Thursday, October 15

Teagan Ariss is a Tkaronto-based, Hard of hearing contemporary dance artist who is attentive to the intentional and involuntary communicative ability of movement. She has presented her work with Toronto Dance Community Love-In, The Garage, Edmonton’s Nextfest, and London Dance Festival. Teagan has performed at the Guelph Dance Festival, Let the Elephants Dance, and dance: made in canada. She has danced in work by Rock Bottom Movement, Laura Arend, and collaborative projects with Meaningful Movement collective. In 2021, she graduated from York University’s BFA dance program, where she was most impacted by the teachings of dance artists: Syreeta Hector, Tracey Norman, Susan Lee and Freya Björg Olafson. Teagan values artistic accessibility as a way to reach folks who may not normally engage with dance due to lack of opportunity. She is also a passionate facilitator of creative movement for youth and older adults and is deeply inspired by witnessing creativity at different stages of life across different abilities.

Kemora is an emerging researcher, dancer and choreographer trained in tap, ballet, modern, contemporary, jazz, hip hop, Afro-Caribbean, and traditional West African dances form the Malinke Empire. Dancing has allowed her to travel and represent Canada in international dance festivals, and her work as a choreographer has been commissioned by dance and gymnastics studios in both Canada and the USA. Beyond dance, Kemora is a public speaker who has spoken on panels at Harvard University, the University of Toronto, the International Association of Blacks in Dance and Pop Moves Conferences. Kemora seeks to empower and advocate through the arts which is evident through her work with community efforts.

A native of Japan, Takako trained as a contemporary dancer in London and has performed for over 25 years across Europe, Asia, and North America. Her solo work includes Trogoudi, nominated for Best Performer at the Stuttgart International Dance Festival (2003), and Moments in Time (2008), performed internationally and earning a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Outstanding Female Performer in 2015. She was also nominated for Dora Awards for Outstanding Ensemble Performance for Universal Child Care (2024) and Mukashi Mukashi (2025). From 2018–2023, she collaborated with artists including Tedd Robinson (2s) and Michael Caldwell (Life is a Paradox, Two x 30), and served as Caldwell’s outside eye and cultural consultant for small:scale (2022). Recently, she has been blending contemporary dance with her Japanese heritage in works such as Sho ga nai—It cannot be helped, and Echoes: Vibrations from Japan to Canada, presented in Ottawa in 2024 and featured in the National Arts Centre’s Capsule series.