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Mile Zero Dance

Mile Zero Dance (MZD) is an Edmonton-based non-profit contemporary dance company and presenting organization devoted to creation, training, and presentation of dance.

Last updated September 27, 2026

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Overview

Mile Zero Dance (MZD) is a dance-based arts non-profit organization located in Edmonton, Alberta — in Cree, Amiskwacîwâskahikan, meaning "beaver hills house." The company is devoted to the creation, training, and presentation of dance, and has produced a complete artistic season for twenty years. Since 1985, MZD has also been sharing dance education programming available to schools, community organizations, and inner-city schools. MZD works in response to community needs while focusing on dance and inter-disciplinary activity. The organization operates with three employees, several contract employees, and hires numerous artists, dancers, and instructors on a project-to-project basis, with an annual operating budget of around half a million dollars. It is honoured to work in Treaty Six territory, which has been safeguarded by the Cree, Nakota, Blackfoot, Dene, Métis, and other Indigenous groups. MZD's mission is to develop contemporary dance practices and audiences through education, collaborative partnerships, and the presentation of original, dynamic, interdisciplinary performances. Its vision is to be a responsive centre for experiencing contemporary performance practices in communities within Alberta and beyond — a responsive hub for contemporary dance practices in local, national, and international communities; a grassroots proposition that allows people to see and use their bodies in the modern world; and active participants in a community of care, cultivating safety and decolonial practices. The company presents a full artistic season of mainstage shows, cabarets, and residency works. Recent and upcoming programming includes FRACTURA from Deviani Andrea (emerging from the ZERO LAB residency program), MŌNAD by EBNFLOH of Montreal, the interdisciplinary Collisions // Connections Cabaret curated by Indigenous performer/playwright Josh Languedoc, OMOTE (面) by Shion Skye Carter and Miya Turnbull, and further ZERO LAB residencies with Brooke Leifso and mpoe mogale. MZD also runs the Reeling series and other mainstage presentations.

History

Mile Zero Dance (MZD) is a dance-based arts non-profit organization located in Edmonton, Alberta, in the territory known in Cree as Amiskwacîwâskahikan ("beaver hills house"). The company is devoted to the creation, training, and presentation of dance, and has produced a complete artistic season for twenty years. Since 1985, MZD has also been sharing dance education programming available to schools, community organizations, and inner-city schools. MZD works in response to community needs while focusing on dance and inter-disciplinary activity. The organization operates with three employees, several contract employees, and hires numerous artists, dancers, and instructors on a project-to-project basis, with an annual operating budget of around half a million dollars. It works in Treaty Six territory, which has been safeguarded by the Cree, Nakota, Blackfoot, Dene, Métis, and other Indigenous groups who prospered there before settlers arrived and who continue to make Edmonton a rich and generous place to live and work. The company's mission is to develop contemporary dance practices and audiences through education, collaborative partnerships, and the presentation of original, dynamic, interdisciplinary performances. Its vision is to be a responsive centre for experiencing contemporary performance practices in communities within Alberta and beyond. It envisions a future in which it is a responsive hub for contemporary dance practices in local, national, and international communities; a grassroots proposition that allows people to see and use their bodies in the modern world; and an active participant in a community of care, cultivating safety and decolonial practices. MZD's programming includes a full artistic season of mainstage shows, interdisciplinary cabarets, and residency works. Its ZERO LAB residency program has produced new works such as FRACTURA by Deviani Andrea. The company has presented artists including EBNFLOH (Montreal) with MŌNAD, Shion Skye Carter and Miya Turnbull with OMOTE (面), and has hosted the Collisions // Connections Cabaret curated and hosted by Indigenous performer/playwright Josh Languedoc. Further ZERO LAB residencies have featured Brooke Leifso and mpoe mogale, alongside the Reeling series and other mainstage presentations.

  • 1985

    Mile Zero Dance begins sharing dance education programming with schools, community organizations, and inner-city schools.

  • MZD launches its new season with FRACTURA from Deviani Andrea, the latest work to emerge from the ZERO LAB residency program.

  • MZD presents MŌNAD by EBNFLOH (Montreal), a work referencing the ancient Greek monad.

  • MZD hosts the Collisions // Connections Cabaret, curated and hosted by Indigenous performer/playwright Josh Languedoc.

  • MZD presents OMOTE (面), a co-creation between Vancouver dance artist Shion Skye Carter and Halifax mask maker Miya Turnbull.

  • ZERO LAB residencies continue with Brooke Leifso and mpoe mogale.

Products and positioning

A grassroots, community-responsive non-profit hub for contemporary and interdisciplinary dance in Edmonton and beyond, committed to justice, reconciliation, and decolonial practices.

  • FRACTURA by Deviani Andrea

  • MŌNAD by EBNFLOH (Montreal)

  • Collisions // Connections Cabaret

  • OMOTE (面) by Shion Skye Carter and Miya Turnbull

  • ZERO LAB residency program

  • Reeling series

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