STAFF TEAM
David Norsworthy-SHIBATANI
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David Norsworthy-Shibatani (he/him) is a Tkarón:to/Toronto-based dance artist, choreographer, and artistic director of mixed Japanese immigrant/British settler descent who delights in asking questions. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he is fascinated by the transformative power of dancing. David has performed with dance companies and collaborated with dance creators in Canada, USA, Sweden and Australia. His choreographic work centres collaboration, and often explores themes of connection, co-creation, and community through interactive experiences and score-based improvisations. As a Co-Founder/Co- Director of TOES FOR DANCE, David has initiated educational programs with national reach across Canada, and has spearheaded hyper-local audience and artist development projects.
Photo by Colton Curtis
CHANTELLE GOOD
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Chantelle Good, originally from Toronto, Canada, is a performer, choreographer, and teaching artist, now based in Brooklyn, New York. She studied at Marymount Manhattan College, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in choreography. To further her training, Chantelle also attended Springboard Danse Montreal where she performed repertoire by La Tresse Collective, Shumpei Nemoto, Stijn Celis, and Ohad Naharin.
Commercial dance credits include: H.E.R., Jennifer Lopez, Snoop Dogg, Gary Clark Jr., David Byrne, Rothy’s “That’s More Like It” Campaign, Volvo, and CNCPTS/PUMA. Concert and theatre credits include: Punchdrunk’s Sleep No More, Freddie Falls in Love (Joyce Theater), Still Motion Dance Company, Kate Harpootlian & Artists, Loni Landon Dance Project, and The Forest of Arden. Currently, Chantelle can be seen performing on Broadway in MJ The Musical.
In addition to her work with TOES FOR DANCE, Chantelle is the Programs Director of Share The Movement, a nonprofit committed to creating more diversity in the professional dance community by providing access and opportunities to young BIPOC dancers. She also enjoys sharing her knowledge and passion for dance as a teaching artist and guest choreographer for institutions and programs across North America.Photo by Jon Taylor
KRISTEN CARCONE
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Kristen Carcone is a Toronto-born, internationally acclaimed dancer, choreographer, teacher, and reiki healer. She is a company member of Third Rail Projects (New York, NY), currently performing in their Bessie award winning production Then She Fell . Kristen is a guest artist with cross-disciplinary performance company, FROG IN HAND, and has also performed the original works of Jason Parsons, Nicole Von Arx, Kate Wallich, Gabriel Forestieri, and the Kuperman Brothers. She has performed internationally in a variety of shows and festivals including: The Phish Concert at Madison Square Garden (New York, NY), Tangente’s Danses Buissonnieres (Montreal, Quebec), The New Prague Dance Festival (Prague, Czech Republic) and Art Gallery of Ontario’s MASSIVE PARTY (Toronto, Ontario). In 2016, Kristen was named one of the 25 Most Influential Young Choreographers to watch by Narcity Toronto. Her choreography can be seen in Joseph Gordon Levitt’s My Favourite Things video, Cardinal’s Pride music video Masterpiece, and in Supa’Nova, a new play by Maria Corina Ramirez. Kristen’s work has been described as “energetic, highly entertaining and refreshingly playful” - Sarah Lochhead/The Dance Current. As a creator of experiential theatre, Kristen has great interest in mindful performance and healing through the arts. She graduated from the dance division of New World School of the Arts in 2011 earning her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree with Highest Honors. www.kristencarcone.com
Photo by Alvin Collantes.
TANVEER ALAM
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Toronto-based Tanveer Alam started his Kathak training with Sudeshna Maulik and continued further nuanced studies with guru Sandhya Desai. Alam is a 2019 graduate of western contemporary dance from Dance Arts Institute of Canada (DAI). Tanveer has received further kathak training from Pandita Shama Bhate and Sanjukta Sinha. He is currently pursuing mentorships with Harikishan S. Nair and Dheerendra Tiwari.
Alam has performed in the works of Rina Singha, Lata Pada, Padmini Chettur, Harikishan S. Nair, Sashar Zarif, Lucy Rupert, and Peter Chin, to name a few. As an emerging choreographer, he has presented work at SummerWorks Festival, Battery Dance Festival +, Luminato Festival, and Tangente. As an emerging curator, he has supported programming initiatives with Dancemakers, TOES FOR DANCE, and Flemingdon Park Toronto Public Library. He was the co-curator for the Kathak & Ballet program at Fall For Dance North 2025, a leading international dance festival based in Canada.
Across the 25/26 season, Alam has performed at The New York Kathak Festival (New York), Fall For Dance North (Toronto), the Aga Khan Museum (Toronto), and Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (Mumbai) to name a few. Recently, he toured Singapore and India as part of Sampradaya Dance Creations’ new work Kintsugi, performed a solo at the prestigious 28th Vasantotsava Kathak Festival presented by Kalashram in New Delhi, India, and was featured as a dancer in the Toronto presentation of Abi Sampa and Rushil Ranjan’s Orchestral Qawwali Project. Tanveer was recently awarded the prestigious Eldred Family Protégé award by the Ontario Arts Foundation.Photo by Ritesh Sharma - The Kahaniwala
KEIRA MARIE FORDE
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Keira is an award-winning artist whose work sits at the intersection of dance, theatre, and community-engaged practice, rooted in care, cultural celebration, and an appreciation for public space. Selected performance credits include their solo show No More News for Nancy (Rendezvous With Madness), Ramla and the Desert (Greenhouse/Tarragon Theatre), The Sankofa Trilogy (Watah Theatre/The Theatre Centre), and Suitable Climate (b current/SummerWorks).
In 2025, Keira participated in a residency in Denmark, titled Esquecer, at HAUT, in partnership with KRA/RAS. In 2024, they produced, choreographed, and sound-designed Generation Gentrified for the 23rd annual Paprika Festival, inspired by Toronto’s changing communities, and served as Associate Festival Producer for the 25th annual Paprika Festival.
Keira is proud of their Trinbagonian heritage and is grateful to dance leaders such as Miss Coco and Timia Winton-Suri for providing professional spaces to connect with Black culture through dance.Photo by Peter Nguyen.
BRI CLARKE
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Bri Clarke is a performer, choreographer, teacher, dramaturg, and producer, based in Tkarón:to. In 2024, she was the recipient of the Miriams Adams Exploration Bursary awarded by Dance Collection Danse. As well as obtaining her BFA from Toronto Metropolitan University, Bri has furthered her artistic training in Germany, Greece, the US, and across Canada. She continues to be a freelance artist for multiple dance and theatre collectives. Credits include: Frog in Hand, Transcen|Dance Project, Hamilton Conservatory for the Arts Society, Dance Arts Institute, The Performing Arts Project, The Second City Conservatory, and the Toronto Fringe Festival. Currently, Bri is on teaching faculty at The Fifth Dance, and she hosts improvisational jam sessions for the public. Bri is thrilled to be marking her 4th year on staff with TFD!
www.briclarke.ca
@brianna_clarkeePhoto by Alie Rutty.
SHANNON WIDDIS
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Shannon Widdis (she/her) is a Queer multidisciplinary artist with a strong focus on creative advertising and digital media. With nearly two decades of experience in dance and the performing arts, Shannon brings a unique, arts-informed perspective to her work in marketing and communications. She holds a diploma in Advertising and Marketing Communications from Humber College in Toronto and previously studied Art, Performance, and Cinema Studies at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Her background in performing arts, art history, and film has helped shape a well-rounded and thoughtful approach to storytelling and strategy in the arts and culture sector.
In addition to her work in advertising, Shannon is an experienced photographer and videographer, producing content that ranges from promotional campaigns to documentary-style storytelling. She has worked as both a freelance digital marketing specialist and Marketing Coordinator for professional theatres and non-profit organizations across the GTA.
You can view Shannon’s portfolio at shannonwiddis.weebly.com or follow her creative work on Instagram at @shannonwiddis_.
Photo credit: Ceilidh Creative.
CASS CABRAL PUCCI
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Cass Cabral Pucci is an arts administrator, printmaker and movement artist dedicated to exploring the ways in which art brings communities together.
From project-to-project, Cass is interested in redefining what process and practice means to them. A fan of surrealist horror and sci-fi media, Cass personally enjoys art which provokes savoury feelings of discomfort and fear while seeking catharsis in shared experience.
Since graduating from Centennial College’s Arts Management program, Cass has worked as a festival coordinator for DanceWorks’ Unfinish / Unfurl dance festival, arts administrator with queer-led EILERS Dance Theatre & Sara Porter Productions, and community arts coordinator with Fall for Dance North’s 2025 season. Cass is incredibly excited to join the TOES FOR DANCE team this season as communications and access coordinator where they hope to dig deeper into the relationship between dance and access.
Board of Directors
Dianne B. Oliveira
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Dianne B. Oliveira is a storyteller. A curious observer of human behaviour, her career first began as an actor and singer in live theater and film, after graduating from Sheridan's Music Theatre Performance Program. Today she works in advertising with a wide range of project management experiences for various clients. In addition to over 10 years of experience as a freelance indie artist, Dianne is also a former personal trainer with a CPT certification from the National Academy of Sports Medicine. She credits her experience in fitness and the performing arts for her tenacity, organization and resilient work ethic. She regularly engages with young professionals in creative industries as a peer mentor and is always excited for an opportunity to share her takeaways from paving an unconventional path.
Photo by Scott Savoy.
Ellis Martin-Wylie
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Ellis is a policy and program advisor with a demonstrated history of working in the arts, health, and financial services sectors. Currently, she leads accountability relationships between the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture, and Sport and its public body agencies. Previously, she's worked on regulatory policy at the Ministry of Finance and program development at the Ministry of Health. She was inspired to work in program and policy development during her time studying at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance. Her research focused on Dance for Health amongst women aged 65+ and she witnessed the impact when creativity and the arts are pillars of health services and social care .
She's a graduate of East London Dance's The Fi.ELD, a practice-based, educational program to develop the future innovators of dance. Her research has been shared at the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science 2019 Annual Conference in Montreal, Canada and Age Against the Machine: Festival of Creative Ageing in London, UK. She has produced workshops, festivals, and networking events with TOES FOR DANCE and Canadian Dance Assembly.
Photo by Kendra Epik.
ANNE FULLERTON
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After graduating with honours from Rutgers University in the U.S., Anne worked as a teacher and then in the IT industry before shifting to the world of tax. She went on to study accounting and finance at Toronto Metropolitan University, and has also completed the CPA Canada In-Depth Tax Program.
Anne works primarily in the area of cross-border tax, with a special focus on the arts and entertainment industry.
Photo by Samantha Burtt.
Dr. Blessyl Buan
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Blessyl Buan, a contemporary dancer, choreographer, and visual artist, crafts colourful interdisciplinary works echoing rhythm, movement, and land-based spirituality. With a Kinesiology degree (2001) and a Chiropractic doctorate (2005), her academic background provides a deep understanding of the human body. This foundation, combined with over two decades of professional dance experience, enhances her artistry with a heightened kinesthetic intelligence.
Transitioning from clinical practice in 2021, prompted by health considerations, was a natural evolution toward a new expressive form. Her process delves into Philippine Indigenous traditions, exploring joy, interconnectedness and cultural identity. Her short film "Rara: Reweaving Diasporic Stories" (2022) was featured in Danceworks Summer Reel 2023. A recipient of Ontario Arts Council grant, Blessyl is developing a solo dance project for 2024. Additionally, she will lead "Weaving Futures" at the Toronto Arts Council's Artist in the Library Program, introducing pre-colonial Philippine script “Baybayin”, weaving, and dance. She will also host her first solo exhibition, "Kapwa Kaleidoscope" at The Clark Centre for the Arts, where she is an artist-in-residence.
Blessyl contributes to the arts community as a Board member of Toes for Dance and as faculty at Dance Arts Institute. Balancing mothering of her four children, Blessyl’s body of work inspires.
Photo by Whitney Erin Photography.
Miquelon Rodriguez
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Miquelon Rodriguez is a sound designer, composer, radio play mixer & editor, digital content creator, actor, and an emerging director and arts leader based in T'karonto. He was the Apprentice Artistic Director at Factory Theatre from 2017-2019, under the mentorship of Nina Lee Aquino, and co-curated Pan-Asian works over two seasons at Soulpepper through the Tiger Bamboo Festival and the Shen Development Series, under the mentorship of Ins Choi. He is a graduate of the Artistic Leadership Residency at the National Theatre School of Canada and has worked with a multitude of artists and companies across Turtle Island.
CARMELINA MARTIN
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Carmelina Martin is a multi-decade educator. Provincial contributions to dance include policy guidance, curriculum development and review, and design and teaching of in-service teacher education courses. She has spoken nationally and internationally on dance and the arts at UNESCO, the National Roundtable for Teacher Education in the Arts, and daCi 2011 in Taiwan. Carmelina is founder and director of Pulse Ontario Dance Conference, and recipient of the Ontario Premier Teacher of the Year Award. She holds a Master’s in Education and currently works as a Senior Program Officer with the Ontario College of Teachers, the provincial regulatory body for the teaching profession. On her free time, Carmelina continues to explore a variety of movement modalities and embodied movement practices including her current favorite, Fighting Monkey.
SINDHU NAIR
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Sindhu Nair,is a strategy and operations professional with 13+ years of cross-functional experience across project delivery, strategic execution, stakeholder engagement, and organizational enablement. At Bain & Company, she drives high-impact internal initiatives focused on enhancing operational efficiency and talent development. Sindhu is recognized for her structured, human-centered approach to problem-solving - blending program management rigor with executive coaching, change management, and data-informed decision-making to drive sustainable outcomes in matrixed and fast-paced environments.
Outside of work, Sindhu is a trained Kathak dancer under Pt. Jai Kishan Maharaj and Smt. Ruby Mishra. She collaborates and performs with artists across Canada, and made her solo debut Umeed at the Momentum Festival - an evocative exploration of mental health through classical dance. Sindhu is also the founder of PratiBhaav, a Kathak school in Durham Region that encourages people of all ages to embrace Kathak as a form of self-expression, reflection, and joyful “me time” in a welcoming, supportive space. Bridging corporate leadership with artistic practice, she brings a unique lens to strategy rooted in discipline, creativity, and community-building.Photo by Alok Kumar
