Programs
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.
Magic Mixing
Collaboration artists gather to exchange ideas and practices
Experimentation focus on exploration rather than a final product
Community public Open Meetings connect artists and audiences
Partners - Toronto Dance Theatre (Toronto), Festival Acces Asie (Montreal), Odd Meridian Arts and Morrow (Vancouver)
Inspired by Fishbowl-style conversation, and a focus on honest exchange, Dance Talks invites artists, audiences, and the broader public into conversations that honour lived experience, artistic practice, and nuanced perspective
Dance Talks
Dialogue centered on honest, open conversation
Reflection encouraging shared learning and deeper understanding
Exchange emphasizing mutual participation and shared insight
Through meet-and-greets, resource-sharing, and co-learning sessions, artists from across Canada connect as a way to exchange resources, questions, and ideas.
Community Conversations
Connection building relationships across the community
Resource-Sharing exchanging knowledge, tools, and experiences
Sustainability discussing long-term artistic and community well-being
Up to six artists will receive a week-long, half-day residency at Winchester Street Theatre, and an artist honorarium.
Entry Waves
Gathering creating opportunities for informal community building and intersecting
Process prioritizing artistic development over production outcomes
Partner — Toronto Dance Theatre
Wandering Talks is a public series that invites a pair of Asian diasporic dance artists to be in conversation as they lead a group of people through a neighbourhood of personal significance.
Wandering Talks
Place connecting artistic identity to lived environments
Storytelling sharing personal and artistic narratives through place
Community members share short audio reflections about a performance, artist, or dance experience connected to the Asian diaspora that felt meaningful, memorable, surprising, or impactful to them this year.
Spotlight Series
Reflection sharing personal responses and lived experience
Gratitude expressing appreciation for artists and their contributions
Visibility amplifying voices and practices that deserve recognition
CanAsian Dance is situated in Tkaronto, a Mohawk word meaning “the place in the water where the trees are standing.” It is the traditional territory of many nations, including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishinaabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and it continues to be the home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples.
This land is under the Dish with One Spoon covenant, an agreement between the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. This land is a dish to be shared and cared for and we all share one spoon; the spoon is to be used to take only what is needed and to leave enough for others, thus ensuring a viable and abundant future. We recognize the enduring resilience of Indigenous peoples and we acknowledge that we are accountable to these relationships and these agreements.
We carry these values of responsibility in sharing and caring in abundance with consideration of not only ourselves but of our communities that we share together.
