Host: KasheDance (Toronto, Canada)

Presents: Pop Up KasheDance Workshop & Showing

Discipline: Dance

Genre: Afro-Contemporary Caribbean Dance

Skill Level: Beginners – Intermediate

Description: Join us for an inspiring evening of dance with the acclaimed Canadian Afro-Contemporary company KasheDance, led by its nationally celebrated Artistic Director Kevin A. Ormsby (Jamaica) and Assistant Artistic Director Jillia Cato (Trinidad).

Immerse yourself in an energising Afro-Contemporary Caribbean Dance Workshop, featuring movement vocabularies rooted in both Jamaica and Trinidad. Then stick around for the lime and enjoy a special preview excerpt of KasheDance’s upcoming production, Ah W.I. Ting, infused with Caribbean jazz from Bridges by Trinidad-and-Toronto jazz sensation Jesse Ryan.

---

Date: Sunday 14th December, 2025

Times: Workshop: 3:30PM – 5:30PM | Special Preview: 6PM – 7PM

Location: Big Black Box | 33 Murray Street, Woodbrook [view map]

---

Facilitator: Kevin A. Ormsby

Kevin A. Ormsby | A multidisciplinary artist whose work is centered in culturally responsive arts practices, the poetics of space and place-making, and connecting communities. Executive Artistic Director of KasheDance, his artistic and scholarly inquiry is rooted in a continual navigation and critical interrogation of Caribbean and African diasporic dance traditions and cultural expressions. His performance journey spans Canada, the United States, and the Caribbean, where he has embodied roles in the works of esteemed choreographers such as Garth Fagan, Liz Lerman, Lemi Ponifasio, Patrick Parson, Marie-Josée Chartier, Ron K. Brown, Allison Cummings,   Ronald Taylor, Bageshree Vaze, Christopher Walker, and Denise Fujiwara, among others.

A recipient of the Jamaica Diaspora Impact Award for his contributions to arts and cultural leadership, Kevin has also been honored with the Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Patrick Conner Award from Toronto’s Theatre Centre (2023). His innovative work has earned him a Johanna Metcalf Performing Arts Prize nomination (2023) and finalist in 2021.

Deeply invested in the symbiotic relationship between pedagogy, research, and performance, Kevin has developed a distinctive technical approach known as KasheDantek. His teaching practice is a living extension of his creative inquiry. He has served on the faculty of Centennial College’s Dance Performance Program and has been a guest artist and educator at notable institutions such as the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts at the University of the West Indies (Mona), University of Wisconsin – Madison, Northwestern University, and the University of Texas – Austin

---

Facilitator: Jillia Cato

Jillia Cato is a Trinidadian choreographer, performer, and arts leader whose work bridges Caribbean traditions with contemporary expression.

A Valedictorian graduate of the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s BFA in Performing Arts, she combines technical precision with cultural storytelling rooted in identity and ancestral memory. Jillia has performed and choreographed internationally with renowned artists including Machel Montano and Kes the Band, bringing vibrant Caribbean movement to global audiences.

She has taught Afro-Contemporary dance at Centennial College and managed productions for major arts organizations in Trinidad and Canada. Her practice champions equity, mentorship, and the enduring power of Caribbean creativity.

---

Cost:

• Workshop & Showing -$60 TTD
• Workshop ONLY – $40 TTD
• Showing ONLY – $30 TTD

Registration Closes: Sunday 14th December, 2025 | 5:30PM

Workshop details submitted by: Jillia Cato