2022 Year in Review

2022 was a wild ride - dynamic and creative! We dove into films, performances, education, and community engagement, bringing forward a mixture of in-person and virtual offerings as the world continued to open up.

We kicked off 2022 with a new iteration of Karen’s Moving Connections Project called Dancing Collected Stories. These free online workshops were guided by Allen and taught by facilitators Irma Villafuerte, Katherine Semchuk, and Nickeshia Garrick as well as a team of fantastic Community Leaders. Participants created new collaborative movement experiences each week based on personal stories. 

Brennan Roy, our Access Doula for Moving Connections, helped to welcome participants of all ages and mobility levels into our virtual community. They have also joined the Kaeja team as our ongoing Disability Consultant to make all of our communications and programming more accessible.

2022 saw Kaeja working with Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Anti-Racism Consultant Fiona Suliman and completing CPAMO-POC as part of Cohort 3. We remain engaged with CPAMO as we continue to integrate EDI into our organization in many ways including revising company policies, implementing collaborative contracting, creating safe spaces and exploring horizontal leadership.

As part of Kaeja’s commitment to provide sustainability for our artists, we once again programmed an RBC Emerging Artists project. The 2022 program supported Brayden Cairns, Jessica Germano, Ethan Kim, and Mio Sakamoto in both their own artistic explorations and their work with Kaeja on 31. We also continued KAIR, the Kaeja Artists in Residency program, with 2022 KAIR Artists Irma Villafuerte and Nickeshia Garrick. They explored their creative curiosities with financial support from Kaeja and were commissioned to co-choreograph a new live Porch View Dances performance for our 2022 PVD festival.

The 11th annual PVD, Porch View Dances: Discovery Walk featured Nickeshia and Irma’s live porch dance creation as well as dance films, augmented reality (AR) experiences, and a live participatory Flock Landing. Mary Moonshine, our new PVD host (created by Jake Runeckles), led audiences on an interactive treasure hunt through Seaton Village. Satellite interest points scattered across Toronto allowed audiences to continue to explore dance films and AR throughout the city. All of the films featured in PVD: Discovery Walk can now be viewed online.

Laneway ART-ery Dances continued with two site-specific installations in Broadcast Lane and Ciamaga Lane featuring dance films and augmented reality. They were available to view until the end of September 2022 as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021–2022. The short films featured in these installations can now be found on our website.

During the fall, we had two major film premieres. Slipping, a collaboration between Roshanak Jaberi and Karen Kaeja, was conceived and filmed in rural Quebec with an all-female team in June 2022. It premiered as part of Fall for Dance North’s new short film series 8-count in September. Check out this intimate interview by FFDN Mambo series. In Case of Emergency dance film, conceived by Karen and Allen, directed by Allen, and co-curated by Aria Evans, Allen and Karen, highlighted the history and identity of 18 passionate dance artists. It was co-presented by Dance Ontario in an online screening, and was also screened later in the fall as part of Dance on Film Festival. Performing artists on the film are Jim Adams, Jillia Cato, Joshua DePerry, Aria Evans, Nickeshia Garrick, Tamar Ilana, Allen Kaeja, Karen Kaeja, Kalaisan Kalaichelvan, Kin Nguien, Jen Roy, Jake Runeckles, Lola Ryan, Mio Sakamoto, Katherine Semchuck, Ashvini Sundaram, Irma Villafuerte, Ravyn Wngz

Several existing film creations also continued to blossom; uneasy was screened as part of Dance Ontario’s DanceWeekend 2022 and Clearing was selected for the Female Eye Film Festival. Sue Smith’s short music film You Come Calling, which Karen collaborated on as choreographer and dancer, garnered several awards ranging from best Music Video to Movie Awards and most recently Best Choreography in a Music Video at New York International Women’s Festival 2022. Kitchen Dances, created by MAK Collective (Karen, Allen, and Moze Mossanen), is now complete and we look forward to sharing it with you in 2023. 

After a long COVID delay, we were thrilled to bring our 30th anniversary creations to the stage in our 31st anniversary year. 31 (TouchX + I am the Child of…) had a weekend of sold out performances at Harbourfront Centre Theatre in November, and both world premiere works had week-long creative residencies at Harbourfront earlier in the year that were crucial to their development. Karen’s TouchX featured 19 community dancers and 8 School of Toronto Dance Theatre graduating class dancers, alongside 8 company dancers in a reflection of a multi-layered path of what remains in the body through wanted and unwanted touch, contrasted with when our hearts have been touched. The world of the work holds a fertile immediacy complexified by the intersection of sensation and agency of touch. I am the Child of… , which was a collaboration between Allen Kaeja and Bruce Barton of Vertical City, integrated AR technology and multiple camera angles with live performers in an exploration of personal childhood stories.

As always, education and mentorship are essential to Kaeja’s work. We continued to provide both virtual and in-person workshops this year, including a two week in-person educational residency at Ossington/Old Orchard Public School. Allen continued to teach Dance Film at both the School of Toronto Dance Theatre and Toronto Metropolitan University, and Karen taught guest Contact Dance workshops at STDT. Karen also received the 2022 George Luscombe Mentorship Award in recognition of her dedication to nurturing and reciprocity with future generations of dancers. Read Karen’s acceptance speech here.

In 2023, we look forward to many exciting projects and collaborations, beginning with a tour to Oregon in January. Karen and Allen will be taking part in a residency at Western Oregon University followed by a live performance in the Smith Fine Arts Series. The performance will include an excerpt of TouchX performed by Nickeshia Garrick, a lifeDUETs by the late Tedd Robinson - 25 to 1, performed by Karen and Allen, and a screening of dance films. They will also create a performance of In Case of Fire with the Oregon professional dance community.

We send out a huge thank you to all of the artists, collaborators, community members, staff, donors, and volunteers who have made this year’s activities possible. We simply couldn’t have done it without you and we are continuously grateful to be surrounded by a community of dance lovers who inspire and support us. We would like to extend an especially warm welcome to Adam Scime, who joined the Kaeja team as our new Managing Director this year.

Should you wish to make a donation to Kaeja in 2022, one of our generous donors will match contributions made until December 31 up to a total of $10,000, doubling your impact! Your support will go towards our KAIR and mentorship programming and a creative process bringing together community and company dancers (as was seen in Karen's TouchX). If you are interested in being a community dancer in an upcoming process please let us know by emailing urban@kaeja.org. 

All donations receive a charitable tax receipt. For donations of $1,000 or more, we would love to welcome you into the studio in 2023 to witness a rehearsal of a new creative process! Donations can be made through CanadaHelps.

We wish you and your loved ones all the very best this holiday season. May 2023 bring joy and inspiration your way, and as always, KEEP DANCING!

Warmly,

The Kaeja d’Dance Team

Karen, Allen, Adam, and Sarah