FADO Performance Inc. (Performance Art Centre) is a non-profit artist-run centre for performance art based in Toronto, Canada.
FADO was established in 1993 to provide a stable, ongoing, supportive forum for creating and presenting performance art. Currently, we are the only artist-run centre in English Canada devoted specifically to this form. We recognize that performance art as a practice has multiple histories and encompasses various regional, cultural, political and aesthetic differences. FADO defines performance in relation to the root elements of the medium—time, space, the performer’s body and the relationship between performer and audience. We are most interested in works that are innovative in their use of one or more of these elements, including those that are multi-disciplinary. We focus on artists who have chosen performance art as a primary medium to create and communicate provocative new images and new perspectives.
Artistic & Administrative Director (2007–current): Shannon Cochrane
2022 Board of Directors: Julian Higuerey Núñez (Chair), Jennifer Snider Cruise (Vice Chair), Cathy Gordon (Treasurer), Clayton Lee (Secretary), Francesco Gagliardi, Freya Björg Olafson.
Co-founder, Performance Art Curator (1993–2007): Paul Couillard
FADO’s activities are funded by The Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Toronto Arts Council and The Department of Canadian Heritage.