Sashar Zarif is a transdisciplinary performing artist-scholar whose work explores movement as a living archive of memory, sound, and story. For over three decades, he has worked across more than 40 countries, engaging dance not as a fixed tradition but as an evolving, responsive practice. His research moves between ritual, performance, and scholarship, drawing from Sufi and shamanic traditions of Central and Western Asia alongside contemporary choreographic inquiry. Over the years, he has developed Living Stories, an embodied practice weaving movement, sound, narrative, and ritual into a framework for artistic creation, research, and mentorship, as well as Dance of Mugham, a movement language shaped by improvisational musical structures. A Fulbright Award recipient, Zarif’s work bridges embodied knowledge with artistic and academic exchange worldwide.

Pirouz Yousefian is a composer, santur player, percussionist, and educator, and a pioneer of Persian music ensembles in Toronto. He began his formal training at an early age and studied at Tehran’s Honarestane Aliye Musiqi, working with leading composers and scholars of Persian music and philosophy. In Canada, he founded several influential ensembles, including Mehravarzan, Nasim, and Nobāng, releasing multiple albums and presenting Persian classical and contemporary music in major professional venues internationally. Since 2001, Yousefian has collaborated with Sashar Zarif on the SAGHI Project, developing an improvisational musical practice that unfolds in dialogue with movement, attentive to timing, silence, and musical interaction.

For over 40 years, Eric Cadesky has composed more than 75 works for ballet and modern dance, collaborating with the National Ballet of Canada, Ballet BC, Lyon Opera Ballet, Mannheim Ballet, Chimera Dance Theatre and leading independent choreographers. He served eight years as Composer-in-Residence for Desrosiers Dance Theatre, performing live locally and on tour. As a composer for film, television, theatre, concert stage, and experimental projects, he has earned critical acclaim and nominations. He is Artistic Director of The Glass Orchestra, designing its instruments and touring internationally as the only all-glass music ensemble. Cadesky believes in giving back to the community by mentoring and donating his time to arts initiatives.