BIO

Born in Ottawa, ON, Madz DeRose is a Tiohtià:ke (Montreal)-based contemporary dance interpreter and choreographer, recently graduated from Concordia University's Contemporary Dance program. DeRose works as a freelance dance collaborator and teacher, nurturing young talents across Montreal. DeRose blends emotion through physicality, with an artistic practice rooted in autobiographical inquiry and the essential utility of art as a tool for making sense of one’s state and life. DeRose's choreography serves as a necessary process of confronting and metabolizing deeply lived experiences. Her past works have been instrumental in exploring challenges such as abusive, addiction, and bodily trauma. This practice of embodied inquiry asks: What are the physical capabilities and limits we have within ourselves to trust another person with our safety? The goal is always to create honest, evocative movement that sparks a meaningful exchange between performer and viewer, inviting them to delve into the complexities of human connection, sense, and memory.​

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Since graduation, DeRose has explored integrating fabric, collage, and visual mediums to compose cohesive choreographic narratives, aiming to facilitate a dialogue between these visual forms and movement. Her current work WORN was most recently in development through the MAI mentorship program and was awarded a Canada Council grant for continued research in a month-long residency in Yellowknife. The work was also presented at the Art in the Open Festival in Charlottetown, PEI, this past summer. Recent performances include Cloudbust (ch. Tiera Joly Pavelich, supported by CALQ, Mainline Theatre), and residencies at L’Écotone (“Terrains Vacants,” Oct 2024–Jan 2025) and Córtex Frontal in Arraiolos, Portugal (Nov–Dec 2023).

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