Meet the Paprika2025 Cohort
Its that time of year again! 8 emerging artists are joining our training programs, led by some of the industry’s most dynamic artists, to learn, create, and share new work at our 24th Annual Paprika Festival this Spring at Native Earth Performing Arts.
Artists will work with Paprika over the year to develop skills in collective creation, producing and more!
Get to know the incoming artists!
Indigenous Arts Progam


Jane-Leigh Jamieson
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.

aleria mckay
aleria mckay (she/her) comes from an onondaga & teme augama anishnabai mother and red river métis & dene tha’ father. she was raised on six nations of the grand river and is proud to call her community home. aleria holds a bachelor of arts in theatre and indigenous studies and bachelor of education. she is currently working towards a master of arts in creative writing at the university of british columbia. a poet and playwright, her past works include and she split the sky in two and thunderstorms. her most recent poetry collection, sweetgrass & cigarettes, was released in early 2023. in her free time, aleria enjoys reading, gardening, sewing, escape rooms, bird-watching, playing the sims 4, being on the land, and poorly attempting to identify fungi.
Creative Producers


Greg Carruthers
Greg Carruthers (he/him, she/her) is a Toronto-based producer, director, choreographer, intimacy director, actor and body-positive activist (@EveryBODYonStage) Hailing from Bradford, Ontario, Greg studied Music Theatre Performance at St. Lawrence College which recently nominated him for an Ontario Premier's Award. Greg has choreographed for the Second City, Grand Theatre, Theatre Sheridan, Hart House Theatre, Canada’s Wonderland, The Madinat Theatre (Dubai), and the July 1st ceremonies at Queens Park (Toronto). As a performer, Greg was most recently seen on the 1st National Tour of 'Trey Parker's Cannibal the Musical'. As the Artistic Producer and Founder of EveryBODY on Stage, Greg conceived, choreographed and produced a short film titled "Cell Block Tango: Reimagined" which won a Webby Award in NYC where Greg got to deliver her speech alongside SZA and Anderson Cooper. EveryBODY on Stage has produced live events for PepsiCo, Musical Stage Co, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, El Mocambo, Comedy Bar as well as short films, webseries and social media content, which has amassed a following of 30,000. Greg loves to tap dance and can drive a zamboni.

Srutika Sabu
Srutika Sabu (she/they) is a doctor turned clown and multidisciplinary artist. Though her first artistic loves were visual art, writing, and music, a medical school existential crisis prompted a move to Toronto, where she embraced her late-blooming theatre kid era. Through clown training at Sweet Action Theatre, she discovered her drag king persona, Santosh Santosh (aka Tosh), who starred in the Toronto Fringe show 1 Santosh Santosh 2 Go, directed by Ken Hall. Srutika’s work blends absurdity, vulnerability, and joy, crafting performances that explore identity, connection, and the hilarity of finding yourself in the most unexpected places.
Creators Unit


Chloe Cha
Chloe Cha (she/her) is a Queer, Korean-Canadian performer, creative, and theatre maker exploring meaning in identity and self actualization within creative landscapes. Based in Tkaronto and currently a second year Performance Acting student at Toronto Metropolitan University, she has collaborated and performed in various multidisciplinary and experimental theatre projects including Jordan Tannahill's Is My Microphone On? at Canadian Stage's Dream in High Park, Sheep’s Clothing Theatre’s Bard Luck does Macbeth, and Generous Friend Art’s’ There Is So Much More To Say. She was the recipient of the SummerWorks 2022 Emerging Artist Prize and has performed in theatres and galleries across the country. Her creative practices extend and merge with experimental filmmaking, music composition,

Osvaldo Barreda Buschmann (Ova)
Osvaldo Barreda Buschmann (Ova) (he/him) is a visual artist, dancer, and art educator from Santiago, Chile, currently based in Toronto, Canada (since March 2023). A graduate of art school, he began his career as a high school art teacher while contributing to the Chilean art collective Plantar Memoria, with whom he won an artist residency in Medellín, Colombia. After moving to Canada, he participated in another international community arts residency in Gutu, Zimbabwe, led by Muse Arts (Toronto), which further broadened his artistic perspective. Following this experience, Osvaldo's current creative focus is on dance, where he continues to explore different styles and techniques since the age of 13. Nowadays he is part of 2.0 Dance Company, Raíces de Chile Cultural Group, and works as a community arts facilitator, creating dynamic and participa

Emma Cuzzocrea (they/them, he/him, she/her) is an artist and performer originally from Treaty 6 territory, also known as London, Ontario. Emma is privileged to have performed and collaborated with The Grand Theatre, Here For Now, and Guilty by Association. They attend Toronto Metropolitan University’s BFA Acting program, where they enjoy routinely being stupid with 23 like-minded individuals while barefoot. They are ecstatic to be working alongside the wonderful minds at Paprika this year.

Macarena Coronado Harman (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Lima, Peru who utilizes and combines different mediums to tell stories. As a neurodivergent artist Macarena is guided by emotion and senses in her creative process, and aims to recreate the intensity of emotion that she experiences through her art on the stage. Through a deep passion for social justice and politics, particularly relating to Latin America, Macarena is adamant in including her political, cultural, and social awareness in her work, and thus aspires to amplify the voices of those who often go unheard through the arts.