GET READY FOR TAX SEASON! | Financial Wellness for Dancers: Taxes for Creatives

Unavoidable? Yes. Overwhelming? Doesn’t have to be. Understand what’s required and prepare for what’s coming. Minimize your tax stress by maximizing your control. This workshop will help you clarify your context, identify relevant categories, and provide you with techniques to tackle your taxes with ease.

💻 Live virtual, on Zoom
📆 Friday, February 6th
🕣 8:30 AM PST/11:30 AM EST

A group of dance service organizations from across Canada are partnering to jointly offer a special Taxes for Creatives workshop presented by DTRC’s financial counsellor Jennifer Long.

Thanks to our collaborators on this pilot partnership, even more dancers will benefit from Jen’s expertise in tax preparation.

Canadian Dance Assembly (CDA), Dance Umbrella of Ontario (DUO), New Works, Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists - East (CADA-East), Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists - West (CADA-West).

Is the Canada Council for the Arts’ new portal leaving you puzzled? Come meet them and take the chance to ask all your questions or make comments.

Friday, December 5th at 2 pm EST | On zoom

Access Notes

- ASL Interpretation provided

- French simultaneous translation

- Live auto-captions available

- Care-giver friendly space

- Members, non-members, all welcome

📅 Friday, September 19th, 2025 | 2:00 - 4:00 PM ET on Zoom.

💞 You’re invited to our Annual General Meeting (AGM)!

We will have a special guest. Sonja Tilroe, Senior Advisor with PAA’s Arts & Culture group, will share updates on federal advocacy and answer questions after our AGM.

Sonja Tilroe, an Advisor with PAA’s Arts & Culture group based in Ottawa, is committed to providing public policy monitoring, analysis, and research. She also extends her support in logistics and communication to her clients and team members. Her profound passion for the arts and culture sector is deeply rooted in her background as a musician, where she mastered both the cello and the clarinet.

Access Notes

- ASL Interpretation provided

- French simultaneous translation

- Live auto-captions (English) available

- Care-giver friendly space

- Members, non-members, all welcome

Join us for an informal Q&A session about our Open Call hosted by CDA and DanceWorks on Instagram Live on Tuesday, January 21st at 4 p.m. EST!

We will be happy to chat with you!

Join Artsdata for a step-by-step Wikidata workshop for members of the Canadian Dance Assembly, and partner organizations CADA/East, CADA/West, and Dance Umbrella of Ontario. This free, expert-led workshop will focus mainly on how open data can benefit dance companies and artists.

As a free and open knowledge base linked to Wikipedia, Wikidata is therefore a trusted source of information for Google, Bing and other search engines. In this workshop, participants will learn how to maximize their discoverability by either creating or enriching their own entry.

Tuesday, December 3rd

1:00 - 2:30 ET

The workshop is FREE

In English

Auto caption available

Caregiver friendly

Although this event is exclusive to CDA members and its partners, it will be relevant for anyone wishing to learn how to create and enhance an artist entry in Wikidata. No previous experience of Wikidata is required.

The Canadian Dance Assembly and The CanDance Network invite you to join us for a presentation and question period with Noora Rizvi (Program Manager), and Clelia Farrugia (Program Officer), Arts Across Canada and Arts Abroad, Canada Council for the Arts.

Thursday, October 3, 9:00 am ET

Citadel + Compagnie - 304 Parliament Street, Toronto

You can attend in person (space limited) or virtually.

We thank you for participating!

Friday, September 27th, 2024 | 2:00 - 3:30 PM ET on Zoom.

Join us as we present the 2023-2024 year in review. Hear from your board representatives, share your questions and thoughts, and stay for our open forum as well as an update on the past year’s projects.

Worried about cyber-attacks? Unsure if your team is equipped to handle them? We've got you covered! 🔍 Led by experts from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, this online training will equip you with the knowledge and strategies to tackle cyber threats head-on, both at work and in your personal life. 🔍

️Dates: February 21 & 22, 2024, online 

Time: 1:00-4:30 pm Eastern on both days

Cost: Special reduced rate of $100 per participant, with discounts for multiple registrants from the same organization! (Original price: $500 per participant)

Instruction language: English. French slides available, with bilingual Q&A support.

Join us next Tuesday to screen "Traces", a video - artefact created by dancer, educator and project archivist Jose Miguel Esteban.

This video echoes the work created by the Seeding Resiliency research artists Jose Miguel  Esteban, Kali Kennedy (Iewennotaties), Atri Nundy, bee pallomina and Ravyn Wngz. Following the screening, there will be a circle conversation with Miggy and some of the artists.

This program has been supported by the Canada Council of the Arts’ Strategic Innovation Seed Grant and sponsored by Atlantic Ballet and AFBS.

Dance presenters! You are invited to join a 5-part workshop series offered by Pam Tzeng & Kai Cheng Thom!

Trauma-Informed Practices - Tuesday, October 17, 12:30PM ET

Embodied Consent - Tuesday, October 24, 12:30PM ET

Conflict Resolution Part 1 - Tuesday, October 31, 12:30PM ET

Conflict Resolution Part 2 - Tuesday, November 14, 12:30PM ET

Follow Up / Integration Session - Tuesday, November 21, 12:30PM ET

Hosted by CDA and The CanDance Network

Do you need health care coverage?

Join the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists - East (CADA/East) and the Canadian Dance Assembly (CDA) to learn all about the AFBS Arts & Entertainment Health Plan coverage.

This health insurance plan is available to all eligible members of CADA/East and CDA to cover dental, prescription, travel, extended health care, and more. Learn all about this important membership benefit, how to sign up, and how to make the most of your plan.

We are joined by our special guest Jason Saulay - Assistant Director, Benefit Operations at AFBS.

Jason is responsible for managing client relationships, growing the business across the country, and assisting with benefit operations. Jason has been in the benefits space for over 25 years and prides himself on the industry relationships he has developed and on providing great customer service.

Access Notes:

* Everyone is welcome (members and non-members)

* English-language event

* Caregiver friendly meeting (show up how you need)

* English auto-captions will be enabled

* ASL Interpretation is available

* This meeting is not recorded. We will share some materials after with all who register.

📆 Monday, January 16th

⏰ Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM ET

CDA is embarking on an exciting new digital journey with the Linked Digital Future Initiative (LDFI).

Led by CAPACOA and co-organized with the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists/West Chapter (CADA/West), the LDFI has collaborated with membership-based art service organizations across Canada to link and open publicly available membership data. The aim of this data-sharing process is to make performing arts information findable to help build better connections in our sector – between dance artists and audiences – in the digital age.

There are many benefits to this type of data sharing and through CDA’s collaboration with the LDFI we hope to sustain the dance sector by making information about you and your work findable and accessible.

All dance organizations and individuals, members and non-members are welcome. Attendance is free, pre-registration is required.

We aim to offer an inclusive space to support what arises and work from a place of care. 

ACCESS:

• Auto-captions available (in English and French)
• This is a caregiver friendly meeting; we realize the complexities of our living situations and welcome you to show up as you need.

👥 Why are the audiences not coming back to theatres and concert halls?

🤔 Is it just a matter of time, or do we need to make significant changes to re-connect with existing audiences - and build connections with new ones?

🎟 We’ve invited experts who have tracked arts and culture consumer attitudes and perspectives since very early in the pandemic to share insights on ever-evolving patron attitudes, and how we might best respond to what patrons are telling us.

📆 Webinar date: Friday, 25 November 2022

⏰ Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

💰 Cost: Free

🔠 Interpretation options: French-English simultaneous interpretation, ASL, LSQ and automatic AI generated closed captioning in English and French.

The AFC Reactivation Program serves independent and self-employed choreographers, dance dramaturges, rehearsal directors, lighting designers, technical directors, stage managers, production managers, costume designers, and more, in dance and other performing arts. 

Please join us at the online info session Wednesday, November 30, with David Hope, Executive Director of The AFC. Please click here to register and share this info.

The Reactivation Program provides short-term financial help of $2,500 to cover living expenses/pandemic debt or professional costs such as training fees, licenses, memberships, equipment, or other expenses related to your work. You can be employed and apply! Applications are assessed as soon as they are submitted, so people are encouraged to apply now. The program is funded by Canadian Heritage, Performing Arts Workers Resilience Fund (CPAWRF).)  

✨ Lockdowns are behind us, mask mandates have been dropped, social distancing is no longer required, and the doors of concert halls and theatres in Canada are wide open. And yet in many venues, ticket sales are not picking up. What is going on?

🎟 We are inviting experts from Canada and the United States to share insights on box office data in the performing arts and provide some clarity on some of the burning questions on everyone’s mind: Where are our audiences? How do we bring them back?

• Eric Nelson, Client Engagement Officer, TRG Arts
• William César Lareau, Synapse C
• Cécile LePage, Manager, Arts Section, Tourism, Heritage and Culture, Government of New Brunswick

This webinar will be facilitated by Frédéric Julien, Director of Research of Development, CAPACOA.

This workshop is a practically focused, experiential dive into what it means to practice consent in the world of dance. Participants will be offered useful “maps” and visuals that bring clarity to commonly used but often vaguely defined terms such as boundaries, limits and needs.  The workshop will also provide an opportunity to practice developing one’s inner sense of consent through the body and a practical “toolkit” for creating consent-centric group dynamics and working agreements. These tools can be immediately integrated into a professional dance context. Presented by professional mediator, group facilitator, and somatic coach Kai Cheng Thom and conflict consultant and dance artist Pam Tzeng.

Tending to the spaces between us with Kai Cheng Thom

What is a trauma-informed practice, and how can we be in relationship with and learn from the complexities of our individual and collective experiences? We invite new ways of learning and growth through an awareness of the body and its connection to others. In this 2 hour session, Kai Cheng Thom will present a resilience-based approach to creating and nurturing communities from a trauma informed lens.

Engaging in dialogue around the stories in our bodies

CDA invites you to an intimate conversation with Indigenous artists. Created and facilitated by Olivia C. Davies, we aim to welcome a space of open learning. 

Curatorial Statement:

We all are carrying stories in our bodies. Choosing how these stories will be revealed through the act of choreography is an act of cultural continuation by Indigenous dance artists. Contemporary Indigenous dance provides a fluid container for the stories, myths, legends, and fantasies of the creator and their collaborators. Elements of blood memory interwoven with patterns from the natural and artificial worlds we live in often combine to bring about new ways of expressing self-determination. In this Talking Truths circle conversation, four exceptional Indigenous choreographers from across Turtle Island come together to share a discussion around their ways of incorporating care-centred practices in new creations. Witnesses are invited to join our circle and listen as ideas are shared in a spirit of generosity and openness to learn.

Facilitated by Olivia C. Davies

With guests: Jeanette Kotowich, Emilie Solstice-Tait, Brian Solomon, Lara Kramer

Empower Hour with the Canada Council for the Arts

Funding info for organizational applicants with the Canada Council

Canadian Dance Assembly (CDA) and Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) hosts with guests from Canada Council for the Arts.

In this meeting the Canada Council will share updates and programming changes that affect the dance sector. Topics in this 2-hour meeting include:

Identifying re-opening funding

Providing context on the new Canada Council operations

Sharing the impact of the Canada Council’s strategic directions in terms of equity, diversity, inclusion and reconciliation

Open floor to have your questions answered

We recognize the different funding streams for organizations or individuals and offer separate meetings to serve both communities; you are welcomed to come to both!

Empower Hour with the Canada Council for the Arts

Supporting independent artists’ access to the flow of funding streams

Canadian Dance Assembly (CDA) and Regroupement québécois de la danse (RQD) hosts with guests from Canada Council for the Arts.

In this meeting the Canada Council will share updates and programming changes that affect the dance sector.  Topics in this 2-hour meeting include:

• Identifying re-opening funding
• Providing context on the new Canada Council operations
• Sharing the impact of the Canada Council’s strategic directions in terms of equity, diversity, inclusion and reconciliation
• Open floor to have your questions answered

We recognize the different funding streams for organizations or individuals and offer separate meetings to serve both communities; you are welcomed to come to both!

Empower Hour with SCALE

Activating the dance sector in the climate change conversation

Climate emergency is one of the greatest challenges confronting human society. How are artists and dance companies responding? How can we “connect the dots” between our work and the effects of climate change? What new roles can arts organizations play in leading the way to a culture shift and a more just, resonant, resilient future?  

Join us for a discussion led by SCALE – a new “network of networks” activating the arts and culture sector in the climate emergency. In the first part of the session, Judi Pearl and Anthony Garoufalis-Auger will introduce SCALE and its vision for how artists and arts organizations can respond to the climate crisis. They will unpack with the audience new roles for dance companies and dancers in the face of the emergency. Participants will gain knowledge, resources and networks to enact change in your life, your company, and your community.

Q&A ses­sion com­ing!

📆 Mon­day, Jan­u­ary 16th

⏰ Time: 1:00 – 2:15 PM ET

CDA is embark­ing on an excit­ing new dig­i­tal jour­ney with the Linked Dig­i­tal Future Ini­tia­tive (LDFI).

Led by CAPACOA and co-orga­nized with the Cana­di­an Alliance of Dance Artists/West Chap­ter (CADA/West), the LDFI has col­lab­o­rat­ed with mem­ber­ship-based art ser­vice orga­ni­za­tions across Cana­da to link and open pub­licly avail­able mem­ber­ship data. The aim of this data-shar­ing process is to make per­form­ing arts infor­ma­tion find­able to help build bet­ter con­nec­tions in our sec­tor – between dance artists and audi­ences – in the dig­i­tal age.

There are many ben­e­fits to this type of data shar­ing and through CDA’s col­lab­o­ra­tion with the LDFI we hope to sus­tain the dance sec­tor by mak­ing infor­ma­tion about you and your work find­able and acces­si­ble.

All dance orga­ni­za­tions and indi­vid­u­als, mem­bers and non-mem­bers are wel­come. Atten­dance is free, pre-reg­is­tra­tion is required.

We aim to offer an inclu­sive space to sup­port what aris­es and work from a place of care. 

ACCESS:

• Auto-cap­tions avail­able (in Eng­lish and French)
• This is a care­giv­er friend­ly meet­ing; we real­ize the com­plex­i­ties of our liv­ing sit­u­a­tions and wel­come you to show up as you need.

👥 Why are the audi­ences not com­ing back to the­atres and con­cert halls?

🤔 Is it just a mat­ter of time, or do we need to make sig­nif­i­cant changes to re-con­nect with exist­ing audi­ences — and build con­nec­tions with new ones?

🎟 We’ve invit­ed experts who have tracked arts and cul­ture con­sumer atti­tudes and per­spec­tives since very ear­ly in the pan­dem­ic to share insights on ever-evolv­ing patron atti­tudes, and how we might best respond to what patrons are telling us.

📆 Webi­nar date: Fri­day, 25 Novem­ber 2022

⏰ Time: 1:00 – 2:00 PM ET

💰 Cost: Free

🔠 Inter­pre­ta­tion options: French-Eng­lish simul­ta­ne­ous inter­pre­ta­tion, ASL, LSQ and auto­mat­ic AI gen­er­at­ed closed cap­tion­ing in Eng­lish and French.

🔗 Reg­is­ter Now: http://bit.ly/3txLtQq

The AFC Reac­ti­va­tion Pro­gram serves inde­pen­dent and self-employed chore­o­g­ra­phers, dance dra­maturges, rehearsal direc­tors, light­ing design­ers, tech­ni­cal direc­tors, stage man­agers, pro­duc­tion man­agers, cos­tume design­ers, and more, in dance and oth­er per­form­ing arts. 

Please join us at the online info ses­sion Wednes­day, Novem­ber 30, with David Hope, Exec­u­tive Direc­tor of The AFC. Please click here to reg­is­ter and share this info.

The Reac­ti­va­tion Pro­gram pro­vides short-term finan­cial help of $2,500 to cov­er liv­ing expenses/pandemic debt or pro­fes­sion­al costs such as train­ing fees, licens­es, mem­ber­ships, equip­ment, or oth­er expens­es relat­ed to your work. You can be employed and apply! Appli­ca­tions are assessed as soon as they are sub­mit­ted, so peo­ple are encour­aged to apply now. The pro­gram is fund­ed by Cana­di­an Her­itage, Per­form­ing Arts Work­ers Resilience Fund (CPAWRF).)  

✨ Lock­downs are behind us, mask man­dates have been dropped, social dis­tanc­ing is no longer required, and the doors of con­cert halls and the­atres in Cana­da are wide open. And yet in many venues, tick­et sales are not pick­ing up. What is going on?

🎟 We are invit­ing experts from Cana­da and the Unit­ed States to share insights on box office data in the per­form­ing arts and pro­vide some clar­i­ty on some of the burn­ing ques­tions on everyone’s mind: Where are our audi­ences? How do we bring them back?

• Eric Nel­son, Client Engage­ment Offi­cer, TRG Arts
• William César Lareau, Synapse C
• Cécile LeP­age, Man­ag­er, Arts Sec­tion, Tourism, Her­itage and Cul­ture, Gov­ern­ment of New Brunswick

This webi­nar will be facil­i­tat­ed by Frédéric Julien, Direc­tor of Research of Devel­op­ment, CAPACOA.

Co-devel­oped and facil­i­tat­ed by Kai Cheng Thom and Pam Tzeng

In this work­shop, par­tic­i­pants will gain the per­spec­tive and tools need­ed to enter, engage with, and exit con­flict with greater con­fi­dence and ease. We will explore how con­flict com­mon­ly devel­ops in com­mu­ni­ty and pro­fes­sion­al set­tings, with a spe­cif­ic focus on the Cana­di­an dance con­text. The facil­i­ta­tors will also pro­vide a sim­ple frame­work for under­stand­ing how con­flict impacts the body and the brain.  We will prac­tice using body-based tools such as breath­work, move­ment, and visu­al­iza­tion can sup­port us to meet con­flict with less anx­i­ety, as well as strate­gies to approach con­flict as an oppor­tu­ni­ty for per­son­al and rela­tion­ship growth. 

Is the Cana­da Coun­cil for the Arts’ new por­tal leav­ing you puz­zled?
It’s the least we can say. The new por­tal is chal­leng­ing.

Join us to meet the CCA team and seize the oppor­tu­ni­ty to ask ques­tions or offer your feed­back.

Fri­day, Decem­ber 5th at 2 pm EST | On zoom

Access Notes
* Every­one is wel­come (mem­bers and non-mem­bers)
* Eng­lish-French lan­guage event
* ASL inter­pre­ta­tion
* Care­giv­er-friend­ly meet­ing (show up how you need)
* Auto-cap­tions will be enabled
* This meet­ing is not record­ed. CCA will share some mate­ri­als after with all who reg­is­ter.