Frog in Hand is a dance-theatre company based in Mississauga, Ontario. We are curious about human nature and the spaces we inhabit. Our mission is to uncover, make, and share stories through dance theatre. We contribute to community and meaningful social change by sharing resources, knowledge and experience through creation, performance and education. Frog in Hand was founded by Colleen Snell & Noelle Hamlyn - artistic collaborators and sisters. Since 2012, we have created over 45 original creations and hosted 3 interdisciplinary festivals. Frog in Hand also offers unique teaching and learning opportunities for everyone, regardless of age or location - online, with youth, in a university program, with older adults in community centres, or by giving master classes in site-specific work and creative storytelling.

We craft innovative work reflecting our passion for movement as a medium to transcend languages. We are committed to engaging spaces in ways that recognize and honour diverse stories and storytellers with site-specific experiences. We create and perform in unusual spaces; where we can meet people where they are at, bringing to life the buildings, community stories and the spaces we share. We have performed in an abandoned building, staircases, a church, parks, fields, a fountain, a laundromat, a hockey arena, and more spaces outside of conventional theatres. Our original works explore diverse perspectives, cultivate new creative relationships and challenge us all to listen for the stories that are seldom heard. They range from short works intended for celebrations and commissions, radio plays, interactive experiences, and festivals to full length promenade style live performances. 

Our full-length work, Creature (2016), was an immersive site-specific performance in an abandoned heritage factory, the Small Arms Inspection Building, produced in partnership with local advocates seeking to transform the space into a cultural hub. It was a milestone in placemaking.

Our biggest creation to date was site-specific outdoor promenade-style dance theatre production, Stories in the Woods, which premiered in the fall of 2019 and remounted in summer 2021, around the grounds of the Small Arms Inspection Building, the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority and Sawmill Sid. The work was a sober response to climate change and the formless anxiety that surrounds us; inviting audiences to be physically present and actively immersed in the story on site.

The Art Shelter began as a post-pandemic response. In 2023, we purchased a 42-ft diameter geodesic dome from Arctic Acres. Then we built it in Mississauga, at 887 Hydro Road. Starting this spring, we are launching our first season of activities in this unique, beautiful and unconventional space. This is a place for Frog in Hand to rehearse and create, but it will also be shared with our community. It will be artist-run and community-engaged, an intentional act of climate leadership. Its limited footprint, flexibility and collaborative operating model will provide space to incubate new ideas and forge community connections. The Art Shelter is an entirely off-grid repurposed green house. We're going to use it to cultivate and grow creative ideas. With this project, we hope we can do more with less in ways that are socially inclusive, environmentally proactive, and better aligned with an unpredictable future.