Michael Caldwell is a Toronto-based choreographer, performer, curator, director, producer, and arts advocate. He has performed/collaborated with over 50 of Canada's esteemed performance creators/companies, performing across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia, earning two (2) Dora Mavor Moore Awards for outstanding performance in dance.

His choreography has been commissioned/presented throughout Canada at major festivals, in traditional venues and in site-responsive and community-engaged contexts. Michael is a two-time K.M. Hunter Charitable Foundation Artist Award finalist. He serves in leadership, as Creative Director: Programming at Generator in Toronto, and as Associate Artistic Director at Festival of Dance Annapolis Royal in Nova Scotia. Previously, Michael played a pivotal role in the growth and development of Fall for Dance North, serving as Executive Producer for nine years.

In addition, he acts as a consultant with various arts organizations and as a mentor to many emerging artists/curators in the Toronto arts community. With a bachelor’s degree in film/art history from Syracuse University in upstate New York, and professional dance training at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Michael now serves as Vice President on the board of directors at The CanDance Network.

Robbie Grunwald is an independent producer, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. Based in Toronto, he has performed across the globe with artists including Donovan Woods, Jill Barber, Rose Cousins, Doug Paisley, and the Good Lovelies. Robbie has contributed original compositions for contemporary dance by choreographers Tina Fushell, Mairead Filgate, and Meredith Thompson, original scores for films by Mike Vass, and scored the feature documentary Open Shadow - The story of Teal Swan by film maker Paola Marina. He has produced records for Lydia Persaud, Nate Daviau (The Launch), DoubleTooth, Old Maps, Cantor Mo Glazman and contributed to albums by Juno winning artists Donovan Woods, Jill Barber, Rose Cousins, Doug Paisley, and The Good Lovelies. Robbie’s own musical projects include electronic music duo DoubleTooth (with collaborator Joshua Van Tassel), Blackbird Valley, and his debut solo piano album Oma, composed at the Banff Centre for the Arts, was released in March of 2020.

Valerie Calam is a Toronto-based artist interested in finding pathways to refresh and support herself. She works with sound, movement, fabric, patterns, the nervous system, and the body.

Valerie umbrellas much of her work under the name Company Vice Versa (www.companyviceversa.com) and is currently collaborating on a sound score for dance artist Allison Cummings, as well as a interactive sound design for dance artist Emma Kerson to be presented at The Citadel: Ross Centre for Dance, Toronto in June 2022.

Valerie is the Dance Ontario Regional Representative for her hometown of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. She is the Membership Coordinator and Operations Manager for CADA/East (Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists). Valerie frequently works with Toronto Dance Theatre, composer Fantastical Realms, dance artist Kate Franklin, and visual artist Diane Borsato. Currently, Valerie is collaborating on an experimental video game with filmmaker Franci Duran and Fantastical Realms through the generous support of Canada Council for the Arts.

Photo credit: McKenzie James Photography

Alana Elmer grew up on a farm, attended The School of Toronto Dance Theatre and has worked with the company for over 15 years.

Captivated by the power of framework and the music of the body she is in constant examination of the lenses performer and choreographer use to shape things, and how we engage with one another as we shape them - choreography as a way to mobilize questions, and questions as active ways to embody and connect, to reflect internally and externally.

Alana is a costume designer and the star of the short film Latched, which had it’s world premier at TIFF 2017 and has won over 65 awards world wide. Her debut feature film Making Monsters was released September 2019 and has already won multiple awards including Best Horror Film at Shriekfestfestival run.

Photo credit: McKenzie James Photography

Mid-career dance artist, educator and choreographer, Atri Nundy completed her arangetram (graduation) in 2005 after years of continuing her passion for dance molded through learning Bharatanatyam at Sampradaya Dance Academy under the tutelage of Lata Pada CM. Nundy continues to work as a Company dancer /choreographer and teacher at Sampradaya Dance Academy. She has toured extensively in India, Indonesia, UK and the Caribbean.

Technically diverse in her training, Atri’s professional practice includes work in a variety of contemporary practices. With this training she has performed with many companies in Toronto including KasheDance, Novadance and Ronald Taylor Dance. Commissioned by Anadam DanceTheatre where she also works as a dancer, she created her first ensemble work, Mindful Chatter (April 2022) while working with seminal choreographer Padmini Chettur in her newest work Chalking, which premiered in November 2021.

Karen Kaeja is an Ashkenazi, Tkaronto born, award-winning performer, choreographer, project instigator and mentor. She develops platforms for collaborative relationships between dancers, everyday people and the body. The heart of her research, creation, pedagogy and writing concentrates on the agency and trauma of Touch. Co-Artistic Director of Kaeja d’Dance with Allen Kaeja, she is in The Canadian Who’s Who and Theatre Dance in Canada encyclopedias. Her awards include the Dance Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award, CDA “I Love Dance” Community Award, and Paul D. Fleck Fellowship for Innovation. A finalist for the TAF Celebration of Cultural Life Award, the TAF Muriel Sherrin Award for International Achievement, NOW’s Best Local Choreographer and Best Dance Company and twice named one of their top 10 dance artists. A 7-time Dora Mavor Moore nominee, her work Crave received 4 Dora nominations. Commissioned and presented around the world, she collaborates with many of Canada’s brilliant choreographers.

www.kaeja.org

Photo credit: Zahra Saleki

David Norsworthy (he/him) is a Tkarón:to/Toronto-based dance artist, choreographer and arts educator of mixed Japanese immigrant/British settler descent who is “an exceptionally lucid performer, impressive and articulate” (Globe and Mail). A graduate of The Juilliard School, he delights in asking questions, and believes deeply in the transformative power of dancing. David has performed with dance companies and collaborated with dance creators in Canada, USA, Sweden and Australia, and his choreographic career has included independently produced full-length works, international tours, and commissioned projects for companies, universities and schools. David is the grateful recipient of the Living Arts Centre’s Ron Lenyk Award and was one of three finalists for the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Emerging Artist Award. David is a Co-Founder/Co- Director of TOES FOR DANCE, a Board Member of CanAsian Dance, and a part-time Rehearsal Director for Norrdans, a contemporary dance company in Sweden.

www.davidnorsworthy.com

Photo Credit: Colton Curtis

Benjamin Landsberg is a Toronto-born contemporary dancer and independent choreographer. Since completing Toronto Metropolitan University’s Performance Dance BFA Program, he has performed and collaborated with Compagnie Flak, ProArteDanza, and Landerer&Company, and toured worldwide. He has danced in works by Robert Glumbek, Jose Navas, Michael Caldwell and Felix Landerer. He is currently in process with Amanda Acorn and is a regular collaborator with Andrea Peña & Artists. As a choreographer, Landsberg’s work has been commissioned and presented internationally by Commedia Futura, Toronto Metropolitan University, Festival Quartiers Danses, and Dance Ontario. He is one third of the Toronto-based collective The Platform.

Takako Segawa is a dancer, choreographer, and teacher of Japanese Arts. Born in Japan, Takako trained in both traditional and contemporary Japanese movement, before graduating from the London Contemporary Dance School. Her 20-year career includes performances throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. She was nominated outstanding female for the Dora Award in 2015 and the Stuttgart Solo Tanz festival. Takako has worked with CORPUS, Michael Coldwell, Maxine Heppner, JAMII, Suzanne Liska, Tedd Robinson and many others. She has received grants to create her works, including from Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Ottawa Arts Funding, and the Kochi (Japan) Ministry of Performing Arts. She established her company ‘Fluid Elements’ in 2015, and currently lives in Ottawa, on the traditional and unceded territories of the Algonquin Anishnaabeg people. Takako is currently working on “Echoes: Vibrations from Japan to Canada” and “Sho ga nai—It cannot be helped.”

Roberto is the new era no longer restricted by time she walks the earth with patience noticing how all is changing he doesn't interfere she listens he watches ready for nothing yet it all shows it’s true colours the sun and the moon have her life and it’s the random that keeps him alive.

I am Roberto Soria, and as a seeker of pleasure it only makes sense that movement has been a part of my life for so many years.

i am:

a raver / a dj-creator of noise / a lover / a skater / a photographer-filmmaker / a sagittarius / a company dancer for toronto dance theatre / and friendly so if you see me in the street come say hi!

Photo Credit: Roberto Soria

Dance artist Heidi Strauss has worked for companies and choreographers from across Canada. Since 2008, she has been the artistic director of adelheid; and was a resident artist at the Factory Theatre (2008-2012), Theatre Centre (2013-2016), Harbourfront Centre (2018-2019) and currently is in residence at the Citadel. She has created several Dora Award winning works including ‘this time’ and ‘what it’s like’. Heidi teaches regularly and through adelheid and offers open classes, and professional development opportunities for emerging artists. In 2012, Heidi was honoured with a KM Hunter Award for Dance.

https://adelheid.ca

Photo credit: Jeremy Mimnagh

Irma Villafuerte is a dance artist, emerging choreographer and educator based in Tkaronto from Nahuat Territory Kuskatan, post-colonial El Salvador. She serves as an educator at Randolph College for the Performing Arts,Toronto Film School, and Casa Maiz’ Semillas Latinas. She’s been part of festivals across the Americas and the Caribbean. She has collaborated and performed works by Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Jaberi Dance Theatre, Kaeja d’Dance, Victoria Mata, Aria Evans, and Alejandro Ronceria. Her passion for social justice and her identity as a Salvadorian in the diaspora is the driving force for creation in Irma’s choreography, performance work and pedagogy.

Laura Cournoyea is a Tkaronto-based arts manager and administrator. Some credits include: Tribal Crackling Wind, Fujiwara Dance Inventions, Dreamwalker Dance Company, Shannon Litzenberger, Toronto Dance Theatre, Dusk Dances, Ontario Dances, Lucy Rupert, and CanAsian. Laura is the Arts Education Manager for tiger princess dance projects and the Company Manager for the dance:made in canada/fait au canada Festival.

Based in Toronto, Helin Gungoren (she/her) works primarily as a stage manager and arts administrator with a focus on dance, festivals and events. Some of the companies Helin has worked with/for include princess productions, Political Movement, School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Soulpepper, Citadel + Compagnie, Granite Motion Gallery, Toronto Fringe Festival, Wild Rabbit dance projects, and New Blue Dance. She received her BFA in Performance Production from TMU’s School of Performance.

Mateo Galindo Torres (GUETCHA GUARITCHA) is a Colombian-Canadian multidisciplinary dance artist, producer, actor and performer based in Toronto. He started his training in Bogota at an early age, and deepened his studies in the USA, Cuba, and Canada. As an interpreter, he has worked with a wide array of directors and choreographers, for live theatre, voice over and film. Mateo has performed in Canada, Colombia, Cuba, Germany, Mexico, and Panama. As a choreographer and creator, his work is highly influenced by his Latinx American background, often politically charged, and inspired by social subject matters. Mateo fuses his eclectic movement training within his choreography creating a distinct movement quality.

Mateo is the founder and artistic director of GUETCHA GUARITCHA, a dance and performance company whose call is “to find our essential truth, to connect with it, honour it, and to express ourselves from it”

www.guetchaguaritcha.ca

Photo Credit: German Prieto