Collaborators

Current

Sid Ryan Eilers (they/them) is a shape-shifting choreographer, visionary theatre-maker, and tender-hearted truth-slinger who believes that children deserve glittering, expansive stories and artists deserve to be paid well to create them. As the creator, producer, project lead, and choreographer of Fancy Cat, Sid brings 25 years of performance magic across Canada to the sparkly and proud hearts of Kindergarten-to-Grade-3 audiences.

A proud trans artist and founder of EILERS Dance Theatre, Sid builds performance worlds where trans and queer identities are centred, celebrated, and joyously embodied. Fancy Cat is a gender-affirming, toe-tapping dance-theatre musical starring a nonbinary third-grader with a fierce imagination and it reflects Sid’s lifelong commitment to making performance spaces braver, kinder, and more inclusive for young people of all genders.

Sid also founded TRANScendARTS, a creative arts initiative for gender-diverse kids, and teaches at Canada’s National Ballet School. Their work has been supported by residencies at the Banff Centre, the National Ballet of Canada, and Côté Danse/Crow’s Theatre. When not creating musicals about amazing children, they are dreaming up new ways to tell ancestral stories, dance across dimensions, and keep kids (and their grownups) wide-eyed with wonder.

More at https://www.eilersdancetheatre.com
IG: @eilers.dance.theatre @sid_ryan_eilers

“Hi, I’m MAC! (aka MaryAnn Clark)

For over 25 years, I’ve worked with kids of all ages—teaching and mentoring in classrooms, camps, homes, and volunteer programs. Originally, my background in filmmaking led me to work with middle and high schoolers at U.S. camps and even start a film program at a summer camp in Switzerland. 

Things changed for me when I moved to Humboldt County right before the COVID pandemic. I started nannying young kids and noticed they often pretended to be animals—for fun (of course!) but also when processing big and uncomfortable feelings. This inspired me to create a YouTube Kids channel to help children (and families!) build coping skills through fun, animal-inspired activities.

Now, I’m studying early childhood education while working in Humboldt preschools and developing *kids in the hive*—a project that blends videos, PlaySpaces, and playful SEL learning. My goal? To help kids navigate tough emotions and tough times with resilience, joy, self-awareness, and a little imagination. I hope to follow in the footsteps of my role model, Mr. Rogers, by bringing more play, love, and kindness into the world 🙂 ”

YouTube: kids in the hive IG: @kidsinthehive

Past

• 3 Aunties Collective: Karen Ancheta, Lisa Pijuan-Nomura and Amber created Puppetry and Storytelling workshops for the 2021 Hamilton Fringe Festival Digital Fringe Kids Club Camp (Hamilton, ON).
• A Shared Table: Amber served as a picture book resource and creative storytelling lab co-facilitator (Hamilton, ON).
• Lisa Pijuan-Nomura: co-host of THE READERS, an adult-to-adult reading event in Hamilton, ON.
• Locke Street Farmer’s Market: gracious host of Saturday Storytimes in Hamilton, ON (Thank you Jen Hsieh and Farmer Russ!).
• Easybake Conspirators: these beautiful humans were instrumental in the first draft of There’s an Easybake Oven Where My Heart Should Be.