Kate Nankervis is a recognized dancer, choreographer, teacher, and curator. Her projects take forms of collaboration, artistic research, performance, installation, and exhibition where dance is intertwined with an embodiment of care, integrated lived experiences are centred, and relationships and inspirations with nature are collaborative guides.

Kate is a recipient of a danceWeb scholarship, ImpulsTanz- Vienna International Dance Festival (2019), the Ontario Arts Council’s Chalmers Fellowship in Dance Curation (2016), and the UNESCO Performing Arts Award (2008), and a graduate of York University’s BFA Hons. Dance program (2008).  

For over 15 years, she has been performing and collaborating with artists and choreographers from across Canada, among them are Amanda Acorn, Angie Cheng, Indefinable Folks (Andrew Tay, Joey Eddy, Jaz Fairy J, B. Solomon, Will Ellis and Robert Kingsbury), Ann Trépanier, Jenn Goodwin, and Vanessa Kimmons. As well international collaborations with Abhilash Ningappa (India), Angela Vitovec/Schubot (Berlin, Peru), Erato Tzavara (Athens), Amrita Hepi (Melbourne), and Tino Sehgal (Berlin).

Her work as a curator and programmer is rooted in embracing the lo-fi and do-it-together (d-i-t) community. As a co-artistic director of Toronto Dance Community Love-In from 2010 to 2019 and co-artistic director of hub14 art + performance from 2013 to 2016, Kate values fostering spaces that nurture artistic development, movement research, and creation within experimental dance and performance.

As a community arts organizer, she co-founded the Dance Together Festival, animating Mimico Square in South Etobicoke with open-air summer dance programs. She is a co-creator of DoorTODoor Dances, performing at long-term-care homes in their parking lots and gardens during pandemic lockdowns.

A generous teacher, she can be found facilitating dance workshops for all ages, including seniors and participants with disabilities, in community centres, malls, online and regularly with organizations such as Arts Etobicoke, Hellenic Homes for the Aged, and Toronto Dance Theatre.

Kate is based in Etobicoke/ Tkaranto, traditionally known as the territory of Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples. Her roots are in rural South Porcupine, Northern Ontario.

Photo by Zoja Smutny