Dance Arts Institute (formerly The School of Toronto Dance Theatre) Over 50 years of transformative dance training.

Our Mission & Mandate

To be an exceptional training program that helps shape the future of dance in Canada.

Dance Arts exists to shape contemporary dancers, performers, and performance makers of the future. We offer a firm grounding in technique, interpretation, improvisation and creation, and cultivate the entrepreneurial skills and critical capacities necessary to enter today’s professional dance milieu.

We believe experience is the greatest learning tool. By encountering artists, choreographers and pedagogues actively working in the field, students are exposed to the most current practices through direct interaction with eminent dance practitioners, leaders, and creators. We are a centre for creative practice and collaborative transformation, a space that connects training to local, national, and international dance communities to develop the next generation of dance artists.

Through our Professional Programs, Dance Arts students experience:

• A comprehensive education in performance, creation, and collaboration in a responsive and supportive learning environment 
• A focus on rigorous technical training, creative practice, and pedagogy 
• Workshops with national and international guest artists and thinkers
• Artistic exchanges and understudy opportunities [Year 3]
• Exposure to local dance and arts scenes
• Graduate with an advanced diploma, and potential entry into York University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts Honours program [dance] with advanced standing 

Through our community programs, Dance Arts:

• provides inspiring training in creative movement and dance to people of all ages
• provides access to dance for our community, and creates new dance lovers; and
• advocates for dance, physical well-being, and arts education within the dance community and to the public-at-large.

About Dance Arts

Established in 1968, Dance Arts Institute (formerly The School of Toronto Dance Theatre) is a national leader in performing arts training.

Dance Arts Institute exists to shape contemporary dancers, performers, and performance makers of the future. We offer a firm grounding in technique, interpretation, improvisation and creation, and cultivate the entrepreneurial skills and critical capacities necessary to enter today’s professional dance milieu.

We believe experience is the greatest learning tool. By encountering artists, choreographers and pedagogues actively working in the field, students are exposed to the most current practices through direct interaction with eminent dance practitioners, leaders, and creators. We are a centre for creative practice and collaborative transformation, a space that connects training to local, national, and international dance communities to develop the next generation of dance artists.