layers of kin
June 3-4, 2026
Choreographed by Angela Vitovec
In co-creation with the dancers, moss, yarrow, oak, clover and others
Co-presented and co-produced by TDT and Luminato Festival
You are invited into an imperial space overtaken by plant life, where movement, sound, and space emerge beyond human logic. In layers of kin, performers move in kinship with moss, yarrow, clover, and oak to explore the connection between humans and the more-than-human world.
Unfolding in close proximity to the audience, the choreography emphasizes attentiveness and shared presence, allowing movement, sound, and space to shape the performance in real time. The work favours quiet accumulation over spectacle, revealing patterns of connection, resilience, and coexistence as the dancers move together across the space, creating a post-imperial ballroom utopia.
Choreographed by Angela Vitovec and co-presented and co-produced by Toronto Dance Theatre, the piece continues Vitovec’s exploration of plant consciousness and interdependence, following earlier works Sammal/Moss and Mossbelly.
Content warning: may include nudity.
About the Choreographer
Photo by Kika Thorne
Angela Vitovec
Angela Vitovec, also known as Angela Schubot, grew up in Berlin, where she lived and worked for over 40 years; she now works between Berlin and Toronto as a choreographer, dancer, teacher, movement researcher, and bodyworker, while also being the mother of her 4 year old son, Nai.
She collaborated with Jared Gradinger (2009-2022), creating radical works on the debordering of the body such as WHAT THEY ARE INSTEAD OF ( 2009), IS MAYBE (2012), YEW OUTSIDE (2018) and THE HUT (2022) among others to international recognition. Her Solo Trilogy KÖRPER OHNE MACHT (2015) was awarded as the discoveries of the year 2015 for excellent further developments. Since 2016 Angela is educated in traditional amazonian plant medicine and is a facilitator at Caya Shobo Healing Center Peru. She has an education in perceptive pedagogy and fascia therapy Method Danis Bois/AEMF Berlin and teaches among others at ImpulsTanz Vienna, HZT-Berlin and Toronto Biennial of Arts. Angelas methods are searching for bodies of multiplicity in deep communion with plant nature. Following her radical methods she co-created the Solo SAMMAL/MOSS (2022), MOSSBELLY (2023) and YA! (2024) – a Yarrow choir.
In 2023 she changed her artistic name, taking the name of her forgotten grandfather, who was made aware to her by the plants: Vitovec. In Toronto, Angela is one of six Co-Directors of Collective Space, where she has initiated and co-initiated numerous community offerings, including CHOIRing – a weekly community sounding practice; We Need It – community dance classes co-initiated with Aisha Sasha John, Erin Poole, and Kate Nankervis; and Tender Again – monthly bodywork gatherings for vulnerable communities, co-initiated with Nyda Kwasowsky and Miru Yogarajah.
About the Performers
Photo by Francesca Chudnoff
Ann Trépanier
Ann Trépanier is a dance artist originally from Quebec City, now based in Berlin after 13 years living in Tkaronto. Her work is grounded in collaborative processes, exploring subjective paths of listening, layers of consciousness, and relationships, human and non-human. Trusting portals of intuition, pleasure-sourcing, and embracing the emerging clumsiness and humor as elements guiding her processes.
They have worked with, for, and alongside a range of international makers including Abbas Akhavant, Amanda Acorn, Amelia Ehrhardt, Andrew Tay, Angela Vitovec, Bill Coleman, Bob Kil, Deva Schubert, Lea Kieffer, Meryem Alaoui, Michele Rizzo, Naishi Wang, Nina Beier and Sun Ra Arkestra.
Ann joined the Toronto Dance Community Love-In as Co-Artistic Director (2018-2022), nurturing an interconnected web of care. Her work reflects a commitment to collaboration, vulnerability, and innovation, fostering inclusivity and empathetic connections while continually expanding the boundaries of a dance community.
Photo by McKenzie James
Brayden Jamil Cairns
Brayden Jamil Cairns – he/they – is a Toronto-based performance artist, costume designer, and long time lover. Bray left rural Ontario in 2015 to train at Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Performance. Since his training, Bray has worked with the likes of Alyssa Martin, Rodney Diverlus and many of his peers in collaborative processes. Bray is interested in movement that can be enjoyed by people from all walks of life. He binds dance and lived experience to create tantalizing works of art; combining media such as writing and film to create a living collage. Many of these ideas come from a powerful need to uplift the queer and BIPOC communities. Bray will often be found researching what it is to feel pleasure and what can come from self-exploration.
Photo by McKenzie James
Cam Bellefleur
Based in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal and Tkaronto/Toronto, Camil Bellefleur is an emerging contemporary dance artist. They completed their training at the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal in 2020 and have danced with Daina Ashbee, Charlie Prince, Jean Benoit-Labrecque, LA TRESSE Collective and Le Radeau. They completed their training in inclusive dance approaches with Corpuscule Danse. Camil’s solo work entitled First Layers was presented at Tangente in 2022 and at the first edition of the Mauricie Arts Vivants festival in 2023, for which they were a finalist for the Creative Momentum award of Culture Mauricie. They are currently working on their next creation, Queer Core – Embodiment.
To deepen their artistic approach oriented towards social change, Camil completed a cumulative bachelor’s degree at UQÀM in 2023, which includes a certificate in Critical Sexuality Studies, a second in Feminist Studies, and a third in Sociology.
They wish to make their bodily practice a space for emancipatory healing, liberation, transformation, risk-taking, and a safe space for growing together.
Photo by McKenzie James
Elizabeth Yip 葉倩儀
Elizabeth Yip 葉倩儀 is a contemporary dance artist from Vancouver, Canada. Her dance practice is grounded in passion, dynamics, and emotion. She is a graduate of Modus Operandi under the direction of Kate Franklin, Tiffany Tregarthen, and David Raymond and received the Fall 2023 EDAM Training Scholarship in contact improvisation. Elizabeth has performed and originated roles in work by Yin Yue Dance, Shay Kuebler/RSA, b. solomon, Nicolas Ventura, Khoudia Touré, and Zahra Shahab. Elizabeth pursues work that is theatrical, virtuosic, and tender. Her past artistic choreographic residencies include the Scotiabank Dance Centre, Boombox, and Vines Art Festival. Before joining TDT, she was an apprentice with Shay Kuebler/RSA.
Kate Nankervis
Kate Nankervis is a recognized dancer, choreographer, teacher, and curator whose practice spans collaboration, movement research, performance, installation, and exhibition. Her work intertwines dance with care, lived experience, and deep connections to nature as a collaborative guide.
Kate has received the UNESCO Performing Arts Award (2008), the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Fellowship in Dance Curation (2016), and the danceWEB Scholarship at ImpulsTanz Vienna (2019). For over 15 years, she has performed and collaborated with artists across Canada and internationally.
Kate’s curatorial practice embraces lo-fi, do-it-together communities. She co-directed Toronto Dance Community Love-In (2010-19), hub14 art+performance(2013-16), fostering spaces that nurture artistic development, movement research, and creation within experimental dance and performance. Based in Tkaronto, with roots in Northern Ontario, Kate also works and studies in Berlin. www.katenankervis.com
Photo by McKenzie James
Megumi Kokuba
Megumi Kokuba – she/her – born in Okinawa, the southernmost island of Japan, began ballet at two and later discovered contemporary dance. She moved to Toronto to further her training and became a company dancer with the Toronto Dance Theatre. Megumi’s artistry is rooted in layering information in the body, balancing precision with meaning while embodying strength and vulnerability. Years of working with diverse choreographers have shaped her collaborative approach, emphasizing depth, process, and presence. Committed to environmental advocacy, Megumi prioritizes listening, holding space, and active communication as key elements of her practice.
Photo by McKenzie James
Millina Aaliyah Fletcher
Millina Aaliyah Fletcher, AKA Fletch – any pronouns – is a Tkaronto based dance artist and a proud lesbian of Barbadian/Franco-Ontarienne mixed heritage. Fletch is a well versed, expressive, outgoing and open minded individual who sees the world as an abundant site for colour and creativity. Fletch identifies as a dancer, choreographer, music enthusiast, and an extrovert who enjoys expressing identity and queerness through dance and fashion.
Photo by McKenzie James
Roberto Soria
Roberto is the new era no longer restricted by time she walks the earth with patience noticing how all is changing he doesn’t interfere she listens he watches ready for nothing yet it all shows it’s true colours the sun and the moon have her life and it’s the random that keeps him alive.
I am Roberto Soria, and as a seeker of pleasure it only makes sense that movement has been a part of my life for so many years.
I am:
a raver
a dj/creator of noise
a lover
a photographer/filmmaker
a sagittarius
a company dancer for toronto dance theatre
and friendly so if you see me in the street come say hi!
Photo by McKenzie James
Ry Kostyniuk
Ry Kostyniuk is a queer artist born and raised in Sylvan Lake, Alberta and is currently based in Tkaronto/Toronto. They are a graduate from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (2019) and has danced with Toronto Dance Theatre since their 2019/2020 season. They have performed works by many acclaimed choreographers across Canada as well as international choreographers Emese Nagy (MA•ZE) and Shannon Gillen (VimVigor). Ry has choreographed solo/duet works which have been performed in Toronto, and toured internationally. They currently find inspiration from the queer nightlife and rave scene, and continue to explore themes in their work based around sexuality, and gender expression.
Co-presented and co-produced with Luminato Festival
Luminato Festival transforms the people, places, and possibilities of Toronto with extraordinary art experiences. Every June we present bold, playful, and of the moment art for all to enjoy. Distinctly Toronto, proudly Canadian and totally Global, we welcome the world to explore our streets, stages and stories. Encounter our city like never before.
2026 Theme: Play