Our People

Born in Québec City, Lemieux studied dance at L’École Supérieure de Danse du Québec, and at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Her performance career began when she joined Toronto Dance Theatre in 1986, dancing for founders David Earle, Peter Randazzo and Patricia Beatty, and later for Christopher House. A member of the company for 8 years, Lemieux’s 1998 performance in House’s Cryptoversa earned her the Dora Mavor Moore Award for Best Performance in Dance.

Over the course of her career, Lemieux has danced for some of Canada’s most prominent choreographers, including William Douglas, Margie Gillis, James Kudelka, Benoît Lachambre, Sylvain Émard, and Jean-Pierre Perreault. Since presenting her first choreography in 1983, Lemieux has created over thirty original works, drawing deeply on personal experiences that resonate strongly with audiences and presenters alike.

As an educator, Lemieux has taught at many respected institutions including Ryerson University, York University, Concordia University, the University of Quebec in Montreal, l’École Supérieure de Ballet Contemporain and Canada’s National Ballet School. Lemieux uses her cumulative artistic experience to inform her programming choices for the company’s multiple presentation series, showcasing the work of diverse talent from emerging, marginalized and established choreographers.

In 2012, Lemieux created the Citadel Dance Program and brought high quality, accessible dance classes to children and youth living in Toronto’s Regent Park. She is a passionate advocate for the arts and is Chair of the board of Dance Arts Institute.

Lemieux’s satisfaction as an artist comes from sharing her passion and talent with dance audiences and students, and as a deeply engaged and active member of the dance community.

Over the last seven years, Standeven has played an integral role in the development and management of many of C+C’s recent strategic initiatives including Night Shift, C+C’s Residency Program, Citadel LIVE and the redevelopment and rebranding of C+C’s website and streaming platform.

As a dancer Standeven spent eight seasons with Toronto Dance Theatre under the artistic direction of Christopher House, and has been greatly influenced by notable creators Susie Burpee, Deborah Hay, Ame Henderson and Heidi Strauss. Independently she has engaged in projects with Allison Cummings, tiger princess dance projects, Dusk Dances and Citadel + Compagnie, and aims to support, nurture and inspire through her multiple roles as a performer, teacher and facilitator. Standeven holds a BFA from Toronto Metropolitan University.

During that time she stage managed works for Fujiwara Dance Inventions, Tiger Princess Dance Projects, Adelheid Dance Projects, BoucharDanse, Blue Ceiling Dance, the Older & Reckless series for Moonhorse Dance Theatre, the National Ballet School of Canada, the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, and many others. Outside of dance, Marianna spent 11 seasons as the Production Stage Manager for Mainstage Theatre Company. In 2014, Marianna began stage managing for Citadel + Compagnie, and after receiving a Metcalf internship, became the company’s Production Stage Manager in 2017.

Her career has taken her across Canada and to international stages in China, Europe, Mexico and the UAE, where she has shared her dynamic artistry and passion for movement with audiences worldwide. 

With the support of the Ontario Arts Council’s Skills and Career Development grant, Rachana was able to broaden her professional career with the guidance of Nova Bhattacharya, and she is now a company dancer with Nova Dance. She also had the opportunity to work as Bhattacharya’s Staging Assistant for Citadel + Compagnie’s production of Red & Yellow in 2019 and participated in Ukai Project’s Migration Online Residency in 2020 on behalf of the company. In 2021, Rachana was selected to take part in Peggy Baker Dance Project’s ACTION LAB online, and was fortunate to receive choreographic mentorship from Peggy Baker to develop and explore her creative practice during the pandemic. Rachana is currently focused on broadening her choreographic skills by creating own dance works and building multidisciplinary artistic collaborations for the future. Aside from Bharatanatyam, she is trained in various movement disciplines such as kallari, hip hop, bollywood, improvisation techniques and contemporary dance. Rachana joined the Citadel + Compagnie team in 2021 and currently acts as the Box Office and Outreach Manager for the company.

He has created more than 250 original designs, including works with Ballett am Rhein; Citadel + Compagnie; CôtéDanse; the National Ballet of Canada; Soulpepper Theatre Company; Théâtre français de Toronto; Toronto Dance Theatre; and he is the Lighting Director of Fall for Dance North. The recipient of three Dora Mavor Moore awards and nine nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design, Simon is also Business Agent for the Associated Designers of Canada, IATSE Local ADC659.

Since 2018, Juliette has been producing and curating multidisciplinary concerts and events in Toronto; using music as a pillar of creation, she hopes to produce events that foster collaboration and connection between creative communities in Toronto.

They are a 2020 graduate from Dance Arts Institute (formerly the School of Toronto Dance Theatre), and also hold a BFA in Performance and Choreography (Hons) with summa cum laude from York University (2023). They have performed and choreographed in festivals such as Skylines Film and Dance Series (Winnipeg, 2018), Toronto Fringe Festival (2019), SummerWorks Dance Festival (2020), Covid Dance Hug TO (2020), Bloom Festival (2021). They have had the pleasure to work with artists like Aria Evans, Marie Lambin-Gagnon, Marjolein Vogels (Amsterdam) and other distinguished artists. She has an interest in dance-theatre and has collaborated as a choreographer and performer with Theatre Passe Muraille, Tarragon Theatre and lemonTree creations. She is passionate about learning and has travelled nationally and internationally to learn from a variety of artists. Kéïta is interested in creating and performing works that question power, heteronormativity, and other societal norms that reject her identity.

He began working professionally in the industry since his graduation from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2019. Eli joined the Citadel team in 2021.