“I have learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

Photo by @AbandonedAffair

Mary-Dora (MD) is a queer, non-binary millennial and settler of Italian and Danish descent, residing in Tkaronto (Treaty 13 territory). They show up in their community as a multi-disciplinary careworker and artist. They practice as a clinical social worker and psychotherapist offering somatic and body-based therapeutic support. MD also serves the community as a birth doula, childbirth educator and yoga teacher. Their care work centers on queer and trans-affirming embodiment and healing arts for a more livable future. MD fosters neurodiversity and identity-affirming spaces to cultivate resilience, re-membering and transformation in those they serve. MD weaves together their artistic praxis and carework as tools for community care and liberation.

Working as a dance and performance artist over the last 12+ years , MD’s creations have been supported by residencies and festivals locally and abroad including the National Ballet of Canada’s Open Space program (2024/23), Jaberi Dance Theatre's Mentorship Program (2023), Toronto Dance Theatre's Plug'N'Play residency (2022), Lake Studio Berlin (2022), The Toronto Love-IN (2021), Dance Makers Toronto (2020), WIPE Berlin Film Festival (2019), Dock11****Eden: Pool International Film Festival (2018), among others. As a performer MD has collaborated with various artists, including Alvin Collantes, Alyssa Martin (Rock Bottom Movement), Amanda Acorn, Jennifer Laiwint, Nicole Negro, Amanda Smith (FAWN Chamber Creative), David Earle, Ismael Ivo (ImPulsTanz), Pamela Rasbach (Typecast Dance), The Box NYC, Will Kwan (AGO).

MD is student of Body-Mind Centering®, a Licensed Somatic Movement Education Program, and is currently studying to certify in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. At the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, MD attained a Master of Social Work (MSW) degree, concentrating on mental health and health, specializing in trans and gender affirming care, trauma and addictions counselling. They earned a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Psychology Specialization from Laurentian University, where their thesis garnered them the Canadian Psychological Association Certificate of Academic Excellence. Additionally, they hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Performance from Toronto Metropolitan University.