Salé Almirante     Choreographer/Dancer

Salé Almirante Alberto was born in Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, where he lived with his family for 12 years. He then moved to Queliman where he started to sing and dance with Montes Namuli Company. With that company he taught and performed in many workshops while traveling throughout Africa. He participated in the cultural aspect of the African Union Conference in 2002, and danced with the National Company of Mozambique.

In 2005 the Canadian company Shakespeare Link Canada came to Mozambique for a one-month workshop and the following year he was able to travel with the company to Canada for six weeks. He participated in the World HIV Conference, workshops at Humber College, and traveled throughout Ontario performing. He was able to once again travel to Ontario in 2009 to study at the dance and performing arts school Ballet Creole for a two-year program.

Hannah Dees     Dancer

Hannah Dees is a queer writer and sometimes dancer. She likes to explore dream worlds, alternate realities, and homes beyond earth when creating. She also spends her time working as a nanny, learning every day from the little ones in her life. She hopes to facilitate the growth of compassionate, self-reflective, and confident young people free from restrictive gender norms and outdated conceptions of learning.

Corrie Sakaluk     Dancer

Corrie Sakaluk is a performing artist & emerging choreographer based in Toronto with a background in gymnastics, theatre, jazz, contemporary dance, and activism. She is compelled to explore highly physical and dramatic movement phrases to communicate emotions and ideas on social, political and historical themes. Corrie is endlessly fascinated by the interplay between stark human juxtapositions. She strives to elucidate the nuances of human experience and choice along the spectrum of these polarities with passion, humour, empathy and authenticity. 

Corrie's ensemble choreography Untitled (Georgia Lee) was presented at Harbourfront Centre Enwave Theatre as part of The Chimera Project's Fresh Blood Festival 2014. Her duets Crack My Eyes and Pajaro have been performed at the Trigger Festival (Toronto, 2011) and the James Street North Supercrawl (Hamilton, 2011). She has also been a member of the dance-theatre collective MataDanZe since 2009, contributing choreographically to many ensemble pieces and performing throughout the GTA, Venezuela and El Salvador. Corrie holds an undergraduate degree in theatre from York University and a certificate in dance performance from George Brown College.

Chaliz La Madrid     Dancer

Chaliz La Madrid has had a love of music ever since her father began teaching her to sing at the age of five. Studying vocals at the New Conservatory of Music and Own Your Voice Vocal Studio led her to explore other forms of art such as acting and dancing. In 2012, Chaliz played the lead role as Kim in Curtain Call Players' presentation of Miss Saigon and the following year she performed in the ensemble inJoseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dream Coat, also by Curtain Call Players. Chaliz also sang in multiple bands ranging from jazz to rock. Working as a successful Early Childhood Educator, Chaliz loves to spend her free time volunteering in Toronto's various community musical theatres.

Benjamin Aaron Jaarsma     Dancer

Benjamin Aaron Jaarsma began 4 years ago in a somewhat unusual way. It was at an electronic music festival in 2010 where he discovered that dance was his key to ultimate happiness - since then he has done everything he can to dance. He has forgone many comforts and has frequently lived off of savings to be able to dedicate his attention solely to dance training for months at a time  - up to 12 hours a day. Benjamin highly values Diversity in his dance experience. He has studied many styles such as Contemporary, Ballet, African, Latin, Bollywood, Hip Hop, Swing, Samba, Dancehall, Hula Hoop, and Even Pole. He is a working dance fitness instructor frequently leading ZUMBA classes, which are based on latin rhythms. 

Benjamin has recently become certified in theGROOVE method; classes that are designed to bring out the inner dancer in everyone and encourage creative expression. He has created the #RAVEBODY series of dance fitness classes which celebrate the electronic music and dance styles that originally attracted him. He is a frequent performer in Toronto in the cabaret and burlesque circuits, bringing unique skills such as hoop and pole. Benjamin is also a Dedicated Yogi, making time to practice daily, and intends to recieve his Yoga Teacher Certification this year.

Rio Runakanta     Drummer

río rodriguez is a toronto-based latin@ queer educator who believes in the power of art and culture to empower our queer, trans and POC communities. río is a border-crosser, hails from the dominican republic and has been doing radical community-based education on everything from the prison-industrial complex, free post-secondary education to queer empowerment for over 10 years. Rio has recently developed engaging curriculum for OUTWords, an award-winning 6 month long arts and leadership program for LGBTQ2SIA spectrum young people. This curriculum empowers young queer people with the tools to go far beyond simple "tolerance", and begin to understand the cultural and historical roots of homophobia and transphobia, practice self-care and self-love, and create meaningful art and expression for social change. Today, Rio is a UofT Student, is hosting radical queer history tours of toronto's church-wellesley village, and is also busy exploring the possibilities and limitations of queer liberation through community based urban education.

Amai Kuda & Y     Drummer

Amai Kuda and Y Josephine are singer/songwriters, percussionists, community activists and educators who live in a caravan and farm part-time. They believe in the power of music to heal and change the world, and towards this end they have created their own brand of music called AfroSoul. Each having established themselves as musicians separately, they came together for a tour in the spring of 2013 and have since developed their sound while performing on the street and at local farmer's markets, as well as on concert stages at the University of Windsor, The Rivoli, The Garrison, and Trinity St. Paul's, to name a few. Over the past year, 'Y n' Amai' have also given workshops on music, decolonization, African culture and percussion at a host of places such as the Universities of Ottawa and Windsor, at Windsor Women Working with Immigrant Women, Oakwood Village library, and Rawlinson Community School. 

Amai Kuda and Y are currently recording their first album as a duo, which is a follow-up to Amai Kuda's 'Sand From the Sea.' This new disc will be launched in the summer of of 2014. Whether on the street, the stage or in the studio, for these two music is about healing – the healing of ancestors, the land, the self, the community and society. You can find Amai Kuda and Y Josephine on facebook and youtube as well as at ynamai.com