day weekend, Brian and Angel put on a show and gave a great impression of their caping skills, which I captured on GoPro.
I managed to find time in our busy schedule to visit some other interesting and impressive places in Toronto, for example the Hockey Hall of Fame, Echo Beach (for a one-day rock festival called “Vans Warped Tour”), the BMO Field (games of the Argonauts and the TFC), the Distillery District and many more – Toronto is a huge city which has a lot going on! A real highlight for me was being included in the closing show of #URBANMATADOR2 at Mitzi’s Café playing the bongos and congas as one of TRIO DA CAPO. Angel, Brian & I invited patrons to join an interactive percussion-dance-jam during breakfast/lunch at Mitzi’s Cafe, as a part of the finissage activities.
I want to use this little write-up to sincerely thank Brian, his parents Ernst and Ursula and Angel Torres for letting me be a part of their lives and for being so cordially received. It has been a real pleasure and I will never forget my time here and everything we were able to do together – so again: THANK YOU!
Now my time in Toronto has come to an end and I leave with mixed feelings as I am sad to leave but also excited for the upcoming weeks. My plans include travel along the west coast of the U.S. with two friends from Germany. We will be briefly back in the Toronto area in September before exploring east Canada.
Thanks to everyone who made my time here so memorable!
THANK YOU Pollyanna Blanco, valued TEAM PARTNER of the Continental Dance Club since 2016, author, REIKI Healer, CHAKRADANCE Facilitator for connecting with me, director of The Continental Dance Club as MEDITATIVE CAPING ARTIST collaborating with Christopher Johnstone for January 27, February 3, March 3 dates of CHAKRADANCE soul spa & URBAN RETREAT. 5 STARS!
August 1, 2019
It is a karmic law that, in the cycle of existence, no action occurs without an equal and opposing reaction. Having lost a nephew to gun violence in 2003, Angel Torres illumines this insight with emotional power in his photographic portrait series In Darkness Breathes Light.
A cinematic treatment of the aftermath of violence, this series could be mistaken for stills from Scorsese film. We see the aftermath of violence reflected in the anguished or shell-shocked faces of bystanders, family members, and concerned community avatars.
The “light” of the title is often lurid and feeble, the colour of blood or the flashing emergency lights atop an ambulance or police car. The darkness, by contrast, is widespread, found in the ominous gloom of back alleys, the graveyard, and most of all, the sorrowing mind of a devastated survivor.
Overall, we see the aftermath of violence as reflected in the faces and bodies of a cross-section of individuals who have been touched by it. Reactions run the gamut from fear and pain to steely, determined resistance.
Impelled by an awareness of the duality of light and dark, a skeletal deaths-head figure represents one aspect of the narrative, the brutally irrevocable outcome of gun violence. Weighing the balance, the portrait of an artist in the studio proposes a more redemptive vision of the renewal that is also engendered by violence.
In the journey of healing and renewal, no change will come about without the unwavering emotionally-charged efforts of the larger community. As we as a society collectively seek solidarity and a way forward in this weaponized time of crisis, artists such as Angel Torres are leaders in the charge.
Betty Ann Jordan, Toronto-based arts writer
ABOUT BETTY ANN JORDAN> https://bettyannjordan.wixsite.com/artinsite/about
A TORRES Photography Darkness Breathes Light FACEBOOK OFFICIAL https://www.facebook.com/TorresTornerARTProjects/?modal=admin_todo_tour
A TORRES 10×10 PORTFOLIO & INTERVIEWS & PRESS https://angeltorres.client-gallery.com/gallery/portrait?fbclid=IwAR1BM4bBUgtX0YmEeaSt-OztQTaPPrW6M5Kt3MikXuOr9A2-PJ6oK0SgMpE
It was a delightful surprise to have Continental Dance Club and Brian Torner perform a stunning number at our 30th anniversary business event. The guest were completely wowed by the elegance of the performance. We had the challenge of working with a very small space, but they pulled it off spectacularly. I would recommend them for any occasion.
PHOTOGRAPHY/VIDEOGRAPHY: Angel Torres https://angeltorres.client-gallery.com/
THANK YOU www.laclassiqueduquebec.com organizers of Montreal’s mega-event
MERYEM PEARSON & DANIEL HEROUX for allowing director Brian Torner of www.thecontinentaldanceclub.com the fine honour of sponsoring the PROFESSONAL SHOWDANCE divison Saturday evening.
CONGRATULATIONS winners the TUFTS and all competitors for an exciting ecclectic competition!
The Continental Dance Club has preserved the art and love of dance in the Greater Toronto Area for years and continues to exemplify what it means to love what you do. As Miss World Canada 2013, I had the opportunity to showcase a mutual love for dance with Brian Torner, Director of the Continental Dance Club for several years and those experiences will last a lifetime. Brian remains a close friend and has given his time, his passion for dance and his drive to the arts and that does not go unnoticed. His philanthropic spirit mixed with his dedication to sharing the art of ballroom dance with others is what makes the Continental Dance Club a true Ontario Treasure. If you have the opportunity to attend an event or take a class, do it; you will not be disappointed!
-Camille (Munro) Parmer
Miss World Canada 2013
Thanks a million Brian Torner for the opportunity to create this exciting video montage for The Continental Dance Club, and your bevy of dancers and artists at your vibrant studio! I have to admit it was a great deal of work, but it was so well worth it, as it’s simply the greatest pleasure for me to make people shine bright to instil confidence and joy in themselves and their craft !
Dance is indeed one of the highest artistic expressions of our spirits set free! Thank you also for allowing me to contribute my venture into the realm of Matadors and Caped Crusaders! Wishing you great continued success in your dance and caping journey Maestro of the Cape 🙏
Thank you for including us in your magnificent UNESCO7 INSPIRATION Montage this year https://youtu.be/2jawzEXY_tU to celebrate the love and passion for dance that connects us all! Thank you for giving us the privilege to be part of something so special.
“Continental Dance Club is like a second home; it brings us joy and brings us together!” – This is the response you would receive from Academy of Serbian Folk Dancing Assoc. dancers when asked how they feel about the Continental Dance Studio. The studio is not only a warm and safe space for learning and dancing but also a place where our dancers work and learn together to build a community of love and passion for dance.
We are proud to share the dance floor with these amazing world dancers, especially with Brian R Torner, the owner and director of the Continental Dance Club and a world champion trainer & choreographer, 15-time world championship adjudicator and champion ballroom dancer with an impressive history.
If anyone is looking for a dance studio in the GTA area, we would highly recommend the Continental Dance Club – It is the place to go! 5 star
Rodika Marcetic,
Marketing Manager
Academy of Serbian Folk Dancing Association
Seemingly though not, out of no-where, I kind and thoughtful gesture turned out to be a landing pad, a new home and a family. That was the gesture and the follow-through of Mr. Brian Torner, renowned Canadian Ballroom legend, and the legacy that his family run space, the Continental Dance Club, provided for me, my family and our health based professional dance practise.
For the open, elegant and open learning experiences that The Continental Dance Club has facilitated for my wife Cynthia and our clients, through transitional, established AND unprecedented times, to the performance opportunities that Brian has generously opened for us, I can only say THANK YOU!!!
It has been an honour and a pleasure to share the stage, the studio and the family legacy with you Mr. Torner!
(Editor: Nathaniel & Cynthia are just two of our many instructors, specialists and special guest artists ….plus FRIENDS of The Continental Dance Club including community national, international, regional and local organizations, Festivals, events found here: www.thecontinentaldanceclub.com/about )
Nathaniel Kozlow
Cynthia Kozlow
ABOUT Nathaniel> https://tinyurl.com/wjzdp83
ABOUT Cynthia> https://tinyurl.com/yx4m46uj
5 Star
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