After thirty two years working in education, Justino retired to work in his passion since childhood, farming and ranching. He settled his self in an small farm located in the foothills near to the well know active volcano the Popocatepeltl, in Mexico. An elder with a social concuss for helping small food producers of the region throughout managing power lines and hydro, advising the local government on managing water sources and pushed for the equitable distribution of government grants for local producers. At 86 years old, Don Justino, as people call him, still working in his farm, dividing his time between taking care of his farm and promoting equal rights on the use and approach of natural resources in the area where he lives.

Recipient of Pitblado Family Scholarship for Dance Endowment.

Originally from Mexico City, he is an artist with an interdisciplinary training; In the field of performing arts he has: Bachelor's Degree in Arts and Humanities from the Centro de Educación Artística “Frida Kahlo”; Bachelor's Degree in Acting from the Escuela Nacional de Teatro; Specialty in Dance Creation from the Centro de Investigación Coreográfica; as well as, Specialty in Movement Studies from the Escuela Nacional de Danza “Nellie y Gloria Campobello”, all  schools of the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes. He studied inter- and transdisciplinary artistic creation in the Tránsitos Diploma offered by the Centro Nacional de las Artes in Mexico City. He is certified in Adobe Photoshop: Visual Communication. He has worked as a choreographer, stage director, dancer, actor, teacher, lighting designer, stage manager and educational manager. His activity as an actor has been carried out mostly in theater; He was part of the theater groups ABCdidáctivo, Teatro x Teatro and El Pequeño Teatro de Valentiva Novoa. As a dancer he was a member of the group En Dos Partes directed by Gerardo Delgado; As well as Caída Libre under the direction of Ana Gonzáles and Oscar Velázquez, he has also collaborated on projects created by the performing artist Carlos Rivera. As a choreographer he was selected in 2006 and 2015 for the qualifying rounds of the INBA-UAM Contemporary  Choreographic Composition Award; In 2015 he was a finalist in the 1st Contemporary Stage Creation Contest organized by the Cultural Center “Un Teatro”; in 2104 he was a finalist in the Choreographic Creation Contest of the Festival Angelopolitano organized by the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla. From the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes he received the Artistic Residencies Abroad Scholarship on three occasions in the discipline of dance; All of them were performed in Canada, two of them at the Banff Center in 1999 and 2002 and one more in the City of Toronto with the choreographer Malgorzata Nowacka. Since 1996 he founded and directs his personal artistic project called Performing Arts ELEUSIS, with which he has created choreographic work in collaboration with different artists and groups. He was artistic director and guest choreographer of the dance groups Morpho-Azul Danza Contemporánea, YLEM Movimiento
Contemporáneo -both groups from the City of Puebla- and the DansEnica Collective of Mexico City, likewise, he collaborated with the collective Lenguajes Afectados, also from Puebla. Internationally he has collaborated with Canadian companies, The Chimera Project, Red Sky Performance, Kaha: wi Dance Theatre and is an international advisor to Tribal Crackling Wind. He has taught classes and workshops on dance, theater and interdisciplinary creation in various schools such as the Centro de Educación Artística “Luis Spota”, Universidad de las Américas Puebla, Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Escuela Nacional de Teatro de México Escuela Nacional de Danza “Nellie y Gloria Campobello”, Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua, Universidad Veracruzana, National Theater School of Canada, among others. More than 30 years ago he entered the field of electronic music as a DJ, this led him to investigate the forms of digital music production and thus he created sound designs and original music for contemporary dance pieces and video dances. He is currently
a member of the Colectivo Cuerpo Abierto, he dances his own creations based on movement improvisation. In recent years he has delved into the work of movement improvisation and has established a personal methodology with which he provides advice and teaches courses related to movement for stage creation and stage improvement.

Recipient of Pitblado Family Scholarship for Dance Endowment.

Multidisciplinary artist, teacher, director, manager and producer. Founder and Co-Director of Ts'ook Danza Plataforma Escénica A.C. She has collaborated with important contemporary dance companies in Mexico and international choreographers.

Benefited on more than 4 occasions by different programs of the Support System for Artistic Creation formerly FONCA.
Finalist in the Guillermo Arriaga National Dance Award INBAL- UAM 2019 and 2021 with works of her authorship.
In 2020 she won the Tour Award in Burgos within the SOLODOS DANZA Contest in Costa Rica.
Winner of the 4x4 Tj Night Choreography Award in Tijuana in 2018, where she also won the award for best performer.
In 2015 she obtained a mention for the best acting quality within the Contemporary Stage Creation Award.
Creator and manager of “Verano Machincuepero”, “3D Choreography Award” and “LA RUTA”

Recipient of Bobbye Ruth and Dewitt L. Potter Fund for Dance Scholarship.

Carlos Rivera is a director, choreographer, actor and a dancer, originally from Mexico City, based in Montreal. He graduated from the Indigenous Residency Program at National Theatre School in 2018 and recently graduated from the MFA in Directing for Theatre Program at the University of Ottawa. Carlos has worked and collaborated with several performing arts companies across Canada including: Red Sky Performance (Toronto), Globe Theatre (Regina), Raven Spirit Dance (Vancouver), MT Space (Kitchener), Puente Theatre (Victoria), Ondinnok (Montreal) Lemon Tree Creations (Toronto) Electric Company (Vancouver) Micro-Scope Productions (Montreal); among others. He is continuously working on numerous artistic projects in dance, film, theatre and performance.

Recipient of Bobbye Ruth and Dewitt L. Potter Fund for Dance Scholarship.

E.Macias (Amskapi Pikuni/Blackfeet & A'aninin/GrosVentre) is a dance maker and dance scholar. Macias holds a BFA in Dance with a Modern Emphasis from Utah Valley University, and a PhD in Critical Dance Studies from the University of California, Riverside. Her dance work centers Siksikaitsitapi ways of knowing to investigate familial lineage, embodied histories, relationships to land and the more than human. Macias has performed and shared dance with communities across Northern and Southern California, Montana, Utah, Massachusetts, New York, and Vancouver BC. She has worked with Native communities including: Sherman Indian High School in Riverside CA, Native American Student Programs at UCR, the Gathering of the Tribes Summer Residential Program at UCR, Title VI Lil Feathers program in Salt Lake UT, Native American Health Center San Francisco CA, and Ohketeau Cultural Center in MA.

Recipient of Ilona Diener Memorial Fellowship Fund Endowment.

Emily Solstice Tait’s practice is rooted in contemporary dance but happily crosses into theatre, stage management and screendance. She is of mixed settler and Ojibway ancestry (urban member of Berens River First Nation). Her choreography has been performed at The Manitoba Museum, The Forks National Historic Site, and along the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Select performances include The War Being Waged (Prairie Theatre Exchange), The Secret to Good
Tea (Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre), Actualize (Winnipeg Contemporary Dancers) Confluence (Raven Spirit Dance), and The___ Place video with CBC Arts.

Recipient of Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson Fund for Dancers Endowment.

Kelly McInnes (she/they), a settler of Irish, Scottish & British ancestry, is gratefully based on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Kelly is a queer dance artist concerned with embodying care and creating as a way to remember connection to Earth and all that is sacred. As choreographer, performer and community-engaged facilitator, the intention of her work is to inspire collective healing. Her Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapy practice powerfully inspires her artistic process. Often multi-disciplinary, collaborative and site specific, Kelly's work has been presented in festivals in Canada, Germany and Mexico over the last decade. Community-engagement is integral to her practice. Her most recent project Late Stage Remedy, a collective dance meditation, invites folks to gather in public parks to share presence and care with the lands upon which they dance. Kelly also enjoys supporting the creative work of her colleagues, working as a graphic designer and as Festival Coordinator for Matriarchs Uprising. 

Recipient of Susan Glass and Arni Thorsteinson Fund for Dancers Endowment.

Tasha Faye Evans is a dancer, theatre artist, creative consultant, cultural programmer, and educator from  Coast Salish, Welsh and European Jewish grandparents. Her work is an integration of dance, theatre and culture rooted in the sacred responsibility to care for the future of all of our relations.  Her current projects include Cedar Woman,  a dance honouring a  legacy of Coast Salish women spanning all the way back to a tree,  and In the Presence of Ancestors, a life -long exhibition of five Coast Salish House posts being carved and raised in Port Moody.  With decades of creation and production, Tasha  has participated in performances and festivals nationally and internationally. 

Recipient of Alice and Betty Schultz Scholarships Endowment Fund for Dance.

Zac Sakrewski is a bassist, composer and session musician from the idyllic Sunshine Coast, Australia. With a strong desire to experiment and a sympathetic ear, he has developed a playing style that transcends genre and function to cultivate collaboration and kindness. His style can be described as multi-disciplinary, spontaneous and versatile. Pulling from a kaleidoscope of influences and genres to create an evocative musical tapestry.

Zac started studying music at the age of 17 and was privileged to study with composer and conductor Robin Smith (Royal Philharmonic, Mike Oldfield, Kanye West (pre Ye)) and Guitar Legend Phil Emmanuel. To further his studies, he attended the Queensland Conservatorium of music, studying improvisation and composition with renowned Israeli composer Yitzhak Yedid and Double Bass with Peter Walters, Helen Russell and Michael Morgan (Metropolitan Opera) during his undergraduate and later, with Marian Heckenberg (QSO) during his masters studies. Zac has developed an expertise integrating technology with the acoustic and electric bass, utilising effect pedals, ableton and MAX for live to create melodies and soundscapes that simultaneously compliment and juxtapose the original form and function of the instruments.

Zac’s current projects include Milton Man Gogh, Lamborghini Eagleman, Dropbear Lodge, Faux Bandit, Jam of a Lifetime, Milk Buttons, Strangely Enough, Cowbird, Martin Kay’s Forage, June Cartel and The Polaroids and has shared the stage with International and domestic artists such as Yitzhak Yedid, Phil Emmanuel, Julian Arguelles, Kristin Berardi, Kayleigh Pincott and many more.

Zac has released two albums under his own name and his compositions have been nominated for prestigious awards such as the International Songwriting Competition, BELL awards, Queensland Music Awards and the 4ZZZ hottest 100. In 2024 as a part of Milton Man Gogh, Zac attended the Musicians in Residence course at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity under the guidance of Megumi Masaki where he, and the other members of the band connected with likeminded artists and collaborated with artists such as Jane Siberry, Michael Clarke and François Salque.

Zac Sakrewski was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.

Benjamin Shannon is carving a niche in the Australian and international music scene distinguished as a percussionist, educator, curator, and composer.

Ben's unyielding pursuit of musical growth fuels his endeavours in teaching, composition, and performance. His involvement in projects Milton Man Gogh, Shamin, Kodiak Empire, Big Dead, Brisbane Conduction Orchestra, and others, have contributed to a portfolio of over 20 releases and countless performances/tours, home and abroad.

His collaborative endeavours include performances with Scott Tinkler, Yitzhak Yedid, Katatonia, COG, The Contortionist, to name a few, also earning acclaim for his compositions at the Bell Awards, Queensland Music Awards, and Australian Art Music Awards.

Having participated in the Banff International Jazz Workshop (2017), Banff Musicians in Residence (2024) and the Australian Art Orchestra Creative Intensive Music Program (2018), Ben's commitment to cross-cultural collaboration is evident.

In 2017, he joined the iconic Art As Catharsis label, contributing to bookings and an administrative role for acclaimed acts Qais Essar, Hekka, Rafiq Bhatia, KNOWER, and more, resulting in consistent events, tours and festivals throughout Australia for local and international artists. 

In his role as conductor of The Brisbane Conduction Orchestra, Ben champions diversity, inclusion, and a secure improvisational space. His tireless advocacy in the Australian contemporary jazz scene is highlighted through constant curation in this field.

Benjamin Shannon was generously supported by the Banff Centre Artists' Awards.