When Shannon McKenzie LeBlanc took over as artistic director of The Theatre on King (TTOK) in downtown Peterborough from founder Ryan Kerr in 2025, she knew it was important to carry on his tradition of producing the “small dance for a small space” festival.
Her first festival at the helm is taking place from Thursday, May 14 to Saturday, May 16 with performances beginning at 8 p.m. each evening. To limit barriers to access, advance tickets are available on a sliding scale price point from $10 to $20, or you can pay what you can at the door.
Launched by Kerr in 2013, the “small dance for a small space” festival continues to be an annual gathering that provides regional performance artists the opportunity to present new and in-progress works. Each work must be under 10 minutes long and must be performable in a 10-by-10-foot space — hence the name of the festival.
“It gives the performers a chance to present the work in front of an audience, gauge the reactions, and see how it feels to perform for people and not just for yourself in a rehearsal space,” says McKenzie LeBlanc. “It’s creating a sense of community and that there is space for all types of dance here, even if it’s more independent. It doesn’t have to be a big touring company; you don’t have to have professional experience. Everyone can dance.”
TTOK audiences will see some familiar faces and all-new performers during this year’s festival, presenting a range of dance styles.
The festival will see exciting new works from Naomi Duvall, Amy MacKenzie-Strizic and Mackenzie Phillips, Kevin Gallagher, and Liza Ingram. For one night only on Friday, May 15, Mintu Mari James will be performing her Bollywood-inspired piece that was part of Rough Cuts #2 presented by Public Energy Performing Arts in March this year.
“A venue like this is really important because there aren’t too many creation hubs in town,” says McKenzie LeBlanc. “There’s been so many closures of different venues, and this is a really small intimate theatre that promotes experimental and risk-taking work, and that carries over into dance.”
For MacKenzie-Strizic, who will be performing at TTOK for the first time during the dance festival, it’s an opportunity to share her work in an intimate and accessible way. She and Phillips are teaming up for a duet silk fans act that is a re-working of a piece she did in February as part of a cirquelesque show (a fusion of circus and burlesque theatre) with the Peterborough Academy of Circus Arts.
The piece is based on the elemental bending from the Nickelodeon TV show Avatar: The Last Airbender, of which she is a huge fan.
“I love dressing up like the character, MacKenzie-Strizic says. “I love when people hear the opening lines of the music, and if you’re a fan of the TV show, you know exactly what’s going on, and that’s always really fun.”
“The silk fans are great because they’re this really great interface of dance and circus. I really move in this naturally flowy way that works with the circus props, the silk fans. We’re added a new piece, and we’ve reworked some parts in duet. We’re really excited.”
Phillips will be performing the piece solo on Thursday evening before MacKenzie-Strizic joins for the Friday and Saturday night performances.
Presenting the work in the black box theatre will be quite the contrast to the 350-seat venue at Market Hall Performing Arts Centre where MacKenzie-Strizic did the cirquelesque act previously, with access to a lot more space.
“It’s nice to be up close with the audience and be able to make more eye contact and really have them be part of the performance,” she says. “I think that’s going to work really well for our silk fans because what I love about them is almost the optical illusion when they’re moving through the air, and how it’s almost hard to focus your eye on where it’s going. I think that’s really impactful for this specific prop when you’re really up close.”
MacKenzie-Strizic says the local arts scene was one of the reasons she and her husband chose to move to Peterborough in 2021. Opportunities like the “small dance for a small space” festival, she says, continues to foster this community while providing spaces to test experimental works.
“Having these spaces for initial pieces and works-in-progress is really great to be able to bring the community together to have some low-pressure performances,” MacKenzie-Strizic says.
“I’m also excited to see people that are in the dance community get a little up close with some circus interaction bridging props like these silk fans and see how that interaction goes. I’m excited to join the two together and it might bring something a little bit new for audiences, if they’re only in the dance scene and not as much in the circus scene.”
For advance tickets or to reserve a seat, visit eventbrite.ca/e/1987861651712.
