Supporting Artists

 

Photo by Omer Yukseker of Naishi Wang’s Hiatus

 Provision of Space

TO Live supports artists at critical stages of their creative development through research grants like the explorations program, commissioning new work, residencies, and producing and presenting multi-disciplinary performances. TO Live has underwritten rent subsidies through the Provision of Space program, including crew and staff costs, making it possible for artists and arts workers to get back to work. This program offered support to Obsidian Theatre, Susanna Fournier + ted witzel, Yolanda Bonnell, Irma Villafuerte, Naishi Wang, David Norsworthy, Nova Dance and DopoLavoro Teatrale (DLT), Canadian Stage and Luminato.

“Having this creative space in this early phase of creation made a huge difference to Hiatus’ creative trajectory and to my whole team. This time allowed us to develop the work without pressure and delve into our research.”

-Naishi Wang, TO Live resident

Photo by Omer Yukseker

 

  • “I began my five-week residency with curiosity and wonder about my new creation, Hiatus and its themes. My creation residency dates were from October 12 - November 12, 2021 in the Meridian Centre supported by TO Live and Canada Council for the Arts. “Hiatus” is inspired by the usage of AI controlled surveillance cameras and how this footage shapes our existence and our lived and digital realities. In “Hiatus” I am stretching my abilities by collaborating with three dance artists: Clarke Blair, Sonja Boretski and Ann Trepanier, Sound Designer Omar David Rivero and 14 music stands to be replaced by 14 security cameras which in the final work will be seen on a wall of video monitors on stage. 

    This residency has been a creative journey, allowing us to use our eyes to see the movements and how we input our realities into our bodies. Working from a choreographic somatic point of view entails journeying through language and layers of conception. Through this somatic approach to dance creation we can think, make and articulate states of mind and chains of events. Working together we live through the process, capture experiences and gain insights. In this residency we were able to find a way to enter the work, make demands on ourselves and go deeper into our creative ideas and bodies. 

    The invitation to witness MULTITUDES by Feist at the main stage of Meridian Centre was an inspirational experience. The intimacy of having 200 witnesses on stage with her was something that deeply impacted my own ideas around my work. This was a great opportunity and I am grateful to TO Live for sharing this night, beyond the support of the time and space as part of our creative residency. 

    I am appreciative and grateful for this opportunity and want to thank TO Live’s team: Josephine Ridge, Caitlyn Clarke, Ariana Shaw and Omer (security) for their unwavering support and thoughtfulness. Having this creative space in this early phase of creation made a huge difference to Hiatus’ creative trajectory and to my whole team. This time allowed us to develop the work without pressure and delve into our research. 

    Through this support I know this project has been given a fantastic creative start and it will make a difference in the final work. “

    - Naishi Wang and Hiatus team. 

Living Rooms Series

The COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on performing artists, most of whom were left without their usual streams of income when the cities across the world went into lockdown. When TO Live’s three iconic venues had to shutter their doors in March 2020, the Living Rooms series was born. TO Live commissioned 100 artists to perform virtually from their homes for audiences who were also staying at home to stop the spread of the virus. The series received over 33,000 views globally and helped spread inspiration and creativity during a tumultuous time.

The explorations Program

TO Live’s explorations provides vital support for Toronto-based artists who want to push the boundaries of their practice. Every year, we invite applicants from across all artistic disciplines in four broad categories: choreography, theatre, music, and digital. In 2022, 7 artists were selected by jury to each receive $7,000 to research and develop their idea. 

explorations reflects TO Live’s commitment to Toronto’s individual artists, members of artist collectives, and project-based organizations. Initiatives such as this provide the support needed to continue to pursue their artistic aspirations. 

Past explorations awardees include:

  • Andrew Moodie

    Andrew Moodie has had his plays performed across the country. Selected playwrighting credits: Riot, (Factory Theatre, GCTC, 1995, winner of the 1996 Chalmers Award for Best New Play); The Real McCoy (Factory Theatre, GCTC 2007, 2008, Kevin Kline Award Nomination); Toronto the Good, (Factory Theatre 2009, Dora Award nomination).

  • Sarah Barrable-Tishauer

    Me Time is an artivist who brings communities together with immersive dancefloor experiences that hold intentional safer space for joyful expression, connection and play.

    Her TO Live exploration is at the intersection of theatre, technology, and raving, developing a space where we can recognize our agency and embody new abolitionist worlds.

  • Gabe Maharjan

    Gabe Maharjan (they/them) is a performance creator based between Tio’tià:ke/Montreal and Tkarón:to/Toronto. They have worked across the country as a performer, playwright, director, dramaturge, and producer. Their play, Eva in Rio, was shortlisted for the 2020 PGC Emerging Playwright Award.

  • Merlin Simard

    Merlin (she/they/iel/elle) is a performer, playwright, dramaturge, and keen on exploring themes of access, gender euphoria, VR, and multilingual performance. She currently holds the position of Dramaturgy Intern at Theatre Passe Muraille, where she is developing their play FEAR OF MEN.

  • Aki Takashashi

    Aki Takahashi is a Japanese shamisen player and folk singer. Since moving to Toronto in 2000, she has performed at numerous venues and events throughout Canada and the US and has presented lectures and demonstrations at several universities. She is the founder and director of the folk ensemble ten ten.

  • Desiree McKenzie

    Desiree Mckenzie is an award-winning poet and photographer from Toronto. Her poetry has been featured on CBC’s Poetic License, VIBE Arts NExT Exhibit, and Clearco Financials’ International Women’s Day Campaign.

    In 2020, she was awarded the JAYU iAM Arts for Human Rights Award recognizing exceptional work where the arts and human rights intersect.

  • Teiya Kasahara 笠原 貞野

    Nikkei-Canadian settler Teiya Kasahara (they/them) is a queer, trans non-binary, interdisciplinary creator-performer. Teiya comes from a background of singing both traditional and contemporary operatic roles and is a co-founder of Amplified Opera.

    Based in Tkarón:to, Teiya explores the intersections of identity through opera, theatre, and electronics.

  • Kieran Heralall

    K.H. Kanna underwent extensive training in Bharatanatyam as well as Kathakali and Carnatic vocal. He and his work have been featured in films, music videos, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Under the able guidance of his gurus, Kanna strives to deepen his understanding of this rich art form and spread awareness among the diaspora.

  • Sashar Zarif

    Sashar Zarif is an internationally renowned performing artist, educator, and researcher.

    For the last three decades Zarif has toured across forty countries, promoting cultural dialogue through his award-winning, multi-disciplinary creative-projects steeped in traditional, ritualistic, and contemporary dance and music of the Islamic societies from Central Asia to North Africa.

  • Roshanak Jaberi

    Roshanak is a Dora-nominated performer and choreographer and the Artistic Director of Jaberi Dance Theatre, a Toronto-based company that creates contemporary and interdisciplinary political art.

    She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University, is an ISPA-International Society of Performing Arts Global Fellow, and is a recipient of the Chalmers Arts Fellowship.

  • Oliva Shortt

    (Anishinaabe, Nipissing First Nation) Olivia Shortt is a Tkarón:to-based transdisciplinary performing artist, administrator, and producer. Highlights include their Lincoln Center (NYC) debut in 2018, their film debut in Atom Egoyan’s 2019 film Guest of Honour, and recording an album two kilometres underground in the SnoLAB.

    Shortt was a finalist for the 2021 Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, was one of the 2020 Buddies in Bad Times Emerging Queer Artists, and is featured in Musicworks Magazine.

  • Niya Abdullahi

    Niya Abdullahi is a Multi-Disciplinary Artist, Anti-Racism & Anti-Islamophobia Educator, Tech-Enthusiast and founder of @Habasooda, a platform dedicated to sharing the richness of the Muslim experience through a variety of storytelling avenues. Themes of identity, liberation, and resistance inform her work.

  • Sahar Tehrani

    Sahar Te is a Toronto-based artist and writer whose practice exists at the intersection of text, installation, and performance. Her multidisciplinary interest in media, politics, theatre, literature, and acoustics inform her research-based projects.

    Te obtained her Bachelor’s of Fine Arts from Alberta University of Arts, and her Master’s of Fine Arts from the University of Toronto. Her work and writing have been exhibited and published both nationally and internationally.