Carol Anderson's classes incorporate gentle, flowing movements that offer benefits similar to those derived from yoga, dance, swimming and t’ai chi. Arcs, spirals and figure-eight movements integrate breath, motion and awareness. Performed standing and seated, these patterns fully articulate the spine, and contribute to supporting the many health benefits of dynamic alignment.

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Carol Anderson has enjoyed a diverse career as a dancer, choreographer, director, teacher and writer. She started her performing career with Canadian pioneer Judy Jarvis’ first company. A founding member of Dancemakers in 1974, she danced, choreographed for, and was active in the direction of the Toronto company until 1989. Mining her parallel interests in dancing and writing, Anderson is the author of a growing body of writing on Canadian dance and other cultural matters. An Associate Professor of Dance at York University until July 2016, she taught both studio and studies courses. A lifelong investigator/educator of forms and styles of movement, Anderson is also a devotee of writing as a mode of exploring personal creativity and expression.

Julia Aplin's classes are a collection of guided frameworks to explore our humanity through movement expression. She is inspired by our collective imaginations to lead us through dance into tangible connections with ourselves, each other and the teachings of the natural world. Dancers are encouraged to discover their unique movement expression and share in the joy of collective motion.

 

Julia Aplin has been studying and practicing movement for over 40 years. She danced full time for 15 seasons with Dancemakers, under the Artistic Direction of Serge Bennathan performing around the world. She is an award-winning choreographer and has created dances for theatres, rivers, boxing rings, wading pools, cyberspace and neuroscience labs. She has taught movement through University courses, professional academies, private studios and public schools. She works with a wide range of people from elite performers to beginners, using The Principles of the Mitzvah Technique, Classical Pilates, other techniques from her wide range of movement experience. She continues to explore movement through her artistic collaborations and her teaching and healing work. In 2011, Julia founded her own private practice, Upward Spiral, to gather and share her teachings. www.upwardspiral.me

Charmaine Headley leads a series of movement sequences to open the body, release the spine, increase mobility and flexibility using the breath and the natural body weight to accomplish these goals. She begins seated to help the dancers build strength and confidence in their bodies, and then moves to standing choreographic explorations, giving dancers space to develop and express themselves through improvisation.

 

Charmaine Headley is Co-Founding Artistic Director of COBA- Collective of Black Artists- a choreographer, performer and dance educator. Charmaine is a champion of Africanist dance. A graduate of the School of Toronto Dance Theatre, she holds an honours diploma in Gerontology/Activation Coordination and has created a movement-based senior’s program for her Masters’ thesis at York University. 2020 has brought varying experiences and, more so than ever, a need to create, for some, unimagined ways of being in new and virtual spaces. Headley was thrilled to choreograph for NAMT’s Broadway on Demand’ virtual presentation of Obeah Opera during the pandemic and to be part of The Collective Body Project and MOonhORsE Dance Theatre’s productions last year. Drawing on the healing aspects of the Arts, she continues to teach and engage, through programs created for the community, for students and seniors with the intention of healing our minds, bodies and souls, one step at a time.​

Penny Couchie is a dancer, actor, teacher, choreographer and community arts practitioner of Ojibway and Mohawk ancestry from Nipissing First Nation, Ontario. Her class explores relationships to ourselves, each other and our environment. What are we moved by? How do we celebrate the diversity of our bodies and the multitude of ways we express ourselves?

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Penny Couchie is a dancer, actor, teacher, choreographer and community arts practitioner of Ojibway and Mohawk ancestry from Nipissing First Nation, Ontario. She holds an Honors BA in Aboriginal Studies and Drama from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Penny has performed as a dancer and theatre artist in principal roles both nationally and internationally. She has guest taught at universities and colleges throughout Canada and the US, including the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, where she has been a core faculty member since 1998. From 1998 to 2003 she participated in the Aboriginal Dance Project at the Banff Centre for the Arts as a student, choreographer and teacher. Since 2001, she has been the administrative leader and co-Artistic Director of Earth in Motion World Indigenous Dance, a dance collective she co-founded with Alejandro Ronceria, committed to the creation of compelling and innovative new dance works, based in Toronto, Ontario. In 2007 she co-founded Aanmitaagzi, an Aboriginal multi-disciplinary community arts company based in her home of Nipissing First Nation, Ontario.

Claudia Moore’s classes feature gentle physical warm-ups based on tai chi, low-impact aerobic exercises using simple stepping patterns and movement phrases incorporating full body gestures. Danced to a variety of music, the movement phrases become short dances which are shared, allowing participants to both observe and to perform for each other.

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Claudia Moore, performer, Artistic Director of MOonhORsE Dance Theatre (MDT) and Older & Reckless has been a force on the Canadian dance scene since the late 70’s. She performed for two seasons with the National Ballet of Canada, before moving into contemporary dance as a featured performer with the Toronto Dance Theatre and the Desrosiers Dance Theatre. Moore founded MOonhORsE Dance Theatre in 1996 as a home for her dance projects. Through MDT, she continues to perform commissioned works, create community projects and teach movement to seniors. In 2000, Moore established Older & Reckless (O&R)- MDT's internationally acclaimed series for senior dance artists- to connect seasoned dance artists with the public in workshops, community projects and live performances. O&R is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary. Claudia has received the Jacqueline Lemieux award for excellence in dance and was a finalist for the 2017 Premier's Award for Excellence in the Arts.

Caitlan Maggs' ViVa La DaNZa celebrates the joy of dance in a free and natural way. The class includes a warm-up and a cool down and in between a lot of fun moving and dancing to Latin and African songs. You will develop flexibility, coordination, cardio, rhythm, grace, and JOY!  Fun guaranteed.

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Caitlan Maggs is passionate about developing creativity through ART and believes that through the artistic process, everyone can discover their own unique creativity. As Artistic Expert at Cirque du Soleil for 20 yrs, she designed the Artistic Creativity Training for all the CDS Creations and Touring Shows, as well as mentoring dance coaches at CDS' MJOne & LOVE. At Cirque, through years of innovative experimentation, exploration and coaching, she developed the art of teaching creativity and how to transform athletes into artists. Caitlan graduated from the Royal Ballet School and performed with The National Ballet of Canada; Les Grands Ballets Canadiens; Desrosiers Dance Theatre and then became a reputed teacher at L'Ecole Supérieure de Ballet, before joining CDS. Through dance Caitlan connects the imagination with physical expression. As Creativity Consultant, since 2017 Maggs has directed CrEaTiVe GaMeS workshops and conferences for universities in Paris, Tokyo, Montreal, Lithuania and the US. Published author with:  Acro-Artistic Creativity / Instructional Design Fieldbook in 2022, Caitlan is currently writing a book about the Creative Process at Cirque du Soleil, to be published in 2023.

 

Lua Shayenne provides a movement experience rooted in African dance aesthetics. Through grounded moves inspired by West African dances, Lua invites you to celebrate your body as the temple of the spirit connected to nature’s abundance through breath, ground, and inner rhythm. Lua's artistic language draws on the oral tradition of her African ancestry where narrative is a source of wisdom and shapes humanity’s sense of purpose and place.

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Lua Shayenne weaves stories, through dance, song and word. As the artistic director of Lua Shayenne Dance Company (LSDC), Lua commissioned, produced and danced in DORA nominated KIRA, The Path | La Voie (Luminato Festival & Ontario tour). She is the creator and performer of the dance theatre children series Tales and Dance Around the Baobab. Lua proudly tours with Lars Jan’s (NYC/LA) HOLOSCENES (Toronto/ Florida/ Miami/ New York/ London,UK/ Abu Dhabi/ Australia tours), a multidisciplinary water installation on climate change.  Lua has been featured in Fall for Dance North, Dusk Dances/Canadian Stage in High Park, Jamii Esplanade’s eclectic programming including SEVEN and is co-choreographer for National Ballet School’s Sharing Dance 2021. Lua has worked with older adults, our wise Elders, since 2016 through collaborations with Art Starts at the Lawrence W. Mall, at Eagle Manor, at St. Clair West Services for Seniors and York West Active Living. A recipient of the 2013 BMO Fund Award for Artists working in community, Lua brings African dance, music and culture to grassroots organizations and schools.

 

Michelle Silagy's classes offer time to explore joy-filled movement economy found in daily activities and the wonder of nature's abundance through simple full-body warm-ups, patterns danced to varied tempos and gestural phrase-making. Through improvisations using movement tools along with nature-rich imagery, participants are invited to dance in ways that nourish their personal expression.

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Michelle Silagy maintains a close relationship as a contemporary dance artist between her arts practice and her teaching practice of 31 years. Her choreography has been presented in Amsterdam, The Arctic Circle, New York, throughout Ontario, and Toronto. Silagy is a Master DanceAbility Teacher (Training: Vienna, Mexico City, Uruguay). Silagy's extensive work with youth informs her collaboration within diverse communities.  As Young Dancers’ Program Director at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre [STDT], Silagy designs inclusive classes and authors youth based Pedagogy for STDT professional training artists. She has shared dance, with school-based teachers and artists throughout Ontario and Canada and in London, England (Royal Conservatory of Music). Silagy originated WE Dance, adult inclusion classes, with STDT and Canada’s National Ballet School. Silagy and Lynda Hill created Dora Nominated Flying Hearts, a relaxed performance touring in Ontario, Manitoba (2019). She is an Inclusion Facilitator (Virtual/Live) for Jumblies Theatre and for Andrea Nann’s Dreamwalker Dance Company since 2019. 

www.michellesilagydance.wordpress.com

Miko Sobreira teaches salsa, a form of social dance with a diverse background, taking influences from African drum rhythms, Spanish guitar and Afro-Cuban and Afro-Caribbean dances. While the movements and style originated from the Caribbean, it was in New York that salsa got its name and started to gain popularity. You can dance solo or with a partner!

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Miko Sobreira grew up in small towns in Venezuela, Mexico and Spain where he was exposed to and deeply influenced by Afro-Venezuelan, Latin-Caribbean and Spanish culture. By the age of seven his theatrical career began with Compañia de Teatro Ciudad Bolivar. In Venezuela Miko performed with Compañia del Estado Miranda, Teatro Nacional Juvenil, Rajatabla and Comedia del Arte troupe Tiempo Comun. Since immigrating to Toronto in 1994, Miko has had the opportunity to collaborate and perform with many Canadian choreographers and companies including Corpus, Pam Johnson, Maxine Heppner, Kaeja d'Dance, Learie McNicholls, Claudia Moore, Alejandro Ronceria, Holly Small, Sound Image Theatre, Victor Quijada and many more. Miko worked with RUBBERBANDdancegroup as dramaturg for seven years after collaborating and performing as a guest artist since 2001. For the past fifteen years, Miko has worked with Fujiwara Dance Inventions. He continues to enjoy teaching salsa dance to movers of all ages.