Dancer-in-Residence – Caitlin Griffin
Caitlin Griffin is a modern and contemporary dance artist with a classical ballet background. Her artistry
is shaped by her ongoing work with The Margie Gillis Dance Foundation since 2016. She holds a
certificate in Horticulture from the University of Guelph, supported by the Dancer Transition Resource
Centre, completed in the spring of 2025. In the summer of 2025, Caitlin premiered her first full-length
interdisciplinary show, Body as Nature at the Toronto Fringe Festival, in collaboration with poet Hana
Shafi (Frizz Kid) and directed by Brendan McMurtry-Howlett.
As a teacher, through COVID lockdowns,Caitlin produced Saturday Morning Movement Classes, growing an online community and offering weekly movement classes geared to aging populations. She is on staff at The Railpath Arts Centre in Toronto and is a facilitating artist with The Bitove Method, offering intergenerational community dance for folks living with memory loss and their caregivers. As this year’s Dancer-in-Residence at The Heliconian Club, she will pursue her choreography practice centred around nature. Her website can be
found here: www.caitlingriffin.com. You can look her on Instagram too: @caitd_griffin.
is shaped by her ongoing work with The Margie Gillis Dance Foundation since 2016. She holds a
certificate in Horticulture from the University of Guelph, supported by the Dancer Transition Resource
Centre, completed in the spring of 2025. In the summer of 2025, Caitlin premiered her first full-length
interdisciplinary show, Body as Nature at the Toronto Fringe Festival, in collaboration with poet Hana
Shafi (Frizz Kid) and directed by Brendan McMurtry-Howlett.
As a teacher, through COVID lockdowns,Caitlin produced Saturday Morning Movement Classes, growing an online community and offering weekly movement classes geared to aging populations. She is on staff at The Railpath Arts Centre in Toronto and is a facilitating artist with The Bitove Method, offering intergenerational community dance for folks living with memory loss and their caregivers. As this year’s Dancer-in-Residence at The Heliconian Club, she will pursue her choreography practice centred around nature. Her website can be
found here: www.caitlingriffin.com. You can look her on Instagram too: @caitd_griffin.
Dramatist-in-Residence - Meryl Evelyne Isabelle Mourey
Meryl Evelyne Isabelle Mourey is a French actress, writer, and director based in Toronto. She has
performed in French and international productions, including the TV series Mental, Cassandre, and
Ripple, as well as the feature film Une belle course (Driving Madeleine). Her short film Bien à toi won
several Audience Awards and was selected at the Cannes Short Film Corner.
In Canada, she has collaborated with the Théâtre Français de Toronto, most recently as part of Les
Z’inspiré·es 12, acting for Franco-Ontarian youth in creating original theatre.
As the new Dramatist-in-Residence at the Heliconian Club of Toronto, Meryl looks forward to expanding
her creative research, developing new texts for the stage, and fostering dialogue between Francophone
and Anglophone artistic communities. Her work aims to connect cultures through storytelling while
championing women’s voices and intergenerational narratives. Find her on Instagram: @merylmourey.
performed in French and international productions, including the TV series Mental, Cassandre, and
Ripple, as well as the feature film Une belle course (Driving Madeleine). Her short film Bien à toi won
several Audience Awards and was selected at the Cannes Short Film Corner.
In Canada, she has collaborated with the Théâtre Français de Toronto, most recently as part of Les
Z’inspiré·es 12, acting for Franco-Ontarian youth in creating original theatre.
As the new Dramatist-in-Residence at the Heliconian Club of Toronto, Meryl looks forward to expanding
her creative research, developing new texts for the stage, and fostering dialogue between Francophone
and Anglophone artistic communities. Her work aims to connect cultures through storytelling while
championing women’s voices and intergenerational narratives. Find her on Instagram: @merylmourey.
Musician-in-Residence – Homa Samiei
Homa Samiei is a Toronto-based composer, pianist, and artistic director whose work seamlessly blends
Persian musical heritage with Western classical and contemporary music. She is currently a composer
for the IFCA Collective Opera, a project funded by MAP Fund and Opera America, where she explores
innovative storytelling through opera. Homa is the co-founder of Najva Ensemble, Chaam Project, and
Himeh Cultural House, collaborating with musicians worldwide to bring unique cross-cultural
performances to life.
Her compositions have been featured in international festivals and performed by ensembles such as the
International Contemporary Ensemble, The Thin Edge New Music Collective, and the University of
Toronto Wind Symphony. As composer-in-residence at the University of Toronto, she premiered works
such as Mooyeh and The Bird Was Just the Bird. She was also one of the composers of Opera From
Scratch in Halifax, where her monodrama The Light Remains will premiere.
Homa’s debut album, Raha (Free), showcases her distinctive approach to music-making, combining
intricate Persian melodies with modern harmonic structures. With a passion for musical exploration and cultural storytelling, she continues to shape the global contemporary music landscape. She can be found online www.homasamiei.com/; soundcloud.com/homa-samiee; Instagram:
@homasamiee | @chaam.art.centre | @chaam-Project.
(Photo credit: Karen E. Reeves)
Persian musical heritage with Western classical and contemporary music. She is currently a composer
for the IFCA Collective Opera, a project funded by MAP Fund and Opera America, where she explores
innovative storytelling through opera. Homa is the co-founder of Najva Ensemble, Chaam Project, and
Himeh Cultural House, collaborating with musicians worldwide to bring unique cross-cultural
performances to life.
Her compositions have been featured in international festivals and performed by ensembles such as the
International Contemporary Ensemble, The Thin Edge New Music Collective, and the University of
Toronto Wind Symphony. As composer-in-residence at the University of Toronto, she premiered works
such as Mooyeh and The Bird Was Just the Bird. She was also one of the composers of Opera From
Scratch in Halifax, where her monodrama The Light Remains will premiere.
Homa’s debut album, Raha (Free), showcases her distinctive approach to music-making, combining
intricate Persian melodies with modern harmonic structures. With a passion for musical exploration and cultural storytelling, she continues to shape the global contemporary music landscape. She can be found online www.homasamiei.com/; soundcloud.com/homa-samiee; Instagram:
@homasamiee | @chaam.art.centre | @chaam-Project.
(Photo credit: Karen E. Reeves)
Visual Artist-in-Residence – Doris Purchase
Doris Purchase, born in Winnipeg, is a Toronto-based mixed-media artist who has degrees from Ontario
College of Art and the University of Guelph. Her work has appeared in multiple Toronto galleries,
including Propellor Art Gallery, where she’s also a member. Doris has participated in the Toronto
Outdoor Art Exhibition and received a Jury Award from Latcham Gallery in 2018.
Doris’s work is
predominantly conceptual and draws on the materiality behind a painting. Through her practice, she
focuses on artists’ materials to invoke conversations about western ideals and question our value
system. Doris has a website here: www.dorispurchase.com; Instagram: @purchasedoris.
College of Art and the University of Guelph. Her work has appeared in multiple Toronto galleries,
including Propellor Art Gallery, where she’s also a member. Doris has participated in the Toronto
Outdoor Art Exhibition and received a Jury Award from Latcham Gallery in 2018.
Doris’s work is
predominantly conceptual and draws on the materiality behind a painting. Through her practice, she
focuses on artists’ materials to invoke conversations about western ideals and question our value
system. Doris has a website here: www.dorispurchase.com; Instagram: @purchasedoris.
Writer-in-Residence – Deirdre Kelly
Deirdre Kelly holds a master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Toronto, where she
was the gold medal winner of the Norman Epstein Creative Writing Contest as an undergraduate and
published poetry in the UC Review. For decades, she has built a distinguished career as an award-
winning Canadian journalist, including as a longtime staff writer at The Globe and Mail, earning wide
recognition for her incisive arts and culture reporting. A two-time Nathan Cohen Award winner for
critical writing and recipient of National Magazine Awards for both feature writing and profiles, she is
the author of three acclaimed books: the memoir Paris Times Eight, the cultural history Ballerina: Sex,
Scandal and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection (ranked No. 1 by The Guardian among the world’s
best ballet books), and the Amazon bestseller Fashioning The Beatles: The Looks That Shook The World.
She is a contributor to the International Dictionary of Ballet, AWOL: Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds, and
a Hart House anthology. An active freelance writer with extensive international experience, she writes
for NUVO and serves as English-language editor for Fête Chinoise, a bilingual Cantonese-English
publication. Currently dance critic for Critics at Large, she is developing her next non-fiction work. Her
website is here: www.deirdrekelly.com; Instagram: @kellydeirdre.
was the gold medal winner of the Norman Epstein Creative Writing Contest as an undergraduate and
published poetry in the UC Review. For decades, she has built a distinguished career as an award-
winning Canadian journalist, including as a longtime staff writer at The Globe and Mail, earning wide
recognition for her incisive arts and culture reporting. A two-time Nathan Cohen Award winner for
critical writing and recipient of National Magazine Awards for both feature writing and profiles, she is
the author of three acclaimed books: the memoir Paris Times Eight, the cultural history Ballerina: Sex,
Scandal and Suffering Behind the Symbol of Perfection (ranked No. 1 by The Guardian among the world’s
best ballet books), and the Amazon bestseller Fashioning The Beatles: The Looks That Shook The World.
She is a contributor to the International Dictionary of Ballet, AWOL: Tales for Travel-Inspired Minds, and
a Hart House anthology. An active freelance writer with extensive international experience, she writes
for NUVO and serves as English-language editor for Fête Chinoise, a bilingual Cantonese-English
publication. Currently dance critic for Critics at Large, she is developing her next non-fiction work. Her
website is here: www.deirdrekelly.com; Instagram: @kellydeirdre.
