July 25, 2024
Announcing TDT’s 2024/25 Company Ensemble🎉
This is it.. The moment we’ve all been waiting for..
TDT is thrilled to announce company members for the upcoming 2024/25 Season! Joining existing company members Megumi Kokuba and Roberto Soria, are five exceptional dancers including Camil Bellefleur, Brayden Cairns, Millina Fletcher, Ryan Kostyniuk, and Elizabeth Yip. Forming a dynamic ensemble, these talented artists promise to inspire and captivate our community of collaborators and audiences with their expressive practice.
Get to Know The Company Dancers!
We invite you to meet the artists for a glimpse into their backgrounds, achievements, interests and artistic journeys.
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.
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.
Millina Fletcher (any pronouns) is a Tkaronto based dance artist who infuses her queer and Barbadian/French roots in both her creative work and her everyday life. Millina is a well versed, expressive, outgoing and open minded individual who sees the world as an abundant site for colour and creativity. She identifies as a dancer, choreographer, music enthusiast, and an extrovert who enjoys expressing her identity and queerness through dance and fashion. Millina recently obtained her Bachelors of Fine Arts in Performance Dance at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU), where she trained intensively in a wide range of styles. Millina has had the great pleasure of working with many choreographers including but not limited to; Guillaume Côté, David Norsworthy, Valerie Calam, Hanna Kiel, Ingrid Fiksdale and Yvonne Coutts. Millina premiered a self-choreographed piece titled Phoney at the TMU (IN) momentum student-produced program showcased at The Citadel (2024). Millina is adamant that in every artistic endeavor she pursues, her art will reflect her identity and bring awareness to the challenges of race and gender in society. She is open, audacious, and always eager to learn about new ways to create impactful art through the medium of her greatest passion, movement.
Megumi Kokuba was born on the southernmost island of Japan, Okinawa. She studied ballet with joy from the age of two. After graduating from College in Okinawa, Megumi came across contemporary dance and was smitten. She moved to Toronto to train in dance and is a proud graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre (now Dance Arts Institute). Megumi joined the company as a TD Dance Intern in 2012/2013, and she has had many inspiring creation and performance opportunities in Toronto ever since. As a dance artist, her main focus is to help the environment. Actions like listening, holding space and prioritizing active communication are at the forefront of her personal practice.
Ryan 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 have been a guest artist with Toronto Dance Theatre since the 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). Ryan 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.
Roberto Soria 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 its true colours, the sun and the moon have her life and it’s the random that keeps him alive.
I’m here
Locked in
Sometimes
I am Roberto, 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 poet
a photographer/filmmaker
a sagittarius
and friendly so if you see me in the street come say hi!
Elizabeth Yip 葉倩儀 (b. 2001) 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.