COMMUNITY PERFORMANCES

  • Laneway ART-ery Dances Community Participants, Photo by Karen Kaeja

    An aerial shot of a group of female-presenting dancers dance in an alleyway. They lunge with their arms outstretched in front of them. Another person films them.

 

  • "The Kaejas make dance accessible, engaging different communities, exploding barriers between art and life, professional and amateur, making dance public in unexpected locations."

    The Toronto Star

  • “It’s a great example of how accessible contemporary dance can be in this city.”

    The Globe and Mail

  • “The fun of such a whimsical artistic project caused me to watch the goings-on in a playful and participatory spirit.”

    Mooney on Theatre

  • “Think of it as the watchable choreography of the every day"

    The Globe and Mail

  • “Kaeja d’Dance is one of Toronto’s most innovative and community-engaged arts organizations. This city is blessed to play home to their internationally-acclaimed dance company.”

    Adam Vaughan, MP Spadina-Fort York (past City Councillor Ward 20) City Councillor

Kaeja d’Dance has been a leader in bridging the gap between professional art and everyday spaces, bringing art into public venues and communities across Canada for 30 years. Kaeja’s innovative and award-winning site-specific dance works and community dance performances can be customized for any community, location, or event.
​
For more information on bringing a site-specific dance to your community, please contact urban@kaeja.org.

DOWNTOWN DANCES

Inspired by Porch View Dances​

Co-created and presented by
Kaeja d'Dance and Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada.

Running time ~60m

Downtown Dances: Real People Dancing In Real Spaces was first piloted in Moncton, New Brunswick in collaboration with Atlantic Ballet Theatre Canada to support the revitalization of the downtown core. It pairs professional choreographers with local business employees, the Mayor and City Council, to animate a downtown commercial core through dance. This event celebrates the stories and spirit of local businesses, government employees and inhabitants on sidewalks, storefronts and gathering spaces. Downtown Dances has been presented annually in Moncton, New Brunswick since 2016.

Read more on Atlantic Ballet Canada’s website.

 

"Our citizens are being reintroduced to the people they see everyday in the downtown core, in a completely new way."

Susan Chalmers-Gauvin, CEO of Atlantic Ballet Theatre of Canada

FLOCK LANDING

Concept by Karen Kaeja

Running Time ~10-20m

Conceived by Co-Artistic Director Karen Kaeja, a Flock Landing invites audience members to participate in a gentle, inclusive group movement experience. Led by professional dancers, Flock Landing embraces simple gestures that are accessible to people of all ages and abilities. A site-specific event that can be set in any environment, we have established over 120 Flock Landings around the world in parks, parking lots, malls, theatres, public squares, galleries, walkways and street festivals. Flock Landing was first performed as part of Karen Kaeja and Ajna Samadhi’s Bird's Eye View for Nuit Blanche Toronto at Casa Loma Stables in 2007.

Racially diverse community participants dance together in a Flock Landing.

Flock Landing at Montgomery’s Inn

  • A group of children of various ethnicities dance in a park. They have bright smiles on their faces with their arms stretched over their head.

PUBLIC SPACE ANIMATIONS

Kaeja d’Dance has created a variety of site-specific works in communities across Canada, Japan and Portugal. Allen and Karen can be commissioned to create site-specific work for any community or event; please contact urban@kaeja.org for more information.