tender is a meeting of bodies in motion in an experiment of togetherness.
It invites tenderness as a salve to uncertainty as five dancers grapple with circumstance and connection. Their sensitive, lush, unhurried movement becomes a tonic to climate (and other) grief in a responsive game of collective decision-making. They listen through the moving body, resisting the Western perception of spectacle, caring for action over appearance, and drawing audiences into their evolving interrelations as they voyage through the fairgrounds.
creative team:
Heidi Strauss • choreographer 
in collaboration with dancers: 
Katie Adams-Gossage 
Aerin Cho 
Kéïta Fournier-Pelletier 
Rakeem Hardy 
Lukas Malkowski 
Ginelle Chagnon • outside eye 
Jeremy Mimnagh • sound designer 
Tavia Christina • Metcalf intern
Zuri Skeete • programming assistant
Created with the support of the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Metcalf Foundation, Edward A. Krucker Foundation, Bulmash-Siegel Foundation, and Lindy Green Family Foundation.
dates:
July 12 & 13, 1pm & 4pm 2025 TOAF Presentation at Nathan Phillips Square
2026 Summer intracity tour in Toronto 
2027 Summer intracity tour on-tour Fall/Winter 
2027-28 Stage production
*check back for more dates coming soon
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