EXILE: Final Tuning Performance

Alejandro Ronceria is an internationally acclaimed director/choreographer/dance dramaturge based in Toronto. He directs and produces dance/theatrical productions internationally and mentors Indigenous choreographers and productions.

Ronceria was the co-founder/Program Director of the first Aboriginal Dance Program in North America at Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity. During his five-year tenure, the groundbreaking program brought together Indigenous and Inuit performers from across Canada, the U.S., Mexico, Greenland, and New Zealand. His dance films have screened at TIFF and Sundance. Classically trained in ballet in Colombia, he holds an MFA in Dance Dramaturgy from York University. Ronceria was inducted into the Dance Collection Danse Hall of Fame.

Ana Sánchez-Colberg is a Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist working internationally. Her trajectory begins in choreography and dance. She established Theatre enCorps in 1989-2021and has a track record of award-winning works created and performed in over forty cities world-wide.  She has been awarded Fellowships by the Swedish Research Council, Arts Council of England, British Council amongst others. She has also been a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Award in 2016 and the recipient of the highly coveted MAP Funding (USA) award in 2019, among other awards and recognitions.

Since 2016 Sánchez-Colberg moves fully into non-stage multidisciplinary/cross-arts works based on experimentation with generative compositional rules to create new forms of collaborative and participatory contemporary art. The works defy categorization as they bring together elements of fine and visual art, audio composition, movement, photography and film, live documentation in works that question the relationship between art institutions, the 'art-object' and the subjects involved in the creation and reception. 

She is the Artistic and Executive Director of Vision.AI.R-e, a company developing multidisciplinary projects integrating performing arts and new technologies. 
 

Edgardo Moreno is  a Canadian-Chilean composer based in Hamilton, Ontario.He has been commissioned  for projects in Canada, Venezuela, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Argentina, Colombia, England and USA.  He has worked extensively with contemporary dance choreographers and artists including Penny Couchie,  Justin Manyfingers, Alejandro Ronceria, Allen Kaeja, Karen Kaeja, Olga Barrios, Tara Butler, Lilia Leon, Norma Araiza, Rulan Tangen, Starr Muranko,Tasha Faye Evans, Jeanette Kotowich, Carlos Rivera, Sara Roque, Diana Lopez.  He is presently working in creating video and live sound pieces that are part of his Fireflyproject. www.musicamoreno.com  www.fireflyproject.ca

Arun has worked extensively in the performing arts for 30 years. He trained at York University earning a Specialized Honours B.F.A in Design & Production. Select dance collaborators have included Robert Desrosiers, Peter Chin, Danny Grossman, COBA, Kaha:wi Dance Theatre, Tiger Princess Dance Projects, The National Ballet School and ProArteDanza.  He has been the resident designer for Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre since 2002.  Theatre credits include Soulpepper Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Pleaides Theatre, Crow’s Theatre, The Stratford Festival, Factory Theatre, The Canadian Stage Co., The Globe Theatre, Cahoots Theatre Projects, Musical Stage Co., Luminato & Buddies In Bad Times Theatre.  His career has garnered him nine Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations for Outstanding Lighting Design in both the theatre and dance categories. 

In the musical theatre world, he was the Toronto Associate designer for The Lion King for Mirvish Productions. In addition to theatre and dance, he has designed concerts for The Art of Time Ensemble, New Music Concerts and Nagata Shachu Ensemble.  He has worked on galleries at The Royal Ontario Museum and for The Thompson - Landry Gallery. Arun has had the privilege of teaching lighting design at York University, TMU (formerly Ryerson University), the University of Waterloo and mentorship at The National Theatre School.  Productions have taken him to Ukraine, Malaysia, Singapore, India, China and across North America. He is thrilled to be joining the faculty here for this new exciting program. Following his time here, Arun will be returning to The Stratford Festival to design Much Ado About Nothing.

Meghann Michalsky is an independent Dance Artist working in Calgary, Alberta.

Ms. Michalsky is the Artistic Director of YYC Contemporary Technique Training – a professional training series and the Co-Artistic Director of Project InTandem – a double-bill dance platform that creates and produces evening-length works. She received the 2019 RBC Emerging Artist Award at the Mayor's Lunch for Arts Champions. She is the first Dancer/Choreographer in Alberta to receive this award.

She completed her BA in Contemporary Dance, concentration in Choreography and Performance from the University of Calgary. Since graduating she has rigourously pursued her dance technique training in Canada as well as in Israel, Portugal, Sweden, the U.K., the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, and Austria. Her research comes directly from her trust in the body and investigating how bodily experiences are deeply embedded. She creates highly visceral works with intense musculature and athletic physicality. She plays with a combination of virtuosic and state-based movements. Her movement signature has been described as vigorous, vivid, animalistic and intricate. Her knowledge of Hip-Hop and Krump movement principles has influenced her to highlight isolated, rhythmic, bound, and fast-twitch movement qualities in her contemporary choreographies.

One of her touring works, Maybe We Land, has travelled to five Canadian cities, earning nominations for two Dora Mavor Moore Awards. Michalsky has worked for an array of individual artists and companies, including Karissa Barry, Laja Feild of LajaMartin, Davida Monk, Linnea Swan, Michele Moss, kloetzel&co, Cloudsway Dance Theatre, Dancing Monkey Laboratories, J-Sik Movements, & Dancers' Studio West - Lab Emerging Artist Program (2016) & Physic/Alchemy (2018), amongst others.

Her most recent choreographic works have been presented at Dance Made in Canada | fait au Canada, artsPlace, Fluid Festival, Chutzpah Festival, Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre, Mile Zero Dance, Citadel + Compagnie, & artArctia Festival in Finland. She has been honoured to be awarded Choreographic Residencies from the Centro Jobel (Italy), Vitlycke Arts Centre (Sweden), Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, New Dance Horizons (Regina), University of Calgary, W & M Dance Projects, Theatre Junction, Dancers’ Studio West and DJD Dance Centre.

Photo Credit: sentientforms

Victoria (V) is a Vancouver based scenographer (lighting, sound, set, and projection designer), technical director and Studio 58 graduate. Victoria is an ADC and IATSE 118 member, and a strong proponent for union membership and their justied authority. She is also a Stir recognized "Game Changer" in this year's fall arts guide.

She sees her work as focusing on the depth in shadow and its necessity to show detail in the light. Working between vibrant colours and muted tones, while using Physical structure to fully infuse her designs into the world of the piece. Using physical structures on stage with the performance creates a more literal connection to the lights, she very specically doesn't want to just work in the grid "above" the performance, she is entangled with the performance as a whole, not just its outward nal presentation. She wishes her designs to be objects wielded by and into the metaphor of the text. 

www.Victoriabell-design.com

Kaili Che 謝祖弘 is an emerging interdisciplinary artist, choreographer, and movement educator based on the unceded lands of the Coast Salish Peoples (Vancouver) and in Moh’kinstsis, Treaty 7 Territory (Calgary). Her creative journey is rooted in vulnerability, curiosity, play, and collaboration, fostering braver spaces through anti-oppressive practices and Disability Justice principles. Alongside her artistic practice, Kaili is dedicated to nurturing community connections and supporting fellow artists. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance (with Distinction) from the University of Calgary and is certied in Healthy Dance Practice. Kaili has engaged in collaborative processes with Dancers’ Studio West, TRAction, Ivanochko et cie, W&M Physical Theatre, and kloetzel&co. Her choreography has been presented at the Surrey Art Gallery, The New Gallery, The Dance Centre, New Works, IndieFest, and Expanse Festival. She is currently producing her rst short lm and rehearsing with Cloudsway Dance Theatre (Calgary, January 2025) and Project InTandem (Ban, February 2025) for their upcoming performances.

Photo Credit: Yvonne Chew

Taylor MacLeod (she/her) is a performer, dance educator and arts enthusiast from Mohkinstsis (Calgary, Alberta). She received her Bachelor of Arts in Dance, with a concentration in choreography and performance with distinction from the University of Calgary. Since emerging in the local arts scene, she has performed with Kloetzel and Co., WM2, Project InTandem, Corps Bara Dance Theatre, and Ballet Bodies. Taylor has had the opportunity to perform across Canada
in Regina’s Stream of Dance, Calgary’s Fluid Festival, Annual Alberta Dance Festival, and Skylines Dance & Film Series, as well as Edmonton’s The Works Festival and Prairie Dance Circuit. 

In her teaching and choreography, Taylor explores pushing technical and creative limits, while seeking to foster kind and inclusive spaces. Her work draws upon vulnerability, human connection and behaviour, and welcomes collaboration to continuously create a fresh perspective.

Kaitlyn Seibold, based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary) AB, is a movement researcher, performer, choreographer, and educator. She holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Toronto Metropolitan University and an MFA from York University, where she was awarded the Lipson Family Endowment Award for her choreographic promise. Kaitlyn has worked with renowned choreographers such as Vicki St Denys, Louis Laberge-Cote, Robert Glumbek, Ryan Lee, Hanna Keil, Matjash Mrozewski, Colleen Snell, and Apolonia Velasquez, immersing herself in a diverse range of styles and approaches. Currently teaching at Alberta Ballet and performing with Project InTandem and Ballet Bodies YYC, her research investigates the fluid boundaries between physicalized theatre and contemporary movement. With over 30 original works to her name, Kaitlyn’s choreography invites audiences to experience the emotional and physical depths of the body on both stage and screen. 

Reese Wilson is a performer, choreographer and educator based in Mohkinstsis (Calgary). Since graduating from the University of Calgary, with a B.Ed (2023) and BFA in Dance (2020), Reese has trained fervently both locally and abroad, most recently in the b12 Research and Dance workshop festival in Berlin, with Stefan Crainic, Lisard Tranis and Josephine Haas. As a performer for both stage and screen, Reese has had the opportunity to participate in choreographic processes as well as perform original and repertoire works by Meghann Michalsky of Project InTandem, W&M Physical Theatre, Kloetzel&Co, Corps Bara Dance
Theatre, Marie France Forcier, Nicole Charlton-Goodbrand, and Karissa Barry. Her self-choreographed, directed and performed film, A Practical Guide to Serenity, was presented at the Ignite Festival for Emerging Artists and WildDogs International Screendance Festival in 2021. Reese is a dedicated advocate of Dance Education for all populations and finds unmeasurable joy in regularly teaching both the youth as well as within the local professional dance community.

Multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound designer, music director, and educator Darren Young is an exciting artist with a diverse palette. He has been a featured performer with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, New Music Edmonton, New Works Calgary, Kensington Sinfonia, Instrumental Society of Calgary, and Theatre Calgary. Darren is a core member of the experimental music collective Timepoint Ensemble and with them has given premieres of many new compositions. He also performs and records regularly as a member of the bands Diatessaron, Jung People, and Lucky Sonne. His compositions and sound designs have been heard in productions and installations in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver, and many places in between. Darren recently composed music for the dance film “Odeon”, choreographed by Meghann Michalsky, which played at the 2024 Calgary International Film Festival. He is the President of the Classical Guitar Society of Calgary and has been on faculty at the MRU Conservatory since 2019.

Sylvie Moquin is a dance artist, mother, performer, choreographer, rehearsal director and educator based out of Calgary, Alberta (Mohkinstsis). She is the Co-Artistic Director of Project InTandem, a creation and production platform to propel opportunities for artists in Canada.

She received her BFA in Performance Dance from the Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson), and has been working professionally in the field for over ten years.

As a dancer, she has worked extensively with various individual artists and companies, including Karissa Barry, Laja Field of LajaMartin, Meghann Michalsky, Davida Monk, J-Sik Movements, kloetzel&co, Rock Bottom Movement, Corps Bara Dance Theatre, Dancers’ Studio West - Lab Emerging Artist Program, Pam Tzeng, Dancing Monkey Laboratories, and has performed in shows such as Dance: made in Canada, Ignite! Festival, Alberta Dance Festival, Dance Action Lab (DSW), Brian Webb Dance Series (Edmonton), Stream of Dance Festival (Regina), and the Fluid Festival (Calgary), among others.

She has showcased her choreographic works in a variety of festivals and platforms, including the Chutzpah! Festival, Jeanne & Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre, Project InTandem & the Decidedly Jazz Danceworks PTP Program. Most recently, she was the selected artist for the Special Creative Residency with Dancers’ Studio West where she expanded upon her choreographic research and mounted a new work for the TransFoRM series at the University of Calgary.

Photo Credit: Suzanne Nolan