Call for Artists: Emerging Practice Cohort

Sunday, July 12, 2026
9:00 AM 11:59 PM 09:00 23:59

The Fifth Dance 366 Adelaide Street East Toronto, ON, M5A 3X9 Canada (map)

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Join The Fifth’s Emerging Practice Cohort

Train and get paid to explore your practice as a facilitator

We are inviting applications for the second iteration of our Emerging Practice Cohort – a structured, community‑centered program for dance artists who want to cultivate their practice and develop a new teaching or creative facilitation practice. This program is a collective commitment to training, growth and connection, designed for artists who want to train and teach. The Emerging Practice Cohort is open for six artists, who will each lead a 4‑week session of their own design – whether that’s a technique class, a creative practice, or trying a new approach to something familiar. What’s different about this teaching opportunity is that the cohort attend each other’s classes, give each other feedback, and train together throughout 6 months. This builds a practice of embodied learning that extends beyond your own teaching. The program provides the cohort with the ongoing guidance of mentorship from an experienced artist and teacher to facilitate exchange and experimentation.

If you’re an artist keen on joining the Emerging Practice Cohort, please submit your application before our deadline on July 12, 2026 (11:59 p.m.). You can find all the program and application details below!

*Photo of Kéïta Fournier-Pelletier teaching at The Fifth Dance.*

What you’ll receive

Paid Teaching Opportunity: $46.35/hour to lead your 4 consecutive classes
Mentorship and a Feedback Structure: The Emerging Practice Cohort mentor will attend the second class of each teacher’s 4 class run. Following that second class of each teacher’s run, the cohort and the mentor will meet to talk about successes, goals, challenges and more. Providing each teacher with feedback and actionable steps to improve their facilitation practice.
Discounted ECP classes: $5/class for all Emerging Practice Cohort classes
Subsidized training at The Fifth: $10/class code for drop‑in classes at The Fifth Dance, applicable August 2026 – March 2027.
- Even though the cohort runs for 6 months, your $10 class code is active from August 1, 2026 through March 31, 2027 – giving you subsidized training for a full 8-month season.

What to expect

This program is designed for artists who want to train and teach. Attendance creates momentum, builds trust with your fellow cohort and fosters real growth in your artistic practice.

In the structure of this program, we encourage participants to:

Attend a pre‑program meeting with the mentor and program coordinator on July 27, 2026(in person at The Fifth Dance, time TBD).
Teach your own 4 consecutive sessions – Attended by fellow cohort and the wider dance community with accessible sliding scale rate. Each Emerging Practice Cohort artist will be allocated a series of 4 classes upon the start of the program.
Attend at least 2 peer classes per month – These are the classes taught by your fellow cohort (Fridays, time 12:30PM - 2:00PM). Since each facilitator teaches for one month, you’ll have 4 peer classes that you can join each month – we’ve made it a requirement to attend at least 2 of them. This gives you a chance to offer feedback and show your support, simply by showing up!
Attend the monthly Emerging Cohort Practice meeting – Following that second class of each teacher’s run, the cohort and the mentor will meet post‑class 2:00PM - 3:00PM in the Fifth lounge. All cohort artists should be present to provide feedback to another as they build and share their practices.
Attend a post‑mortem meeting the week after the final classes – April 2, 2027 – to reflect on the full cohort experience.

Missed attendance for Emerging Practice Cohort classes:

We understand that life can be uncertain and complex. Notify the mentor and program coordinator in advance if you must miss a required class or meeting. Cohort members will be encouraged to register for at least 2 Emerging Practice Cohort classes per month through our booking system. If you miss a class you’ve registered for, you will still be charged the $5 class fee.

Subsidized training at The Fifth:

We encourage Emerging Practice Cohort artists members to benefit from regular drop-in style training at The Fifth Dance with our subsidized rate of 10$/class - exclusive for the cohort. This opportunity provides you with the lowest cost for training in Toronto, from August 2026 - March 2027.

Who this is for

This program is ideal for emerging artists who:

Are developing a new teaching voice, facilitation approach, or creative practice
Want structured feedback and mentorship, not just studio space or a teaching slot
Are ready to commit to attending their cohort’s classes – not out of obligation, but because watching others teach and sharing feedback as a student makes you a better teacher
Are excited about regular training at The Fifth Dance with a subsidized class rate

You might be fresh out of school, or an experienced dancer shifting into a new teaching direction. What matters is that you want to show up, try something new and evolve your practice!

Program Dates

Application deadline: July 12, 2026 (11:59pm)

Notifications: By July 22, 2026

Pre‑program meeting: July 27, 2026 2:00PM - 3:30PM

All Emerging Practice Cohort classes will be held on Fridays from 12:30 PM to 2:00 PM. Each artists leads four consecutive weeks of classes. The second Friday of each facilitator’s block will be followed by a post-class meeting. Cohort artists should plan to attend at least two classes per block and the monthly post-class meeting.

Fall 2026