About Us
Mile Zero Dance (MZD) is a thriving dance-based arts non-profit organization located in Edmonton, or Amiskwacîwâskahikan ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ meaning “beaver hills house”, in Cree. The company is devoted to the creation, training, and presentation of dance, and has produced a complete artistic season for twenty years.
Since 1985, MZD has also been sharing dance education programming available to schools, community organizations and inner-city schools. MZD works in response to community needs while focusing on dance and inter-disciplinary activity. The company has three employees, several contract employees, and hires numerous artists, dancers and instructors on a project-to-project basis, with an annual operating budget of around half a million dollars.
We are honoured to work in Treaty Six territory, which has been safeguarded by the Cree, Nakota, Blackfoot, Dene, Métis, and other Indigenous groups who prospered here before settlers arrived, and continue to make Edmonton a rich and generous place to live and work.
Mission
Mile Zero Dance develops contemporary dance practices and audiences, through education, collaborative partnerships, and the presentation of original, dynamic, interdisciplinary performances.
Vision
Through experimentation and risk-taking, we aim to be a responsive centre for experiencing contemporary performance practices in our communities within Alberta and beyond.
We envision a future where we are:
A responsive hub for contemporary dance practices in local, national, and international communities.
A grassroots proposition that allows people to see and use their bodies in the modern world.
Active participants in a community of care, cultivating safety and decolonial practices.
Values
We Value Justice
Dance is a tool for justice and reconciliation, and the body is an expressive means of resistance.
We Value Artists’ quality of life
The safety, well-being, and fair compensation of artists are crucial to our purpose.
We Value Creative process
From a first dance class to the presentation of acclaimed work, we meet artists/arts professionals and audiences where they are in their creative inquiries and development.
We Value innovation
The ideas we generate, and foster are transformative to the dance ecosystem across the prairies, country and internationally.
We Value Humanity
We believe in the collective body and the individual Dancer. We understand dance as an embodiment of the human condition.
We Value Sustainable Growth
Our journey is regenerative and responds to the needs of our communities. Our growth does not sacrifice any other value.
EQUITY, DIVERSITY + INCLUSION
Mile Zero Dance acknowledges Treaty Six’s Intent Of Friendship And Kinship with the Indigenous Peoples who gathered here for thousands of years: Cree, Nakota, Blackfoot, Dene, Saulteaux, and Metis, and all Indigenous people continuing to live here today. We strive to create an open space for all, upholding the traditional Cree meaning of Tatawaw, “Welcome, There Is Room”.
Organizational Profile
MZD’s 2025–2026 Organizational Profile outlines our three part mandate.
Our leadership
Our leadership team brings a wealth of expertise in contemporary movement, dedicated to championing the bold experimentation and collaborative spirit that defines Edmonton’s independent arts scene.
Our Team
The MZD staff consist of three employees, several contract employees, and hires numerous artists, dancers and instructors.
Our LOCATION
Our studios and administrative office are located at 9931 78 Ave NW Edmonton, AB T6E 1N6, on Treaty Six territory, in the Ritchie neighbourhood, one of Edmonton’s oldest neighbourhoods.
Artistic Director’s Message
At a time when public life can feel shaped by division and scarcity, this season chooses generosity. SOFT Landings celebrates the extraordinary work emerging from our own community while welcoming artists and perspectives from beyond it. Together, these performances offer places to gather, reflect, and imagine other ways of being with one another.
Softening is not the same as yielding. It is an act of openness—making space to feel more deeply, to listen more carefully, and to become stronger through empathy, curiosity, and care.
As a curator, I consider the conditions that allow artists and audiences to meet. A soft landing is not only for the artist bringing work into the world; it is also for the audience arriving with their own experiences, questions, and hopes. Each work in this season invites us into a distinct world while asking us to remain open to what we might discover there.
These dance artists bring deeply personal, bold, and compelling points of view. Some works challenge, others comfort, many do both. Together they remind us that dance can hold complexity without demanding certainty.
MZD Artistic Director, Gerry Morita