THE TEAM
ARTISTIC & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, ALLISON TOFFAN
A leading voice in Canadian tap dance Allison Toffan is a producer, curator, dancer, and choreographer dedicated to creating opportunities, advancing artistry and musicianship. Beginning her professional career with Paula Skimin, she has studied with Dianne Walker, Brenda Bufalino, Max Pollak, and has maintained a close mentorship with Heather Cornell for over two decades.
Her work has been presented at Kensington Jazz Festival, Fall For Dance North (Union Station Series), Dusk Dances, The Edwards Summer Music Series, Toronto Body Percussion Festival, TD Toronto Jazz Festival, and the Uptown Waterloo Jazz Festival. Career highlights include: 2010 Olympic Opening Ceremonies, Warehouse 13 (Jeff Dimitriou), TapCity (NYC) and Vancouver International Tap Festival (Lisa La Touche), Festival Dance Encore (Tasha Lawson), Montreal Tap Festival (Tanya Knights) alongside the legendary late Arthur Duncan, and establishing Toronto Rhythm Initiative [TRI] in 2011 - a platform Allison created to voice the artistry of Toronto’s tap dancers in collaboration with live music, co-produced with Juliana Kelly since 2016.
Teaching credits include: Artist in Residence - Ottawa Rhythm Initiative, Dance Faculty at Sheridan College, Randolph Academy, Montreal Tap Festival, Vancouver International Tap Festival, BC Performing Arts Festival, Manitoba Dance Festival, Eastern Canadian Tap Conference and more. Additionally, Allison has had the pleasure of sharing her expertise at multiple workshops and conventions, as well as adjudicating at numerous events across Canada.
Other notable projects include The Big Band Tap Revue - created with Toronto Jazz Orchestra’s Artistic Director Josh Grossman, co-produced by Soraya Peerbaye and directed by Emmy Award winner Ted Louis Levy, dancing on the soundtrack of the critically acclaimed video game Cuphead (2018 Juno nominee for best orchestration), Artistic Direction of the Toronto International Tap Dance Festival, and the creation of Ripple Effect - an outreach company serving underrepresented communities. Along with TRI, these projects operate under the Toffan Rhythm Projects umbrella, a non-profit organization forwarding artistry, impact, and connection.
MANAGING DIRECTOR, JULIANA KELLY
Beginning her training in ballet, jazz, tap, lyrical, hip hop, pointe, and acrobatics, dance has always been a big part of Juliana's life. Her focus shifted to specializing in tap dance in 2004 when she joined Downbeats Tap Company under the direction of Cathy Duncan. With the company for two years, her performance credits include: East Coast Tap Conference (ECTC), Taking the Rhythm Train, Embrace the Rhythm, Toronto's Live in Culture Campaign, and many other shows across Ontario.
Currently Juliana works as a contributing artist with Toronto Rhythm Initiative where she has performed in seventeen shows to date. She has been on faculty for TRI's Youth Programming for many years, and in 2016 began working as co-producer for TRI's Summer Youth Intensive. In 2019, Juliana joined Allison to co-produce Toronto International Tap Dance Festival (TITDF), and various other projects in the interim.
Career highlights include: studying abroad with Heather Cornell, faculty member for the Rhythm, Body, & Soul Tap Festival (Calgary) and performing in Walk To The Beat (Nyack, New York), Rhythm Lives! (Montreal Tap Festival) alongside the legendary late Arthur Duncan and members of Tapestry Dance Company, the Inaugural Toronto Body Percussion Festival (Allison Toffan), both Ron Davis' SymphRONica and "Her" (2017 TITDF commission) both choreographed by Dianne Montgomery, and both presenting choreography and performing for Fall For Dance North's Perspectives In Rhythm (curated by Allison Toffan and Michael Caldwell).
In addition to performance, Juliana's experience has led her to many opportunities as an educator including guest choreography, summer intensives, workshops, conventions, seminars, and adjudication. Specializing in education and choreography, her students are well known in the dance community for their technical and musical excellence.
In 2016, Juliana founded The Rhythm Ensemble, a pre-professional tap dance company dedicated to providing unique training and performance opportunities to serious youth tap dancers. She strives to spread the love, and respect for tap dance and its community to her growing company of dancers.
TOFFAN RHYTHM PROJECTS BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Michael Caldwell - Chair
Dayna Szyndrowski - Treasurer
Hugh Lawson - Secretary
Lori Rayner - Director
CORE OPERATIONS TEAM
Emily Teed - Social Media Manager
Jessica Pasqua - Administrative Coordinator
Serena Henriquez - Outreach Coordinator
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL TAP DANCE FESTIVAL PRODUCTION TEAM
Houys Garabedian - Producer
Jessica Pasqua - Producer
Victoria Miller - Producer
Cathy Zhang - Intern
Charlotte Cadman - Intern
Jonah Hamilton - Intern
Maddy Trottier - Intern
Rosalind Saunders - Intern
Tiffany Kriter - Intern