FOUNDER/DIRECTOR/DANCE ARTIST

Katya’s work as a dance artist anchors on nurturing human connection and building communities through dance. Originally from the Russian Far East, she moved to Anchorage, Alaska in her early teens just after the fall of the Soviet Union and enjoyed a fruitful decade of performing, choreographing and teaching with the University of Alaska Anchorage Department of Theatre and Dance. In 2009, she came to Toronto for her Masters in Fine Arts in Dance Dramaturgy and Choreography, and Canada has since become home.

Katya founded the Dance Together Project in 2017 with a mission to facilitate enjoyable and engaging dance experiences for everybody, regardless of skill level or variations in physical ability. Since 2019, together with several Toronto dance and visual artists, Katya has also been co-producing the Dance Together Festival, which transforms city neighbourhoods through large scale dance floor murals and community dance workshops that celebrate positive and accessible dance experiences.

katyakuznetsova.com

DANCE ARTIST/COLLABORATOR

Kate Nankervis is a Dance Together artistic collaborator and a co-founder of the Dance Together Festival. Dancing is a constant source of inspiration for Kate - Through performance, installation, exhibition and research-led collaborations, she works towards making uplifting dance experiences essential and transformative to physical and mental health, community care and placemaking. She has worked at City of Toronto’s Nuit Blanche and ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art, transforming civic spaces into artistic spaces, and DoorTODoor Dances, delivering dances to various LongTerm care residents and senior groups often living in isolation. She continues to perform, teach and collaborate with other artists and choreographers from across Canada and internationally for more than 15 years. Kate lives in Etobicoke/ Tkaranto. @kate_nankervis

DANCE ARTIST/COLLABORATOR

Based in Toronto, Canada Rhea is an Arts Administrator with a passion for dance through a lens of inclusivity. With a background and love of ballet and concert dance, Rhea is motivated by the concept that dance training, performance and patronage can be made enjoyable for multiple populations. Her training and administrative practice has expanded to focus on engaging communities sometimes overlooked in professional dance spaces. That has meant expanding her knowledge base to learn how to approach dance with seniors, individuals with Parkinsons, and creating welcoming spaces for folks of various ages, abilities and backgrounds.

Rhea holds a MFA in dance and a MA in Performing Arts Administration from New York University. Rhea also currently works as in Development Communications at The National Ballet of Canada, helping to create and manage content for the acquisition, engagement and stewardship of donors. She fuses her artistic and administrative passions, while sharing her love of dance as an instructor of various dance forms including dance fitness, dance for seniors and community line dancing. 

DANCE ARTIST/COLLABORATOR

As a story-teller and an artist, Ashima Suri is driven by the desire to share individual and collective stories in order to amplify voices that are often not heard. Ashima is an award-winning Established Dance Artist and the Artistic Director of Limitless Productions, a company that uses performance art and story-telling as a tool for social change.

In addition to being an Artist and an Educator, Ashima is also a Wellness Coach, a certified Yoga Instructor and founder of Bolly Yoga. Trained in trauma-based yoga techniques, Ashima has seen first-hand how yoga could be used as a powerful transformational tool to support healing. Her teachings are heart-based and filled with ways to connect deeper to self. In her spare time, she loves long walks in nature, spending time with her daughter and creating memories with loved ones and community.

DANCE ARTIST/COLLABORATOR

Stephania Woloshyn is a Toronto based Juno-nominated and Dora award-winning dancer/singer/musician, and multidisciplinary designer. She has trained extensively in ballet, Ukrainian, Eastern-European, Romani and bellydance, and has performed professionally world-wide as a singer and dancer with Toronto’s BLISK, The Lemon Bucket Orkestra, and Kalendar Ukrainian folk ensemble. Stephania loves helping people learn to dance together!

DANCE ARTIST/COLLABORATOR

Karishma is a York Region dance artist and teacher with over 15 years of experience. She grew up in Taiwan, where she trained in a variety of multicultural dance forms specializing in Bollywood dance practice and performance.