Theo x Travis: Jazz is Dead | With Timea Wharton-Suri and Travis Knights
Live on CIUT 89.5 FM
Airing Date: June 14, 2025
Host/ Producer: Nicole Inica Hamilton
Featured Guest(s): Timea Wharton-Suri and Travis Knights
On this episode, Timea Wharton-Suri (Arts executive, educator, curator, and producer) and Travis Knights (Tap Dancer, storyteller, and cultural leader) discuss collaboration, and the world premiere; Theo x Travis: Jazz is Dead. Conceived by Timea Wharton-Suri and co-commissioned by dance Immersion and Luminato Festival, Jazz is Dead isn’t a tribute—it’s a rebirth. On stage June 21, 2025.
About Timea Wharton-Suri:
Timea Wharton-Suri serves communities through her work as an arts executive, educator, curator, and producer. For three decades she has studied, performed, taught, curated, produced, programmed, administrated, and advocated for dance in Canada. While gaining this experience, she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Dance from York University, and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Arts and Media Management Graduate Diploma from Schulich School of Business. Timea is currently in a blended administrative and artistic role as the Curator & Executive Director at dance Immersion. She provides consulting for individual artists and groups, and independently mentors artists through all stages of development.
About Travis Knights:
Travis Knights is a Tap Dancer.
Born in Montreal, Canada, Travis was introduced to the rich oral tradition of Tap by his teacher Ethel Bruneau at age 10. He went on to travel the world spreading his love of rhythm across 4 continents, touring with Tap Dogs, Tapestry Dance Company, Anandam Dance Theatre and the self-produced Tap Love Tour. He was the 2020 recipient of the Jaqueline Lemieux Prize for outstanding contribution to dance in Canada. In December 2021, in partnership with dance Immersion, Travis, along with renowned Tap Dancer Lisa LaTouche, created and directed Legacy Series: Tap Dance Symposium which aimed to re-introduce Tap Dance to the local Black community in Toronto. In 2022, Travis won a Dora Award for Outstanding Performance in dance Immersion’s Tap Legacy Concert, and became a Slaight Family Music Associate at Soulpepper. In 2024, Travis’ Tap Love Tour production company released two major works, a feature length documentary called Restorative Culture: Johnathan Morin, and a full length original dance work called The Mars Project that premiered at Fall For Dance North. He currently lives in Brampton, Ontario and hosts The Tap Love Tour Podcast, available on spotify, soundcloud and apple podcasts, (make sure to subscribe) featuring interviews of a myriad of inspiring tap dance artists.
📸 (L) to (R) Timea Wharton-Suri and Travis Knights. Photography by Dahlia Katz
Theme and Interlude music credits:
Cannonball Adderley: “Autumn Leaves”
John Coltrane: “Blue Train”
