Walking:Holding: May 26

Walking:Holding is a unique, experiential performance that invites audience members (one at a time) on a guided walk through the neighbourhood, where they encounter and hold hands with a series of people along the way. Rosana Cade’s project embraces social connections between strangers, illuminating how identity, intimacy, hypervisibility, and vulnerability intersect in public space.

In a large city like Toronto, it can be a struggle to meet new people or even strike up a conversation with your neighbour. As residents withdraw from their communities and isolation across the city rises, many people go days without human interaction.   

Walking:Holding is a unique, experiential performance that invites individual audience members to participate in a guided walk through the Bentway neighbourhood, where they will encounter and hold hands with seven different people along the route. What transpires is a series of unscripted conversations, which open each person up to a new social connection.  

With roots in queer activism, the performance invites you to experience your city from someone else’s perspective, illuminating the ways in which our identity can affect our experience of different spaces. It’s a gentle invitation between strangers, provoking the question: what happens when we open our hands to each other in public? In June 2024, a series of photographic portraits of the performers of Walking:Holding will be installed along The Bentway. Created as a collaboration between Glasgow-based Rosana Cade and local photographer Kirk Lisaj, these portraits seek to restage the performance for visitors to The Bentway, inviting further explorations of softness, visibility, and connection in public space.

Due to the limited number of audience members who can attend the performance, we ask that each person only books one ticket to Walking:Holding. Multiple bookings will be cancelled, with only the first slot booked honoured.

What to expect:

• This performance is for one audience member at a time, who will encounter and hold hands with seven strangers throughout the walk.
• The performance will last approximately 45 minutes. Performances will begin at The Bentway Skate Trail (250 Fort York Blvd). Audience members will be guided along a predetermined path.  The performance will end within a 10-minute walk from the starting location.
• The performance route involves mixed terrain such as pavement and gravel, and gentle slopes.
• The performance can be adapted to accommodate individual experiences or accessibility needs, such as a mobility device. Please let us know of any accessibility requirements when you book your ticket, so we can accommodate or modify as needed.
• Any attendees under the age of 18 will need to be accompanied during the performance by a parent or guardian.
• All-gender and accessible washrooms available Tuesday-Friday from 1pm-8:30pm and Saturday-Sunday from 11am-8:30pm. The washrooms will be closed on Mondays, with the exception of holidays.
• Performances take place outdoors and may be cancelled in the event of inclement weather.
• Advance ticket booking is required.

Performance Presented by The Bentway, in partnership with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre 

Photography Installation Commissioned by The Bentway 

Special thanks to Fort York National Historic Site 

Thank you to our Community Partners The 519 and The ArQuives  

Supported by: 

Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund 

Dream Community Foundation Partners in Art 

Partners in Art