Meet Canoo member Vikash Raghoebier.

“I chose Canada because of its liberal laws and accepting culture,” says Vikash, “What I love most about Canada is that you can be your true authentic self here, and the beautiful landscapes.”

“To me, inclusion means the unprejudiced offering of equality, respect, and dignity to an individual,” he adds.

Vikash’s favourite place in Canada is Montreal. “The versatility of this country is reflected in this fun and bustling city where arts and cuisines are curated with finesse and cultures are celebrated with splendour,” he says. “Montreal is also a historic time capsule with captivating architecture, which made me nostalgic of a past unknown. I made friends there amazingly fast!”

In Montreal, Vikash has enjoyed visiting cultural venues with Canoo. “Cultural places are the playground where social dynamics are formed very early on in the process of integration. Hence the development of social inclusion depends on the cultural places,” he says. “Canoo has been the best gift one could receive as a new Canadian citizen. After all these months with Canoo, I feel I know my country more than I did before and the traveling has nourished me emotionally and spiritually.”

Claire Oliver, left, is the audience development officer at Danse Danse.

Danse Danse has been bringing the best of local and international contemporary dance to audiences in Montreal since 1998. Their commitment to promoting dance and its appreciation has seen Danse Danse’s work grow from showcasing performances, to creating education programs geared to youth and schools, to creating a dedicated audience development department in 2015. We recently spoke with Claire Oliver, audience development officer, about Danse Danse’s work, dance as a common language, and the ways in which diversity shapes an organization.

Could you tell us a bit about Danse Danse and your role at the organization?
Danse Danse is a contemporary dance presenter. In other words, the organization presents shows by local and international contemporary dance companies. For our 22nd season, 12 companies will present a total of 60 shows and two school matinees at the larger Théâtre Maisonneuve (1,400 seats) and the more intimate Cinquième Salle (300 seats) at Place des Arts.

Since its beginnings, Danse Danse’s mission has focused on promoting contemporary dance and audience development. As such, in 2015 it created an audience development department to make performing arts more accessible and make people more aware of them. My colleague Anne-Sophie Viens and myself are developing inclusive projects in schools and communities, and with the new citizens that we’ve been happy to welcome to our shows since 2018!

Montreal is a vibrant city, known for its diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and religions. How has this shaped and impacted Danse Danse?
Montréal is extremely rich in cultural diversity and many of the creators presented by Danse Danse are established in Québec but come from other countries: Algeria, Venezuela, Mexico… Not to mention the dancers. There are a lot of international companies in addition to all the local ones, and the total number of performances makes Danse Danse the leading contemporary dance season in Canada. Since its beginnings, Danse Danse has presented foreign companies from 23 countries and five continents.

As for the audience, a recent study* has shown that our audience is proportionally more culturally diverse than the population of the city of Montréal. Our office team, for its part, has people from Germany, China, France, Lebanon and Québec working together (our potlucks are phenomenal), and everyone contributes their own enriching background to our work, which addresses emotions, expression, and identity.

* 2018 Canada Post profile analysis 

How is dance, as a medium, inclusive? How is it accessible?
Dance has been around since…prehistoric times! To celebrate, conduct rituals, socialize… dance has been used as a form of expression on all continents. Also, there’s basically only one tool required: our body. Without words, there’s no language barrier.

In addition, contemporary dance has largely democratized the representation of the human body on stage: it can be tall, small, muscled, thin, it can have physical limitations…

There are dance classes offered for all ages and conditions: for toddlers, seniors, people with reduced mobility. Dance truly is an artistic medium that brings people together. There’s something for everyone, so go ahead, dance!

Tell us a bit about your Get Youth into Dance program, and how it encourages participation and connection
Danse Danse created the Get Youth into Dance program in 2005. The program, which is run with the funds collected during our annual fundraising campaign, gives several hundred youth the chance to see our shows for free every season. Youth centres, schools in underprivileged neighbourhoods and community organizations that work with vulnerable populations can thus bring youths to a Danse Danse show and be greeted by an ambassador that provides information and guidance before, during, and after the show. It creates a special space for expression, listening, and sharing.

To date, over 6,800 youth have had the opportunity to use the program. There are also 930 new citizens who have had the chance to see our shows for free and some have attended a movement workshop with a special guest from the season!

How have initiatives such as the Get Youth into Dance program changed Danse Danse as an organization?
The Get Youth into Dance program also gives youth a voice. We hear that voice and it helps us grow and move forward.  The guidance and resources for the program evolve throughout the years. And it has led to several other projects! In fact, it is the key to our cultural actions: the projects we’re creating, the resources we’re developing, and the partnerships we’re building.
The audience development department as such was born out of this desire and need to go further in guiding audiences that are less interested in or aware of our offer and contemporary dance.

Do you notice any difference in how audiences connect to performances when there is an element of mediation? Or any form of intervention to introduce new audiences to dance?
Mediation is a way to create connections between an individual and a piece. When youth participate in a workshop with an artist whom they then get to see on stage, it has an immediate impact: they feel involved, proud, at home in a theatre that they wouldn’t necessarily have chosen to go to. They become stakeholders in the artistic experience.

When ambassadors speak to the youths before the show, their goal is to create connections between them and the piece they will see, to make them want to see the show.

It’s like magic when you see the connection forming: the feeling that art has no boundaries, that it brings people together and immerses them in an intimate and creative experience. It’s experiencing our deepest emotions and letting them soar.

How does Danse Danse encourage inclusivity outside of the theatre?
In addition to presenting shows, Danse Danse organizes dance workshops, backstage visits, and workshops for audience members at the theatre, in studios, or even in schools and community centres. Artistic meetings can happen in places other than the theatre. We can also meet the public wherever it is.

We also have a partnership with an art gallery – Arsenal, Contemporary Art – that provides dance artists with a creative space for a few weeks and ends with a public presentation of the work they have done.

We’re working on multiplying our inclusive projects for the general public: youth, new citizens and seniors (a pilot project is coming soon), so that we can bring the joy of dance to an ever-increasing audience!

Which of your initiatives are you most proud of and why?
That’s a hard one…I feel fulfilled by my work because it relates to people, feelings, sharing. Regardless of the result – discovering a true passion, sharing a pleasant moment, feeling confused or at a loss – all artistic experiences can be constructive and important.

I’m just as proud of the little initiatives as the big ones. In fact, I’m proud to have been given the mandate to create the audience development department and make it grow with my amazing colleague Anne-Sophie Viens. And all that is possible thanks to Danse Danse’s drive and commitment.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

As of today, the Toronto Railway Museum has partnered with Canoo to welcome new Canadian citizens into their space with free admission.

Canoo is a mobile app that helps new Canadian citizens celebrate their citizenship by providing free admission to over 1400 museums, science centres, art galleries, parks, and historic sites across Canada.

The Toronto Railway Museum is housed in the historic John Street Roundhouse. They tell the stories of Toronto’s railways through exhibits and programs for the whole family.

Canoo members in Toronto and the surrounding area, check your app to learn more about the Toronto Railway Museum and to visit!

To find more places to visit near you, be sure to enable location services on the Canoo app. Learn more about the app on the Canoo Help Centre.

Canoo member Monique Brown came to Canada from Jamaica with her children in 2012. She received her Canadian citizenship in January of this year. She chose this country because, “Canada is well-known for a good quality of life, especially for families.”

After moving to Canada, Monique was able to fulfil her dream of returning to school and becoming a Registered Nurse. Now, in her spare time, she enjoys exploring with her children and volunteering. Monique is proud to be a new Canadian citizen and is excited to vote in the upcoming federal election later this month.

Monique has used her Canoo app for a family adventure to Montreal, using her VIA Rail discount to take the train to the city and her app to receive free admission at cultural locations.

“I used the Via Rail discount to travel to Montreal. It was a fantastic adventure!” says Monique, “We visited Mont Royal and Montreal Science Centre, [which] was spectacular. I was very surprised that Canada has a wonderful location like that and hasn’t really promoted it. My children and I had a lot of fun. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it considering that I am an adult. Initially, I thought the location was more geared towards children… [but] I learned a lot in my short visit there. We wanted to visit again but time did not permit.”

Monique enjoys visiting cultural locations, such as science centres, with her children to learn about Canada. “I believe cultural places play a role in building social inclusion by creating a safe place for persons from various backgrounds to congregate without feeling discriminated,” says Monique, “Also, it is my opinion that cultural places help to foster a sense of identity, local pride and positively impacts the social determinants of health.”

We recently spoke with Véronique Couillard, officer, media, public and Francophone relations and Alexis Boyle, community access, curator at the Ottawa Art Gallery. The OAG’s newest building imagines new ways of tackling acccesibility, and works with their community through out-reach programs. It’s clear that access, inclusion, and innovation are at the forefront of everything they do; how they structure their programming; who they bolster in their exhibitions, and even in how they’ve designed their new building.

The Ottawa Art Gallery opened up a new building in 2018 and its architecture speaks to accessibility in ways that people don’t necessarily think about. Could you talk a little bit about the design of the OAG and how it encourages participation?

Véronique: I’ve worn many hats and a long, long time ago, I was in public programs and that’s when I first started to be involved with redesigning the building. We worked with KPMB Architects but the vision of the building very much came from Alexandria Badzak, our director and CEO, who made sure to include staff in this process.

We would sit at meetings … and all imagine what the Gallery should be or could be. And in that, of course, we talked about things like what kind of flooring and where should the groups come in, and how high the ceilings should be, but we also talked about this [as] an opportunity to rethink accessibility in … a broader way … like being welcoming.

Physically, it meant that we wanted to have … everything in the building accessible to anyone who might not be mobile or be able to walk.…We also decided to stay free — our admission is free in the whole building, and we offer free childcare every Friday evening. Kids are super welcome in exhibition spaces, but if parents or guardians want a couple of hours of free time to look at art, that’s an option.

We also extended our hours, so [the redesign] was also an opportunity to look at other barriers, not just physical barriers, but also social and economic; what makes someone not be able to come to the Gallery?

The new layout of the OAG is rather inviting, with several entrances and no front desk.  Can you speak to the new design?

V: It’s true that upon walking in one of our two main entrances, the first thing you encounter is not a desk! You will see people sipping on coffee in Jackson, a beautiful staircase, interior windows to give you a peek in exhibition spaces, or even art right in the lobby. In a sense this is about removing a physical barrier or any kind of sense that one might feel like they shouldn’t go further.

What does accessibility mean to the OAG and what does it look like?

V: It means that we’re part of a conversation, I think that’s the best way to put it. We’ll never be finished with being accessible, you know? It can’t be a mould or a cookie cutter situation, we have to keep kind of looking into it, researching, or working with partners.

One way we learned that is [by working] with Carmen Papalia, who is an artist based in Vancouver. Carmen describes himself as a non-visual learner, and we worked with him and a place called VocalEye, also based in Vancouver. These two partners helped us in terms of accessibility, looking at how we design exhibitions and our interpretative materials like tours.

We looked at becoming accessible audio-wise … [and at] the height of objects in galleries to make sure that objects are not way up high, and either if you’re shorter or sitting, you can still enjoy the art.

I think is best to … at each opportunity that we can … re-think and re-define accessibility, either because of a new exhibit, a new theme, a new audience, or because we have a new partner, or a new project in the community, and just keeping in mind that it has to be flexible and flowing.

Could you speak about your program, Mine the Gap?

Alexis: Mine the Gap was funded by the Ontario Seniors Grant, and a big part of the program was being able to host older adults and folk from outside of the downtown core. We were able to provide transportation to and from OAG, which is a big one when it comes to diversity accessibility. It’s not just ‘can wheelchairs go through the doors.’

And what were some lessons that you learned from Mine the Gap?

A: Just that we should keep doing this. It was so well received. I think it is quite obvious that this kind of inter-generational programming that brings folks in different communities together for exchange through art experiences is needed.

People love the Ottawa Art Gallery … let’s keep bringing them and adapting programming specifically for their community. Whether that means translators for the tour, or adapting the workshops.

V: What I extracted from it is that … there needs to be more opportunities for inter-generational programs, and that initiatives that are designed for us, by us, work really well. It just ensures that the programming that we do is relevant. Because we’re connected to the community and we’re constantly asking ourselves questions, letting other people be hands on and almost take over our programming if you will, that is also being accessible and welcoming.

What do you mean by “letting other people take over the programming”?

V: We have two concrete examples of that. OAG has a Youth Council, and also Art Wise, which is an older adult council. I’ll call them volunteers, but they’re volunteer council members. And they, along with Alexis, organize programs, series, or events based on what they identify as a need, and based on partnerships they create themselves, and basically the Gallery becomes, in a way, just the venue. We let these two groups lead the activities and those turn out to be a huge success, because we can’t know everything, we can’t be on the pulse of everything, and it’s a way of giving a voice.

On your website, you talk about how Music and Portraits worked to break down barriers. Could you speak to how the event achieved that?

A: Most of the seniors that participated, the Chinese traditional instrumentalists and Tai Chi performers, as well as members of Chinese Community service Centre, didn’t speak English. We had high school art students from Canterbury High School sketching their performances.…It was a giant room filled with beautiful music and dancing, and students just sitting on the floor, around, sketching as these performances happened. It was so beautiful and I think the performers were honoured to be able to share their gift in a large, professional space like that.

Even though verbal communication wasn’t possible, there was this tangible respect for one another’s talents … It was an example of how art and creative expressions, those languages can transcend.

N: Do you have any advice to other cultural institutions that are trying to be more inclusive in their practices and in their processes?

V: My one advice is that there’s probably somebody out there already doing it. For us, we know that there are groups, or there’s an artist, or there’s a community out there that we can go to and partner with, or just invite over or ask for advice.

A: I would say look around at who’s not coming through the doors and who’s not participating in program – those are your target audiences. Whoever is not coming, go seek them out and create a program or a space, or touching relationship, and a reason to come. That being said … [with] some of the sensitive populations I work with, I often go to them. I’m doing off-site workshops once a month with people, and once that relationship of trust is built, I can invite them in, but it takes time, especially if I’m operating from a trauma-informed place.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

As of today, the Château Dufresne has partnered with Canoo to welcome new Canadian citizens into their space with free admission.

Canoo is a mobile app that helps new Canadian citizens celebrate their citizenship by providing free admission to over 1400 museums, science centres, art galleries, parks, and historic sites across Canada.

The Château Dufresne is a museum and national historic site located in Montreal, QC. Canoo members can use their mobile app to enjoy free, general admission for themselves and up to four children every time they visit the Château Dufresne.

A rare historic monument since 1976, Château Dufresne is a semi-detached residence built by brothers Oscar and Marius Dufresne (1915-1918), two important figures of the French-speaking bourgeoisie in Montreal. Its architecture and interior design take us back to the prosperous atmosphere of the early 20th century, and reflect the aspirations, mentalities and tastes of the influential and avant-garde French-Canadian bourgeoisie of the time. Its wall decorations, painted in the 1920s by the Florentine artist Guido Nincheri (1885-1973), represent his most important secular work.

Canoo members in Montreal and the surrounding area, check your app to learn more about Château Dufresne and to visit!

To find more places to visit near you, be sure to enable location services on the Canoo app. Learn more about the app on the Canoo Help Centre

Neelam Kushwaha became a Canadian citizen in September 2018.

“I came to Canada with my son who was two to accompany my spouse who was on work permit at that time,” Neelam explains, “We had no clue that we would like Canada so much that we would become a part of it. The reason we decided to stay in Canada was [because of] its multiculturalism, which doesn’t make us feel left behind as an individuals. There is always a feeling of togetherness. From the day you enter Canada, it makes you feel welcomed. Although it took us some years to become Canadian, it’s all worth it. It has opened a lot of opportunities for all of us.”

Neelam appreciates the Canoo program (formerly known as the Cultural Access Pass program) because of the knowledge allows her to provide to her children. “Since I have been homeschooling my son, [Canoo] has helped us much more than expected,” she says, “We repeatedly explore the Ontario Science Centre and Royal Ontario Museum to learn and understand science, nature, and Canadian history.”

When asked about the value of arts and culture to new Canadian citizens, Neelam explains that the program allows new citizens to appreciate the many cultures of this country. “Because the entry is free for [many different] museums and galleries, it lets you [experience] all cultures that exist in Canada,” she says, “It makes you appreciate and value different cultures within Canada and that are part of your community. ‘It’s easy to make friends when you about them.’”

As of today, Sharon Temple National Historic Site and Museum has partnered with Canoo to welcome new Canadian citizens into their space with free admission.

Canoo is a mobile app that helps new Canadian citizens celebrate their citizenship by providing free admission to over 1400 museums, science centres, art galleries, parks, and historic sites across Canada.

Sharon Temple is a museum located in East Gwillimbury, ON. Canoo members can use their mobile app to enjoy free, general admission for themselves and up to four children every time they visit Sharon Temple.

The Sharon Temple was constructed by the Children of Peace, an Upper Canada Quaker sect from 1825 – 1831. The Temple is an architectural symbol of their vision of a society based on the values of peace, equality and social justice.

Canoo members in East Gwillimbury and the surrounding area, check your app to learn more about Sharon Temple and to visit!

To find more places to visit near you, be sure to enable location services on the Canoo app. Learn more about the app on the Canoo Help Centre

Meet Canoo member Viri Sanchez. Viri came to Canada from Mexico in 2005 with the help of a friend from Calgary.

“I was so lucky to meet my friend Amanda while she was working in Playa del Carmen, Mexico,” explains Viri. “We both worked at a hotel and quickly became friends. Amanda and her family very kindly offered to host me at their home in Calgary, AB. I instantly fell in love with Calgary and the Canadian customs, the wide-open spaces, clean air, the kindness of people, [and] especially Amanda’s family. They helped me for the first two years when I arrived. It was Brenda, Amanda’s mother, who suggested I study cosmetology at a time when it seemed like I was out of options to stay and live in Canada. Thanks to this Canadian family, I found friendship, a new family and opportunities for the future. Afterwards, I started working at a hair salon, where my boss Margo, also an immigrant, was very supportive and we started the process for permanent residence.

“I feel even more so I belong in this beautiful country [after becoming a citizen]. Every time I tell someone I became a citizen, they always show me a warm smile and even hugs, congratulating me on this great achievement. I feel that now I can continue moving forward building a great life for myself and my family knowing that I am Canadian and we are welcomed. Here in Canada, I have found the best quality of life, friends, inclusion, a safe and peaceful place to build a family, and endless possibilities.”

Viri has already started using her Canoo app to explore venues in and around Calgary.  “[I visited] the Glenbow Museum,” says Viri, “It showed me so much more about Canadian history, culture and heritage. I have also used [Canoo] to visit Banff National Park. Being in the mountains is always a relaxing and enjoyable experience; during summer, my husband and I go for hikes and camping, during winter, we like to snowboard. Cultural places are proof of the welcoming heart of Canada and its constant evolution thanks to multiculturalism.”

“Because we had to work hard to get Canadian citizenship, we are also making a choice to be a Canadian,” explains Viri, “When we finally become [citizens], we appreciate it with a different perspective; we see new beginnings and new opportunities, [and] we are so grateful to be accepted, to become a part of it. We were not so lucky to have been born here, but we now feel the luckiest to have found it and to be welcomed.”

Sandra Lourdes Murillo Paz moved to Edmonton from Mexico in 2010 to join her family, who had moved there a few years prior.

She received her citizenship this year and was most excited to vote. Voting is important to Sandra because it enables her to make her “new country better for everyone.”

She has already used her Canoo app to start exploring her city, including the Art Gallery of Alberta. She plans to use her VIA Rail discount and her Canoo app to explore more of Canada during the summer months.

Sandra volunteers, when she has time, in the arts and creative community in Edmonton. She believes that the Canoo program is important because it allows new Canadian citizens to explore arts and culture in Canada. “It helps me to understand the importance of arts and cultural diversity, and promotes knowledge about who we are [as a country],” she says.