Membership and Operations Manager Valerie Calam is
a Toronto-based dance artist interested in finding pathways to refresh
and support herself.
She works with movement, fabric, patterns, sound,
numbers, the nervous system, the body, and likes to edit/adapt/repurpose
things. Most of all, Val enjoys working alongside dancers and artists
and is excited to launch into her new role of Membership Coordinating at
CADA/East.
Val looks forward to your questions and requests! Valerie umbrellas much of her work under the name Company Vice Versa (www.companyviceversa.com) and works frequently with Fantastical Realms. She is a company dancer
with Toronto Dance Theatre and is the Dance Ontario Regional
Representative for her hometown of Sault Ste. Marie.
She completed a
Master of Fine Arts Degree in Choreography in 2014.
Administration and Outreach Manager Rhonda Baker (she/her)
is an alum of Dance Arts Institute (2009) and is a Lieutenant Governor Masterworks Arts Award Winner (2016) for her
contribution and performance in an ensemble work called Canvas 5 x 5 by the late Tedd Robinson.
Rhonda
earned her B.A., with Specialized Honours in Psychology from York
University in 2022, and throughout her studies acquired a concentration
in counselling and mental health. Under the supervision of Dr. Lara
Pierce at the Pierce Experience and Development Lab, her research
currently focuses on stress, responsive caregiving, and their effects on
socio-emotional, and language development in early life.
Rhonda
comes to the position at CADA/East with an understanding of precarious
work, human behaviour, relationships, research, and writing from her
background in Dance, Psychology, and Developmental Science. Taken
together, she leverages this to enhance the current scope of programming
and services offered at CADA/East, with a goal to reach out, support,
and uplift dance communities and individuals looking to connect with and
receive that support.
Rhonda
was the first CADA/East board member to join from outside of Ontario
(2016/2017), advising on the needs and experiences of artists in the Atlantic
region.