Education and Accessibility sponsor of the Festival of Ideas and Creation
Festival of Ideas and Creation
MOVEMENTS in DANCE
The Festival of Ideas and Creation is a gathering of Artists, Arts Practitioners, Art Lovers and Thought Leaders from a variety of disciplines. The Festival is built to be a responsive space to consider creative practices. It is a space for artists and audiences to come together, to interrogate and investigate that which is pressing, new, or challenging in artistic creation communities. It is a space that will build and feed the creative imagination of all participants by presenting engaging panels, workshops, and lively guided discussion groups. The FIC enhances community connections, fosters curiosity and imagination, and strengthens connections between artistic communities and Canadian Stage.
The Festival of Ideas and Creation MOVEMENTS in DANCE will focus on contemporary conversations that prioritize artists and their practice. The 4-day series of events will offer opportunities to explore practical considerations within dance and movement. This includes resources on health and safety and workshops with leading creatives in dance to celebrate the joy, pleasure, and possibilities of our beautifully intricate bodies.
We invite you to join us on March 17-20, 2021 to discover new ideas and make new connections at MOVEMENTS in DANCE.
Festival Leads: Tawiah Ben M'Carthy and Dedra McDermott
Curatorial Team: Seika Boye, Mel Hague,Tawiah Ben M'Carthy, Dedra McDermott, Lynanne Sparrow, Beth Wong
Wa'tkwanonhwerá:ton / ‘Our minds greet yours’ - Wed, Mar 17, 7:00-8:00pm EDT
Event Type: Moderated Discussion
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 17 from 7:00-8:00pm EDT
Length: 60 minutes
Featured Guest: Santee Smith
Moderator: Nova Bhattacharya
About: Santee Smith / Tekaronhiáhkhwa/ Picking Up the Sky opens the Festival of Ideas & Creativity with greetings, gratitude and offers reflections from her over 20 years of experience in dance. Sharing her guiding inspirations, current motivations and Haudenosaunee process, the talk will be a meeting of the minds to think about our human interconnections, responsibilities and gifts, moderated by Nova Bhattacharya with conversations to follow.
In Conversation with Mélanie Demers: The Artist in Process - Thu, Mar 18, 11:00am-12:30pm EDT
Hosted by dance Immersion
Event Type: Moderated Discussion
Date & Time: Thursday, March 18 from 11:00am-12:30pm EDT
Length: 90 minutes
Featured Guest: Mélanie Demers
Moderator: Timea Wharton-Suri
About: Multidisciplinary artist, Mélanie Demers (MAYDAY) will be discussing the artistic process during COVID – how to move forward, when to let a project “die” or fall by the wayside or when to push through and adapt. Moderated by Timea Wharton-Suri, Program Director at dance Immersion.
Voguing with Snoopy - Thu, Mar 18, 7:00-8:30pm EDT
Event Type: Workshop
Date & Time: Thursday, March 18 from 7:00-8:30pm EDT
Length: 90 mins
Featured Guest: Matthew Cuff AKA Snoopy
Assistant: Irvin Washington
About: Join us for a 90-minute Vogue workshop with Snoopy! This all-levels workshop will introduce participants to the culture and five elements of Voguing.
Approaches to Dance Dramaturgy - Fri, Mar 19, 2:00-3:30pm EDT
Hosted by dance Immersion
Event Type: Moderated Panel Discussion
Date: Friday, March 19 from 2:00-3:30pm EDT
Length: 90 minutes
Featured Guests: Dr. 'Funmi Adewole and Angélique Willkie
Moderator: Timea Wharton-Suri
About: This event will focus on the field of dance dramaturgy to discuss methods and curiosities about dance creation and process facilitation. Moderated by Timea Wharton-Suri, Program Director at dance Immersion, and featuring Dr. ‘Funmi Adewole and Professor Angélique Willkie, this talk will trace their histories and present practices of situating identity within the global context movement, dramaturgy, and community.
Touch Me Hold Me Let Me Go - Fri, Mar 19, 7:00-9:00pm EDT
Event Type: Moderated Discussion & Workshop
Date & Time: Friday, March 19 from 7:00-9:00pm EDT
Length: 120 minutes
Featured Guest: Lee Su-Feh
About: Lee Su-Feh will talk about the “algorithm” she has been working on for the past year: Touch Me Hold Me Let Me Go. This simple set of instructions for dancing across distances has come out of her research as a choreographer, performer, and Fitzmaurice Voicework teacher over the last 5 years; and is part of a larger, ongoing collaboration with a mask, carved by West Coast artist Bracken Hanuse Corlett. In this talk, Lee Su-Feh will discuss the role of the mask in her process as well as share examples of work and actions that have come out of the algorithm. She will also offer ways to use the algorithm.
Knowledge Café: Adapting to Change - Sat, Mar 20, 1:30-3:00pm EDT
Event Type: Small Groups discussion with participants (not to be recorded or streamed publicly)
Date & Time: Saturday, March 20 from 1:30-3:00pm EDT
Length: 90 Minutes
Moderators: Aria Evans, Ming-Bo Lam, Irma Villafuerte
Host: Tawiah Ben M’Carthy
About: The Knowledge Cafe is a moderated conversation exercise to be hosted by Tawiah Ben M’Carthy, Artist Outreach and Development Coordinator at Canadian Stage. This guided conversation event will centre around how to evolve our practice and understanding of health and wellness within our dance and movement performance communities. Participants will be put into small groups, each group will have a facilitator/note taker and a topic/question of conversation. Each group will have 20mins to engage in the topic of conversation. At every 20-minute point, participants will move to another conversation at a different group.
Dose of Pleasure - Sat, Mar 20, 6:00-8:00pm EDT
Event Type: Class/Workshop
Date & Time: Saturday, March 20 from 6:00-8:00pm EDT
Length: 120 minutes
Featured Guest: Alvin Collantes
Host: Dedra McDermott
About: Join Us for Alvin Collantes’ event Dose of Pleasure. Dose of Pleasure is a movement meditation designed to eliminate fear and let love in through the power of groove and our passion to rave. Freedom of Expression, Compassion and Radical Inclusivity is what we strive for in the space. This space we are about to share is a sanctuary -- sacred yet bold, wild and sensitive. I share with you the essence of what feeds my passion: Gaga, Meditation, Sound Frequency, Raving & Dance floor. Come as you are and I will guide you through the journey to feed ourselves orgasmic and transcendental moments of grooving.
