“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.”

MD is a queer, non-binary careworker and artist of Italian-Danish descent, based in Tkaronto. They are a registered social worker, somatic movement and yoga teacher and perinatal doula and childbirth educator. With a focus on somatic and embodied psychotherapy, gender and trans-affirming advocacy, and birthwork, MD integrates these practices in a holistic way that fosters resilience, re-membering, and transformation within the communities they serve. As a performance and dance artist with over a two decades of experience, MD's creative background informs their carework practice by nurturing a deep creative wisdom of the body's language.  

MD is also a dedicated learner, studying Body-Mind Centering® for somatic movement education and currently completing training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. They hold a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Toronto, gaining experience in trans and gender-affirming care, and working with people at the intersections of substance use, relational and structural trauma. They also earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Performance from Toronto Metropolitan University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Laurentian University, where their thesis earned the Canadian Psychological Association Certificate of Academic Excellence.

As a contemporary dance artist, 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. MD has the wonderful opportunity 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's own creative practice as a movement and performance artist explores playful and poignant expressions of identity, body politics, and transformation. Their performances blend drag, burlesque, and clowning, using humor, subversion, theatricality and physicality to challenge social constructs and power dynamics. MD’s creative work provokes thought, questions societal expectations, and explores alternative ways of thinking and being beyond the limitations imposed by the status quo.

MD’s artistic and carework practices are deeply intertwined, offering space for expression, processing, and connection during times of uncertainty. These practices serve as both a source of strength and a form of resistance, helping reclaim agency and acting as vital tools for community care and liberation.