WHO WE ARE

B Arts is an Ontario-based not-for-profit organization that supports, connects, and promotes artists and companies in Canada whose work reflects the Brazilian culture. Since August 2023, the organization has been working to expand and benefit more communities across Ontario and serve the interests of the diverse communities of artists working with various Latin American dance styles.

MISSION: to support and promote artists whose work reflects the Latinx culture, connect these diverse groups to Canadian society, and present meaningful works and experiences that showcase the rich diversity of the arts and culture of Latin American countries.

We understand the various challenges artists face in selling a culture-specific art form, and we believe artists should be spending maximal time creating to enlarge the potential of their work. So, we are dedicated to serving the needs of our community of dance artists by promoting and supporting their work and connecting them to diverse audiences.

History

With the innovative and visionary project of spreading Brazilian culture to other cultures, B Arts (formerly Brazil Dance World) was born in Toronto, Canada, with the innovative and visionary project of spreading Brazilian culture to other cultures in 2005. For a decade, it offered Brazilian and Latin dance classes, workshops and performances across Canada and the US, and organized unique events such as the “Brazilian Beat: Canada Dance Congress”.

The annual Brazilian Beat Congress (2011-2013) was the first and only non-profit event in Canada that aimed to promote a variety of Brazilian dance styles and unify and showcase the work of national and international dance professionals. Due to the meaningfulness of the congress to the local community of dance artists, in 2011, a not–for–profit Corporation was established under the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act with the name Brazil Dance World Inc. to oversee, undertake, and organize all future productions of the company.

In 2016, after years of academic research in the artistic field, Brazil Dance World’s director and mastermind of the Brazilian Beat Congress, Goreti Cardoso, started to work on amplifying the benefits the company had promoted to its community. In her graduate studies research project, she built a strong background in the issues faced by artists in Toronto. Goreti, with the help of B Arts’ co-founder, Tatiana Ramos, interviewed immigrant artists to explore the challenges these diverse populations face. This experience made them very familiar with the needs of these communities and supporting and seeing them succeed became their passion. This led them to found B Arts one year later.

Since 2017, B Arts has helped hundreds of artists and connected several local dance professionals and schools to many performance opportunities and events.


OUR TEAM

GORETI CARDOSO  –  Founder / Executive Director

Originally from Brazil, Goreti Cardoso started her passion for arts, culture, and community development at a young age. At 15, she decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Tourism to study the different cultural heritages worldwide and understand how tourism could support and spur community economic development. 

 

In 2000, she started dancing professionally. After four years as a Brazilian social dance instructor, in 2006, Goreti began teaching in Toronto and performing, choreographing, and directing her first dance company, Brazil Dance World. Five years later, Goreti founded and led the first Brazilian dance congress in Toronto, the “Brazilian Beat: Canada Dance Congress“. This pioneering festival ran for three consecutive years and brought top dancers and instructors from Brazil as well as united, promoted, and fortified the Brazilian dance communities, both locally and nationally. 

 

Combining her passion for dance, arts, and community development in 2016, Goreti’s academic graduate research project (Attracting Creative Talent to Toronto: The Experiences of Immigrant Artists) allowed her to learn about immigrant artists’ challenges in Toronto. Consequently, her passion and new purpose to support the multicultural community of dancers in Toronto grew even more, so she found B. Arts.

 

In addition to over ten years as an ambassador of Brazilian dance in the Toronto dance community and working with numerous artists and dance arts organizations, Goreti has planned and produced many arts and cultural festivals, concerts, parades, workshops, and conferences. She managed multiple events and festivals in Toronto, including two annual street festivals, the Dundas West Fest in 2018, and TD Salsa in Toronto Festival, which is the largest celebration of Latin culture in Canada, for the last five years.


TATIANA RAMOS  –  Co-founder / Chair

Tatiana Ramos is originally from Brazil and has had a long career in dance. She studied in Brazil with Tony Seitz Petzhold and danced with Ballet Phoenix for many years. In Canada, upon graduation with The School of Toronto Dance Theatre, she traveled to Germany to perform with The Desperate Figure Dance Theatre. Back in Canada, she has worked for The Newton Moraes Dance Theatre, Kahawi Dance Theatre, Earth in Motion World Indigenous Dance, among other companies. Tatiana has participated in numerous festivals around the world and received a variety of awards. Along with her career as a performer, she has also taught children/teens for many years, sharing her passion for dance with them in different schools and community centers.

Tatiana’s love for helping her community started from a young age, when she decided to take a bachelor’s degree in Library Service. She also took the initiative to create a Facebook group to help and share information with other Brazilian moms.

She has worked with not-for-profit organizations as a manager and director, where she organized events, coordinated outreach programs and assisted in activities for various fundraising campaigns. Tatiana also was the administrator of the “Brazilian Beat: Canada Dance Congress,” Brazil Dance World’s major event, in its three consecutive years. She is also a former board member for CADA (Canadian Alliance for Dance Artists).


BEATRIZ CURADO –   Director

Born in Brazil, Bia’s relationship with arts and culture started at an early age. As a child, she studied classical ballet. As a teenager, she joined an amateur theatre group, leading her to a B.A. in Performing Arts. She worked and volunteered with youth, as a theatre teacher, from 2004 to 2008. She researched the Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues during her M.A. and directed “Myrna”, a play based on Rodrigues’ writings.

Throughout her life she has nourished her passion for dance: from belly dance to contact improvisation, from Forro to Swing. Bia was part of Marcia Dib’s middle eastern folk dance group Mabruk!, from 2005 to 2011.

With strong problem-solving and organizational skills, she started her corporate career in the Events’ Industry in 2008. After moving to Canada in 2011, she continued strengthening her abilities in planning, implementation, and onsite execution of events. She is currently working towards her Project Management certification.


MARKETA TOKOVA 

Marketa comes from the Czech Republic and since her childhood, she has always been a passionate dancer. She started with a classical ballet, as her dream was to become a ballerina, later on, added the Irish dances, contemporary dance and currently, her heart lies with the Brazilian partner dances, especially samba de gafieira and forró. She performed in several small roles in the National Theatre in her hometown Brno, in Brno City Theatre and for three years, she was a member and performed with an Irish folklore group.

She graduated from the University of Economics in Prague with a Master Degree in International Business, yet her interests led her more to the cultural and non-profit fields. Marketa worked for two years for a Brussels-based educational organization promoting international student mobility and cultural diversity, where she gained valuable experience in grant writing and events organization. Later on, she developed her career in Human Resources as a specialist in compensation, benefits, performance management and counseling.

After visiting some friends in Brazil, Marketa fell in love with this country, its culture, traditions and its dances. However, she could only start learning them after moving to Canada in 2017. She immediately joined Baila Toronto school and became their “bolsista” in June 2017. Becoming part of the B-Arts team is a great way to combine her love for dancing and Brazil, with her organization skills and abilities – because even though Czech by origin, Marketa feels Brazilian in her heart.

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