There are some evenings that feel a little different from the start. This was one of them.

Canoo members gathered in Toronto for a special pre-show reception with TELUS and The National Ballet of Canada, before sitting down to watch an incredible performance of Pinocchio. What nobody mentioned in the invitations was that the show would land quite so personally.

In Partnership with Canoo

This kind of evening doesn't happen without the organizations willing to show up.

Jessica Penney, Manager of Consumer Partnerships & Strategic Growth at TELUS, set the tone:

"At TELUS, we are deeply invested in building lives here in Canada. That's why partnerships with organizations like the Canoo team are so meaningful to us — and personally to me, as the child of an immigrant from El Salvador, now standing here with all of you.

Connectivity is at the core of what we do at TELUS. The connection goes far beyond technology. It's about people, families, and communities coming together to share their experiences and build relationships."

That kind of candour changes the energy in a room. Suddenly you're not at a corporate reception. You're somewhere more familiar.

Before the performance, Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, Co-Founder of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, also said something worth sitting with:

"This [The National Ballet of Canada] is a place of dreams. Every cultural place is a place of dreams. Either the dreams of the past, or the dreams of now, or the dreams that you put in for the future. And you belong to those dreams. You're part of those dreams. They're not separate from you...And that's what this all means, is you have access to everything. "

All cultural institutions strive in this shared purpose: to provide positive experiences for everyone. Creating new relationships with paintings, learning about local history, or watching an incredible rendition of Pinocchio. This access is yours! And Canoo is here as a program that supports that.

Charlotte Geeves, Executive Director of The National Ballet of Canada, put it plainly:

"Through the Canoo program, we've been able to introduce the art form of ballet to so many newcomers to Canada. This is something we're incredibly proud of, because not only is accessibility one of our values — we know that cultural activities can create a true sense of belonging through shared experience."