Meet the Paprika 2026 Cohort

Jane-Leigh Jamieson (She/Her) is a dancer and choreographer from the Six Nations Reserve. Jane-Leigh has always been passionate about the arts, specifically dance. She enrolled in various dance classes at different studios in her area growing up. She took many classes related to her field of interest in high school while obtaining her stage and screen SHSM. During her time in high school she performed in musicals, The Wedding Singer, Aladdin Jr., and a special performance of One Night Only where she choreographed a number. She also performed in a student written play titled Saving Copetown which competed in the NTS dramafest. She moved on to graduate from the George Brown College Dance Performance Preparation Program, where she took classes in ballet, pointe, jazz, modern dance, contact improve, and other related classes which made her a well rounded performer. Now Jane-Leigh is working on further developing her skills as a choreographer.

Kéïta Fournier-Pelletier is a queer, Métis, Franco-Manitoban artist from Treaty 1 Territory, based in Tkaronto. They are continuously discovering the role these intersecting identities play in their art as a dancer, choreographer and educator. She is the co-founder of the dance collective, Tendre Effort, with her collaborator Barbara Simms. Moving with care, sensitivity and community is at the forefront of how Kéïta creates. Their works are collaborative and tied to their identity and values. She is interested in creating interdisciplinary works in ways that question power, heteronormativity, and other societal norms that reject her identity. Her work has been presented across Toronto, as well as Hamilton, Kitchener, and most recently Montreal. Her most recent credits include touring her group work, Pillar of You, performing in adelheid's newest work tender, and touring La Mitchin di Mitchif with Métis dance company, V’ni Dansi. She has studied Flying Low & Passing Through with David Zambrano, in Brussels, Belgium, and continues to develop these techniques in her teaching practice to share with the Toronto dance community.

Vandana Maharaj (she/her) is a Trinidadian-Canadian actor, director and writer. She is a recent grad from the UTM x Sheridan Theatre and Drama Studies program. Vandana strives to uphold spaces that tell stories from marginalized communities and highlights human experiences. She is passionate about fostering community through her work and everyday life. Vandana also loves to sing, dance, read and grow plants. In her spare time she does Social media management and content creation cuz there’s nothing like a good feed that tells a story. Find her @vandanas.world.

Nicci Pryce (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is rooted in passion, vulnerability, and social justice. With a BA in Media Production from TMU, they contributed to creating a wide array of projects ranging from mixtapes, theatrical productions, and short films each with a definitive focus on amplifying underrepresented narratives. Their artistic journey has been shaped by collaboration with companies such as Theatre Gargantua, Bad Hats, Crane Creations, Soulpepper, New Harlem Productions, and Paprika Festival.

Melissa is a Toronto-born Latina-Filipina writer, reviewer, theatre lover and a patron services representative. She studied at The University of Toronto and earned a degree in biochemistry and linguistics, but her love of theatre outweighed her need for a job in a stable industry. She wants to change theatre culture to be a larger part of every Torontonian’s life. Her biggest goal is to help the arts in Toronto flourish, or to be on Jeopardy (whichever comes first).

Gwen Gabriella Caughell (she/her) is a playwright, short story writer and critic based out of Toronto. She is excited by all sorts of theatre, but is drawn to work that is queer, difficult and loud. Her writing as a theatre critic has appeared in Intermission. She loves pretentious art movies, kitsch television, & overthinking the hidden meanings in pop music.

Suleekha Hirsi (she/her) is a Somali-Canadian, Black Muslim playwright and filmmaker based in Brampton. Her work follows families and the everyday ways people care, struggle, and practice resilience. She sits on the board of Brampton Arts Organization (BAO) and is pursuing a Masters in Urban Planning, bringing curiosity about people and place into her storytelling. Her work lingers in kitchens, living rooms, and quiet corners, noticing the small, tender moments that make life feel full.

Kobena Ampofo (we / they) is a queer Akan anti-disciplinary artist developing a curiosity-led research practice around witchcraft, Akan mediumship, and the spirit realm. Kobena was born on a dark Tuesday morning in Kumasi and has since also lived in Accra, South Bend, Chicago, Brampton, and now Toronto. Our practice is guided by exploring how to conjure new realities into being, and finding new ways to communicate beyond (human) language.

Our first showing was with Goldhost's ""In the Flesh"" online exhibition in 2020 where we debuted the Shadowmancer series. Since then, our research and exploration of various crafts, practices and histories have informed our artistic practice in a quest to encounter and commune with spirits within and beyond our body. Our experience of collecting stories on the history of the Ghanaian coast during a residency with Saman Archive, especially oral and spiritual histories from elders and townspeople was incredibly eye-opening and a major inspiration in developing the “Notes on Making Jollof” digital collage series, which was exhibited at the 2024 Toronto Outdoor Art Fair. We were also part of the 519's group exhibition ""In What We Carry, We Become"" for the ""In Each Other's Magnitude"" project held at the Wildseed Center for Art & Activism as well as the 2024/25 Cohort of the VUKA Performing Arts Residency at Theatre Passe Muraille where we debuted the solo performance piece, ""Bonsam Din"". We are currently working on projections for Anansi v God(s) as part of the Paprika 2025 Design Lab and building a virtual garden with the InterAccess Terra Firma residency program. In the future, we hope to better archive our artworks under our Nipazeen platform to make our processes more available to the similarly curious.

saysah moves through the world with a deep intention to be in right relationship with their body, the land, and the communities they belong to. they are always in the process of (un)becoming—an ever-evolving learner, maker, and mover. as a multidisciplinary and multisensorial artist, saysah’s practice weaves together different forms of expression, all guided by sensory exploration. they find joy in mulling over layers of embodied knowledge systems and re-membering what has been left for us.

through their work, they build spaces for co-creation, where community-building, ritual-theatre, and archive come together in a shared approach. these elements are deeply informed by earth and water as vital teachers and collaborators — saysah honours these guides by moving with a commitment to reciprocity.