STAFF BIOS

Marketa Tokova is originally from the Czech Republic and she moved to Toronto in 2017. She has gained extensive experience working with not-for-profit organizations and corporate businesses in the Czech Republic, Belgium and Canada. She holds a Master degree in Business Administration from the University of Economics in Prague, Czech Republic.  Her passion for the arts has eventually led her to the arts sector where she honed her skills in the arts administration, event production and financial management. In 2017-2018, Marketa worked for the Toronto Polish Film Festival as Administrative Manager and produced two editions of the festival. In December 2018, she became the General Manager of BoucharDanse and has since then closely collaborated with Sylvie Bouchard, supporting her artistic vision, as well as the whole organization. Marketa also works with Dusk Dances and Arzoo Dance Theatre.

Adina Herling began her career in Arts Management after receiving a Diploma in Dance from Ryerson University and a Bachelor of Arts in Dance at the University of Calgary.  After working with a number of arts organizations including Alberta Ballet School, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Genovese Vanderhoof and Associates, and Dance Umbrella of Ontario, she founded Adina Herling Arts Management in 2002. She currently works as General Manager for Fujiwara Dance Inventions, Tribal Crackling Wind, Dreamwalker Dance Company and Moonhorse Dance Theatre, pounds per square inch performance, and as Financial Administrator for BoucharDanse, Dusk Dances and pounds per square inch performance. Past clients include Eve Egoyan, princess productions, adelheid dance projects, M-DO, Toronto Table Ensemble and Company Erasga Dance (Vancouver). 

Maxime Kottmann is originally from France and arrived in Toronto in 2021. Maxime currently works as Market Development Manager for BoucharDanse.  Maxime graduated from La Sorbonne and Langues’O in Paris, and studied at the National University of Singapore. She worked for ten years as Arts Administrator and Coordinator for dance companies and festivals in France (Ex Nihilo, Eric Minh Cuong Castaing, Alexandra Tobelaim, Festival Parallèle in Marseilles etc.). She worked with these not-for-profit cultural organizations to achieve their artistic projects and question the audience. She had the opportunity to tour with the artistic teams all over France and Europe and to learn a lot with different artistic directors.

Mikaël Lavogiez is a web designer, photographer and videographer. A native of Strasbourg, France, he completed a degree in geography, but soon changed course and decided to invest his passion for photography and design within the arts and culture sector.  In 2001 Mikael met Pierre Diependaele and Louis Ziegler, artistic directors of Theatre du Marché aux Grains where he worked as a technician and also created videographic imagery for such productions as Troilus et Cressida, Cassandre and Le Jour des Meurtres dans l’histoire d’Hamlet. He also delved into audiovisual production and created the association Procreaction, dedicated to recording and editing concerts and plays, as well as producing documentaries and short films.  In 2009 he created his own company, iSpin Media, offering graphic design, web-design, photo/video and public relations services

Makeda Davis is slated to graduate from Trent University with a joint-major degree in media studies and English literature, with a focus on creative writing, in June 2022. She has plans to pursue a master’s degree in creative writing in the future. As her career is just getting started, Makeda is eager and curious to explore different creative avenues, and see how her creative writing practice can intersect within different fields. Makeda always knew that her passion and her studies would lead her to follow a path where she would be able to collaborate creatively with others. Makeda is grateful to explore this intersection of dance and creative writing with BoucharDanse, as she works and learns from the dance community, and comes to understand a different form of creative expression.

Norah Wardell (she/her) is a Dancer and Facilitator based in Elora, Ontario. Her previous experience has been in the non-profit sector, doing program design, education, and management. She enjoys working at the systems-level, helping artists build skills and infrastructure to achieve their creative goals. She is excited to be invited onto the BoucharDanse team, as a Market Development Coordinator. Norah holds a BA in Sexual Diversity and Criminology Studies, and a Masters in Conflict Analysis and Management.

Karen Bennedsen is a freelance bookkeeper, providing financial services to multiple organizations, mostly working within the Toronto dance community. Her training was acquired working for a bookkeeping service with a wide variety of clients and a specialization in television production. Her connection to the dance community goes back to her years as a dancer in both Toronto and Winnipeg. Karen is pleased that her roster of clients allows her to contribute to the healthy functioning of arts organizations in the city.

After studying literature and photography, Nicolas Filion turns to dance in 1998. For thirteen years, he collaborates with numerous dance artists and companies - Harold Rhéaume, Louise Bédard, Catherine Gaudet among others. Concurrently to his professional career, Nicolas pursues graduate studies at Université du Québec à Montréal, acts as an artistic mediator, teaches and contributes to academic research projects until 2012. After a five-year entrepreneurial venture as the head of his own café, he comes back to the performing arts in 2017, working as a rehearsal director, artistic advisor and opening his own booking agency, Filigrane Arts Vivants. In 2019, he joins FÔVE Diffusion, assuming its general direction. Boasting a wide, eclectic professional and artistic experience, passionate about culture and the performing arts, Nicolas favours an empathic, committed approach to the development and administration of the arts.

Bio to come