FADO E-BULLETIN
May 2025

1. FADO EMERGING ARTISTS SERIES NOT KNOWING IS THE MOST INTIMATE
   DATE MAY 10, 15, 16, 17 & 18, 2025
   LOCATION TORONTO, CANADA
   SOURCE FADO

not knowing is the most intimate
Curated by Shalon Webber-Heffernan

—PROGRAMME—

What Will I Tell Her? by Sasha Singer-Wilson
May 10, 6:30PM (please arrive by 6:20PM)

Embracing the Waves of Grief: A Sound Healing Meditation with Trish Lanns
May 10, 8PM – 9:30PM (*registration required)

take “somethymes grief goes for a walk,” for a walk, by Joyce LeeAnn
May 10, 15, 16, 17
10AM – 5PM

Everything I Can Fix Versus Everything I Can’t by Claudia Edwards
May 10, 12PM – 4PM
May 15 – 17, 10AM – 5PM

Grieving Circle by Amy Hull
May 17, 2PM

releasing control of how things become whole, again, a virtual talk with Joyce LeeAnn
May 18, 3:30 PM (*registration required)

—

not knowing is the most intimate explores themes of collective and personal grief, and the ways in which we might connect through shared vulnerability. Inspired by the Buddhist koan, “not knowing is the most intimate,” the project embraces the uncertainty of our contemporary emotional landscapes, inviting both artists and audiences to move into the discomfort of uncharted waters.

While reading Vanessa Machado de Oliveira’s Hospicing Modernity, I was struck by the idea that domination often involves a deliberate denial of relationships and a suppression of the senses. Drawing on Dwayne Donald’s assertion that sensory atrophy is central to this process – disrupting traditional knowledge systems and relational connections—I began to consider how deeply this numbness has seeped into the fabric of modern life. What would it mean to counter this—to resist detachment—through intimacy and attunement? This question sits at the heart of this curatorial series, exploring how performance can reawaken connection through embodied presence and shared vulnerability in times of grief.

Bringing together artists whose work grapples with death, mourning, collective grief, climate anxiety, somatics, and rituals of healing, the series unfolds across live performances, an immersive book installation, a sound bath and guided meditation inspired by the tradition of living funerals. It is an experiment in shedding emotional armour – to feel, to connect, to soften. It is an invitation to let grief become a shared language that unites rather than isolates—guiding us beyond knowing and into the realm of embodied presence and relationship.

FREE. ACCESSIBLE SPACE. ALL WELCOME.

MORE details about each performance & registration links

2. FADO EMERGING ARTISTS SERIES LAB WE COULD BREAK PERFORMANCE
   DATE NEW EPISODES OUT NOW
   LOCATION TORONTO, CANADA
   SOURCE FADO

FADO’s Emerging Artists Series LAB #1: We Could Break Performance
A podcast by Vanessa Godden and James Knott

We Could Break Performance is a podcast hosted by artists Vanessa Godden and James Knott investigating the question: “How do we evaluate the substance of tropes enacted in performance art?”

Each episode of will We Could Break Performance will feature a local performance artist and ourselves in conversation, to help us tackle our dilemma and provide perspective on the values of performance art tropes that we may share or disagree on. Does performance go harder if the performer gets harmed? Or is that negligence in disguise. Is endurance awe-worthy? Or is it sometimes used to unpoetic ends? Does nudity really bare all? Perhaps by the end this series’ run, we could break performance.

WATCH NOW!
All episodes are now captioned!
Episode 4: Mikiki

Also available:
Episode 1: Francisco-Fernando Granados
Episode 2: Archer Pechawis
Episode 3: Erika DeFreitas

MORE INFORMATION & TO WATCH

3. EVENT DESKTOP COMPOSITIONS WITH HOLLY MÁRIE PARNELL
   DATE MAY 3, 2025
   LOCATION VANCOUVER, CANADA
   SOURCE WESTERN FRONT

Western Front presents Desktop Compositions with Holly Márie Parnell

May 3, 2025
6:00 PM (Doors at 5:30 PM)
Grand Luxe Hall, Western Front, 303 E 8th Ave Vancouver, Canada
FREE

Western Front is pleased to present a live video performance by the artist filmmaker Holly Márie Parnell as part of the opening event for her solo exhibition Cirrus. A recorded version will remain on view during gallery hours through May 31, 2025.

In a world that demands progress but offers little clarity, what does it mean to move forward? Desktop Compositions (2014–) is an ongoing live video performance series presented through the interface of a computer desktop. The work draws from over a decade of Parnell’s personal archives and collected internet detritus, with this iteration including samplings of pop songs about NATO and the EU by Mia Wennerstrand.

Through rhythms of repetition and reassembly, Desktop Compositions acts as an inquiry into the chaos of our current moment and reflects on what forms might emerge in its place.

MORE INFORMATION

4. EVENT DECOLONIAL SOLIDARITY PARTNERSHIP VOL. 1
   DATE MAY 6, 2025
   LOCATION TORONTO, CANADA
   SOURCE TORONTO DANCE LOVE-IN

Dancemakers & Toronto Dance Love-In present Decolonial Solidarity Partnership vol. 1
A movement & conversation praxis with Christina de la Cruz & Leelee Oluwatoyosi Eko Davis

May 6, 2025
5:30–7:30 PM
The Commons, 401 Richmond Street West, 4th floor

As part of our ongoing Decolonial Solidarity Partnership, Dancemakers and Toronto Dance Love-In are launching a quarterly event series aimed at fostering political dialogue through embodied practice. These events are intended for dance artists, choreographers, arts administrators, and dance enthusiasts.

We invite you to join us as we gather in open conversation and embodied praxis as a community of movement artists. This space exists to support and encourage attendees to carefully consider, share, and design their thoughts/strategies for commitment to decolonial frameworks. In doing so, we consider our role as treaty partners in Tkaronto, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Wyandot people, Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabeg and Mississaugas of the Credit. Participants are encouraged to acknowledge the currently political context under a colonial government that continues to abide and deny the genocide being committed against the Palestinian people and Indigenous peoples here across these territories.

You can expect to engage in embodied movement practice. Afterwards, the group will come together in a collective conversation. To close, we will hold small group discussions and ideation about next steps/moving forward. There will be an open portion of the evening for socializing alongside refreshments and appetizers.

Thank you FADO Performance Art Centre for donating the space!

The Commons is accessible for mobility device users. Access details can be found on the registration page linked below.

REGISTER HERE & MORE INFORMATION

5. CALL FOR RESIDENCY ARTISTS THE THEATRE CENTRE
   DEADLINE DATE MAY 15, 2025
   LOCATION TORONTO, CANADA
   SOURCE THE THEATRE CENTRE

We are absolutely thrilled to announce our first call for Residency artists since 2019! Residency is a minimum two-year mutual commitment (sometimes longer!) that provides groups/artists with the necessary space, funding and mentorship to craft ideas still in their infancy into finished works that are provocative, innovative, and ambitious.

We are in search of 1 to 2 new projects to join the program beginning September 2025. Residency is designed for mid-career and senior artists who require space to develop their ideas, as this is one of the most valuable resources we have to offer. Applications will be received by The Theatre Centre’s Producers, Liza Hersh and Angelo Pileggi. Assessments and decisions will be made by General and Artistic Director, Aislinn Rose and Associate Artistic Director, liza paul.

Residency facilitates a highly collaborative artistic process by asking artists “what do you need?” The program supports new work across all live art disciplines led by directors, designers, composers, choreographers, architects, visual artists, or even neurologists. We are looking for good ideas in their earliest stages.

MORE INFORMATION

6. EVENT PERFORMANCE BY AMANDA COOGAN
   DATE MAY 17, 2025
   LOCATION BELFAST, N.IRELAND
   SOURCE BBEYOND

Performance by Amanda Coogan
Saturday, May 17, 2025
2–3pm
Bueys Exhibition Space, Ulster Museum, Ireland

Join the audience at the Ulster Museum for a unique experience as Irish artist Amanda Coogan takes to the BEUYS gallery for a captivating performance. Coogan’s work is influenced by her early life, having grown up in a household where Irish sign language was her first language, as her parents were deaf. This connection continues to resonate throughout her artistic practice. Coogan’s film Gnawing on the Bones – Reflections on Beuys (2022), is also featured as part of the Beuys exhibition (kindly on loan from the artist).

MORE INFORMATION

7. EVENT FESTIVAL TRANSAMÉRIQUES
   DATE MAY 22–JUNE 8, 2025
   LOCATION MONTRÉAL, CANADA
   SOURCE FTA

With 20 shows presented from May 22 to June 5, Festival TransAmériques’ 19th edition will provide a breath of fresh air in our cultural and artistic landscape! Its program stands apart from the prevailing cynicism of our time—just as it has done each spring for the past 40 years. In this year’s exciting line-up, around 200 choreographers, directors, performers, and designers from no less than 23 countries will present multiple visions of the world through powerful, moving, and sometimes disturbing dance and theatre shows.

MORE INFORMATION

8. EVENT OFFTA LIVE ART FESTIVAL
   DATE MAY 23–JUNE 1, 2025
   LOCATION MONTRÉAL, CANADA
   SOURCE OFFTA

19th Edition | Offta Live Art Festival
May 23–June 1, 2025

ARTISTS
Robie Schuler
Marie-Reine Kabasha
Nien Tzu Weng
Alexandra ‘Spicey’ Landé
Jo Fong
Marilou Craft
Tyson Houseman
Freya Björg Olafson
Dominique Sophie
Celia Green
Michael Martini
Indefinable Folks
Sonia Hughes
Jean-Christophe Leblanc

11 works come to life where the world falters. Side by side, they tend to the splinters of our dismay, rolling out a mat where we might share a sandwich together, or perhaps a space where contemplation becomes possible once more. Shaped by sensitive gestures, they unfold the possibility of standing beside one another, together – seeking nothing but this presence, this bond. They call us to listen, imagine, support, laugh, and hear each other. They propose that we gather, that we lean into what trembles without averting our gaze, that we move towards rather than against. They invite us to walk, to dance, to swim together, to see at eye level, without dominance or submission. They devise soft strategies to host complexity— forms to challenge despondency, gestures to acknowledge the wonder of the other, their path, their wisdom, their struggles, their joys. They linger on the stories, the possibilities, the splendour of the forests. They bind, welcome, and cherish without imposing. For a moment, they make us feel both larger and closer.

MORE INFORMATION

9. EVENT JESS DOBKIN’S WETROSPECTIVE LAUNCH PARTY
   DATE JUNE 1, 2025
   LOCATION MONTRÉAL, CANADA
   SOURCE MIRIAM GINESTIER

Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective Montréal Launch Party
Curated by Jess Dobkin & Miriam Ginestier

Sunday June 1, 2025
Festival TransAmériques, 175 Président-Kennedy, Montréal
7PM, FREE

Hosted by Nathalie Claude, with Jordan Arsenault, John Custodio, Justin de Luna + Winnie Ho, Itza Gutiérrez, Moynan King, Rickie Leach, Anna Jane McIntyre, Dayna McLeod, Alexis O’Hara, Pleurer Dans’ Douche, Alex Tigchelaar, Sherwin Tija, Jacob Wren, book editor Laura Levin, and other surprise guests.

Dive into an unforgettable evening celebrating Jess Dobkin’s Wetrospective: Constellating Performance Archives (Ed. Laura Levin). Hosted by Nathalie Claude, who will share the stage with a constellation of queer luminaries. Grab a signed copy, snag limited-edition artist multiples, and revel in queer community magic. Let’s toast to collaboration, creativity, and connection! Togetherness is the balm we need.

MORE INFORMATION

10. NEWS PSI CONSTELLATE 2025
    DATE NOW
    LOCATION THE WORLD
    SOURCE PSI

Join us in a transformative journey with PSi Constellate 2025, where international communities converge to share knowledge, foster innovation, and create lasting bonds.

Performance Studies international (PSi) is home to many communities that create, extend and enrich vital international relationships. These communities of exchange take many forms, such as the PSi Working Groups, the PSi Future Advisory Board (FAB), and the PSi Institutional Members among other ad hoc and emerging clusters. PSi Constellate first happened as a series of web-based events in 2021 when we could not gather because of the mobility restrictions of the pandemic. Among the definitions of ‘constellate’ is ‘to join luster; to unite (several shining bodies) in one illumination.’ PSi Constellate 2025 continues this program to enable a flexible framework for knowledge exchange, action responses, and other activities of PSi’s various communities in between the annual conferences, revealing constellations of shared interest, opportunity and interaction.

MORE INFORMATION

11. WORKSHOP PERFORMANCE ART WITH ARKADI LAVOIE LACHAPELLE
    DATE JUNE 28 & 29, 2025
    LOCATION MONTRÉAL, CANADA
    SOURCE ARKADI LAVOIE LACHAPELLE

Introductory performance art workshop for creative people
Facilitated by Arkadi Lavoie Lachapelle

June 28 & 29, 205
Cité-des-Hospitalières, Montreal
Workshop is in French

DETAILS & INFORMATION HERE

12. FADO WANTS TO KNOW WHAT IS HAPPENING OUT THERE
    TO CONTRIBUTE YOUR POSTS TO THIS NEWLETTER
    PERFORMANCE ART RELATED EVENTS, FESTS, CALLS & NEWS
    EMAIL INFORMATION TO INFO@PERFORMANCEART.CA

Email us your news, posts and event information. x, fado