Photos by Michael Slobodian (above), Jason Tse (below)
Zachary Cardwell shares dance with people of all ages, physical capabilities, and skill levels across North America. He is proud to be a queer artist working on Indigenous land we call Canada.
After graduating from Arts Umbrella’s Post-Secondary Dance Program, Zachary’s career began as a guest artist with Toronto DanceTheatre in 2018. He continues to perform and teach as a freelance artist in Toronto, Ontario.
Motivated by quality and accessible arts education, Zachary leads contemporary dance, ballet, improvisation, and creative movement workshops. Since 2022, Zachary has been on faculty at Canada's National Ballet School and has also guest taught at the University of Toronto (Performance Art under the Lens of Protest), Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, and Assemblée Internationale.
Programs engaged with community impact drives Zachary to question what dance can be, how dance can be, and for whom.
Zachary has had the pleasure of working closely with Crystal Pite in her capacity as a choreographer, repetiteur, and choreographic mentor from 2015-2017. Shaping a love for choreography and discussion, Zachary's curiosity for process and refinement enables dancers to explore creative voice and choice making. These qualities were cultivated in Banff Centre’s 2017 residency ‘The Creative Gesture: Collective Composition Lab for Music and Dance’ where ways of collaborating, hierarchical power dynamics, and roles of artists were questions deeply. The work that resonates with Zach respectfully explores individual curiosity, imagination, and expression with an emphasis on making choices and honouring unique voices.
Zachary has performed with Toronto Dance Theatre, Echo Chamber Toronto, Dusk Dances, Zata Omm, and hART dance as well as independent artists such as Samantha Sutherland, Jane Alison McKinney, and Alison Keery. His international presence spans Holland, Mexico, and Italy, sharing Canadian made work world wide.
