Let’s Talk About SPACE – Open Door Panel

TDT's Open Door Panel Discussion
Monday May 5, 2025
Doors open at 6:30 PM
Conversation will start at 7:00 PM
at the Winchester Street Theatre
Facilitated by Andrew Tay (TDT) with contributors Andel James (Unity Charity), Brandy Leary (Anandam Dancetheatre), Laurence Lemieux (Citadel + Compagnie), Robert Sauvey (DUO), Sarahí Cardenas (The Fifth Dance), Xing Bang Fu (Xing Dance Theatre), Simon Sylvain Lalonde (Xing Dance Theatre), Yvonne Ng (princess productions). Winchester Street Theatre , 80 Winchester Steet (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.

This event seeks to open up a meaningful dialogue around spaces specifically dedicated to dance in Toronto. As essential places for artists to rehearse, train, create new works and gather to forge relationships in the community, these spaces have become an important topic particularly given the recent loss of multiple dance venues within the local ecology.

Bringing together a range of perspectives from those who are stewards of dance spaces as well as artists who have been directly affected by the current realities of the Toronto dance scene, this discussion will offer artists and spaces the opportunity to speak to their individual contexts, share how they navigate challenges and consider moving together towards the future sustainability of local spaces remaining a valuable resource the community and for future generations of dance artists.

We will be opening up the discussion to hear from community members in attendance for questions, thoughts, comments, experiences, etc.

This conversation runs parallel with a project being conducted by TDT and funded through the Open Door granting program (TAC) which is looking at sustainable studio models and rent subsidies.

Let's Talk About Space Contributors

Photo by McKenzie James

Andrew Tay, Facilitator

Andrew Tay (TDT Artistic Director) is a hybrid performance curator, choreographer and DJ. Tay was awarded the Risk and Innovation award from the Summerworks Performance Festival (2016), appointed as the inaugural Artistic Curator of the Centre de Creation O Vertigo (CCOV) Montreal (2017), and was named on the list of “50 under 50 shaping tomorrow” by Concordia University (2022). Tay’s works have been presented at leading international dance and performance festivals, art institutions and museums including the Festival Trans-Amériques (Montreal), MDT (Sweden), Kampnagel (Germany), Fierce Festival (UK) and the Portland Institute of Contemporary Art (USA). He actively thinks about community, irreverence, and resistance in both his performance and curatorial practices.

Photo by Nilla Esme

Andel James

Andel James is a dedicated community builder, DJ, and event organizer with a passion for youth empowerment. Since 2007, he has worked with Unity Charity and Blueprint For Life, using music and mentorship to inspire young people. As the Artist Manager at Unity Charity, he supports and uplifts artists who use hip-hop to create positive change. As a DJ, Andel curates high-energy sets for dance battles and community events, blending technical skill with a deep understanding of hip-hop culture. Committed to fostering leadership, he is developing a year-round program to support young artists & athletes through mentorship, life skills, and professional development. With a vision for safer, stronger communities, Andel continues to create spaces where youth can grow, express themselves, and succeed.

Photo courtesy of Dancemakers

Brandy Leary

Brandy is a choreographer and dancer. Over the past two decades, she has split her time between Canada, India, and Europe, training, performing, teaching, and touring. Her dances examine structural questions about the body, space, perception, and spectator. Her works have been described as “phenomenological interventions” (Canadian Theatre), “soulful and sensuous” (NYTimes), “magisterial movement”(UK Guardian), and “embodying a hallucinatory, dreamlike state” (NOW Magazine).
Her choreographies have been produced and performed in Canada, Europe, India, the Arctic, South Africa, and the USA. She is a triple Shastri-Indo Canadian fellow (03, 06, 10), a Chalmers Fellow for choreographic research (2020/21), and a Resident Choreographer at the Bata Shoe Museum (2010-15). She has been visiting faculty at the University of Calgary (Canada) and Shiv Nadar University (India).
She is the founder and Artistic Director of Anandam Dancetheatre, the choreographer of Why Not Theatre’s internationally touring show of the Mahabharata, and Co-Founder/Co-Director of Collective Space (Toronto).

Laurence Lemieux

Laurence Lemieux is a dancer, choreographer, and Artistic Director of Citadel + Compagnie. Born in Québec City, Laurence studied dance at L’École Supérieure de Danse du Québec, and at The School of Toronto Dance Theatre ( STDT). She danced for Toronto Dance Theatre from 1986 to 1998, winning a Dora Mavor Moore award in 1998 for her interpretation of Christopher House’s Cryptoversa. Lemieux has choreographed over thirty original works and has danced for some of Canada’s most prominent choreographers, including Margie Gillis, James Kudelka, and Jean-Pierre Perreault. Lemieux is a passionate advocate for the arts and the Chair of the board of the Dance Arts Institute ( formerly STDT). In 2012, Lemieux created The Citadel Dance Program, bringing high quality, free dance classes to children and youth living in Regent Park.

Robert Sauvey

Robert Sauvey has an extensive background in arts and cultural leadership positions and is currently the Executive Director (ED) of the Dance Umbrella of Ontario. Previously, he was the (ED) of Dancemakers the second oldest contemporary dance company in Ontario. His experience in dance also includes over five years as the Director of Touring and Artistic Administration for Canada’s Royal Winnipeg Ballet.

His background includes leadership positions at Groundswell, The National Screen Institute, and as Head of Distribution for Video Pool Media Arts Centre. He has curated exhibitions for galleries, sat on National arts juries, and been a board member. His background also includes working as the Manager of Development for a well-established film and television company and running his own independent company, where he won a Canadian Screen Award for best-produced documentary.

DUO Bio / Backgrounder
DUO is a not-for-profit provider of tailored, creative business management services to Ontario’s professional dance sector. Through our service offerings, we help build the capacity of independent artists and dance organizations using a targeted approach based on dance artists’ needs and how they are situated within dance structures, cultures, and regions. We offer a range of areas of expertise, including bookkeeping and finance, marketing and communications, production and administration, and touring coordination.

Our vision is to be an inclusive centre of excellence and innovation, supporting the pluralistic needs of Ontario’s dance artists. We do this by using an intersectional lens and equitable strategies to understand how the dance landscape impacts them and by providing customized services to foster the entrepreneurial spirit of Ontario’s diverse dance artists, collectives, and organizations and all their dance expressions.

Sarahí Cardenas

Sarahi Cardenas, Artistic Producer & Director. Originally from Saltillo, México, Sarahí Cárdenas is a dance artist, educator,
curator, and advocate shaping Toronto’s dance landscape. She trained at Escuela Superior de Música y Danza de Monterrey and The Rock School for Dance Education before performing professionally with Ballet Metropolitano de Monterrey, Ballet de Monterrey, and Canada’s Ballet Jörgen. She has also performed with the Canadian Opera Company in Rusalka (2019), La Traviata
(2022), and Don Giovanni (2024).

Sarahí is the co-founder and director of The Fifth Dance, a professional and non-professional drop-in dance hub fostering accessibility and inclusion in ballet and contemporary dance. Under her leadership, The Fifth has expanded its programming, including the Toronto International Summer Intensive (TISI), a summer intensive program that brings together over 30 youth dancers from Monterrey, Mexico, fostering cross-cultural exchange and artistic growth. In 2025, The Fifth’s summer intensive will, for the first time, present works from emerging and established dance artists in the community.

In 2022, she founded Casa de Danza, a platform dedicated to supporting and presenting Latin choreographers whose work challenges narratives and explores identity, race, and belonging. Through her curatorial practice, she engages deeply with Toronto’s dance ecology, attending performances and collaborating with artists whose voices contribute to critical cultural dialogue. Casa de Danza’s annual Día de Muertos Festival provides a platform for contemporary Latin choreographic voices, and its Emerging Artists Program offers mentorship to racialized and immigrant artists navigating systemic barriers in the industry.

As a rehearsal director for various independent projects and a contract faculty member at York University and InStudio (guest faculty at George Brown College), Sarahí bridges her performance experience with a commitment to fostering the next generation of dance artists. Her work as a curator and producer is driven by a belief in dance as a vessel for storytelling, history, and cultural resistance—redefining excellence beyond Eurocentric aesthetics and ensuring a sustainable future for Latin artists.

Simon Sylvain Lalonde

Born in Montreal, Simon Sylvain Lalonde trained as a classical ballet dancer at Les Grands Ballet Canadiens and The National Ballet School. He has performed leading roles with numerous ballet companies. In 1988, he joined Xing Dance Theatre and took on the responsibilities of Executive Director. Simon’s expertise in teaching ballet classes offers a broad range of technical skills at all levels and ages, as well as different ballet schools and professional ballet companies.

Xing Bang Fu

Born in Guangzhou, China, Xing Bang Fu began his ballet training in 1973 at the Beijing Dance Academy. While training there, he assisted with various choreographies and acted as a dance instructor. In 1982, he went to the School of the Washington Ballet where he performed as a soloist. In 1987, Fu founded Xing Dance Theatre and for the past 37 years has choreographed original and innovative works. He integrates Ballet, Contemporary dance, and Asian movement into his unique choreographic style. This fusion allows him to focus a dancer’s emotional energy on precise and controlled movements.

Yvonne Ng

Yvonne Ng | 黄碧琬, B.F.A., M.A. is a Singapore-born, Peranakan Chinese artist and the founder/artistic director of princess productions (1996), which encompasses tiger princess dance projects and the dance: made in canada/fait au canada Festival.

Yvonne’s repertoire includes works by Bill James, José Navas, and Tedd Robinson, among others, and has toured globally to Singapore, Italy, Germany, and the USA.

A certified Open Source Forms© teacher, Yvonne developed Swallowing Clouds™ for youth and Moving Stories™ for intergenerational participants. She has taught and choreographed at institutions including University of Waterloo York University, Toronto Metropolitan University, and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (Sg).

Yvonne’s accolades include the 2022 Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence, Muriel Sherrin Award, and Jacqueline Lemieux Award. Her postmodern, Southeast Asian-inspired artistic practice draws on her studies with mentors like Lisa Nelson and Stephanie Skura, shaping work rooted in cultural and experimental exploration.