Roshanak is an Iranian-born Canadian performer, choreographer and producer residing in Toronto. Described as a “force to reckon with,” she has presented her work in Canada, US and Europe. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from York University, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Dance Umbrella of Ontario (DUO).

Honours:

• Recipient of the Global Fellowship, ISPA-International Society of Performing Arts 
• Recipient of the Chalmers Arts Fellowship, Ontario Arts Council
• Nominated for Outstanding Original Choreography, Dora Mavor Award, No Woman’s Land
• Nominated for Outstanding Performance of An Ensemble, Dora Mavor Award, Stones
• Nominated for the Soulpepper Theatre Dance Awards (Community Arts)
• Selected for Pitch New Works, ISPA-International Society of Performing Arts
• Selected for Pitch New Works, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Scotland
• Selected for Pitch New Works, Cervantino Festival, Mexico

Selected Past Credits Include:

• Committee Member, Toronto Arts Council Dance Committee
• Committee Member, Canadian Dance Assembly Pluralism Committee
• Juror, Dora Mavor Awards and the Toronto Arts Council
• Guest Lecturer, Historical and Cultural Studies program at the University of Toronto
• Associate Producer, Expect Theatre
• Resident Artist, Political Prisoners: The Art of Resistance Project
• Keynote Speaker, the Iranian Alliance for Peace, Freedom and Social Justice (Washington, DC)
• Co-host, Evi-Dance Radio

“The mastermind behind Porch View Dances” Toronto Star, she develops performance platforms provoking collaborative relationships between dancers, everyday people and the body. She integrates community and public participation through interactive performance strategies such as her audience inclusive Flock Landing installations. Karen’s awards include the 2019 Dance Ontario Lifetime Achievement Award, the CDA “I Love Dance” Community Award and the Paul D. Fleck Fellowship for Innovation (Banff). Her performances, choreography and creations have received 7 Dora Mavor Moore nominations, including quadrupal Dora nominations for Crave which won one. Karenis distinguished in The Canadian Who’s Who, was a finalist for the TAF Muriel Sherrin Award for International achievement, the CDA Innovation Award, NOW’s Best Local Choreographer and twice nominated for NOW’s Best Dance Company. An image maker, Karen’s choreography “paints portraits with moving bodies” Toronto Star. Commissioned, presented and touring globally from NFLD to Israel to Japan, she was the first resident dance artist for both MUN/Dance NL and the Guelph Dance Festival.Karen is a mentor and dramaturge for many instrumental dance artists plus Stratford’s first movement dramaturge for their upcoming 2020 production of Wendy and Peter Pan. She is Co-Artistic Director of Kaeja d’Dance with Allen Kaeja, and with Claudia Moore of Cloud 9. She is currently working on several commissions and performances for 2020 and 2021 including premieres at Citadel and Company’s Bright Nights, The Bentway and Harbourfront Centre Theatre. www.kaeja.org

Her work involves designing community-based social development and applied research projects with international, national and provincial/territorial organizations. As an educator, Doris has taught community development courses at a variety of post secondary institutions. She has written many training resources and advised national and international NGO’s on how to conduct effective community-based research and development strategies. Doris is also an actress, playwright/screenwriter and filmmaker. She is very proud of her work with director Pierre Tétrault on the films This Beggar’s Description, The ‘R’ Word and the comedy Healing Rani. Favourite theatrical work includes; Gandhi High, Doris Does Damage and most recently, her play A Tender Path.

Dr. Mojab is Professor of Higher and Adult Education in the Department of Leadership at OISE/University of Toronto and the former Director of the Women and Gender Institute. She received the prestigious Royal Society of Canada Award in Gender Studies in 2010. A unique feature of her work is making knowledge accessible to public through the use of arts such as story-telling, dance, drama, painting and film. Her most recent research projects are Youth in Transition: War, Migration, and ‘Regenerative Possibilities’; The Pedagogy and Policy of Refugee Youth Resettlement; and No Woman’s Land, which is a dance project to capture the experience of refugee women of sexual violence.

• Bachelor of Arts, York University, majoring in English
• Previous experience includes: Desjardins Insurance, the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
• Founder and Executive Director of Dine to Donate, a charitable foundation with a mission to bring Canada’s best restaurants and their patrons together in support of hunger and poverty reduction programs in their communities

• Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) in Accounting, ACCA Diploma in International Financial Reporting,Accounting and Business/Management at Certified Management Accountants-Canada
• Senior accountant at OnX Enterprise Solutions
• Previous experience: Financial Analyst at Mevotech Inc.

• Bachelor of Arts, Wilfrid Laurier University, majoring in Communication Studies with a minor in Organizational
  Leadership
• Previous work experience includes: Sun Life Financial, Dynamic Funds and Intuit Canada.

• Gemini nominated voice actor
• Previous experience includes: Tarragon Theatre, Canadian Stage, Soulpepper Theatre, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Obsidian Theatre
• Over 20 years as advisor and board member of the Laidlaw Foundation, as the great grandson of Robert A. Laidlaw