Teagan Ariss
Arts Education Admin Assistant & Facilitator (Dance)
Teagan Ariss loves to dance. She is an emerging contemporary dance artist based in Tkaronto who values kindness and collaboration. She graduated from York University’s dance program in 2021. Teagan is thrilled to be an apprentice facilitator for Swallowing Clouds and Moving Stories to connect with folks throughout the city through the joy of movement!
Janaki Banting
Arts Education Manager and Facilitator (Dance)
Janaki is an interdisciplinary movement teacher, artist, and creative meditator. She is a 500 hour certified Yoga teacher, and holds a BFA in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University. She grew up under the big prairie sky in Calgary, AB, and trained with Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and at the International School of Ballet. She has performed on stages and street corners all over the country as a dancer and a musician. She is an avid gardener and naturalist and enjoys incorporating these interests into her movement classes and everyday life.
Morgyn Aronyk-Schell
Arts Education Facilitator (Dance)
Amelie Mah
Arts Education Apprentice Facilitator (Dance)
Amelie Mah (any pronouns) is a Chinese Canadian performer, creator, and collaborator. In her own works, Amelie loves exploring how combining spoken and physical expression with her movement practice can serve to create compelling stories. Amelie Mah is a 2025 TMU graduate with a BFA in dance.
Averil Dubois
Arts Education Apprentice Facilitator (Multidisciplinary)
Averil Dubois (She/Her) is a performer, maker, and choreographer raised in small town New York and currently residing in Toronto. She is trained in Contemporary, Improvisation, Ballet, Tap, Jazz, Voice, Musical Theatre, and Acting. She is a multidisciplinary artist who works with painting, sculpture, photography and film creation. In her practice, she explores how these disciplines relate to each other. She has completed a BFA in performance dance from Toronto Metropolitan University in 2025. While in university, she danced choreography by Hanna Kiel, Ryan Lee, Susie Burpee, Esie Mensah, David Norsworthy, and Francesca Chudnoff.
Emmett Bradshaw
Arts Education Assistant Facilitator (Dance)
Emmett Bradshaw (they/she/he) is a dancer and choreographer currently working in Toronto and Guelph. They graduated from Dance Arts Institute (formerly The School of Toronto Dance Theatre) in 2024 as recipient of the Leslie Wood Leadership Award. Emmett has been fortunate to work and train under a variety of prolific international choreographers, including Michele Rizzo, Antonin Rioche, Akira Yoshida, Benjamin Kamino, Yin Yue, Lea Ved, David Earle, Laurence Lemieux, and DA Hoskins, with professional partnerships including Toronto Dance Theatre, The Dietrich Group, Guelph Dance, tiger princess dance projects, and Guelph Youth Dance. They maintain a dance and teaching practice rooted in contemporary movement principles from a European lineage, American modern dance, and somatic practices attuning to the five senses.
Through Anandam Dancetheatre’s Choreographic Training Program and Contemporarity 5.0 and 6.0 training modules, Emmett continually develops their choreographic ideas and commitment to nuanced choreographic analysis. Their works “Indulge Me” and “Indulge//Invest” have been presented by The Garage TO and DanceWorks. Through queered perspectives on relation and physical demands on the body, their current choreographic endeavours center around physical and emotional indulgences.
Isabelle Lee
Swallowing Clouds Assistant Facilitator
Isabelle Lee is a dance educator, choreographer, performer, and stage manager from Charlottetown, PEI, now based in Toronto. She holds an Honours BFA in Dance (Choreography & Performance) from York University, where she performed with the York Dance Ensemble and premiered two original works. Isabelle has performed with Lady D Productions, The Garage, Rock Bottom Movement, and Charlottetown Contemporary Dancers. Her stage management credits include productions with the Charlottetown Festival, Tandem Studios, and The River Clyde Pageant.
Alongside her work onstage and behind the scenes, Isabelle is a dedicated instructor of ballet, contemporary, jazz, and musical theatre. She values accessibility, curiosity, and collaboration in her teaching and artistic practice, creating supportive, expressive spaces where students of all ages can explore movement, build confidence, and grow as artists.
Irvin Chow
Arts Education Facilitator (Dance)
Irvin Chow graduated with a BFA in Dance at York University. Through the years he has toured across Canada and internationally working with many choreographers such as: Angela Blumberg, Sylvie Bouchard, Jasmyn Fyffe, Robert Glumbek, Michael Greyeyes, Terrill Maguire and Yvonne Ng. Irvin has had the pleasure of performing in David Earle’s, Miserere, in the Toronto Heritage Dance project as well as in William Yong’s Harbourfront Centre’s World Stage show, vox:lumen. He has worked with Christopher House’s as part of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2015 and was honoured to dance for Julia Sasso again in the remount of her much-acclaimed work, Sporting Life. Irvin’s latest performance was with tiger princess dance projects in Time Travel while Standing Still and looks forward to working with them more this season. Irvin has been working with tiger princess dance projects since 2012.
Mairéad Filgate
Performer / Arts Education Facilitator (Dance)
Mairéad Filgate (Toronto/Montreal) has created and performed nationally and internationally with many of Canada’s most celebrated dance artists. As a founding member of the award-winning collaborative trio Throwdown Collective, she spent 15 years co-creating choreography for parks, forests, stages, runways, and film. Her outdoor site-specific choreography brings to light the beauty of the everyday, most recently in Le mur (2025) performed in Montreal’s Plateau neighborhood by seven local performers. With Shannon Litzenberger, she is co-founder of PlaySpace, applying creative practice toward collaborative leadership, community health, and inclusive culture-making. Inspired by her time as a member of Canada’s Danny Grossman Dance Company (2003-2008), Mairéad is collecting oral histories of company members, exploring the social, economic, political, and personal landscapes that influenced the company through a multitude of voices and perspectives. She is currently a Scholar-in-Residence at Concordia University’s Centre for Oral History and Digital Storytelling, working towards the publication of a book and development of a documentary film script. Mairéad is proud to have been one of the founding members of tiger princess dance projects’ Swallowing Clouds program, helping to develop the program since 2009. She continues to facilitate the program as well as offer professional development and training for facilitators.
Julianna Greco
Arts Educations Facilitator (Dance)
Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, Julianna Greco holds a BFA in Dance Performance and. Bachelor of Eduction at the Secondary level. She is a well-rounded artist who strives for versatility and is interested in practices such as improvisation and contemporary movement. Some of her affiliations have been with Syreeta Hector, Tracey Norman, Alyssa Martin, Aeris Körper, Dreamwalker Dance Company, and Theatre Aquarius. Julianna is currently a
Micaela Janse van Rensburg
Arts Education Assistant Facilitator (Dance)
Micaela is a Toronto based dance artist and a graduate of Dance Arts Institute (DAI), where she received the First Year Excellence in Performance Prize, the Kathryn Ash Scholarship, and the 2024 Winchester Prize for choreographic distinction. Her award-winning work Camille Cubed was further developed through the Winchester Prize and presented at SummerWorks Lab.
Micaela’s performance experience spans a wide range of festivals and platforms, including the Common Ground Dance Festival, DanceWorks’ Unfinish/Unfurl Festival, GroundUp Dance Festival, InSitu Multi-Arts Festival, SummerWorks Performance Festival, and the Dance Made in Canada Festival. She has collaborated with and performed in works by Movement Market Collective, Frog in Hand, Katie Adams-Gossage, Ellen Moore, Kt Ayer, Emmett Bradshaw, Maya Santos O’Keefe, and RoughHouse Dance. Recently, Micaela performed as Rosa Mundi in Pucker’s Co.’s production of Concord Floral, directed by Steven Hao and choreographed by Alli Carry.
In addition to her performance practice, she is deeply committed to teaching and knowledge sharing as an assistant facilitator for princess productions’ arts education programs, while also teaching dance and Pilates at studios across Toronto.
Irene Leung
Arts Education Assistant Facilitator (Dance)
Irene Leung is a Chinese-Canadian dancer, performer, and educator whose artistic practice bridges cultures and disciplines. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from York University and trained at the prestigious Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, cultivating a unique perspective that informs both her creative and pedagogical work. Specializing in choreography, performance, and music education, Irene is fascinated by how multidisciplinary art forms intertwine to create new modes of expression. This passion extends to her role as an apprentice facilitator with the Swallowing Clouds Program, where she nurtures the next generation of artists through innovative, embodied approaches to creation and self-expression.
Jaelyn Jones
Arts Education Assistant Facilitator (Dance)
Jaelyn Jones is a Biracial Black Canadian/American, Toronto-based emerging choreographer, performer, and teacher. Jaelyn grew up living and dancing in various cities across Canada but spent her most formative years in Surrey, BC. She graduated from York University in 2024, completing a BFA in Dance and specializing in choreography and performance. Jaelyn is passionate about interdisciplinary art, often experimenting with combining fibre arts such as knitting, crocheting, and spinning wool with dance and choreography. She is beyond excited to be working with Swallowing Clouds and the brilliant, creative kids across the city!
Meredith Kenny
Swallowing Clouds Facilitator (Theatre)
Meredith Kenny is a Toronto-based Producer, Designer, and Educator, working in the worlds of animation, dance and martial arts. A BFA graduate of York University’s Film and Theatre programs, Meredith has been joyfully working with Yvonne Ng since 2004. She is currently a Facilitator for the Swallowing Clouds physical arts program. In the world of animation, Meredith has worked on stop-motion, CG and 2D projects. Currently, she is the Producer for Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum, a 2D television series based on the children’s book series, Ordinary People Change the World. After falling hopelessly in love with capoeira in 2006, Meredith has travelled to Brazil several times to study the martial art, deeply rooted in the music and culture of Bahia. The senior student of Professora Lang in Filhos de Bimba Capoeira School Toronto, Meredith has been teaching capoeira classes since 2010.
Marie Lambin-Gagnon
Arts Education Facilitator (Dance)
Marie Lambin-Gagnon, originally from Montreal, trained at Ballet Divertimento and The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. She has participated in workshops such as the Gaga Summer Course in Tel Aviv, Morphing/Evolution with Compagnie Marie Chouinard, and Springboard Danse Montreal, where she worked with RUBBERBANDance Group, directed by Victor Quijada. In January 2013, Marie collaborated with Quebecois choreographer Robert Desrosiers, who created a new solo on her presented at the King Edward Hotel in Toronto. She has worked with Shannon Liztenberger, Robert Abubo, ReActive Dance Theatre, is part of the collective The Garage and NewFoundDance. She has presented her choreography at Nuit Créative and Series 808. A recent piece, ‘’WTF’’ has been presented for Danses Buissionières, the 2015 Rhubarb Festival and the Festival Vue sur la Relève. Her most recent work-in-progress, ‘’Here, a celebration of failure’’, was showcased at Octopus Garden Yoga Centre in December 2014.
Shahla Lafeer
Swallowing Clouds Assistant Facilitator
Sarah Nelson
Arts Education Assistant Facilitator (Dance)
Sarah Nelson has achieved a BFA from Toronto Metropolitan University School of Performance in 2020. Outside of Ryerson Sarah has worked with Juntos Collective, dance:made in canada festival as a dance steward and SQx Dance Company. Sarah strives to further explore her identity as an artist through creative processes.
Mary Patsiatzis
Arts Education Assistant Facilitator (Dance)
Mary Patsiatzis is a first-generation Canadian, dance-based artist, movement facilitator and Taurus sun residing in Toronto, ON. She has appeared in various works for IO Movement, Assembly Theatre, The Bentway Conservancy Project, Dance OntarioWeekend, The Socrates Project, Dusk Dances (HCA) and Anandam dancetheatre. Mary has been delighted to perform pieces by Lauren Runions, Peggy Baker, Krista Newey, Noémie Lafrance, Cassandra Bowerman and Half Second Echo. In spring 2021, Mary was an RBC Emerging Artist with Peggy Baker Dance Project’s online choreographic residency, Action Lab, and was a collaborative dance artist with Nico Contreras, through adelheid dance project’s re:research residency this past summer. An avid collaborator, Mary has infused movement into live collaborations with musicians (Randi Helmers/Artscape Wychwood, Zinnia/Artswells Festival), community projects (Daniel Rotzstain/Pillars Picnic) and web series episodes (Something About Kaz Productions). After studying Performance Dance at X University, Mary was the 2016 recipient of the Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur bursary for her site-specific exploration of Montreal, QC (DAC). She is looking forward to performing in Willi Dorner’s Bodies In Urban Spaces in May 2022, and is currently choreographing for YDSB as well as facilitating movement for all abilities from youth to seniors.
Frédérique Perron
Arts Education Facilitator (Dance)
Frédérique Perron is a contemporary dance artist and facilitator from Amikitik/La Sarre in Abitibi-Témiscamingue. Since graduating from The School of Toronto Dance Theatre in 2022, she has continued to develop her artistic practice through ongoing dialogue with dance communities in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Tkaronto/Toronto, and her home region.
She views dance as a catalyst for encounter, reflection, and collective transformation. As a performer, she has collaborated with artists including Katie Adams-Gossage, Philippe Dépelteau, Frog in Hand, Rozenn Lecomte, and Sofía Ontiveros, and has performed at Citadel Dance Mix, dance:made in Canada | fait au Canada, Fringe Festivals, Fall for Dance North, and SummerWorks.
Across her performance, creative, and pedagogical practices, she is interested in what activates sensation and how connecting to movement impulses can foster a sense of groundedness. Frédérique strives to create spaces where individuality is celebrated. She is particularly drawn to the power of vulnerability in dance—how it can spark connection and give rise to embodied, intimate, and resonant narratives.
Erin Robinsong
Arts Education Facilitator (Poetry)
Erin Robinson is a poet and interdisciplinary artist. Rag Cosmology, her debut collection of poetry, is forthcoming with BookThug in spring 2017. She is also the author of four chapbooks, and her work has appeared in numerous journals, including The Capilano Review, Canadian Xtasy, Dandelion, The Goose, Regreen: New Canadian Ecological Poetry; Tag: Canadian Poets at Play and onstage at the &NOW Festival of New Writing, The Conference on Ecopoetics, and many others. Recent / upcoming performance works include This ritual is not an accident and Trading Power (2017) with choreographer Andréa de Keijzer. She won the Irving Layton Award for Poetry at Concordia University, and has been nominated for a KM Hunter Award. Originally from Cortes Island, BC, Erin lives between Toronto & Montréal.
Sierra Chin Sawdy
Arts Education Facilitator (Dance)
Sierra Chin Sawdy (she/her) is an independent dance artist and arts educator based in Tkaronto. Since graduating from Toronto Metropolitan University’s BFA Dance program, she has had the opportunity to work and perform with Alysa Pires Dance Projects, BoucharDanse, Brodie Stevenson, Citadel + Compagnie, Dancetheatre David Earle, Dusk Dances, Emma Kerson, Hanna Kiel, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, Aria Evans/Political Movement, tiger princess dance projects, and Toronto Heritage Dance. She has toured throughout Canada, China, Europe, Mexico and the UAE. To further develop her abilities, Sierra has trained across Canada, the United States, Israel, and Italy, working and creating with world-renowned artists.
Brandon Miguel Valdivia
Swallowing Clouds Facilitator (Music)
Brandon Miguel Valdivia has emerged as one of the most prolific and respected musicians in Canada working as a drummer and multi-instrumentalist over the past twenty years. He has worked with artists such as Polaris Prize Winner and Grammy Award Nominated Lido Pimienta, Polaris Prize Winner Jeremy Dutcher, U.S. Girls, Picastro, Bomba Estereo, Not the Wind, Not the Flag, Laaraji, Arnold Dreyblatt, Sook-Yin Lee amongst others. Mas Aya is the name of his solo project for which he has garnished international acclaim with releases on Telephone Explosion Records Shika Shika Collective receiving warm critical reception from such sources as Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, CBC, the New York Times and more. His music merges jazz, electronic, Colombian and Cuban styles creating an eclectic, unclassifiable, rhythmic music teeming with subtle contradiction and restless intrigue.
