NEWS RELEASE
SIMCOE CONTEMPORARY DANCERS
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The Ontario Trillium Foundation has granted Simcoe Contemporary Dancers (SCD) a 12-month, $33,000 Resilient Communities Fund grant to help the dance company rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19 by re-engaging their audience through contemporary dance classes and guest workshops.
SCD will use the funds to continue to rebuild and recover from impacts of COVID-19 by adapting and increasing weekly contemporary dance classes, workshops, online opportunities, and creating virtual content to ensure access to dance opportunities for the entire community. This initiative will also see the creation of many new opportunities for regional dance artists.
“I have had the pleasure of supporting the Simcoe Contemporary Dancers for a number of years now,” said Doug Downey, MPP for Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte. “These talented young athletes have proven their incredible spirit of resilience, but also their dedication to artistry through dance. I am pleased to see this funding will allow for more youth to discover the power and emotion of movement and dance. Thank you to Simoce Contemporary Dancers for your continued efforts to develop the next generation of dancers.”
“As we continue to rebuild and re-establish our regular programming, support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation is critical to support our mission,” said Chrissy Baxter, executive director of Simcoe Contemporary Dancers. “These funds will allow us to reintroduce our weekly drop-in contemporary dance classes taught for ages 14-plus at an intermediate to advanced level as well as bringing artists to Barrie to present a variety of guest workshops which will all be open to the public.”
Simcoe Contemporary Dancers is a not-for-profit professional company serving the region of Simcoe County that exists to encourage and showcase the development of local professional contemporary dance. We come together to raise the visibility of contemporary dance, create awareness, build educational opportunities, and reach out to our public to share our love of our art form.
The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) mission is to build healthy and vibrant communities across Ontario. As an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations, last year, OTF invested nearly $209M into 2,042 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Since 2020, OTF has supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
Visit otf.ca to learn more.
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