Sweet Ephemera
DanceWorks presents Sweet Ephemera, a double bill exploring queer intimacies of diasporic ritual featuring Eilish 미정 Shin-Culhane’s Peel Me and Jose Miguel “Miggy” Esteban’s pahinga ka muna.
Run time 2 hours – including a 15 minute intermission.
Audience members will be asked to leave the theatre during the intermission.
Celebrate opening night of Sweet Ephemera! Join us for a post show reception in The Theatre Centre Cafe.
Meet the artists!
Participate in a post show talkback moderated by Elodie Kyra Teoh on June 20. ASL-English Interpretation is provided by Aliya Haniff and Raeven Waite during the talkback and present pre- and post- show for accessibility needs.
Digital Program Directory
Skip to any part of the program or scroll to discover it all.
Accessibility Resources
DanceWorks is based in what is colonially known as the City of Toronto; a place that has been the site of human activity for over 15,000 years. Toronto is the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Anishinaabe, Chippewa, and the Wendat. We are grateful to live, work and dance on this territory. We also acknowledge that Tkaronto/Toronto, the place where the trees meet the water, is subject to The Dish with One Spoon covenant, and covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams treaties signed by several Chippewa and Mississauga Anishinaabe First Nations.
Program Notes for
Peel Me
Peel Me asks you to peel back your layers. Will you? Can you? What sits just under the surface? And then under that? Through a series of vignettes, Peel Me’s performers eat and destroy grapefruits and fortune cookies, using mess as an access for catharsis. This experimental Western contemporary dance work examines nuanced states of control, release, greed and care, all while building a truly sensory experience.
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Choreographer: Eilish 미정 Shin-Culhane
Dancers: Morgyn Aronyk-Schell, Steph Harkness, Shona Kiyama, Hannah Shikatani, Barbara Simms
Composer: Aidan McConnell
Costume Designer: Charlotte Carbone
Stage Manager: Helin Gungoren
Lighting Designer: Hannah Kirby
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A deep and continued thank you to both Nova Dance and the National Ballet’s Open Space Programme for supporting this project on multiple occasions and in multiple ways over the last four years. Thank you to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council for your research support. Thank you to Peel Me’s various residencies, Toronto Dance Theatre’s Pilot Episodes Program, Nova Dance’s Discover Dance Series and the DanceWorks x York University Knowledge Exchange Program.
I am so grateful to those who have offered their eyes in this process, Kéïta Fournier-Pelletier, Esie Mensah, Jessie Garon, Judy Luo and Tavia Christina. Thank you to Kendra Epik and Alli Carry for capturing our work in the digital realm so beautifully and to CanAsian Dance’s Dance Talks for offering us a platform for discussion and connection. An endless thank you to those who have lived and danced in this world in its many evolutions including Audrey Sides, Élodie Kyra, Kéïta Fournier-Pelletier, Judy Luo, Audrianna Martin del Campo and Kaelin Isserlin.
And finally to Dedra for your trust, to Miggy for being the best double-bill mate and to Austin for everything else.
Eilish 미정 Shin-Culhane is a Tkaronto-based queer mixed-Korean artist, dancer and choreographer. Holding a BFA from Marymount Manhattan College, they have performed in works by Peter Chu, Bill T. Jones, Nicole von Arx, Angela Blumberg, Nova Bhattacharya, Vim Vigor and Esie Mensah. Their choreography has been presented through Peggy Baker Dance Projects, TDT’s Pilot Episodes Program, the Citadel + Compagnie’s Night Shift, and upcoming in DanceWorks’ Sweet Ephemera. They centre joy, discussion and catharsis through their collaborative process, prioritizing deep connections and continual growth. Eilish continues to be inquisitive in both her mover and maker selves, valuing community, play, and curiosity.
Headshot by Kendra Epik.
Barbara Simms connects to life and her art through her senses. Their relationship to movement is strongest when they are listening. Seeking to gain as much movement knowledge as her body can absorb, she embodies movement with depth, physicality and intention. Brought up in Tkaronto’s busy core, she now resides in Tiohtià:ke, and is finding home in both cities.
Hannah Shikatani was born in Milton, Ontario, and moved to Toronto in 2016 to attend Toronto Metropolitan University. In 2020 she graduated from TMU’s School of Performance with a BFA in performance dance. Hannah is now a freelance dance artist/performer based in Toronto. She is eager to experience new places and people and to continue researching her body in motion.
Shona Kiyama (木山 晶南, she/her) is a Japanese-Canadian movement artist from what is colonially considered Burnaby, BC. She graduated from Toronto Metropolitan University’s Performance Dance Program with honours in 2024, and has since worked with and danced alongside companies such as the Shaw Festival, Malpaso Dance Company, Human Body Expression, Transcen|dance Project, and Kaeja d’Dance.
Steph Harkness (they/them) is a choreographer, teacher, rehearsal director, and Dora-Award winning performer based in so-called Toronto. Using their education in dance and anthropology they explore the potential of movement as a means for experiencing catharsis and cultivating community.
Morgyn Aronyk-Schell (she/they) is a Dora award winning contemporary dance artist and an arts educator for youth and seniors. They have curated and hosted workshops with a movement-focused, queer centred and multidisciplinary lens with the Toronto Community Love-In, and as a co-creator of “blank space”. She believes art-making is empowering, political, and an essential part of the human experience that everyone should have access to.
Performer’s headshots by Kendra Epik.
Program Notes for
pahinga ka muna
pahinga ka muna,
take a rest first.
Returning to rest as a crip space of memory, dreaming, and worldmaking, Miggy invites you to take part in an improvisational ritual of mourning that traces the multisensorial mad and queer routes of their Filipinx diasporic inspirations.
Influenced through disability/crip/mad arts practices of engaging access as creative provocation, this work experiments with multisensorial, poetic, and narrative audio descriptions–reorienting to them as the choreographic scores that potentiate ephemeral and non-replicable improvised performances of care.
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Choreographer, Writer, and Performer: Jose Miguel ‘Miggy’ Esteban
Videographer and Editor: Spotlight Glow
Composer and Sound Designer: JJ Omelagah
Audio Description Voice Performer: Elaine Cagulada
Deaf Interpreter: Courage Bacchus
Lighting Designer: Hannah Kirby
Stage Manager: Helin Gungoren
Access Support and Dramaturge: Kass Prus
Care Dramaturge: Dedra McDermott
Filipinx Dramaturge: Bee Pallomina
Disability Dramaturge: Jessica Watkin
Filipino Sign Language Consultant: Carmelle Cachero
ASL-English Interpreters: Aliya Haniff and Breann O’Hara-Johns
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Development for this work was supported by Toronto Dance Theatre’s "Plug N’ Play” Residency, CanAsian Dance x Toronto Dance Theatre’s “EntryWaves" Residency, and DanceWorks x York University’s Knowledge Exchange Program.
This project has received funding support from the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council.
pahinga ka muna has been a labour of love and care over these past few years, and I have felt supported by so many magnificent artists in queer, crip, and Filipinx community! I am grateful to Dedra for holding this work with such deep care and generosity, to Elaine for being my poetic comrade from the first iteration of this work, to Eilish for reminding me that we can create and share dance through a commitment to radical interdependence, to Kass for joining me on this journey of reimagining how we practice and share dance, and finally to Ben and Kona for cheering me on, taking care of me, at times putting up with me, and always being there for me with unconditional love and support!
Jose Miguel ‘Miggy’ Esteban is a dance/movement artist and educator whose choreographic work explores improvisational practices of navigating mad and queer routes to embody Filipinx (un)belonging. Miggy is also a PhD candidate in social justice education and a course instructor at the University of Toronto where their research and teaching explores critical and creative pedagogies oriented through disability/mad arts and culture, black radical traditions of poetic study, and improvised dance/performance.
Headshot by Alvin Collantes.
Additional Credits for Sweet Ephemera
Kass Prus, Accessibility Coordinator for Sweet Ephemera
Elodie Kyra Teoh, Post-Show Talkback Moderator (June 20th)
Sophia Fabiano, Production Manager
Helin Gungoren, Stage Manager
Aliya Haniff and Raeven Waite, ASL Interpreter (June 20th)
Pumpernickel's, Catering for Reception (June 18th)
Special thanks to Opera Atelier, Young People's Theatre, Aela Brown, Zev Citron, The Theatre Centre for their support and dedication! Gratitude shout-outs to the entire technical, front-of-house, box office and facility teams at The Theatre Centre!
Learn more about DanceWorks
DanceWorks connects audience members with artists and their work—inviting the public to encounter new ideas and necessary questions. We support choreographers, dancers, and interdisciplinary artists in the development and presentation of bold, thoughtful, relevant performance events. DanceWorks programming also includes artist residencies, open rehearsals, workshops, artist talks, and community conversations.
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Jennifer Robichaud — Artistic Director
Neetika Sharma — General Manager*
Jake Ramos— Interim General Manager
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Kemi Akinyode — Fellow with Urban Alliance of Race Relationships
*on Maternity Leave
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Belinda Ngai — Interim Chair and Secretary
Jennifer Wan — Treasurer
Alex Hsiao — Board Member
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Image Descriptions
Cover Image:
Left - Two white performers sit partially obstructed under a clear plastic tarp, eyes cast upwards. A vibrant grapefruit is seen between them, held between their faces. The text overlaid reads "peel me" in curved stylized writing.
Right - Brown-skinned hands rest on a banig, their clawed fingers digging into waves of woven palm. The text overlaid reads “pahinga ka muna” in bold lettering.
Section Divider: A row of Sweet Ephemera Images from both Peel Me and pahinga ka muna’s Rehearsal Process:
Miggy sits in an empty studio, looking up to a spotlight as a cloud of white fabric encircles their torso. Their arms reach up as the light brown skin of their fingers become entangled with the string of a rosary, thumb rubbing against the dark brown grain of its beads.
A close-up on hands ripping a grapefruit apart. We see the performers rings and tattoos as she get covered in grapefruit juice.
Brown-skinned hands rest on a barong, their fingers pinching at the pearl button fastening together the pineapple silk of this garment.
Five dancers lean their heads against one another. They look off in various directions. The performers wear light blues and yellows and are surrounded by orange fabric. The text 'peel me' sits in the bottom right corner.
Bordered by a semi-circle halo of white cards, a pile of tarot cards, a singing bowl, and books, Miggy lies on a barong. Its pineapple silk arm drapes over Miggy’s chest. Eyes closed, they feel the embrace of this garment and the soothing spotlight caressing the brown skin of their face.
Two performers, eyes closed, squish a grapefruit between their cheeks. The juice drips down onto the text that reads 'peel me'.
Brown-skinned hands rest on a banig, their clawed fingers digging into waves of woven palm.
A dancer sits on the shoulder of two others. She looks around with urgnecy.
Images within Peel Me’s Program Notes:
Eilish Headshot — A mixed person sits in a white shirt looking to the side of camera, a light blue background behind her.
Dancer’s Headshots
A performer stands, looking off to the right, a grapefruit balanced on their head. They wear light mesh blues and are surrounded by orange and teal fabric.
A performer stands with her right arm curved above her, dropping a grapefruit down to her left hand. She watches this unfold. The dancer wears blues and yellows and stands in front of a orange fabric backdrop.
A performer stands, looking up at a grapefruit suspended midair in front of her. She is dressed in pale blues and yellows and surrounded by orange fabric.
A performer holds their arms open with a grapefruit suspended midair between them. They are dressed in pale yellows and blues and surrounded by orange fabric.
A performer stands with a grapefruit balanced on their head, eyes cast upwards. They are dressed in light blues, surrounded by orange fabric.
Section Divider: Five dancers stand in a dance studio with grapefruits held up to their shoulder, peering over the other. curtains, the dancers look serious and pensive.
Images within pahinga ka muna ’s Program Notes Block:
Miggy’s Headshot — A side profile of Miggy, who crouches amidst bushes and white flowers that recede blurrily into the background. Miggy’s fingers gently crawl up from a long-sleeved maroon shirt, over chin and lips, and toward a small ocean of black, wavy hair. The brown skin of Miggy’s cheek is caressed by the palm of a hand, supporting closed eyes that look down in contemplation.
Section Divider: Miggy lies on their side, a cloud of white fabric scratches against their neck. The glistening brown skin of their leg extends out, trying to escape the spotlight’s gaze. Their own gaze is transfixed on the mess of a rosary’s beads entangled within their fingers.
DanceWorks 2026/27 Season Poster by Sydney McManus. Four vertical panels showcase the Signature Series works, overlaid with a vibrant burnt orange filter. The first panel features a dancer holding a piece of lighting equipment. The second panel shows dancers bodies intertwined in movement. The third panel displays a close-up of a dancer looking downwards with closed eyes and a serene expression. The fourth panel shows a dancer captured mid-movement, with a cage-like structure is visible in the foreground. Image by Maryam Barari. Overall, the composition is dynamic and visually engaging. The intense colour filter unifies the disparate scenes and adds a layer of passion and intensity to the overall season announcement.
Section Divider:
Left - Two white performers sit partially obstructed under a clear plastic tarp, eyes cast upwards. A vibrant grapefruit is seen between them, held between their faces. The text overlaid reads "peel me" in curved stylized writing.
Right - Brown-skinned hands rest on a banig, their clawed fingers digging into waves of woven palm. The text overlaid reads “pahinga ka muna” in bold lettering.