Brianna Maltais

Artist

Brianna is a tap dance-based artist whose work explores textural soundscapes, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and fosters opportunities for youth in her hometown of Barrie. Rooted in the historical relationship between tap dance and jazz, her practice celebrates Canadian history, leading her to co-produce a Culture Days event and organize a community visit with tap dance elder Joey Hollingsworth. Her artistic approach is shaped by the vibrant music and dance communities around her, particularly through her role on the production team for the Toronto International Tap Dance Festival and her involvement in the Heather Cornell Legacy Project. These experiences led to her recent participation in the Leña residency, where she co-created original compositions with her newly formed collective, Haut Haus, a group composed equally of instrumentalists and tap dancers. Brianna’s current creative projects are guided by a curiosity about tap dance’s origins in drumming, a focus that inspired her creation for Shoe Dreams!