Biography
Syreeta Hector is a Canadian choreographer, performer, and educator whose interdisciplinary practice brings together contemporary dance, classical ballet, improvisation, and theatrical storytelling to explore identity, memory, embodiment, and the complexities of human connection. Grounded in the belief that movement can reveal what language alone cannot, her work creates immersive performance experiences that invite audiences into spaces of reflection, imagination, and dialogue.
Her choreographic works investigate the tensions between personal and collective histories, asking how our bodies carry memory, negotiate belonging, and imagine new possibilities for being together. Through physically rigorous movement and collaborative creation, Syreeta develops performances that are intimate in scale while resonating with broader social and cultural questions.
Her acclaimed solo work, Black Ballerina, examines the intersections of Blackness, Indigeneity, and classical ballet, challenging inherited narratives of race, identity, and representation within one of Western dance's most established traditions. The work received the Stratford Festival Lab Award for Research and Creation following its presentation at SummerWorks Festival in 2019, and was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance by an Individual. The work has since been presented through Citadel + Compagnie's Dance Mix and Citadel Live, Harbourfront Centre, and the Stratford Festival's Stratfest@Home, reaching audiences both in person and online.
Syreeta's current ensemble creation, No(Body), expands her exploration of embodied experience through an immersive dance-theatre environment. Set within a speculative clinic warehouse where patients voluntarily surrender emotional pain, the work examines ambiguous loss, memory, and the desire to transcend the body itself. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, York University, and Dance Immersion, No(Body), continues its development through public research presentations, with its full premiere scheduled for 2027.
A recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council, Syreeta has pursued international training and artistic exchange that continues to shape both her choreographic voice and pedagogical practice. Alongside her creative work, she leads workshops, residencies, and community-engaged projects that encourage participants to investigate movement as a site of curiosity, collaboration, and transformation.