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.

About Marco Esccer
Marco Esccer is a Mexican queer artist, performer, creator and educator, and has a diverse background from the technical to the therapeutic aspect of dance. He received his Bachelor in Ballet from the National Ballet and Contemporary School of Mexico City (2011-2016), followed by certifications in Dance Movement Therapy, Yoga, and Progressive Ballet Technique, among others. Marco’s recent work has been performed with the support of Co.Erasga, 12 Minutes Maxat The Dance Centre, and Coastal City Ballet’s Incubator and Emerge programs. He is currently working on a choreography about migration as a guest choreographer with Coastal City Ballet. He has also worked with New Works as a Share Dance Instructors since March 2021, and is excited to deepen this relationship and support connections between New Works and the wider dance community.

Growing as a Guide

This workshop will be co-facilitated by Ily Ponce and Marissa Wong. 

In this workshop two arts leaders + teachers will share their insight and experience on guiding the passions of young artists. How, as teachers and guides, can we best support reflection, personal regulation and resilience in young dancers? Gain tools to engage the ‘first time dancer’ in true creative experience and foster meaningful experiences for new dancers. This workshop will empower you with tools to keep developing your unique voice as a dance educator.

Sunday, January 29, 2023. 3:15pm – 6:15pm

About Ily Poce
Ily Poce is a passionate and self-motivated woman committed to driving well-being and social impact by coaching, teaching and sharing with others through arts, creativity and business. I was trained as a professional dancer for over 15 years, allowing me to develop a career as a public speaker at a very young age. Subsequently, I became a certified instructor of coaching, yoga and meditation techniques to further nurture my vocation as a teacher. Throughout my career, I have participated as an ambassador and speaker for multiple international brands on meditation, well-being, mental health, climate change, leadership and women’s empowerment. Additionally, I have over nine years of experience developing a career as a marketing professional and event producer for not-for-profit organizations and start-up tech environments across the globe.
About Marissa Wong
Marissa Wong is a Chinese-Canadian dance artist who has the privilege to create, play and share on the unceded territories of the Skwxwú7mesh, Səlílwətaɬ, and xwməθkwəyəm Nations, also named Vancouver, BC. She is the Artistic Director for The Falling Company and her engagement in the Vancouver dance community demonstrates her capability to educate, produce, perform, and host works. Marissa strives to change the systemic structure in dance through facilitating inclusive and sustainable arts spaces. She is invested in continuous learning and her work reflects her observations of the human experience. For more information visit: www.thefallingcompany.com

Honoring Diversity in the Classroom 

This workshop will be Facilitated by Kay Huang Barnes and Starr Muranko.
This workshop is presented with the support of Community Partner Crossmaneuver. 

Build your understanding of what is diversity and how to become a more inclusive educator. This workshop will offer up practical tools to work with marginalized or at risk communities in an authentic practice. Learn skills to celebrate, make space for, and bridge experience across cultures How can we best facilitate shared experience while honouring existing diversity of experiences? 

Sunday, January 8, 2023. 3:15pm – 6:15pm

About Kay Huang
Kay Huang is an Asian choreographer, educator, and dance artist living in the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory of the Salish, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations known as Vancouver. She danced professionally with Karen Jamieson from 1987-1996. Her own choreography has been featured in Vancouver BC, San Jose, California, and Barcelona, Spain in numerous festivals. She is a faculty member at Arts Umbrella and UBC for twenty-five years, teaching and mentoring young artists. She has piloted many dance outreach programs in Vancouver BC, including the Downtown East Side, Down Syndrome Research Foundation, Vancouver School Board, and the Surrey School Board. She founded Crossmaneuver in 2011 as a vehicle for young artists to be trained and to participate in interdisciplinary works of art. In 2020, she formed a collective with Virginia Duivenvoorden named VDCM to pursue performance and digital collaborative works. It marks a return to performing and choreographing for herself after leaving the performance world in 2000. As a dance instructor, she is known to be inspiring and joyful, who is deeply committed to the growth of her students.
About Starr Muranko
Starr Muranko is a dancer, choreographer and Mother and has been an Artistic Associate with Raven Spirit since 2009. As a choreographer she is most interested in the stories that we carry within our bodies and Ancestral connections to land that transcend time and space. Her choreographic work has been shared both locally and nationally including presentations at the Dance Centre, Talking Stick Festival, Coastal Dance Festival, Dancing on the Edge, Weesageechak Begins to Dance, Impact Festival and InFringing Dance Festival. Starr has been a proud company dancer with the Dancers of Damelahamid since 2005, touring across Canada and internationally with the company and trained under the guidance and mentorship of the late Elder Margaret Harris. She has facilitated several dance workshops through ArtsStarts in Schools, Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre, the NEC – Native Education College, Vines Art Festival and recently was invited as a guest choreographer to co-lead an exciting creation lab with Ballet BC and Margaret Grenier. She is passionate about leaving a meaningful legacy for future generations and has worked with children and youth on community art projects in her Mother’s home territory of James Bay (Treaty 9) in the communities of Attawapiskat and Moose Factory. Starr honours and celebrates her mixed Ancestry of Cree (Moose Cree First Nation), French and German in all of her work.

Compassion and Self Care: Creating Safe Spaces
This workshop will be co-facilitated by Damian Kai Norman and Isak Enquist. 

Develop your skills to support safer spaces for every body in the dance classroom. Together, we will explore teaching with compassion, body positivity/body neutrality, and supportive and invitational language. Learn about and model self care inside and outside the classroom so dancers can thrive in creative spaces and identify and advocate for their own needs. How can we embody and share the practice of agency as teachers? 

Sunday, November 20, 2022 3:15pm – 6:15pm

About Damian Kai Norman
As a certified counsellor specializing in trauma and somatic therapy, a certified breathwork facilitator, an integration counsellor, and a holistic movement practitioner; Damian Kai Norman values community, freedom, and physical-emotional embodiment. Norman loves facilitating group work and wellness retreats, creating safe containers for authentic vulnerable conversations, exploring how we can master our nervous system, and cultivating our capacity to feel and express fearlessly.
About Isak Enquist
Isak Enquist is a dance artist, teacher, choreographer, and experimental musician/sound designer living on occupied traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh, Skwxwú7mesh, and xʷməθkwəy̓əm nations. Raised in the Kootenays/Ktunaxa of Canada, Isak began formal training in Shotokan Karate-Do (Currently 1st Dan) before pursuing post-secondary dance education at Simon Fraser University and Modus Operandi (Vancouver), as well as training intensives with The Ailey School (Italy/New York) and Springboard Danse Montréal. He has had the pleasure of working professionally with Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Compagnie Vision Impure, Dance Victoria, Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien, Kaia Shukin, Amber Funk Barton (the response.), CAMP, Mascall Dance, Generous Mess, Radical System Art, Corporeal Imago and Anne Plamondon Productions. Touring with these companies have included performances across Canada, USA, Europe and Israel.

Mental Health Awareness
This workshop will be facilitated by Hartley Reed Schuyler and Stephanie Ng. 

In this workshop we will investigate questions such as: What is trauma and how might it be expressed in the body? What does it look like to emotionally regulate, create safe spaces, and express authentically? What is Neurodiversity and how can I better support neurodivergent students in a dance classroom? Learn skills to better prepare yourself as a dance teacher to understand the role of Mental Health in the studio and to support young dancers in their body-mind wellbeing. 

 

Sunday, November 6, 3:15pm – 6:15pm

About Kami Reed Schuyler
Kami Reed Schuyler (they/he) is a queer/trans, Mad and disabled interdisciplinary artist located on the stolen lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Peoples – colonially known as Vancouver. Within their own identity, Hartley finds home in storytelling, spoken word, acting, dance, drag, theatre tech, and visual art. Hartley grew up training and performing at Burlington Dance Academy and McMaster University, with a focus on contemporary, modern and improvisational techniques. Much of their work is focused on creating intersectional space, the expectations of queer and disabled storytelling, and learning how to love being messy. Hartley has had the privilege to work in numerous arts and dance based communities, most recently as an Executive Member and Choreographer for MacDance. Currently, you can find them jumping between different performance art projects, blending drag and dance together all over the city, and working at Carousel Theatre for Young People as their Outreach Coordinator.
About Stephanie Ng
Stephanie Ng (she/her) is a Registered Clinical Counsellor and Professional Art Therapist who serves the community on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territory of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), S’ólh Téméxw (Stó:lō), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Stephanie has a background in Psychology and Counselling. She has worked in the educational field at community and learning centres, playgroups, primary, secondary and tertiary institutions, and supported individuals with developmental and educational needs before completing her Master’s in Counselling Psychology: Art Therapy. Stephanie now works at a non-profit organization and a private practice, using a client-centered approach that is strength-based and trauma-informed. Stephanie works closely with trauma survivors through the PEACE program (Prevention, Education, Advocacy, Counselling and Empowerment) for children and youth aged 3-18 who have witnessed/experienced violence and abuse, and supports caregivers through psychoeducation, emotion coaching and parenting sessions. Stephanie connects compassion and creativity and integrates the non-verbal modalities of Art Therapy, Play Therapy, Sandtray and Sandplay Therapy. Besides working with individuals and families, Stephanie also facilitates workshops focusing on self-care, mindfulness, self-compassion, identity and promoting therapeutic art-making in group settings. In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys aerial yoga, traveling, and self-expression through art-making, poetry-writing, and journaling.

How is the space accessible?

How much does each workshop cost to attend?

Share Dance: In Practice 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!