2:00pm – 5:00pm: Voice and Movement - Actor's Tune-Up with Akshaya Pattanayak

 Whether seasoned or beginner, this is an opportunity for an Actor's Tune-up. This session intends to rekindle the connection with the body to reconnect to physical and vocal impulses, bringing back an engagement with the self as instrument.

6:30pm – 9:30pm: Fights, Falls, and Friendship: Safe and Effective Stage Combat with Mike Kovac

A dive into the world of Stage Combat. Gain confidence and experience as you grow from using your own individual physicality into telling stories involving other people and their own unique abilities. If all storytelling involves conflict then there's a number of ways we can tell that - we can sing, talk, dance... but why not fight about it?

Participants should bring runners or otherwise comfortable footwear, water and clothes they can move in.

2:00pm – 4:00pm: Mad Play: Interactive Performance Design as Mad Art with Torien C. Cafferata

There is something mad about every play space. Ludology teaches us that play itself can often look "mad" out of context, but within the social construct of any given play-world there are delicate systems and norms guiding our behaviour. It is within these magic circles where new subversive ideas and relationalities can be explored among players -- we see these in everything from performance art to improv to clown to the design of games and playgrounds. Understanding how our play spaces can not only benefit from a neurodiversity paradigm but in fact rely on it for radical creation is critical for any wading into the troubled waters of participatory art. The methods and tools in this workshop are suited to performers, directors, performance designers, game designers, and any artist yearning to create meaningful and accessible environments of interactivity.

Bring clothes you can move in, and, if possible, a smartphone and earbuds.

6:30pm – 9:30pm: Rehearsal Skills: Dropping-in Text and Hooking into Impulse with Diana Donnelly

In this session, Diana will focus on text and impulse. She will support you in learning a particular process of dropping-in text to add to your skill set in the rehearsal hall. She will also lead some physical impulse work. The goal of the workshop: to feel more free in your next rehearsal hall. "I love witnessing actors surprise themselves." –Diana

2:00pm – 5:00pm: Stage Combat: Explore and Expand with Jonathan Hawley Purvis

Join us as we dive into both basic and advanced stage combat concepts, now with a focus on swords and swordplay. We will explore, play, and create as we develop and deepen how our bodies can better tell stories through combat.

Bring a water bottle and clothes you can move in.

6:30 – 8:00pm: Nothing About us Without Us: Collaborating with theatre artists from the Deaf and Disability Community

In this panel discussion we invite you in – we want to be your teaching moment!

We discuss best practices in language, collaboration, etiquette, and access needs and address any questions that you bring to the table.

Hosted by Amy Amantea (she/her), a cis woman who identifies as a white settler and lives with blindness, is neurodiverse, and experiences chronic illness and pain. Amy is an artist and creative and has been an Arts Access Consultant for the last 15 years with a deep desire to increase representation of the Deaf and Disability experience in all that we do as theatre makers.

2:00pm – 5:00pm: Establishing Collaborative Equity with Susanna Uchatius

ESTABLISH: is to build, set-up, stand still. COLLABORATE: is to work with one another. EQUITY: being equal, impartial and fair.  With respect, rigour and risk, we will collaborate to create an ensemble that honors the creative expression of each participant. Together we will build a story (what Shakespeare story do we choose?)  that speaks, moves, expresses with the sounds, voices and bodies of all participants.

Please wear clothes you can move in.

2:00pm – 4:00pm: Consent-Based Rehearsal Practises with Lisa Goebel

Through movement-based exercises, this workshop focuses on communication, safety, and consent during the rehearsal process. Participants will explore open communication and how to advocate for themselves and fellow artists in a respectful way, creating opportunities for the work to become more dynamic and specific.

6:30pm – 9:30pm: Audition & Performance Anxiety Toolkit with Veenu Sandhu

Face your fears and work with your nervous energy instead of against it. This workshop will equip you with the tools to manage and cope with your anxiety that shows up for auditions and performances. You will learn about your nervous system, and gain new techniques in visualization and bodywork to help you work through stressful situations.

Participants should bring clothing they can move in, water and a snack for break, and a yoga mat or anything they need to lie comfortably on the floor.

2:00pm – 5:00pm: Critical Response Process: How to Give and Receive Effective Feedback with Brian Postalian & Joyce Rosario

liz lerman's Critical Response Process (CRP) is a feedback system based on the principle that the best possible outcome of a response session is for the maker to want to go back to work. Whether you're laboring on a painting or designing a website, drafting a lecture or composing a score, CRP helps you get fresh and useful feedback from peers, laypeople, and experts alike, while giving you the tools to do the same for others' work. Through the supportive structure of its four core steps, CRP combines the power of questions with the focus and challenge of informed dialogue. In use for over 25 years, CRP has been embraced by art makers, educators, scientists, and theater companies, dance departments, orchestras, laboratories, conservatories, museums, universities, corporations, and kindergartens. With a focus on actual works in progress – a dance, a script, a lecture, visual art work, even a cake – this training will highlight participation, conversation, and the flexibility of the Process.

Participants should bring a notebook and something to write with.

6:30 – 8:30pm: The Power of the Entrance and the Exit with Susan Bertoia

What we bring on and what we take off! Entrance and exits are dynamic and shift the narrative of the story. Discover how your entrance and exit add to the scene. A physical exploration of the speed, the direction, the duration, and the impact of this movement.

10:00am-1:00pm: Creative Lab & Movement Discovery with Carol Mendes/AMOK Project

This is a movement workshop for theatre professionals who want to embark on a journey of movement self-discovery, empowerment, cultural heritage, and identity. We’ll dance together to explore and discuss physical (tangible) motifs versus imagined (unreal ones). Then, we will also investigate movement through image-based prompts repeated frequently among many cultures. The workshop will culminate with a creative lab fostering improvisation and creation.

2:00pm – 4:00pm: Musical Skills for Theatre Artists with Mishelle Cutler

This session will go over music fundamentals and everything you need to have a successful music rehearsal. Themes we’ll cover:

- Basic music notation and terms you will hear in music rehearsal

- Tips and tricks for learning music and singing in an ensemble

- Best practices for music rehearsal. What questions to ask, etc.

- We’ll end the session with learning a choral piece and singing it together.

6:30pm – 8:30pm: Building the Arc (Story Structure for Actors) with Anton Lipovetsky

As actors, we know our characters are supposed to have a “character arc,” to undergo an extraordinary transformation from beginning to end. But how do we track that journey? By applying the principles that writers use to tell a compelling story, we can create a character arc that is both satisfying and dynamic. In our session, we will break down Shakespeare’s 5-act structure, the screenwriter’s 3-act structure, the Hero’s Journey and more. Together we’ll examine the arcs of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, and explore practical tools for building a character arc in preparation, rehearsal and performance. This workshop is intended for emerging actors, but all are welcome.

Participants should have some familiarity with William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and  Macbeth.

2:00pm – 5:00pm: Lecoq Element Work and Shakesperean Monologues with Ming Hudson

Do you have a Shakespearian monologue that you've been eager to dive into, but aren't exactly sure where to start? Or an old favourite piece from the Bard that you'd love to access in a new way? This course is a great way to approach his text through active imagination and embodied movement! Using the Lecoq Technique, you will explore physicalizing the four elements, and then translating that work into your chosen text. A workshop for those looking to discover Shakespeare's language through the body.

Participants should arrive dressed to move and with a Shakesperean monologue. Water bottle and pencil are encouraged.

6:30pm - 9:30pm: Directing Essentials: The Director's Notebook with Cristiana Ripeneau

So you have a text you love and want to direct it but don't know where to start? The Director's Notebook is your first step and together we’ll take a look at what that is, how to go about it, what it is good for and when to throw it all away. In this session, we'll take a look together at how to analyze a play, how to break it down, how to come up with your own concept, and how to use the director's notebook to prepare for casting, production and rehearsals. We will practice together working in groups on well-known theatre plays.

Please bring a notebook and something to write with, as well as some familiarity with Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, Moliere's Tartuffe and Chekhov's The Seagull.

2:00pm - 5:00pm: "A Day to Play" - An Acting Workshop with Kathryn Shaw

 Working on short selections from Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, participants will have the opportunity to play with the text in many ways to define the characters and investigate their intentions. Lots of acting tools will be explored to add to your repertoire and to guide you in making effective and playable choices as an actor. Suitable for all ages and experience.

Participants should bring water and a snack for break and clothes they can move in. OPTIONAL: Read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead before the session.

6:30pm - 9:30pm: Mother Ivy's Hand-Crafted Portal into the Bizarre with Ivy Hazard

Designer Demons & Fashion Freaks, oh my! Ballroom is filled to the brim with stylish gender-twisting fantasies, and those dreams are pushed to their limits in the Bizarre category: where contestants are asked to bring a handmade otherworldly effect that transport us to another realm entirely. Several key elements go into a memorable costume, and you must give it your all to pull off an authentic gag on top of that. The process of Bizarre Design is demanding enough that you can feel your creative well run dry at the halfway point. Each completed look is life changing, though–the display of raw & unfiltered creativity creates ripples in people’s minds and influences how we can see the world moving forward.

So where do we start, and how do we keep the momentum going? Well, Mother Ivy Andromeda is here to share all things Bizarre for one day only. An international Bizarre category winner, Ivy has accumulated years of experience designing gag worthy effects, from giant faberge eggs to full-bodied unicorns and a flock of hungry ghosts. They are here to share their knowledge, and help you tap into what you already know from your personal lived experience. Everyone has a story to tell, and there are so many ways to say it!

This three-hour session will start with the fundamentals of who/what/why Bizarre is & showcasing the dos and do-nots. From there, the class will collectively explore the fundamental elements that go into an effect: Masks, Silhouette, Texture, Structure, and Character. Participants will create some of their own looks on a manageable scale and practice moving around with them. With space to play with these and ask questions along the way, this class is perfect for the fresh-faced curious & ambitious designers alike. Come embody your inner monster and learn what some of Ballroom’s strangest has to teach all walks of life.