Toronto Dance Love-In invites Indigenous artists with a dedicated and established movement practice to apply to Collective Practice Project (CPP). A curated group of 4-6 artists will gather to participate both in person and remotely. Working periods will occur from July through October, 2025, excluding dates from August 15 to September 15. Artists will engage in group discussions and embodied research without a defined end result. Individuals will share methods of creation, processes, values, and desires, expanding community connections. 

Collective Practice Project originated with the idea of sharing individual practices in a collective setting while receiving support from a dedicated facilitator(s). CPP represents the need for urgent, thematic residencies inviting local, national, and international artists to share space in a paid opportunity. This iteration of CPP will be open to Indigenous movement artists. Program guests and facilitators are both local and national. Ideally applicants are already living/located in the GTA as the CPP budget cannot support additional travel or accommodation fees.


Interested applicants would have a willingness to:

• Committing to attend 32 hours of engagement from July-October, 2025, with the exclusion of August 15 to September 15, 2025

• Collaborating to collectively choose session time slots that best work for all

• Peer-to-peer engagement and self-led experience

• Participating collectively, working solo, in duos, and as a whole group

• Committing to 20 hours of independently engaged process within our Residency Program, in studio booked by Love-In or remotely in a personal working space

• Communicating or speaking to any additional information that will support you to feel seen and held within a collaborative process

• Adhering to community guidelines, values, abolition policies, and conflict resolution terms as agreed on by the group

• Articulating access needs and desires, and engaging in conversation to imagine what ideal access would look like for yourself and your lived experience as an practicing artist

• Nurturing a process of questioning and reflecting as related to your creative process

• Potentially performing excerpts of your work/works in progress, and/or participating in a panel

• A desire for increased representation for yourself, your work, professional development, and relationship building

What can I expect from participating in Collective Practice Project?

• A self contained group of Indigenous movement artist-practitioners 

• Indigenous led program with mentorship, independent practice, and a supportive performance environment

• Autonomy and self determination within the proposed framework

• Indigenous centered program design, with space to direct one’s experience

• Working alongside/engaging with the Toronto Dance Love-In team

• Connecting with and learning from other Indigenous movement artists

• Access to shared studio space in Tkaronto and engaged land-based practice

• 20 dedicated residency hours to nurture independent work within CPP and beyond

• 1-1 mentorship hours & professional development with CPP facilitators

• Administrative support and guidance from Love-In’s team as desired who engage anti-oppression practices and disability justice frameworks

• A performance slot to share an excerpt of a work, or works-in-progress on August 9, 2025

• Scholarship to participate in Summer Love-In Festival July 28 - August 9, 2025

• Scholarship to participate in all of Love-In’s programming in 2025/26

Time Commitment & Fee Breakdown

• Engaged artists will commit to 32 hours in session with the group throughout the working period of July-October, 2025, excluding August 15 to September 15, 2025, with an intensive period (2-6 hours a day) occurring from July 28 - August 9, 2025

• Artists will also receive 20 self directed residency hours

• A rate of $35CAD per hour is paid for a total of 52 hours of participation

• All studio space is paid for by Toronto Dance Love-In

• Artists are invited to perform a 10-15 minute excerpt of a completed work or a work-in-progress, with paid rehearsal hours and a CADA (Canadian Alliance Of Dance Artists) standard performance fee

• Participate in our heartT.O.heart 90 minute panel program and be paid $150CAD for that engagement

• Receive an artist fee of up to $2625CAD depending on desired levels of engagement

Access Notes & Values Agreements
If emergent needs arise during the CPP, the Toronto Dance Love-In staff will act as dedicated listeners. In the case that any changes to access need to be made, in real time, they will be attended to within the reasonable means and resources of the organization. 

Access Notes
Love-In is committed to support the below outlined access guidelines:

• Providing meeting spaces that are equipped with ground level all genders, wheelchair accessible washrooms and studios. Exact details will be provided to participants as locations are confirmed

• Auto-Captioning and Live Transcription by Zoom will be available at all of our remote sessions

• Discuss communications needs and to commit to those needs in any given space

• Acknowledging that access needs for some people are inaccessible to others; Assuming people’s best intent

• Use accessible language, break down acronyms or explain words that may not be common knowledge

• Avoid using ableist language or working processes

• Avoid talking over each other. If we do interrupt, space will be given to course correct

• ASL interpreter best practices are being used when ASL interpreters are present

• Facilitators use inclusive language and the absence of ‘othering’ or words that can be received as such are absent for our time together

• Offering and accepting verbal and non verbal communication

• Have breaks that are honoured, frequent, and at consistent times

• Send documents for review in advance of session where and when possible

• Acknowledging that the team leads (Love-In hosts and CPP Facilitators) are imperfect and also managing their access needs and boundaries to best ensure the success of the project and the group at large

• Session space is open 30 minutes before and after sessions 

Values Agreement
Toronto Dance Love-In strives to create equitable, inclusive environments in all of our programming. We celebrate the diverse intersections represented in our communities, artists and participants.  

We work to integrate anti-oppressive, liberatory practices into all levels of engagement. Love-In urges staff, facilitators, artists, and participants to unpack and consider their complicity in supremacy, coloniality, xenophobia, ableism, patriarchy, racism, cis-sexism, power, and capitalistic structures. 

Love-In is committed to our continual education, and to having a real impact on social justice and radical change. Our organization can be counted on to continuously elevate, engage, be accountable to, and take the lead from the voices of Black, Indigenous, People of Colour, Melanated, Trans, Deaf, and Disabled community members we collaborate with. By participating in this offering, you acknowledge this sentiment and agree to uphold these values and the environment created at Love-In. Discriminatory acts, language, gestures, behaviour, racism, transphobia, homophobia,  microaggressions, xenophobia, antisemitism, Islamophobia, ableism, audism, sexism, misogyny, and harassment of any form will not be tolerated.

Who can apply?
Toronto Dance Love-In is prioritizing applications from local emerging, mid-career and established Indigenous artists with a movement-based and/or dance practice.

Toronto Dance Love-In is calling for practitioners who self identify as Indigenous. Given Indigenous is historically used as an umbrella term for First Nations (status and non-status), Métis, and Inuit, our call for Indigenous movement artists refers to all these groups. While we will accept applications from Indigenous folks living in Kanata (Canada) who are not of these groups (for example folks who identify as Maori, Indigenous from US, etc.), priority will be given to folks who identify as First Nations (status and non-status), Métis, Inuit, and movement practitioners from Nations across so called Canada.

Location
Remote and in-person gatherings based on the cohorts availability.

Schedule
Flexible virtual and in-person team meetings determined by selected cohort artists on a weekly basis in July, September and October with the exclusion of August 15 to September 15, 2025.

Project Timeline
Call opens May 16, 2025
Call closes June 20, 2025 at 11:59pm ET
All applicants notified by week of July 1, 2025
First day of project July 14, 2025 (onboarding/administrative tasks)
12 Cohort Meetings over July, August, September and October
1 Closing Meeting towards end of October
Project commences October 31, 2025

Application and Selection Process
All applications will be reviewed by Love-In’s Artistic Directors/Lovers, a Board Member, and Indigenous program facilitator.

How to learn more about the project
Toronto Dance Love-In Co-Artistic Directors Lauren Runions & Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis, are available for 1-1 information sessions via zoom or phone in 15-30 minute time slots, at your request. You can contact them at info@tolovein.com.

Application Prompts

• Please provide a video response (max 5 minutes) in it share:
  Your name, and pronouns if desired

• Tell us about your movement practice 

• What are your current interests?

• What topics are interesting/emergent for you, right now?

In the form you will be asked to provide:
Name
Email
Bio
Headshot/Image
2 page CV
Availability
Link to video response

To apply, please fill out this FORM

Once completed, send a follow-up email with your CV, headshot and video response (if needed) to info@tolovein.com with the subject “CPP Application - FULL NAME”

Applications are now due June 20, 2025 at 11:59pm ET

If any part of our call raises questions or concerns for you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We are committed to providing support and fulfilling access requests as needed. We have provided a google form for uploading applications, and are happy to accept applications in a variety of formats, including written and or audio applications no longer than 15 minutes in length. If you require an alternative method for your submission, please contact our team at info@tolovein.com.