The CanDance Network was formed by a group of presenters who recognized they could accomplish more together. After more than 35 years, the network’s success continues to come from a grassroots approach to developing programming.
Our board, made up of member presenters, and our staff leadership have the knowledge and skills to translate sector-wide needs and shifts into feasible, realistic programming that supports presenters’ daily work in meaningful ways.
Today, this is who helps make it all happen.
Artistic Director at SummerWorks,
Board President
Ontario
General Manager
Fall for Dance North
Ontario
Program Coordinator,
La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines
Québec
Board Vice President
Ontario
Independent Curator, Indigenous Knowedge Resource Teacher and Youth Cabinet Facilitor, ROM
Ontario
Artistic Director,
Mile Zero Dance
Board Treasurer
Alberta
Artistic Director of Nafro Dance and Moving Inspirations Festival
Alberta
Artistic and Executive Director, Coastal Dance Festival
British Columbia
Artistic Director, Kinetic Studio
Nova Scotia
Staff Members
Ann-Marie Williams (she/her), Executive Director
Ann-Marie loves working with the CanDance presenters, who she lovingly refers to as her fellow dance nerds. Ann-Marie grew up studying tap, jazz, ballet, and modern dance. She earned a BFA in Dance from Toronto Metropolitan University, and an MA in Dance from York University. She has two decades of experience working as a non-profit Arts Manager in the dance sector. In addition to CanDance, she has worked for the Alliance of Canadian Dance Networks, Dance Ontario, and The Dancer Transition Centre. She sat on the board of directors for the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists East and was a dance jury member for the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts’ Dora Mavor Moore Awards.
Also a passionate children’s dance educator, she has taught dance in many of Toronto’s public and independent schools, ran her own creative dance school for eight years, and is the author of an award winning children’s book, Learn to Speak Dance (Owl kids). She is also a contributor at the Dance Current Magazine.
She is a proud queer mom, and lives in Tkaronto with her wife, two young kids and cat. She is a sixth generation settler on her paternal side, and a first generation settler on her maternal side.
Soni Dasmohapatra, Equity Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) Organizational Strategist
Soni Dasmohapatra has been born and raised on Amiskwaciwaskahikan, Treaty 6 Edmonton, Alberta. She spent a substantive part of her adult life in Toronto, and has twenty-five years experience as a public service professional, educator and arts practitioner. Soni is a arts and cultural consultant who uses yoga, dance and somatics as pathways of self discovery, healing, and artistic creation. She is a trained classical Indian Kathak dancer and a choreographer.
Bracy Appeikumoh, Administrative Coordinator
Bracy is a writer and mixed-media artist currently existing in Toronto, Ontario. She is pursuing her MFA at OCAD University in Criticism and Curatorial Practice, with a research focus on gender and spectating the body.
Bracy’s writing includes speculative fiction, cultural criticism, and autoethnography.
Photo by Audrey Melton
Mimi Beck, Founding Director
Mimi Beck was CanDance’s Director or National Spokesperson since the first CanDance meeting in 1985. With input from the members, she orchestrated the organization’s incorporation in 2001, and continued to grow the network from ten to fifty members. She retired from her role in September, 2022. She has been an instrumental leader for dance presenters and CanDance. A pillar in the dance community, she has supported countless choreographers, fellow presenters, and arts administrators over three decades. It is impossible to quantify her legacy and we are so grateful for her thoughtful dedication and hard work, which we vow to continue.
