projectSEED
An evolving container for creative process and choreographic re-imagination, each chapter of projectSEED is developed in collaboration with a mentor: David Norsworthy (Toronto/Sweden), Liam Francis (UK), Peggy Baker (Toronto).

During this residency, the collective will be developing David Norsworthy’s score Self-Sustaining Situation and beginning work on Liam Francis’ Dual Till the Death, in preparation for further development later this season.

Self-Sustaining Situation – score by David Norsworthy

“I am interested in improvisation, but not whim.”
— David Norsworthy

This work explores structured improvisation as a choreographic framework. Beginning with a mirroring/copying task, the work evolves into a self-generating movement system. Dancers respond in real time, drawing from embodied experience to navigate an unfolding landscape of choices and demands.

The score treats presence not as performance, but as necessity — a continual attentional exercise where each task fuels the next. The result is a choreography of interdependence, problem-solving, and deep responsiveness, where control is relinquished in favor of lived immediacy.

“The choreography that compels me is constructed in a way that presence is necessitated — not as a theatrical device, but as a way to navigate an otherwise impossible situation.”
— David Norsworthy

Dual Till the Death – Duet by Liam Francis

Dual Till the Death is a multi-award-winning duet exploring the duality of human nature:
the mature and the juvenile,
the tender and the aggressive,
the conscious and the subconscious.

Through a dynamic interplay of movement and emotional tension, the work examines how contradiction lives in the body — and how conflict may originate not between individuals, but within.

As the boundary between internal and external struggle begins to blur, the work poses the question: Are our conflicts ever really with anyone other than ourselves?

In good company
“Where do we come from? Where are we going? Who are we moving with?”

in good company is a contemporary dance collective founded by Rakeem Hardy, Jia Yi (Judy) Luo, and Katherine Semchuk. As artists working nationally and internationally, they identified a shared desire to cultivate stability and artistic depth within Toronto’s dance community — the place they call home.

The collective serves as a vessel for exchanging experience, evolving values, and creative inquiry through movement. Rooted in curiosity and care, in good company fosters relationship-building, continuity in practice, and opportunities to inhabit and perform dancework, formally and informally.

Through ongoing peer-to-peer professional development, the collective supports diverse processes and practices, encourages critical conversation, and builds bridges across artistic communities.

Collaborating Artists

David Norsworthy (he/him) – dance Artist, choreographer, curator/producer
Tkarón:to/Toronto

David Norsworthy is a Toronto-based dance artist of mixed Japanese immigrant and British settler descent. A graduate of The Juilliard School, he is recognized as “an exceptionally lucid performer, impressive and articulate” (The Globe and Mail).

His choreographic and performance work spans Canada, the US, Sweden, and Australia, and includes full-length independent creations, international tours, and commissions for professional companies, universities, and schools.

David’s practice emphasizes community-building through co-creation, cultivating participatory environments that explore emotion and dialogue through improvisational structures. His work centers presence, not perfection, and values deep questioning and unfolding process.

He is the recipient of the Living Arts Centre’s Ron Lenyk Award, a finalist for the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Emerging Artist Award, a former Board Member of CanAsian Dance, and a part-time Rehearsal Director at Norrdans (Sweden). He currently serves as Co-Founder/Co-Director of TOES FOR DANCE and Co-Executive Artistic Producer at DanceWorks.

Liam Francis – dance artist, choreographer
Brighton, UK

Liam Francis is a UK-based choreographer and performer. He began his career with Zoonation Dance Company (2009–2014) and later became a lead dancer with Rambert Dance Company (2014–2021), where he originated roles in works by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Merce Cunningham, Sharon Eyal, Wayne McGregor, Ben Duke, Hofesh Shechter, and others.

In 2021, Liam was nominated as ‘Dancer of the Year’ by Dance Europe and ‘Best Male Dancer’ by Tanz Magazine.

His choreographic practice, deeply informed by his 2022 master’s research on Flow State and Play, explores the relationship between text and movement in performance. In 2024, with support from Arts Council England, Liam is developing new work in collaboration with Ben Duke (LostDog) and Jill Johnson (Forsythe Company).

He has received choreographic commissions from Rambert, Skånes Dansteater, Ballett Theater Trier, Sally Dansgezelschap Maastricht, and Shechter2, and has presented his work in Hannover, London, New York, Oxford, Rome, and Rotterdam.

His duet Dual Till the Death won four awards at the Rotterdam International Duet Choreography Competition and one at Choreography Competition Hannover. In 2025, Liam will premiere his new creation, MIXTAPE, at the Dans Élargie Festival in Paris.