Dance Arts Institute

SUMMER INTENSIVE WEEK TWO ☀️ LET’S GO

We are so excited to be back in the studio tomorrow with another fantastic line-up of artists! Contemporary with Bonnie Kim (& live music by Blake Howard), Floorwork with Emily Spearing and creative process with Jane-Alison McKinney it is sure to be a magical and inspiring week! 💫

And don’t forget - OPEN CLASS drop-in options are available for the morning classes Monday-Wednesday. Registration can be found through the link in our bio. 🕺🏻

Fun fact! All three of these incredible dancer artists are graduates of the program! 🤩 To learn more about them and their classes visit danceartsinstitute.ca/summerintensive or follow the link in our bio

We can’t wait to meet all the new dancers this week and we hope to see you there! LET’S DANCE! ❤️‍🔥

📍80 Wi******er Street, Toronto, ON

Dance Arts is thrilled to congratulate 2009 graduate Pulga Muchochoma, recipient of the 2026 Jacqueline Lemieux Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. This award recognizes established dance professionals who have made outstanding contributions to dance in Canada, and we couldn’t think of anyone more deserving than Pulga. 👏🏾

Dance Arts is so lucky to have Pulga at the school this week leading the Summer Intensive dancers in Creative Process, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome him back this coming year to create a brand-new work for the school. ✨

Please join us in celebrating Pulga! YEBO! 🎊

Swipe to see Pulga in his graduation photoshoot at the school 17 years ago! 🤭

To learn more about Pulga and his work visit www.pulgadance.com

(1) photo by Christopher Cushman
(3) photo by Cylla Von Tiedemann

Summer Intensive starts TOMORROW and we are so excited! ☀️💫🤩

Week One kicks off with a stellar line-up: morning classes with Katherine Semchuk & Darryl Tracy, both classes accompanied by Blake Howard, and an afternoon creative process with Pulga Muchochoma.

Reminder that our Open Classes drop-ins (Monday-Wednesday) $20 are still open for registration 👀🤗
Discounted rates for alumni ($15) & current Dance Arts students ($10) are available. 🥳

To learn more about our faculty, their classes and to register, head to danceartsinstitute.ca/summer-intensive/ or through to the link in our bio. 🪩

📍80 Wi******er Street

Week One: July 6-10
✨ Floorwork with
✨ Contemporary with
✨ Creative Process with

It is with immense gratitude for her extraordinary contributions to the school that we announce that after two transformative years as Artistic Lead at Dance Arts, Heidi Strauss is returning her full focus back to her role as Artistic Director of the multiple Dora Award–winning company ✨

Heidi’s vision, artistry, leadership and unwavering care for the students, the school and the dance community at large will leave a lasting impact on us at the school, and we are deeply thankful for all she has brought to Dance Arts. Please join us in celebrating her and wishing her continued success as she moves toward this next chapter. 💖

Check the latest blog posts on our website for a message from our Board of Directors and a link to the job posting. 💌

Photos by Jeremy Mimnagh

✨ OPEN CLASS at our SUMMER INTENSIVE ✨

We are excited to announce that morning technique classes with our esteemed faculty are open for $20 drop-ins Monday - Wednesday and registration is now LIVE. 💫

Join us at 80 Wi******er Street on July 6-8 for Floorwork with Katherine Semchuk (9:00-10:30) and Contemporary with Darryl Tracy (10:45-12:15) and July 13-15 for Contemporary with Bonnie Kim (9:00-10:30) and Floorwork with Emily Spearing (10:45-12:15). Classes with accompaniment by the incomparable Blake Howard (). To learn more about these incredible artists and to register head to danceartsinstitute.ca/summer-intensive or visit the link in our bio! 🌀

Psst 🤫... Discounted rates for Dance Arts Alumni ($15) and current Dance Arts students ($10). 🕺🏻

Come dance, sweat and have a good time! 🔥

📍Dance Arts - 80 Wi******er Street Toronto, ON

Week 1
🔹Floorwork with Katherine Semchuk
🔹Contemporary with Darryl Tracy

Week 2
🔸Contemporary with Bonnie Kim
🔸Floorwork with Emily Spearing

We are thrilled to highlight Dance Arts student Liz South .south (class of 2027) and their invited participation in SABO (Summer Arts Blast Off)! ✨

Co-directed by Marie-Josée Chartier and Darryl Tracy, this boutique-style summer intensive brought together six dancers from across Canada, including three from The School of Contemporary Dancers (Winnipeg), one from The School of Dance (Ottawa), one from TMU (Toronto), and Liz representing Dance Arts.
From June 1–13, participants trained and created in a company-like setting, taking classes across Toronto and engaging in creative processes with Darryl Tracy (), Yvonne Ng (), Maxine Heppner (), Kinaj (.co) and Dance Arts faculty and alumni Katie Adams-Gossage () and Kéïta Fournier-Pelletier ().

We are proud of Liz for this exciting opportunity and grateful to SABO for fostering such a rich environment for artistic growth, collaboration & creative exploration. 💫

“It has been so wonderful to begin my summer dancing and creating with the Summer Arts Blast Off program. As this process comes to a close, I am feeling fulfilled, challenged and enriched with many creative points of view. I am so grateful for this experience and I am looking forward to keeping in touch with all of my new friends and collaborators.” - Liz South

(1) class with Darryl Tracy (photo by Heidi Strauss)
(2) SABO ’26 cohort after their final showing (photo provided by Liz South)
(3) class with Darryl Tracy (photo by Heidi Strauss)
(4) SABO trip to the AGO (photo provided by Liz South)

Dance Arts is thrilled to celebrate the outstanding faculty and alumni who have been nominated for 2026 Dora Mavor Moore Awards. 👏🏼 We are so inspired by their creativity, excellence and artistry on the stage and in the studio. Congratulations to all the nominees! 💫

DANCE
🪨 gutted (Intimate Pairings: Program 2): Katie Adams-Gossage - Outstanding Original Choreography and Frédérique Perron - Outstanding Performance by an Individual
💛 Aakarsh (dance: made in /fait au canada Festival, Morrison Series): Tanveer Alam - Outstanding Performance by an Individual & Outstanding Original Sound Composition
🎤 Microphone Controller: Lukas Malkowski - Outstanding Performance by an Individual
🐦 Be The Bird (dance: made in / fait au canada Festival, Wolfe Series): Drew Berry, Sam Grist, Natasha P**n Woo - Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble & Outstanding Production
❤️‍🔥ZAYO (dance Immersion & Esie Mensah Creations, in association with TO Live): Eilish Shin-Culhane - Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble & Outstanding Production // Simon Rossiter (Lighting) - Outstanding Achievement in Design
INDEPENDENT THEATRE
👩🏼‍🐰‍👩🏽 Dance Nation (Coal Mine Theatre and Outside the March in association with Rock Bottom Movement): Sam Grist (Associate Movement Director), Rajvi Dedhia (Co-Movement Direction for ‘World on Fire’) - Outstanding Production
and
🔸 Michael Caldwell - 2026 George Luscombe Mentorship Award Recipient

✨ and an extra special shout-out to our friends at for their nominations for The Room Upstairs (Presented by DanceWorks and Toronto Dance Theatre + co-produced by DanceWorks and Holla Jazz in collaboration with Toronto Dance Theatre) and Make Banana Cry (Toronto Dance Theatre in partnership with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre) ✨