About Us - Miss Coco Murray

Miss Coco Murray responds as a mobile, dance education business sharing African/Caribbean arts

Coco Murray is not only a gifted pedagogue but a world artist who bestows students with the spirit force of dance. Her work offers teaching rooted in heritage and ancestry gifted to us by Africa and her story. Coco’s educational outreach is rich and powerful, inviting students to access their inner strength to shine through, hitting the most resonant notes so that they may emerge through their work connected and sonorous. - TDSB Educator, Lizzie Kurtz (West Hill Collegiate Institute)

As curators of the Edwards Summer Music Series, we were thrilled to witness the response to Miss Coco Murray and her ensemble. An enormous audience gathered at the Toronto Botanical Garden and was enthralled by their performance. The quality of the music and dance, audience engagement and energy level of the ensemble was absolutely excellent. We are so pleased to have selected them to close the series for the season. Miss Coco and her Collective was instrumental in ensuring we finished on a high note!
- Anisa Tejpar and Jennifer Nichols ( Co-Artistic Directors, Hit and Run Dance Productions)

RESPONSIVE & INTERACTIVE

We serve all areas within the Greater Toronto region and across Ontario. All services will be delivered to neighbourhoods and regions where African and Caribbean styles of dance are inaccessible. Services are customized for children, youth, adults and seniors at different levels.

Participants benefit from a trained cultural practitioner and inter-generational artists. We highlight the history, social significance and current contributions of indigenous African, Caribbean and its diasporic cultures.

MISSION STATEMENT

To bring intercultural awareness and connect generations of African/Caribbean descended people to the practice, experience and education of Afro-indigenous diasporic knowledge.

VISION

To fulfill a legacy where African and Caribbean artistic genres are valued by children, youth and adults across Canada.

Whether it is an event, a school presentation, fundraiser or a existing performance group, Miss Coco Murray brings over 15+ years of experience to customize a cultural arts experience.

Miss Coco is also dedicated to creating arts education across Ontario and in multicultural spaces. Toronto Neighbourhood improvement areas and increasing home-ownership of black visible minorities[1] in surrounding municipalities are in search of cultural activities for families. Multicultural audiences seek new ways of arts activities, as well. This creates an opportunity to bring ongoing cultural arts engagement from the African/Caribbean region to new areas and educate audiences.

Bookings are available for:

Dance classes/workshops: customized for dance studios, schools, community organizations, performance ensembles
Cultural Education and Programming services: consultation, delivering projects to institutions using Afro-indigenous knowledge with consideration of the culture/ethnic group(s) that are represented
Educational presentations: Miss Coco can customize a presentation or program based on learning objectives
Culturally-responsive mentorship of Black artists
Performance for events or choreography for performance groups

[1] 2011 Neighbourhood Household Survey, Statistics Canada

Our business welcomes any sponsorships or donations to continue the cultural services we offer.