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A performer stands in colorful attire on a stage, surrounded by swirling fabric patterns in shades of red, yellow, and green. Rachana Joshi and Ziyian Kwan. Photo by Fran Chudnoff. Design by Driftnote

Eyes on Beginnings: Fall 2025

Saturday November 29, 2025
2:00 - 4:00 PM ET
Doors open at 1:30 PM ET
at the Winchester Street Theatre Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester Street (VIEW MAP)

Accessibility Info: Unfortunately the Winchester Street Theatre is not currently wheelchair accessible. There are three steps outside of the front entrance, a small platform, and then three more steps to the lobby (a straight hallway that then leads you to the theatre). To access the private gender-neutral restrooms, there are five additional steps at the end of the lobby. The seats in the theatre are on risers with stairs; please contact info@tdt.org if you have any questions regarding accessing our space.

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Fall 2025 Edition

It is always an inspiring moment when a new creative idea sparks, and with our new Works-In-Progress Series, you can be in the studio where it happens. Occurring once in the fall and spring, Toronto artists have the chance to share 10 minutes of new material followed by a facilitated audience feedback session. Come to discover fresh choreographic propositions and play an important role in the development of artistic works in our community by offering your perspectives!

This is a free event, RSVP is recommended.

Content Advisory: Please be advised that one of the performances featured in Eyes on Beginnings contains nudity.

Artist Participants

Nickeshia Garrick

Nickeshia Garrick is a settler on the stolen land of Tsi tkarón:to (Toronto) and has performed on this land for over 25 years. They are unapologetically a Black, queer performing artist who believes in the healing power of breath through raw emotion, movement, and storytelling.

Nickeshia is an award-winning and multi-nominated artist who holds a BFA in Dance from Simon Fraser University (Vancouver), and is a Co-Founder of CinnaMoon Collective, a 2x Dora-nominated dance collective. Nickeshia Garrick was recently the recipient of a Dora Mavor Moore award for Best Ensemble in People, Places and Things by Coal Mine Theatre.

Lastly, community connection and knowledge sharing are imperative parts of Nickeshia’s practice. They are currently working with the 519 and Jamii on the Esplanade communities, offering free movement/creation workshops.

Jayden Gigliotti

Jayden Gigliotti (he/him) is a contemporary ball juggling artist and theatre maker recently based in Tkaronto (Toronto). His passion for the performing arts began at a young age and grew from the elation of throwing, catching, and dropping objects on stage. Jayden completed the Trainer in Circus Arts program from École Nationale de Cirque (Montréal) in 2024 and received his Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Theatre Studies from Dalhousie University (Halifax) in 2019. He has had the pleasure of working with Live Art Dance, FODAR, Kinetic Studio, Prismatic Arts Festival, Riopelle Foundation, Breaking Circus, La Tohu, and Montréal Complètement Cirque. Jayden is delighted to be presenting a new work at Toronto Dance Theatre this fall.

Photo by Olya Glotka

Nidhi Baadkar

Born in India and raised in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Nidhi Baadkar (she/her) started her training at the age of ten in Bharata-natyam. Based in Tkaronto, she is an alumni of Dance Arts Institute, Canada and Attakkalari Centre for Movement Arts, India where she trained in various forms including ballet, modern dance, kalaripayattu and physical theatre. She has worked and performed in Bahrain, Canada and India with choreographers such as Nova Bhattacharya, Michael Caldwell, Neena Jayarajan and Mayumi Lashbrook. She is a certified facilitator in Therapeutic Dance in Education and has completed her postgraduate diploma in Arts Management at Humber College. Nidhi is currently engaged in the role of the Company Manager at The National Ballet of Canada. As an emerging movement artist and choreographer, Nidhi hopes to develop works which are deeply rooted within Indian aesthetics.

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