welcome, we’ve been waiting

May 19 – 21 & 25 – 28, 2022
Livestream recording available on-demand until June 4
$10 tickets to access the livestream Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester Street (VIEW MAP)

Accessibility Info: We are doing a Pay-What-You-Can Night for the Wednesday May 25 performance.
Deaf/ASL Interpretation is available for May 26 performance. If this benefits your experience, email info@tdt.org after booking your ticket and we'll ensure optimal viewing of the Interpreters.
Winchester Street Theatre is currently not a physically accessible building.
Full accessibility details: https://tdt.org/your-visit/accessibility/

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“As far as homecomings are concerned, welcome, we’ve been waiting is a slam dunk. Sexy, funny, and gay as hell, Diverlus and the dancers of Toronto Dance Theatre have succeeded in curating a forward-thinking and innovative night of dance that doesn’t take itself too seriously.” – Martin Austin, Intermission Magazine

“The standing ovation was powerful, so my praise is barely needed, but I will rave anyways. Go see this show. I wish I could see it for the first time again.” – Deanne Kearney, The Dance Debrief

Created by multi-hyphenate artist Rodney Diverlus for their inaugural production with the TDT Company, welcome, we’ve been waiting takes you on a journey of home and place, of fantasy, and finding your tribe.

Featuring an original score composed by 2022 Canadian Screen Award winner TiKA with Dillon Baldassero, welcome, we’ve been waiting pulses with Rodney’s choreography that draws upon and deconstructs disparate styles including lindy hop, kizomba, hand performance, jazz, rhythm and groove, and contemporary queer performance. As soon as you step onto the sidewalk in front of the Winchester Street Theatre, you will enter a world of whimsical play, spontaneous discoveries and magnetic dancing, and you’ll leave feeling energized with a little bit of magic in your step.

Weren’t able to attend the show in person? We livestreamed the Friday May 20 performance and it will remain available on-demand to ticket holders until Saturday June 4. Tickets are available until June 4 at 6:30 p.m. EDT and the livestream will be online until 9:30 p.m. that evening.

Advisory: This show contains mature content that may not be suitable for younger audiences. There will also be use of haze during the show for special effect.

COVID-19 Policy & Protocols

TDT is continuing its mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, until further notice. In-person attendees are currently required to show their vaccine certificates and valid I.D. upon arriving at the Winchester Street Theatre, as well as wear face masks for the duration they are in the building. TDT reserves the right to update/change its policies consistent with operational priorities and Public Health information.

Thank you to our Opening Night partner

About the Artist

Photo by Maxim Kopanygin

Rodney Diverlus

RODNEY DIVERLUS is a Haitian-Canadian multi-hyphenate artist and artivist who uses the body & voice as sites to host movement, text, and protest. Their work samples from contemporary and afrikanic dance, physical theatre, and public arts-based political interventions. A vagabond, their work presents, at times flaunts emergent representations of blackness, and weaves in ancestral, diasporic, and queer narratives of life and freedom.

Rodney has created original works at Art Gallery of Ontario, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Tapestry Opera, Tableau d’Hôte Theatre, SummerWorks Festival, Irie Music Festival, DanceOntario DanceWeekend, and has interpreted works by Holla Jazz, Canadian Stage, Luminato Festival, Decidedly Jazz Danceworks, Dietrich Group, The Bentway, and KasheDance, to name a few. Rodney is the recipient of the 2019 Canadian Stage Award for Direction and a 2019 Montreal English Theatre Choreography Award nominee.

Beyond their artistic practice, Rodney moonlights as a community activator and writer. They are the co-founder of Black Lives Matter – Canada and co-creator of Wildseed Centre for Art & Activism.

Production Credits

Choreographer: Rodney Diverlus
Composer: TiKA
Co-Composer: Dillon Baldassero
Dancers: Yuichiro Inoue, Peter Kelly, Megumi Kokuba, Erin Poole, Devon Snell, Margarita Soria, and Roberto Soria
Lighting Designer: Shawn Henry
Costume Designer: Diseiye Thompson
Makeup Consultant: Rahnell Branton
Outside Eye: Jaz-Fairy J and Julia Cosentino
Movement Coaching Support: Julia Cosentino and Joanne Baker

Rehearsal Director: Rosemary James
Production Manager: Tanya Bregstein
Stage Manager: Brianna Unger
Production Assistant: Ash Ovington
House Technician & Board Operator: Nathan Bruce
Livestream Coordinator: Jordan Calcafuoco
Production Crew: Jasper Jacobs
Camera Operators: Terrence Hand and Jack Reslinski