ABOUT KAEJA
KAEJA'S ONGOING COMMITMENT TOWARDS EQUITY
February 2021 Update
Kaeja has embarked on Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO)'s 2 year organization development program CPAMO-POC Cohort 3. We join many dance and arts service organizations in this process of learning to deconstruct barriers and embed pluralism in our organization. We are excited to work with CPAMO's team to develop our own action plan. Read more about the program: https://cpamo.org/equity-education-in-the-arts/cpamo-poc-3/.
November 2020 Update
Kaeja's staff, Artistic Directors and Board are currently working with Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) advisor Kevin A. Ormsby among others, to review the work we have done, assessing also where we currently are in our ongoing mandates and goals to continually be as inclusive an organization as possible. Through this process it is envisioned that we will strategize, create and implement actionable steps towards further equity, diversity and inclusivity in the dance community.
Original Statement
Kaeja d’Dance is taking time to check in and check ourselves. We are actively engaging with our team, dance artists, collaborators, board, colleagues and family members to have hard conversations, examining our Company practices and privileges, in order to understand how we can do better. We recognize that there has long been an inequity in the arts, and as a Company we are committed to being better allies, and the voices of independent and IBPOC dance artists, creatives and colleagues.
We fully stand with Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour. We support the global Black Lives Matter movement and we are listening, learning, and standing up against racial discrimination. We are educating ourselves on how systematic oppression impacts IBPOC communities, knowing that we have the privilege to take the time to learn about it, instead of being forced to learn through experience. We will put in the work to rebuild our society so that equality, sensitivity, compassion and fighting for each other’s rights are a part of our essence, and not just something people can choose to opt into when the world demands it. We want our collective action to be as regular as our breath.
We are committed to correcting our course when we are found to be lacking. We are open to your suggestions. We thank all the organizations and community members who lead the way to open our eyes. Let’s create a better world. Black lives matter.
Our next steps include : anti-oppression training for our organization, prioritizing the hiring of IBPOC for administrative positions, continuing to contract more IBPOC artists, evaluating where and how to properly reach out to IBPOC applicants, forming partnerships with organizations serving IBPOC communities and continuing our community work.