Let's have a kiki: Toronto Dance Theatre is bringing contemporary dance audiences to the ball

Queeries is a column by CBC Arts producer Peter Knegt that queries LGBTQ art, culture and/or identity through a personal lens. 

The Toronto Dance Theatre (TDT) — one of Canada's leading innovators in contemporary dance — is closing its 2022–23 season by having a ball, literally. Its double bill of a finale, Convergent Divergency, features distinct dance styles and practices in conversation with one another, and culminates in a new work that celebrates the kiki Ballroom scene: Danah Rosales's "GIVE ME ONE."

Rosales, known as "New Legend Mother Maldita Siriano" in Toronto's kiki scene, takes elements of her own Ballroom experience — from Runway to Face to Vogue — and builds them through a collaboration with six dancers: three from the TDT company and three from the Toronto Ballroom community.

"When I was doing the programming for the season, I was thinking a lot about the intersections of different artistic practices," says Andrew Tay, artistic director of TDT.  "And I thought, 'Oh, wouldn't it be cool to invite Danah, who has a relationship with the company and a lot of the ensemble members who she's danced with before, to come in and work with both members of the TDT ensemble and members of the Kiki Ballroom Scene?' Bringing together her different dance histories and seeing what kind of conversation and artistic potential can develop."

What developed was "GIVE ME ONE," which additionally features original music from DJ, producer and rapper Myst Milano, as well as the stylings of Diséiye. Its six dancers — Jocelyne "Jaws" Cardenas, Matthew "Snoopy" Cuff, Kelly-Ann Johnson, Erin Poole, Devon Snell and Roberto Soria — each utilize the opportunity to bring their own personality and dauntlessness to the theatre, offering TDT audiences an electric finale to the company's season.

"It really is an interactive audience experience," Rosales says. "They experience the ebbs and flows of emotions and just rushes of energy through the bodies."

"I hope it engages people and that people gain more curiosity and interest around Ballroom and the history of Ballroom. And also the political issues that come from it and that the queer community face, and how that affects us all as we co-habitate — and to continue that learning and understanding if they choose."

Tay adds that so far, he has found a really interesting atmosphere in terms of the different relationships that various audience members of the show have to Ballroom. 

"I definitely can see sometimes that the TDT legacy audience or some of the folks who have been following TDT for a long time, [who] may not share some of the context or the codes [of Ballroom], are sitting in a space where other people do share those codes," Tay says. "So they're kind of tracking it along the same time, and then they start to understand and lots of them really appreciate the energy."

"Some may be totally confused and not know what's going on, and that's a really fun space for me because I think it gets to disrupt our assumptions about what a theatre performance space typically is in a really exciting way."

Rosales hopes that this excitement will translate to some of those audience members seeking out more knowledge about the history behind the work, specifically in a Canadian context. 

"What I've learned, in fact, is that Canada was the first international country to have Ballroom [outside of New York]," she says. "People think it was overseas countries that got it first. But geographically, where we're situated, it actually came to Canada first, so into Toronto."

"We have such a rich, rich history here as well — the foundations that were built upon some people who are still alive and have so much information to share. And it's an honour to even just be in the presence of the legends and the pioneers and the trailblazers."

"In this way, every time I'm working, it's kind of like an ode and a love letter to them. And we wouldn't be here without them."

You can learn about Canada's Ballroom scene starting by visiting the Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance website, and, of course, seeing Rosales' show, which is running at TDT's Winchester Street Theatre until April 1st.