DEDRA McDERMOTT (she/her) Based in Tkarón:to/Toronto, Dedra is a new-generation artist-researcher, emerging curator, and movement dramaturg interested in performance and choreographic methodology, visual and media arts, and divergent approaches to engaging with archival practices. Her artistic research explores identity, memory, and grief—utilizing autoethnographic methodology to weave movement and literary choreographies to create live, filmed, and installation works. As a movement artist whose cultural positioning places her at the intersection of Black (Jamaican, First-Generation Canadian) and woman-identifying, all of her knowledge coalesces into her dancing body—a vessel that holds an accumulation of embodied practices and unwavering resilience. She holds a BFA in Choreography and Performance (York University) and an MA in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (University of Toronto). Through curatorial practice, Dedra aims to supportively challenge artistic communities—shaping and serving creative environments to encourage fellowship. McDermott is currently an MFA candidate in Criticism and Curatorial Practice at OCAD University. DAVID NORSWORTHY (he/him) is a Tkarón:to/Toronto-based dance artist, choreographer and producer of mixed Japanese immigrant/British settler descent who is “an exceptionally lucid performer, impressive and articulate” (Globe and Mail). A graduate of The Juilliard School where he trained in Euro-American contemporary dance, David delights in asking questions, and believes deeply in the transformative power of dancing. David has performed with dance companies and collaborated with dance creators in Canada, USA, Sweden and Australia, and his choreographic career has included independently produced full-length works, international tours, and commissioned projects for companies, universities and schools. His choreographic work has focused on community-building through co-creation; cultivating participatory environments that work with the materiality of emotion and dialogue through improvisational scores. David is the grateful recipient of the Living Arts Centre’s Ron Lenyk Award and was one of three finalists for the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Emerging Artist Award. David is a Co-Founder/Co-Director of TOES FOR DANCE, a Board Member of CanAsian Dance, and a part-time Rehearsal Director for Norrdans, a contemporary dance company in Sweden. Dedra and David will officially join DanceWorks on August 1st, 2023. | 
