Biography
Syreeta Hector is a dance artist and educator in Toronto, Ontario. As a highly accomplished performer, Syreeta has worked for internationally recognized companies like Adelheid Dance Projects, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Peggy Baker Dance Projects, and Toronto Dance Theatre. She is a proud graduate of The National Ballet School’s Teacher Training Program, The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, and has achieved her Master of Arts in Dance Studies from York University.
Her work called “Black Ballerina” focuses on the dualities within ones identity, along with Syreeta’s blackness and indigeneity in relationship to classical ballet. This short work in progress solo gained recognition at the SummerWorks Festival in 2019 and won the Stratford Festival Lab Award for Research and Creation. The condensed version of the piece was also performed at the Citadel Dance Mix. During this same year, “Black Ballerina” was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award in Outstanding Performance by an Individual. Most recently, the full length performance was successfully live streamed through the online series called the “Citadel Live” and is set to be rebroadcast in the spring of 2021 through the Harbourfront Centre.
Syreeta has received funding awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and Toronto Arts Council. Support from these Canadian funding bodies have allowed Syreeta train and perform internationally. These experiences have deepened her creative and performance practice. Additionally, these endeavours have fuelled and helped her detail to her teaching methodologies.
Syreeta has taken part in the Creative Encounters Residency Program at Pro-Arte Danza and is part of the Choreographer in Residence with Toronto Dance Theatre’s Pilot Projects. She is part of the Creative Incubator Program at the Citadel + Compagnie, and is currently one of the Luminato Artists in Residence for the 2020- 2021 season.