program & event descriptions

artist feature | This program supports an artist over the course of several months in their chosen area of research. Artists will present a series of offerings to be shared with our community in different variations over a period of time. The program reimagines what it means to be contracted for work as a dance artist, offering an expanded contract that includes multiple opportunities of engagement within a year. It also gives artists a chance to influence how, what, and when they share their work. This is a model where the artist comes before the agenda of the organization.

collective practice project | Our Collective Practice Project (CPP) invites artists with a dedicated and established practice to share methods of working and creative processes. Participants engage in group discussion without a defined end result. CPP originated with the idea of sharing individual practices in a collective, while being supported by a dedicated facilitator(s). The project has developed into urgent, thematic residencies inviting local, national, and international artists to share space.

Our first CPP occurred over a weekend in October 2018 and was facilitated by Malik Sharpe with 15 local artists. In 2019, we explored a non-facilitated process with 12 artists who worked out difficult questions of not knowing, practice sharing, and a converging of shared practices that unfolded over a week with evolving structures and leadership. Due to COVID-19, in 2020, facilitators Angela Schubot and Shelley Etkin redirected their planned CPP leadership into generously sharing live and recorded online meditations. In 2021, in partnership with Public Recordings the Love-In hosted What's Collective? with facilitation by Brendan Jensen, Germaine Liu, and Bee Pallomina, Christopher Willes and Evan Webber. Thirteen participants came together weekly over six online sessions to ask the question: how can we make performance better, together?

give back | This program gives local artists hours of studio space to develop their own personal practice through our partnership with The Railpath Arts Centre. Give Back acknowledges the importance of access to studio time and promotes experimentation while lifting the financial barrier of a rental.

heartTOheart | heartTOhearts are informal gatherings for artists to discuss work and training, promote creative activities, and build the collective capacity to advocate for Toronto's dance, performance, and visual artists.

love sessions | These sessions are week-long engagements with local or national facilitators to get participants into their moving bodies with ease and love. Love Sessions are designed to let our community hold each other in curiosity, uncertainty, and collective joy. Facilitators range from emerging practitioners to established professionals with a teaching practice.

open studio | This program facilitates a space to gather and attend to what is emergent, to be social without an agenda, and to be inspired by others around you! The studio has no agenda. Come with nothing but yourself, as you are! Share, be bold, nap, rest, wiggle and shake in the company of others.

practice lab | These labs are open to all independent artists with a movement based practice, and offer time to develop and share your wildest ideas with curiosity and care. Inquisitive artists and participants experiment without the pressure of having to produce something concrete. Practice Lab can be: a class, a workshop, a creative session, a meditation, a discussion… An offering that is movement based in concept but integrates other art forms in practice.

PS: we are all here | This performance series came through a desire to provide a unique presentation opportunity for local artists and SLI facilitators. It is a series that continues to have a major impact on artists in the dance sector by platforming works in progresses and experimental performance in a welcoming, relaxed environment.

residency program | In this program, dance artists and choreographers are invited to take risks in their independent research. They are given dedicated time and space to nurture their work without expectation around specific results. Each fully funded residency comes with studio access, 10 hours of mentorship with Co-Directors, and a relaxed public sharing.

summer love-In festival | This festival hosts Toronto-based, Ontarian, national, and international faculty for two full weeks of in-person sessions and discussions, as well as online offerings. SLI continues to embrace the spirit of experimentation in response to our local and global concerns in art making. The curatorial approach is a distinct balance in physical training and somatic practice with creative and choreographic practice.