The Dance Centre’s Associate Artists are beginning a three-year term in 2024 where they will choreograph new works, curate programs and events, and nurture connections with diverse communities.
Justine A. Chambers
Justine A. Chambers is Assistant Professor at the School for Contemporary Arts at SFU and an acclaimed dance artist. She will research her new creation The Brutal Joy, develop discursive platforms around performance-making, and foster relationships between The Dance Centre, students, and academics.
Photo by Rachel Topham
Ralph Escamillan
Ralph Escamillan is a Queer, Canadian-Filipinx artist, teacher and community leader, and Artistic Director of FakeKnot and Van Vogue Jam. He will develop his new work MY HOUSE, and create programming initiatives geared towards QTBIPOCs, with a specific focus on the Ballroom Scene.
Photo by David Cooper
Open Space
Open Space offers an office/workspace hub at Scotiabank Dance Centre as a place for QTBIPOC members of The Dance Centre and the wider community. It provides a space for the makers of the city to sew, build and create their costume needs, and to meet and write. This initiative activates the offices as a meeting point between communities that surround the world of dance.
-Ongoing
-APPLY NOW
-Open Space on Instagram
Tri-City Ballroom Project
The Tri-City Ballroom Project is a partnership between The Dance Centre, Toronto Dance Theatre, and Tangente in Montreal. The project facilitates an artistic exchange between ballroom artists from all three cities, with 6 emerging artists receiving mentorship from 3 established artists.
Ralph is mentoring Katria Phothong-McKinnon aka Mother Katria Gvasalia Basquiat. Katria is a Queer Thai-Canadian artist originally from Calgary. Her new work IMPETUS merges digital and physical realms through vogue femme, traditional Thai dance, self-made soundscapes, and a cube made from LEDs.
-November 2024: In-progress installation as part of F-O-R-M Festival.
-December 2024: All artists meet in Toronto, share works in progress, and participate in the World AIDS Day Ball.
-November 2025: Partnership presentation with F-O-R-M Festival.
The Toronto artists are Solar Morningstar and Ava Telfar, mentored by Danah Rosales (Kiki House of Siriano). The Montreal artists are Jontae McCrory, Chivengi, and G Mako, mentored by Anaïs ‘RISE’ Gilles (Ballroom 4 Community; Kiki House of Old Navy).
This project has received funding support from Canada Council for the Arts and the CanDance Creative Exchange Fund.
My House (FakeKnot)
Ralph’s new work MY HOUSE brings a Ball onto the stage, constructing an environment that symbolizes the familial bonds that coalesce into the formation of “houses” and underpins the community in a broader sense. A cast of four introduces the world of Ballroom to contemporary dance audiences, presenting an expression of the art form that goes beyond what has made its way into popular culture. This piece features Canadian Kiki legends, local commentators and DJs.
Open public rehearsals will be held to share the creation process with the Ballroom community.
-Fall 2024-Spring 2025 Research and creation, open rehearsals
-October 2024 Work in progress presentation at Buddies in Bad Times for Nuit Blanche, Toronto
-February 2025 Work in progress presentation at Hold on Let Go, Vancouver
-October 2025 Creation and open rehearsals at Scotiabank Dance Centre
-April 2026 Technical rehearsals
-Summer 2026 World premiere at Scotiabank Dance Centre
Ballroom Events (Van Vogue Jam)
VVJ and the Vancouver Kiki Ballroom Alliance will collaborate on a series of Balls at Scotiabank Dance Centre during the season.
2024-2025 season: Balls in December (partnership with Health Initiative for Men), April and July.
2025-2026 season: Balls in February (Black History Month) and July.
