A versatile dancer, choreographer, teacher, and performer with over seven years of professional experience across stage, screen, workshops, and live productions. Meepor blends artistic performance with a background in Sports Medicine. She is skilled in Afrofusion, Krump, Contemporary, Naija Urban, and Hip Hop, with extensive experience creating choreography, teaching dancers of varying levels, and leading movement-based training programs. A graduate of The DanceDeal Training Foundation Scholarship Programme and member of Bullz Fam (DCX), she has performed and choreographed for festivals, corporate productions, music videos, workshops, and youth arts initiatives across Nigeria and Canada.

Chantal Baudouin is an award-winning Acadian choreographer and performer based in Moncton, New Brunswick. A graduate of the Dance Arts Institute of Canada, she has performed with Toronto Dance Theatre, ProjectLIMB (New York), PPS Danse (Montréal), and Compagnie DansEncorps. Since 2018, she has created original works including Les Nœuds de Gustav, which toured Atlantic Canada, and the dance film Bagage. Selected to represent New Brunswick at the IXᵗʰ Jeux de la Francophonie, she is a two-time Éloizes Award recipient for Artist of the Year in Dance (2018, 2024) and is currently developing her second full-length creation.

Photo: Annie France Noël

Liam Caines performed with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet for 16 seasons, rising to the rank of Second, where he was known for his powerful and charismatic presence on stage. Since returning home to New Brunswick, Liam has been exploring his potentials in the Maritimes as a teacher, choreographer, and coach, while still occasioning the stage.

Monelle Doiron is a dance artist from Rang-St-Georges, New Brunswick. She studied Contemporary Dance at the Université du Québec à Montréal. After her studies, dance teaching took center stage in her career. It was upon her return to New Brunswick in 2009 that she began to create. She collaborates with several local artists, and in 2015 founds the collective Les Drôles de Moineaux with her life and creative partner visual artist Denis Lanteigne. Together, they explore performance, choreography and videodance. She receives the Éloizes award in the category Artist of the Year in Dance/Circus Arts with the video-dance choreographic exploration Les oiseaux in 2022.

Anna is an emerging Toronto-based dance artist and multidisciplinary creator. Their practice is rooted in contemporary dance, with a focus on improvisation, movement research, and choreography. Anna has studied at Ross Creek Centre for the Arts and SABO with artists including Darryl Tracy, Marie-Josée Chartier, and Sarah Porter. They were an original member of First City Dance Company (2021–2024) and participated in Connection Dance Works' Emerging Artist Program. Performance and choreographic credits include Still Buffering, a performance in Alexander Herrera's work at The Garage, and two original solo works presented at the Saint John Contemporary Dance Festival. They also work across costume design, puppetry, pottery, and visual arts.

Marcia is a dancer, choreographer, collaborator, and educator based in Saint John, New Brunswick. Her work has been presented throughout Atlantic Canada at venues including the Imperial Theatre, New Brunswick Museum, Contact East in Charlottetown and Atlantic Ballet Theatre’s IMPACTfest. Recognized as a senior artist in New Brunswick, she has received multiple creation grants and distinctions. Marcia develops multidisciplinary projects in collaboration with musicians, filmmakers, and visual artists, and her dance films have been showcased at festivals and with the Canadian Dance Assembly. She is the owner and director of First City School of Dance and serves as Creative Director for its Young Company, mentoring and guiding the next generation of professional dancers.

Raul is a theatre artist, contemporary dancer, and educator from Seville, Spain. He trained at the School of Dramatic Arts in Seville, the Andalusian Dance Centre, and SEAD (Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance). He has performed across Europe with artists including Doris Uhlich, Scott Graham (Frantic Assembly), and Simone Forti. Committed to art as a tool for transformation, he spent over a decade with Danza Mobile, a professional dance company and arts center for people with intellectual disabilities.

Now based in New Brunswick, he collaborates with Solo Chicken Productions and develops artistic projects across professional and educational settings.

Originally from Moncton, Julie is a dancer, choreographer, and educator with over 25 years of experience in performance, creation, and teaching. Trained in jazz at Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary, she has studied numerous codified techniques, including Matt Mattox, Luigi, Simonson, and Jump Rhythm, while also immersing herself in vernacular jazz, a form deeply rooted in African traditions.

Her artistic journey has taken her to national and international stages, from Finland to the Jeux de la Francophonie, as well as a year of touring with Carnival Cruise Lines. She has collaborated with renowned choreographers including Vicki Adams Willis, Kimberly Cooper, Pierre-Paul Savoie, and Serge Bennathan, and has been a three-time finalist at the Éloizes Gala in the Dance Artist of the Year category.

Still active as both a choreographer and performer, Julie is a senior jazz instructor at École DansEncorps. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in clinical research.

Established in 2021, First City Dance Company is a pre-professional/professional contemporary dance company founded and directed by Marcia Dysart. Through rigorous training,collective artistic practice, and performance, the company supports emerging artists as they transition from advanced studio training to professional dance careers.

Company members work alongside acclaimed choreographers and guest artists, including Darryl Tracy, Meredith Kalaman, Chantal Baudouin, Sarah Prosper, Chris Van Green, Liam Caines, and others, gaining valuable experience in creative research and new work development, rehearsal, and performance.

Performance is central to the company experience. First City Dance Company presents original works in formal concert settings, site-specific performances, festivals, and community events, providing dancers with professional-level opportunities to refine their artistry, expand their performance portfolios, and work within a collaborative creative process. Through mentorship, artistic exploration, and meaningful performance experiences, the company equips dancers with the skills and confidence to thrive in the evolving professional dance landscape.

Sydney Hallett (She/Her) is a choreographer/actor/dancer based in Fredericton, New Brunswick. She has a BA in Fine Arts and English (Drama) from St. Thomas University and has trained in physical theatre since 2017. She has worked with various local companies as a dance/theatre-maker such as Theatre New Brunswick, St. Thomas University, Solo Chicken Productions, Rogue Productions, and Saint John theatre Company, and creates her own dance works which have been featured in Connection Dance’s Perspective, Kinetic Studio’s Open Studio Series, and Carte Blanche Acadie. She is overjoyed to be back at the SJCDF performing her newest work!

Meredith Kalaman is a two time Chrystal Dance Prize recipient, dancer, choreographer and teacher. She has choreographed pieces about; giraffes, girl guiding, exploring constellations, superheroes, skeletons, past entertainers and female identity. Meredith trained with Ballet BC in Vancouver before embarking on her independent career dancing and performing in Canada, Europe and Australia. Past presentation highlights include Coastal Currents and Island Fringe performing in Jessica Lowe's work, Enchantress, working with theatre dramaturg Raina von Waldenburg, The Saint John Contemporary Dance Festival 2025, Dancing on the Edge in Vancouver and creating and collaborating with Mocean Dance. Her full length work Femme Fatales toured to Victoria, Edmonton and was presented at Uferstudios in Berlin in 2017. Along with her own creative projects Meredith is interested in shifting the context of how ballet relates to our 21st century bodies and inviting bodies to be in dynamic movement through education, sharing of knowledge and community engaged practices. Meredith also produces an immersive speakeasy event called The Underground in Halifax.

With 22 years of dance experience across a wide range of styles including jazz, tap, contemporary, hip hop, Irish, and ballet, Moira has cultivated a versatile and expressive movement practice rooted in both technical precision and emotional connection. Her work as a dancer has evolved into a growing focus on choreography, where she uses movement to explore her values around identity, perception, and human connection. At the core of her creative process is an interest in the relationship between performer and audience: a reciprocal gaze that allows both to witness and be witnessed.

Holly Timpener (they/them) is a queer, non-binary performance artist working with themes of resistance and transformation. Timpener’s works investigate issues related to gender, intimacy, trauma, and the body, while “The Personal Is Political” is embodied in a modern sociopolitical context. They have presented work for Month of Performance Art Berlin, The Art Gallery of Ontario, SummerWorks, The Bronx Museum, Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, La Centrale, Venice International Performance Art Week, among others. Timpener is honoured to have worked several times with La Pocha Nosta at Montreal Arts Interculturels, the Taos Paseo Festival, and Encuentro in Mexico City.

Winluck can't imagine how his life would have turned out without access to nature. It was on his first hike ever to a mountaintop where he penned his first poem that eventually set him on the path to performance art. Nature allowed him to believe he was capable of creativity and for that, he's eternally grateful. May everyone's own story with nature inspire them to do what they can to preserve this shared home of ours.

Established in 2021, First City Dance Company is a pre-professional/professional contemporary dance company founded and directed by Marcia Dysart. Through rigorous training,collective artistic practice, and performance, the company supports emerging artists as they transition from advanced studio training to professional dance careers.

Company members work alongside acclaimed choreographers and guest artists, including Darryl Tracy, Meredith Kalaman, Chantal Baudouin, Sarah Prosper, Chris Van Green, Liam Caines, and others, gaining valuable experience in creative research and new work development, rehearsal, and performance.

Performance is central to the company experience. First City Dance Company presents original works in formal concert settings, site-specific performances, festivals, and community events, providing dancers with professional-level opportunities to refine their artistry, expand their performance portfolios, and work within a collaborative creative process. Through mentorship, artistic exploration, and meaningful performance experiences, the company equips dancers with the skills and confidence to thrive in the evolving professional dance landscape.

Chris Van Green (he/they) is a multidisciplinary dance artist, educator, and wellness coach based in Mi’kma’ki/Nova Scotia. A graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University’s Theatre and Dance Performance program, Chris brings over a decade of professional experience spanning contemporary, ballet, jazz, heels, burlesque, and acrobatics.

He has worked with choreographers and companies including David Earle, James Kudelka, Fernando Melo, Ballet Jörgen, Hanna Kiel, Robert Glumbek, Connection Dance Works, Rooted Dance Projects, and Symphony Nova Scotia, among others. His career has taken him across Canada, living and teaching in cities such as Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, Vancouver, and Whitehorse, where he has shared his practice with dancers and movers nationwide.

Melissa is a dance educator, choreographer, and business owner based in Truro, NS. As an independent dance artist, she has performed and choreographed numerous works which have been presented at festivals such as Art At Night in New Glasgow, the St. John Contemporary Dance Festival and The Halifax Fringe Festival. Most recently, her new work To And Fro was presented at Carte Blanche in Moncton, NB. Melissa is a mentor with DANS’s Ready to Rise program and a four-time nominee for the RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneur Awards.

Kelli Wray is a New Brunswick spiritual artist residing in Saint John. She uses interpretive dance, photography, written word and energy work to share stories that inspire connection to self and community. Environmental and societal impacts are driving forces behind her creations and there is vulnerability in the work as a stage and street performer through improvisational movements that are honest and raw. Kelli’s body of work touches on themes of strength, resilience, courage, hope and despair. She facilitated Meditation In Movement for over 10yrs offering the freedom of barefoot dancing and body attunement to others.

Hiroto Yamaguchi is a dancer and choreographer.
Began ballet training at four. Studied at Ellison Ballet in New York, joined the South Bohemian Ballet in Czech Republic, he performed repertoires choreographed by Petr Zuska, Jarek Cemerek, and DEKKADANCERS.
Since 2023, Yamaguchi has joined Atlantic Ballet Atlantique Canada, performing principal roles choreographed by Igor Dobrovolskiy.

Yamaguchi's work explores the physical presence of the body and its capacity for transformation, blending ballet, contemporary, hip-hop, and Japanese dance influences.
In addition to choreography, he composes original music for his works.
His works presented at Coastal Currents (Halifax, 2026),
Carte Blanche Acadie (Moncton, 2025,2026).