Six Asian diaspora dance artists from diverse artistic practices are paired together and gather in either Toronto, Montreal, or Vancouver for a one-week collaborative exchange with a focus on practice rather than building towards a definite product.
Throughout the week, artists explore, experiment, and create alongside one another, which culminates in an end-of-week public event called An Open Meeting. Each Open Meeting is shaped collaboratively by the artists, with support from CAD’s Artistic Lead, Angie Cheng. This is meant to let peers, community members, and the general public to get to know the artists beyond watching showcases and traditional performance contexts.
In Partnership with Toronto Dance Theatre, Festival Accès Asie, Odd Meridian and Morrow
Magic Mixing
Photo of David Norswothy-Shibatani from Magic Mixing Montreal 2026 by Fran Chudnoff
All artists will receive an artist fee. Travel, accommodation, and per diem expenses will be covered for out-of-town artists.
Magic Mixing welcomes artists at all stages of their careers, from emerging to established, who bring openness and curiosity to their practice. We encourage applications from artists working across traditional forms and lineages, contemporary and experimental practices, street dance forms, and everything in between and beyond.
Magic Mixing: An Open Meeting
CanAsian Dance invites the public to gather with two artists as they share intertwined practices, conversations, and in-progress discoveries.
The artists arrive at the beginning of the week carrying their own histories, questions, and ways of working. What unfolds between them is not predetermined. Rather than presenting a finished work, they open a space of exchange and invite audiences inside to witness a process still in motion.
Photo of Leo Leung and David Norsworthy-Shibatani at Magic Mixing Montreal 2026 by Fran ChudnoffCollaboration - artists gather to exchange ideas and practices
Experimentation - focus on exploration rather than a final product
Community - public open meetings connecting artists and audiences
Magic Mixing 2026
Magic Mixing 2026
Photos of Leo Leung and David Norsworthy-Shibatani at Magic Mixing Montreal 2026 by Fran Chudnoff, photos of Keegan Shim and Soeine Bac at Magic Mixing Toronto 2026 by Katrina Medalle, photos of Ziyian Kwan, Angie Cheng, Palak Dhiman, Alea de Castro, also known as Didi, and company at Magic Mixing Vancouver 2026 by Ganesh Thava and Alea de Castro2026 Artist Bios
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Keegan Shim is a Chinese-Canadian roller skater, dancer, instructor, and choreographer based in Tkaronto (Toronto). He has a background in street dance, with over 15+ years of experience training in multiple styles, performing, teaching, and competing. He found his love for roller skating in early 2019 and had immersed himself in the culture, studying under a diverse range of local and international instructors and participating in numerous skate events and festivals. Keegan's work is rooted in finding connections between roller skating and street dance forms, treating them as part of the same ecosystem rather than as separate entities.
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I am a Korean-born artist based in Vancouver, Canada, working with movement, installation, sound, and image. I studied dance and media art in Canada, followed by postgraduate study in Fine Art and Visual Cultures in London, UK. During my training in interactive art, I began exploring improvisation through live performance using computerized sensors. Later, within the context of Live Art in the UK, improvisation became central as my engagement with somatic movement deepened. This shift allowed my movement practice to expand beyond the conventional frame of dance toward relational, process-based work.
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David Norsworthy-Shibatani (he/him) is a Tkarón:to/Toronto-based dance artist, choreographer, and artistic director of mixed Japanese immigrant/British settler descent who delights in asking questions. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he is fascinated by the transformative power of dancing; working with contemporary dance and improvisation through a lineage of American and European modern and post-modern dance. David has performed with dance companies and collaborated with dance creators in Canada, USA, Sweden and Australia. His choreographic work centres collaboration, and often explores themes of connection, co-creation, consent, and community through interactive experiences and score-based improvisations. As a Co-Founder/Co- Director of TOES FOR DANCE, David has initiated educational programs with national reach across Canada, and has spearheaded hyper-local audience and artist development projects.
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Leo Leung, aka CAPSLOCK, is a Montreal based campbellocker who has been training with the Montreal campbellocking collective, Lock Unity, for the last 8 years. He has since participated in multiple Lock Unity campbellocking showcases at different community street dance events and dance studios showcases. Most notably, Leo Leung has been part of the 2024 JOAT Street Dance Festival performance, in the piece titled : Time Travel, choreographed by Natasha “Tash” Jean-Bart and Lock Unity, a showcase dedicated to the creator of Campbellocking : Don “Campbellock” Campbell.
In addition to this, Leo Leung has been participating in several campbellocking and street dance battles across Canada, as well as participated in street battle events in San Francisco and Hong Kong. He always has the goal to keep improving in his dance and in pursuit to keep growing as a dancer.
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Palak Dhiman is an independent Kathak dance artist and educator, training in the form since 1993. She has performed extensively across Canada and internationally. Her work weaves intricate rhythm and expressive storytelling, grounded in tradition while engaging contemporary perspectives. Her performance credits include collaborations with Manohar Performing Arts (2006–2019) and Upasana in Ottawa (2016–2019), a 2022 national tour with Usha Dance Ensemble, and an appearance at the Taj Mahotsav in India. Most recently, she appeared as a guest Kathak artist in the Royal Winnipeg Ballet’s 2024 production of The Nutcracker. Palak holds an MA in Sociology, where she explored dance and identity formation. Her work has been supported by Canada’s foremost arts institutions, and she has taught in Winnipeg, Ottawa, Nepal, and now Vancouver. Through her practice, Palak aims to expand the visibility of Kathak while highlighting its evolving, expressive potential as a universal artistic language.
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Alea de Castro, BScN (RN), also known as Didi, is a multidisciplinary street dance artist, performer, choreographer, educator, and event producer with over 23 years of experience, including 14 years specializing in Waacking, Hip Hop, and House. She has trained with pioneering artists across major dance hubs such as New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, and Montreal.
She is the co-founder and artistic director of Moov Ottawa Dance (2018) and the non-profit Moov, Bouge, Danza (2022), where she has co-created works like The Underground (2021) and is developing Colours and Emotions (2026). Her choreography has toured across the Greater Toronto Area and internationally, including presentations in Indonesia and South Korea.
Alea has also produced key Ottawa dance events that support community and mentorship. As a competitor and judge, she has earned recognition nationally. Alongside her artistic career, she is a Registered Nurse and recipient of the 2021 Spark Ontario Health Care Hero Award.
Magic Mixing 2025
Magic Mixing 2025
Photos of Rachana Joshi and Ziyian Kwan at Magic Mixing Toronto 2025 by Fran Chudnoff, photos of Simran Sachar and Allegra Hu at Magic Mixing Montreal 2025 by Festival Accès Asie team2025 Artists
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子嫣 Ziyian Kwan (she/her) is a 1st generation Chinese Filipina settler who lives on the unceded ancestral, occupied and stolen territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm. Skwxwú7mesh, and Səl̓ílwətaɬ First Nations. Since 1988, Ziyian has performed over 100 original works by an eclectic range of artists. Her own choreography collates images, movement, and language. As founding Artistic Director of Odd Meridian Arts, Ziyian stewards programming that supports the creative adventures of colleagues from across disciplines — including activities at Morrow, Odd Meridian’s intentional cultural space. Energy at play, in bodies in worlds. oddmeridian.ca
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Rachana Joshi is an emerging dance artist based in the GTA. After fourteen years of training, she completed her Bharatanatyam arangetram under the tutelage of Lata Pada in 2017. Rachana is currently a company dancer and teacher with Sampradaya Dance Creations and Academy. In 2019, she graduated from York University's B.F.A program in Dance with honors and received training in Limon and Graham modern techniques through the program. 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 her 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.
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Ai Li / 愛丽 (they/she) is an interdisciplinary artist, self-taught jeweler, dancer, and crafts person. Through adornment creation in both their jewelry and dance practice, they explore interconnectedness, transience, queer spirituality, and Orientalism, all while balancing the fine line between sexuality and fetishization.
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Simran Sachar is an Indo-Canadian street and contemporary dance artist, choreographer and actor. She is a captivating anomaly in this industry, consistently working in ground breaking spaces.
Simran presented her latest live work, ‘ACT TWENTY FIVE’ at Vancouver’s Dancing On The Edge Festival and at Dance In Vancouver. Simran’s latest XR film “The Edge of The Underworld,” premiered in September 2024 and her first XR film, BETA बेटा was presented at Luna Arts Festival 2021. In 2020, her first film ‘LUNACY’ was a part of National Arts Centre's CAPSULE and premiered at F.O.R.M Film Festival where it won the Official Selection of the Audience Choice Award.
Simran’s other credits include: Disney, Tubi, Netflix, The CW, Apple TV, Artfullness Festival, Indian Summer Festival, Vancouver Opera, Action At A Distance, Blackout Arts Society, Furious Grace Dance Theatre, Dairy Canada, Vancouver Art Gallery, OFF-Parcours Danse, OFF-FTA, National Arts Centre, Fringe Manila and more.
“Magic mixing gave me the space and time as an artist to have agency in how I want to use that space and time. I was paired with another artist, Allegra Hu, who has become one of my most special friends in this life and industry. Angie’s intuition to be hands off, while also being there whenever we needed her advice, was spot on. Angie taught us that an artist residency can be whatever we need it to be and that rest is productive. CanAsian didn’t only provided support, but treated us like royalty. It was a time of healing and discovery.”
Photo of Simran Sachar and Allegra Hu at Magic Mixing Montreal 2025 by Festival Accès Asie team
We are grateful to the following funding partners for their ongoing support