Black Canadian Studies | The Harriet Tubman Institute

Syreeta Hector

rebsl — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 18:21:19 +0000

Syreeta Hector is a dance artist and educator in Toronto, Ontario. As a highly accomplished performer, she has worked for internationally recognized companies such as 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 from 91��ɫ.

Her solo work “Black Ballerina” focuses on the dualities within one’s identity, along with Syreeta’s blackness and indigeneity in relationship to classical ballet. As a work in progress the solo gained recognition at the SummerWorks Festival (2019) and won the Stratford Festival Lab Award for Research and Creation. This condensed version of the piece was also performed at the Citadel Dance Mix and received a Dora Mavor Moore nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Individual. Most recently, the full length version was live streamed through the online dance series “Citadel Live,” garnering record viewership. Due to the overwhelming response it was rebroadcast on the Harbourfront Centre streaming platform. This full length work is now touring live across Canada.

Syreeta has participated in the Creator’s in Residence Program at Canadian Stage, the Creative Encounters Residency Program at ProArteDanza, and the Artist in Residence Program at Luminato.

Most recently, Syreeta has been commissioned by Mocean Dance (Nova Scotia) and ProArteDanza (Ontario) to create ensemble works. She is also currently supported by the Concept to Realization Program at the Canada Council for the Arts to create a new work which will act as the second chapter in her “Black Ballerina” series.

Keywords: Black Canadian Studies, Dance, Performance, Ballet, Choreography

Kai Butterfield

rebsl — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 20:09:52 +0000

Kai Butterfield is an artist, Ontario Certified Teacher, and PhD candidate in the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (University of Toronto). They work as a primary-junior occasional teacher in the Toronto District School Board and a course instructor in the Master of Teaching program.

Their doctoral research employs hauntology to assess the ways that antiblackness has shaped restorative justice theory. Hauntology, a methodology that presences the enduring impact of historical harm, illuminates how the spectre of slavery haunts restorative justice theory and appears in schools as the continued subjugation of Black students within restorative justice processes. Butterfield's research proposes a framework for disrupting antiblackness in school discipline and assessing the efficacy of neoliberal justice-making processes.

Keywords: Restorative Justice, School Discipline, Social Justice Education, Black Studies, Black Canadian Studies, Black Feminisms, Hauntology, Haunting as Methodology

Zakirah Allain

rebsl — Tue, 16 Apr 2024 19:15:34 +0000

My name is Zakirah Allain, pronouns she/they, and I am 23 years old. Education and advancing opportunities for all is my passion. In my undergraduate studies I double majored in International Development studies and African Studies with a certificate in Black Canadian studies. This year I enter my first year of graduate studies in Social Anthropology. I look forward to a future of life-long learning with hopes to educate and work to expand peoples freedoms and opportunities around the globe.

Keywords: Decolonization, Education, the Caribbean, Black Canadian Studies, International Development