Moving Dancing Knowledge: Dance Beyond Performance

The following content is pulled from the Hart House website.

The Well Being Collective at Hart House presents this first event in a newly developed series led by the Institute for Dance Studies at the CDTPS in partnership with Hart House. Moving, Dancing, Knowledge series engages learning communities within and beyond the university to explore and highlight dance scholarship and practice, the role of dance and movement in physical and mental well-being, and the considerations of dance as both an artistic and activist form that embodies intersecting identities as well as broader social issues.

These collaborative initiatives involve many partners, seek to engage with existing programming and to inform and develop new learning and practices. A focus on communities that have typically been under-represented and underserved in dance, wellness, artistic and academic settings is a key consideration in all programming.

Moving, Dancing, Knowledge: Dance Beyond Performance, the first event in the 2020-21 series, welcomes an array of speakers, including those who have professional dance training who can speak to how this has informed other areas of their achievement, development and career experience. It also includes those who have fostered dance initiatives for students to enhance and enrich their educational and student experience. The session will explore the role of dance and embodied practice and the ways in which it informs, translates into, and enriches academic and professional settings.

Register here. 

Guest Speakers

Santee Smith / Tekaronhiakwa
Multidisciplinary Artist

Santee Smith is a multidisciplinary artist from the Kahnyen’kehàka Nation, Six Nations. She trained at Canada’s National Ballet School, completed Physical Education and Psychology degrees from McMaster University and a Dance MA from York University.
Santee premiered her inaugural work Kaha:wi in 2004 and later founded Kaha:wi Dance Theatre which has grown into an internationally renowned company. Her body of work includes 14 productions and numerous short works and collaborations. She is a sought-after teacher and speaker on Indigenous performance and culture. Through embodied storytelling and performance her work speaks to Indigenous identity and continuance. Smith is the 19th Chancellor of McMaster University.

Kara Patterson
Physiotherapist, and Associate Professor

Dr. Patterson is a physiotherapist, an Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy at the University of Toronto and a Scientist at the KITE Research Institute. She practiced clinically in the neurological field in Canada and the US before completing her PhD at the University of Toronto and postdoctoral training at McGill University. She is also a life-long recreational dancer. Her first loves were ballet and jazz and now she is passionate about Latin dance forms including salsa and bachata (and currently experiencing withdraw due to COVID-19!) Dr. Patterson leads the RELEARN lab(Opens a new window) which strives to advance neurorehabilitation practice in order to improve mobility outcomes for people living with neurological conditions, and in particular stroke. Her research interests include motor learning and rehabilitation of gait and balance using novel strategies including rhythm-, music- and dance-based interventions. Her work is funded by CIHR, NSERC and the Heart and Stroke Foundation.

Robin Waley
Assistant Manager – Co-Curricular Diversity & Equity

Robin Waley works at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education as the Assistant Manager – Co-Curricular Diversity & Equity. He oversees a team of students who plan and implement student-led initiatives, events and programs that promote diversity, equity, inclusivity and physical and mental health on campus. Robin was integral in the development and implementation of the U of T trans-positive swim, vogue dance classes, annual kiki ball, and other equity physical activity related programs such as the Move with Pride and Move with Culture workshop series. Robin is also a yoga and meditation instructor navigating the Toronto wellness industry.

Jessica Rayne
Program Associate

Jessica Rayne is a program coordinator and events producer. Jessica loves building community and facilitating personal and professional growth through experiential learning opportunities. Since joining the Hart House team two years ago Jessica has been creating and delivering impactful programs and events that inspire dialogue, self-discovery, personal empowerment and social change among students and the broader community. Jessica is the co-lead of the Hart House Hip Hop Education program and the Black Futures program which both center the knowledge and voices of Black, Indigenous and racialized communities, and establish a space that challenges colonial ways of knowing and learning.  Both programs integrate arts, dance and movement as essential to supporting holistic learning and wellness.  Through her work Jessica has developed a deeper appreciation for dance and movement and has recently begun her own personal journey through Dance— Afro-Contemporary, Contemporary, African Dance, Ballet. Before arriving at Hart House, Jessica worked in both the college and university sector supporting students' access to post-secondary education and their success while enrolled.  Jessica holds a Master’s degree in Sociology and diplomas in business management and marketing, and she hopes to complete a Ph.D. someday. 

Ingrid Lui
Recent Graduate and Student Leader

Ingrid Lui is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto, having completed a double major in Psychology and Global Health, and is a classically trained ballet and contemporary dancer. Throughout her undergraduate career, she was heavily involved with the U of T dance community, most notably in her executive roles with Hart House Theatre's University of Toronto Festival of Dance (FoD) and the Only Human Dance Collective (OHDC). Ingrid served as the FoD Festival Coordinator for two years. In this role, she engaged with student groups and U of T alumni alike to give them a platform to showcase their passion for dance, and gave them the opportunity to connect and network with one another to bring the tri-campus dance community closer together. She actively strived to widen the variety of dance genres participating in the Festival, and did a lot of targeted outreach to campus groups to do so. Ingrid is also currently in her second year as the co-Creative Director of OHDC, a student-run dance company that prides itself on being the longest-running dance group at U of T with a unique all-inclusive mandate. She believes strongly in making dance accessible to anyone who wishes to learn, and has choreographed several open-level pieces for the company to create opportunities for aspiring dancers of all skill levels to perform in OHDC's annual productions.

Seika Boye
Scholar, Writer, Educator and Artist

Seika Boye is a scholar, writer, educator and artist whose practices revolve around dance and movement. She is an Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies and Director of the Institute for Dance Studies, University of the Toronto. Invested in movement histories and the archive, Seika’s research explores Blackness and dancing in Canada and embodied learning and pedagogy. She is the curator of the archival exhibition It’s About Time: Dancing Black in Canada 1900-1970 and Now(2018/2020)(Opens a new window) and co-curated Into the Light: Eugenics and Education in Southern Ontario (2019).(Opens a new window)   Seika also works as a dramaturg and consultant in the performing arts. She was Artist-in-Residence at the Art Gallery of Ontario (2018), Toronto District School Board's African Heritage Educators’ Network Arts Honoree (2019)(Opens a new window) and a 2020 recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Heritage Trust Award (co-curator, Into the Light).(Opens a new window)  Seika is currently a co-investigator on Gatherings: archival and oral histories of Canadian performance (Opens a new window)(SSHRC Partnership Development Grant(Opens a new window), PI Stephen Johnson). Her publications include writing for Dance Chronicle, Canadian Theatre Review, alt.theatre, The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism, Performance Matters, Dance Collection Danse Magazine and The Dance Current. Seika is the co-editor of Configurations in Motion: Performance Curation and Communities of Colour, 3rd Edition (2017)