PRESS RELEASE For immediate release First edition of Hit The Floor Toronto CANADA’S BIGGEST MULTI-STYLE DANCE COMPETITION TAKES ON THE QUEEN CITY! Toronto, 26 April 2016 – After its resounding success in Lévis and Gatineau-Ottawa, Canada’s biggest multi-style dance competition continues to gather momentum as it heads to Toronto for a spectacular event taking place at the Metro Convention Centre in exactly one year’s time, that is to say from April 28 to 30, 2017. “There’s a large pool of dancers in Ontario, which means there’s a high number of requests to participate in our competitions. As our two events were fully booked, it made perfect sense to turn towards Toronto. This decision is also perfectly in keeping with our plan to make Hit The Floor a world-class organization within the next five years,” revealed Hit The Floor founder and director Nicolas Bégin, who is also an experienced dancer. A true celebration of dance, Hit The Floor features hundreds of performances by dancers of all skill levels, which are presented throughout the three-day event. The line-up includes contemporary, ballet, lyrical, jazz, tap and hip hop dance routines performed by dancers affiliated with dance schools located across Canada. Hit The Floor also brings together internationally renowned dance masters as judges and guest performers. Natalli Reznik, who has starred in several Hollywood films including Take The Lead, Candace Brown, an instructor and choreographer from the prestigious Broadway Dance Center, Hokuto Konishi, known for his stellar performance on the television show America’s Best Dance Crew and also a choreographer for the popular music group LMFAO, Kim Gingras, who took part in the Beyoncé Tour as well as the television show Dancing with the Stars, and Jaja Vankova from the famous I.aM.mE dance crew are just a few of the participants in past Gatineau and Lévis editions. And then of course there are world-class crews such as Quest Crew (America’s Best Dance Crew Season 3 and 8 champions), I.aM.Me (America’s Best Dance Crew Season 5 champions), Dana Foglia Dance Company and Fanny Pak (participants in Season 2 of America’s Best Dance Crew). Registrations for the Toronto competition will begin in June. TOURISM BENEFITS Created in 2011 by dancer Nicolas Bégin, Hit The Floor has enjoyed exponential success. The city of Lévis will beat to the rhythm of its 6th edition in just a few days time, barely a month after Gatineau’s sold-out 3rd edition was held. The two events combined attract a total of approximately 30,000 spectators and just over 5,000 dancers every year. “After six years in Lévis and three in Gatineau, we have managed to become a leader among events that generate the most tourism spin-offs in terms of the number of visitors to each of these regions. We are confident that we’ll be able to recreate the same excitement in Toronto,” Mr. Bégin said, adding that the majority of Hit The Floor visitors are from outside of the region. ABOUT HIT THE FLOOR Established by dancer Nicolas Bégin, whose performances on America’s Best Dance Crew and So You Think You Can Dance Canada caused a sensation, the Hit The Floor competition was staged for the first time in the city of Lévis in 2011 with the goal of contributing to the development of all styles of dance in Canada. In 2014, the event was exported to Gatineau, where it was a resounding success. The dance competition presented in Toronto will be the first one to be held outside Quebec. -30- SOURCE: Hit The Floor | hitthefloor.ca | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | Twitter INFORMATION AND INTERVIEWS: Karen Bennett | [email protected] T 613 233-9191 ext. 1 | C 613 863-2274 Philippe Béliveau | [email protected] T 418 704 1559 ext. 225 | C 418 559-0580 .