about cazimi houdini
CAZIMI HOUDINI, or Cazi (she/they), is a creative curator, cultural producer, experience designer, community weaver, and Vibe Connoisseur working at the intersection of music, movement, and immersive experience design.
Born in Manila, Philippines, and raised in Tkaronto and on the unceded ancestral lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations — now colonially known as Toronto and Vancouver, Canada — Cazi is a third culture kid shaped by a hybrid-nomadic life lived across many places and perspectives. This has given them a deep curiosity about culture: how we gather, how we express, and how we make meaning together.
Cazi's work spans artistic curation, cultural programming, event production, spatial design, and live hosting. Their practice is rooted in the music and street & club dance cultures that have birthed liberatory movements on the dance floor — hip hop, funk, soul, R&B, jazz, disco, house, and beyond — and informed by a lifelong study of how sound moves through the body, how spaces hold or lose people, and how the right conditions can transform a room into something people carry with them long after they leave.
With a BA in Fine Arts in Radio & Television from Toronto Metropolitan University, Cazi began their career interning with MuchMusic's iconic hip-hop and music video programs RapCity and The Wedge, before going on to co-direct video documentation for Manifesto, Canada's largest urban hip-hop festival. In 2025, they completed the Experience Design Certificate Program with Odyssey Works — deepening their frameworks for designing immersive, participant-centered experiences and further sharpening a practice that had already been years in the making.
They went on to found Shape Shifter Studio, a production vehicle for multi-sensory, underground arts experiences that has evolved across physical spaces and creative collaborations over the years.
Cazi has brought their curatorial and spatial design vision to a wide range of organizations and public contexts, including the Vancouver Mural Festival, Public Disco, re:Naissance Opera, Vancouver Street Dance Festival, Vancouver Civic Theatres, the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, the Downtown Vancouver BIA, and the Winter Arts Festival in both Vancouver and Victoria. Their work extends internationally — building creative community across Canada, the Pacific Northwest, Mexico, and Southeast Asia, including a collaboration with Singapura Dub Club, a movement championing dub, reggae, and dancehall across the region.
As a media producer, Cazi helped produce the one-take dance video series Moments of Movement, directed by Valino, which premiered at Manila Fringe Festival in 2018 and was featured in the Festival of Recorded Movement. They currently direct, produce, and host Beats, Eats & MOARRR! powered by TELUS Storyhive — now in its fifth season with over 130 long-form livestream interviews celebrating arts, culture, and community.
At the core of Cazi's practice is a commitment to amplifying underrepresented voices, fostering genuine connection, and building the conditions for people to show up fully — as creators, collaborators, and participants. They work across communities and disciplines, bringing together the right people and elements to create experiences that are intentional, sensory, and alive.
How Street Dance Culture Builds Community
Have you ever witnessed a street or club dance battle before? Beyond the portrayals of Hollywood surrounding this rich culture, Cazimi (fka Char) dispels stereotypes and shares what's been emerging from the underground. This talk was given March 2019 at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by the Emily Carr University local community.