The University of Toronto’s Centre for Drama, Theatre & Performance Studies is excited to announce that registration is now open for the 34th annual Festival of Original Theatre (FOOT) Conference, taking place February 5–6, 2026 at the Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse (79 St. George Street).
This year’s theme, “Encountering the Threshold,” invites scholars, practitioners, and artists to reflect on moments of passage, suspension, and transformation. Thresholds resonate as spaces between memory and futurity, rupture and renewal—where oppositions meet and new meanings emerge. FOOT34 offers a forum to pause, engage critically, and imagine how performance might reshape our relation to the present.
Explore the FOOT 2026 Conference Agenda and register today to secure your spot.
Keynote Events
Institute for Dance Studies 2026 Keynote Event
Power Moves: Dance, Culture, Politics
Friday, February 6 | 1:00 PM | Hart House (Music Room)
FOOT34 is proud to partner with the Institute for Dance Studies and Hart House to present this two-part keynote event celebrating the launch of Power Moves: Dance, Culture, Politics, edited by Seika Boye and MJ Thompson and published by Playwrights Canada Press.
Schedule:
1:00–3:00 PM – Power Moves Book Launch
3:00–4:00 PM – Book Fair
Hear from the editors and contributors, then browse recent publications and connect with authors at the book fair. Discover the incredible work happening in dance and performance research—and maybe take home a book or two!
About Power Moves
This essay collection explores how dance and movement engage political questions around agency, mobility, pedagogy, and resistance. Committed to crossing disciplinary boundaries, Power Moves looks to movement knowledge for radical insights and critical forms of public intervention and pedagogy.
Keynote Performance
Jose Miguel ‘Miggy’ Esteban
Thursday, February 5 | 4:00 PM | Helen Gardiner Phelan Playhouse
Miggy Esteban is a dance/movement artist, educator, and PhD candidate in social justice education at U of T. His choreographic work navigates improvisational practices through mad and queer routes to embody Filipinx (un)rest.
Select Works:
Recent Publications:
- Fragmenting Cripistemology: Gap Movement and Choreographic Practice (2024)
- Embodying Maarte: Reinterpreting Queer Performances of Failure through Crip Inspirations (2024)
Program & Registration
The full program, including presentations, panels, and workshops, will be available soon. Register in advance to receive meeting details and the complete agenda.
Follow us on Instagram for updates: linktr.ee/FOOT34