artistic director
Heidi Strauss: I am a dance artist curious about movement, human behaviour, and shifting perspectives. The complexities of who (and where) we are keep my practice evolving. My creative work responds to current personal, social or environmental moments and plays with the reconfiguring of space and roles of audience/performer. As a maker, performer, mentor, pedagogue, co-learner, and artistic director, I believe in facilitating space for growth, thought, conversation and physical/embodied experience. As a choreographer, I consider where and how work is experienced in its relationship to site. An interest in changing perspective, in creating invitations into wayfinding and ambulatory experiences has prompted me to consider audience as participant, witness and partner. I believe interactivity is a gateway to different forms of comfort-building and inclusion. I develop live, installation and digital works for conventional and unconventional spaces, both found and dedicated performance sites - intimate and large scale. I collaborate with performers and designers to build projects we can’t build on our own. I tend toward questions and believe I have a responsibility to create around what I can’t answer – to bring attention to what might be uncertain.
I am currently in residency at the Citadel, and the grateful recipient of a KM Hunter Award and multiple Dora Awards. I have taught extensively in conservatory, university and professional settings, and was recently participant in an International Choreographers Retreat co-designed by c.a.t.a.m.o.n.dance group and Montreal Danse. I hold an MFA from the Transart Institute/Liverpool John Moore’s University. I am adelheid's artistic director.
email Heidi
email Heidi
general manager
Jasmine Au (she/her) is a Toronto-based creative producer and arts manager. She is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Performance Dance program, where she graduated in 2021 with an Honours BFA and a minor in marketing. Jasmine’s extensive dance training has informed her post-graduate journey; she is passionate in her pursuit of contributing to the dance form from a producing and managerial standpoint. After completing her studies, Jasmine has gained experience with prominent organizations such as Arts Orillia, CanAsian Dance, Fall for Dance North, The AMY Project, The National Arts Centre, and Toronto Dance Theatre. In addition to working with adelheid, Jasmine has recently returned to her alma mater and is thrilled to be leading a new initiative as the creative producer of The Creative School Chrysalis at TMU. Jasmine previously worked with adelheid as their Studio Space Coordinator in 2020, and is thrilled to re-join the team as General Manager.
email Jasmine
Jasmine Au (she/her) is a Toronto-based creative producer and arts manager. She is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Performance Dance program, where she graduated in 2021 with an Honours BFA and a minor in marketing. Jasmine’s extensive dance training has informed her post-graduate journey; she is passionate in her pursuit of contributing to the dance form from a producing and managerial standpoint. After completing her studies, Jasmine has gained experience with prominent organizations such as Arts Orillia, CanAsian Dance, Fall for Dance North, The AMY Project, The National Arts Centre, and Toronto Dance Theatre. In addition to working with adelheid, Jasmine has recently returned to her alma mater and is thrilled to be leading a new initiative as the creative producer of The Creative School Chrysalis at TMU. Jasmine previously worked with adelheid as their Studio Space Coordinator in 2020, and is thrilled to re-join the team as General Manager.
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artistic associate
Over the last 10 years Jeremy Mimnagh has been involved in still photography, film, AR, projection, and sound works that ask unanswerable questions contending with, and relevant to, living in this world today - with all that is broken. From a film delving into the impossibility of acquiring a culture, to performance works exploring the limits of memory, the inherent generational difference relative to lived experience, and the irreversible human impact on the natural world, these collaborations have sought to have their audiences consider deeply a vast constellation of unknowns. In looking at what we don’t have answers to, perhaps we can ask ourselves more honestly to be where we are. Maybe in seeing what is broken we can see more clearly what can be different, and what can change. www.mimnagh.ca
email Jeremy
Over the last 10 years Jeremy Mimnagh has been involved in still photography, film, AR, projection, and sound works that ask unanswerable questions contending with, and relevant to, living in this world today - with all that is broken. From a film delving into the impossibility of acquiring a culture, to performance works exploring the limits of memory, the inherent generational difference relative to lived experience, and the irreversible human impact on the natural world, these collaborations have sought to have their audiences consider deeply a vast constellation of unknowns. In looking at what we don’t have answers to, perhaps we can ask ourselves more honestly to be where we are. Maybe in seeing what is broken we can see more clearly what can be different, and what can change. www.mimnagh.ca
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social media manager
Originally from New Brunswick, Jane-Alison McKinney is a dancer, choreographer, and producer. A graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, she has performed the works of a variety of contemporary dance artists in Canada and Internationally. In 2016, she was awarded a Metcalf Foundation Internship Grant in Artistic Direction with adelheid under the mentorship of Heidi Strauss, whose close mentorship has played a profound impact on Jane-Alison’s artistic development. She has also worked with adelheid as a dancer, emerging choreographer, and producer. Jane Alison’s choreography has been supported nationally by a variety of festivals and residencies; most recently her solo work ‘There she was’ was presented by Tangente in Montreal. She is also co-director of the performance collective Bare Nerve with Emma Kerson. www.wildrabbitdance.com
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Originally from New Brunswick, Jane-Alison McKinney is a dancer, choreographer, and producer. A graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, she has performed the works of a variety of contemporary dance artists in Canada and Internationally. In 2016, she was awarded a Metcalf Foundation Internship Grant in Artistic Direction with adelheid under the mentorship of Heidi Strauss, whose close mentorship has played a profound impact on Jane-Alison’s artistic development. She has also worked with adelheid as a dancer, emerging choreographer, and producer. Jane Alison’s choreography has been supported nationally by a variety of festivals and residencies; most recently her solo work ‘There she was’ was presented by Tangente in Montreal. She is also co-director of the performance collective Bare Nerve with Emma Kerson. www.wildrabbitdance.com
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metcalf intern
Tavia Christina is a multi-hyphenate artist who embraces their ethereal nature as a driving force in artistic expression and research. Their work seamlessly blends genres across dance, theatre, and performance art. Their practice is rooted in somatic movement and spiritual endurance. With a background spanning Western contemporary dance, street dance, and classical ballet, Tavia also holds interests in various other art forms, including curation, music, acting, poetry, film, and death work. In their freelance career, they have been nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore award, and are interning as an artistic director at adelheid facilitated through The Metcalf Foundation. https://www.taviachristina.com
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Tavia Christina is a multi-hyphenate artist who embraces their ethereal nature as a driving force in artistic expression and research. Their work seamlessly blends genres across dance, theatre, and performance art. Their practice is rooted in somatic movement and spiritual endurance. With a background spanning Western contemporary dance, street dance, and classical ballet, Tavia also holds interests in various other art forms, including curation, music, acting, poetry, film, and death work. In their freelance career, they have been nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore award, and are interning as an artistic director at adelheid facilitated through The Metcalf Foundation. https://www.taviachristina.com
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summer programming assistant
Zuri Skeete (she/her) is a queer emerging dance artist within the Toronto community. She is a performer, choreographer, and teacher with a heavy focus on improvisation and contemporary dance. Zuri is a graduate from York University’s Choreography/Performance Specialized Honours BFA in Dance. She has worked with artists such as David Norsworthy, Syreeta Hector, Tracey Norman, and Susan Lee. Zuri has co-choreographed pieces for Dance Ontario Weekend and Fever After Dark. She has also choreographed and performed a commissioned piece for Toes for Dance’s Common Ground Festival. Additionally, she is the co-founder of The Meaningful Movement which aims to create spaces, events and conversations for all artists and art lovers. Zuri is constantly striving to explore her identity and movement aesthetic, persistently questioning if she can go deeper in everything she works on. Being present, staying curious and always ready to play allows her to fully immerse in the language of dance.
email Zuri
Zuri Skeete (she/her) is a queer emerging dance artist within the Toronto community. She is a performer, choreographer, and teacher with a heavy focus on improvisation and contemporary dance. Zuri is a graduate from York University’s Choreography/Performance Specialized Honours BFA in Dance. She has worked with artists such as David Norsworthy, Syreeta Hector, Tracey Norman, and Susan Lee. Zuri has co-choreographed pieces for Dance Ontario Weekend and Fever After Dark. She has also choreographed and performed a commissioned piece for Toes for Dance’s Common Ground Festival. Additionally, she is the co-founder of The Meaningful Movement which aims to create spaces, events and conversations for all artists and art lovers. Zuri is constantly striving to explore her identity and movement aesthetic, persistently questioning if she can go deeper in everything she works on. Being present, staying curious and always ready to play allows her to fully immerse in the language of dance.
email Zuri
Board of Directors
Claire Holland, Chair
Lee Sela, Secretary
Irma Villafuerte, Treasurer
Bradley Powell
John Dalrymple
Debashis Sinha
Rumi Jera
Claire Holland, Chair
Lee Sela, Secretary
Irma Villafuerte, Treasurer
Bradley Powell
John Dalrymple
Debashis Sinha
Rumi Jera