New Works In Practice

NWIP started as an extension of the Share Dance program in response to the community and the needs of our teachers. In the 2022-23 season, New Works took the next leap to offer In Practice, a professional development series for dance teachers and leaders which was envisioned and co-curated by artists + teachers Carolina Bergonzoni, Marco Esccer, and Lisa Gelley. The dance classroom can be an isolating space where teachers are often lesson planning, teaching, and problem solving with very little feedback. This series brings teachers together to question, investigate, and expand their own teaching practices through the lens of diversity, inclusion and trauma-informed learning.

In 2023-24 the In Practice series returns, continuing to broaden and deepen topics of conversation and diversify voices in the room. While each workshop, panel discussion, or community conversation may shift in format to best support the chosen topics, each is led by a selection of experts and artists from across the dance community and beyond, and offers up meaningful learning for all dancing humans. 

 

NW In Practice 2023-24

NW In Practice 2023-24 is presented in partnership with The Dance Centre.

In Practice is a workshop series for continued education, peer to peer exchange, and knowledge sharing for dance teachers and leaders. This season, the series will include six workshops. The 2023 workshops will be curated by Kay Huang and Marco Esccer, and the 2024 workshops will be curated by Carolina Bergonzoni and Lisa Gelley.  

Upcoming Workshops

Past Workshops 

  • Sunday, October 15, 3:45 - 6:45pm | Reaching Out, Reaching In with Lara Barclay
  • Sunday, October 29, 3:45 - 6:45pm | Interdisciplinary Approaches with Tara Cheyenne Friedenberg & Matt Clarke
  • Sunday, November 19, 3:45 - 6:45pm | Tangible Movements with Ralph Escamillan
  • Sunday, December 3, 3:45 - 6:45pm | Shifting Paradigms with Donna Redlick & Tin Gamboa
  • Sunday, April 7, 3:45 - 6:45pm | The Child as a Teacher - Part Two with Julie Lebel & Starr Muranko 
  • Sunday, April 21, 3:45 - 5:45pm | Bodyminds in Space: Principles of Trauma-Informed & Anti-oppressive Practice - Part Two with Lili Robinson & Veronique West 

In Practice with Lili Robinson & Veronique West

April 21 | 3:45pm - 5:45pm

Online - Zoom

Lili Robinson

About the Workshop
Join the facilitators as they offer discussion, sharing, and writing in a workshop that gives us space to reflect on our current facilitation approaches, our relationship to bodymind “norms”, and accessibility practices for mental health. In this follow-up to "Body-Minds in Space: Part 1", we will focus on case studies (example situations) and a deeper dive into trauma-informed accessibility. You do not need to have attended "Part 1" to attend "Part 2." By narrowing the scope and discussing specific real-life situations, "Part 2" aims to provide more practical tools and strategies, along with broader concepts.
Bio
Lili Robinson (she/they) is a playwright, actor, poet and facilitator born and raised on unceded Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. Lili is passionate about centring voices at the intersections of queerness, the African diaspora, socio-economic diversity and femme identity in their work. Lili’s debut play, Mx, was the winner of the 2019 Fringe New Play Prize and the 2019 Cultchivating the Fringe Award, earning it a spot in the Cultch’s 2021/2022 season. In addition to their acting and playwriting practice, in recent years they’ve also worked as: Community Engagement Producer for Playwrights Theatre Centre and the frank theatre; Resident Curator at rEvolver Festival; and as a dramaturg for the Parallel Project, supporting emerging BIPOC playwrights to develop new work. They are the winner of the Playwrights Guild of Canada’s 2023 John Palmer Award, which recognizes a new generation playwright dedicated to making art that agitates the status quo. // Photo by David Markwei

In Practice with Lili Robinson & Veronique West

April 21 | 3:45pm - 5:45pm

Online - Zoom

Veronique West

Bio
Veronique/V (they/she) is a non-binary artist, arts worker, and disability advocate of Polish descent, based on stolen Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. Their practice draws from their lived experience of neurodivergence, madness, and chronic illness. As an artist, V projects explore how disability can reshape understandings of self, kin, and community. They have collaborated across various mediums, including performance, sound art, web-based art, and virtual reality. As an advocate, V contributes to disability-led consultation, education, community organizing, and peer support initiatives. // Photo by Kimberly Ho
About the workshop
Join the facilitators as they offer discussion, sharing, and writing in a workshop that gives us space to reflect on our current facilitation approaches, our relationship to bodymind “norms”, and accessibility practices for mental health. In this follow-up to "Body-Minds in Space: Part 1", we will focus on case studies (example situations) and a deeper dive into trauma-informed accessibility. You do not need to have attended "Part 1" to attend "Part 2." By narrowing the scope and discussing specific real-life situations, "Part 2" aims to provide more practical tools and strategies, along with broader concepts.
About

NW In Practice is a professional development series for dance teacher and leaders to gather and engage in critical conversation around the practice of teaching dance. This season, the series will focus on addressing and supporting needs in community driven spaces through a diversity of topics and angles.

We strive to offer all workshops in a hybrid format. If you are interested in joining us online, reach out to marco@newworks.ca and we'll make sure we can make it happen with the planned workshop format. Scotiabank Dance Centre is a wheelchair accessible and scent reduced venue.

Who are these workshops for? 

In Practice is a space for dancing humans to gather around topics of teaching, leadership, and facilitation. The work we’re diving into is applicable across so many fields of teaching and facilitation and many participants have joined in who don’t identify as dance teachers. Each workshop is led by different artists/professionals in their fields, who guide the conversations and questions. Each workshop will complement the others, but are completely different. We welcome you to join us for the full series of conversations/workshops or a selection.

Registration and Cost

Suggested Workshop Registration - $23

Workshop fees have been set following conversation and feedback with staff, facilitators, and partners. Workshop registrants will never be turned away for lack of funds. If the above registration fee is financially inaccessible to you, please make a donation of your choice instead. Both 'by donation' and 'free' tickets are available through the registration link. 

About the Team & Questions

The workshops will be shaped, envisioned and co-curated by artists + teachers Kay Huang and Marco Esccer (2023 workshops), and Carolina Bergonzoni and Lisa Gelley (2024 workshops). Feel free to reach out to Marco at marco@newworks.ca with any questions about the upcoming workshops.

In Practice 2023-24 is presented with The Dance Centre.

Past Offerings

In Practice Fall 2022
Integrative Professional Development
The fall/winter series presents four workshops plus access to extended resources that will broaden your dance teaching horizons through the lens of mental health, art therapy, trauma-informed practices and diversity tools! You will have the opportunity to learn practical and useful skills that you’ll be excited to implement in your dance spaces.
Join this professional development series to update your dance toolbox and develop new and better practices in the classroom.
This series will be led and curated by In Practice Curator Marco Esccer. Learn more.
In Practice Spring 2023
Conversations
The Spring series fosters broader conversations around teaching as creative practice. How does teaching inform your choreographic or creative practice and vice versa? Join evolving conversations by sharing the language, energy, and physicality of your teaching practice. This series is envisioned as a space to hold our collective questions, build a community of colleagues, and activate the conversations that will carry us forward from here.
This series was co-led by In Practice co-curators Lisa Mariko Gelley and Carolina Bergonzoni.
Learn more.

In Practice is presented with The Dance Centre and it is generously supported by public funders and individual donations. We gratefully acknowledge the support of Metro Vancouver’s Regional Cultural Project Grants program, the City of Vancouver and the Province of BC, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada and the National Arts Centre who has supported the Spring Conversation Series. Without them this program would not be possible!

 

Photos: Share Dance In Practice Workshops, 2023. Photos by Carla Alcántara.