Co-presented by New Works and The Dance Centre
Share Dance In Practice 2024/25
Building on the insights and experiences of our previous seasons, the 2024-2025 In Practice program continues our commitment to creating a supportive, inclusive, and innovative dance environment. We aim to address the essential question: What does good practice and support look like in these environments?
What is the purpose of In Practice?
Our goal is to empower dance leaders to create an environment where everybody in the dance studio feels safe, cared for, welcomed, and valued.
Who is In Practice for?
This program supports dancers, teachers, choreographers, rehearsal directors, movement leaders, and dancers transitioning into leadership roles within dance and studio/rehearsal hall spaces. It's designed for those interested in leading with empathy, care, and best professional practices through skill development workshops, facilitated broad discussions, and case studies. 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.
Upcoming Workshops:
In Practice with PuSh Festival Artist in Residence
with Majula Drammeh
Sunday, Feb 2 | 12pm - 3pm
Scotiabank Dance Centre
This worksghop will explore how to create inclusive spaces that prioritize visibility, agency, and transparent power dynamics, while honoring the knowledge that everyone brings. Participants will reflect on their own experiences, learn to recognize individual challenges within group settings to foster more effective facilitation and connection.
*This workshop is co-presented by New Works, PuSh Festival, The Dance Centre, and VIVO Media Arts Centre
Past Workshops:
Towards Inclusive Dance Teaching
with Erin Ball & Maxime Beauregard
Sunday, July 28 | 12pm - 3pm
This workshop is for movement facilitators who want to work towards centering access and understand how to break down some of the inherent ableism in dance and movement-based practices...
*This workshop is co-presented with The Dance Centre and Future Leisure. And supported by All Bodies Dance Project.
The Prepared Facilitator - 7 roles for Dynamic Facilitation
with Warren Hooley
Sunday, Nov 3 | 12pm - 3pm
Scotiabank Dance Centre
Leading groups of people can be both a rewarding and challenging experience. It takes a well rounded facilitator to meet the many complex needs of your participants. In this workshop we will explore a variety of skill sets, models and exercises that support facilitating groups in engaging and dynamic ways...
Registration and Cost
- Suggested Workshop Registration $23
- Sliding Scale Option $10-23
*Workshop registrants will never be turned away for lack of funds. If a registration fee is financially inaccessible to you, we invite you to self-identify to request a scholarship, no questions asked. Please reach out to marco@newworks.ca to request a scholarship to attend the next workshop.
Common questions:
Gender Neutral washrooms are located on 6th and 7th floor.
If you have any other questions..
Feel free to reach out to Marco Esccer, Program Coordinator at marco@newworks.ca with any questions about the upcoming workshops.
In Practice 2024-25 is co-presented with:
Advisory Committee 2024/25:
To further strengthen our program, we are establishing an Advisory Committee to provide guidance and feedback on In Practice programming as it aligns with inclusive, trauma-informed, and diverse practices.
This season we welcome Kay Huang & Isak Enquist to support the program as Advisors. We believe this model will expand the reach of this program, ensuring it continues to grow and adapt to the needs of our community.
Kay Huang - Advisor
www.crossmaneuver.com
Isak Enquist - Advisor
Isak has performed nationally and internationally with Canadian performing companies such as Out Innerspace Dance Theatre, Compagnie Vision Impure, Shay Kuebler Radical System Art, Mahaila Patterson-O’Brien, Amber Funk Barton, Mascall Dance, Generous Mess, Cristina Bucci, Anne Plamondon Productions, and Corporeal Imago. He is on faculty with Vancouver’s Harbour Dance Centre, Lamon Dance Company, and a guest teacher with Training Society of Vancouver, Goh Ballet Academy, and GötesborgOperan Danskompani (Sweden) among many others.
Photo by Richie Lubaton
The roots of the program... In Practice
In Practice 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.
In 2023-24 the In Practice series returned in partnership with The Dance Centre, continuing to broaden and deepen topics of conversation and diversify voices in the room. We deepened our exploration into the needs of dance educators and leaders, focusing on diversity, inclusion, and trauma-informed learning. 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.
In Practice 2022/23
In Practice began in 2022 as a place for critical conversations around teaching dance. In this inagural season, the series was broken into a series of professional development workshops focused on skill building, and big-picture conversations focused on fostering broader conversations around teaching as creative practice. The season included eight workshops, curated by Marco Esccer (Fall), and Carolina Bergonzoni and Lisa Mariko Gelley (Spring).
In Practice 2023/24
In Practice continued to grow as a space for continued education, peer to peer exchange, and knowledge sharing among dance teachers and leaders. This season was co-presented in partnership with The Dance Centre, and included six workshops over the course of the season. The Fall workshop series was curated by Kay Huang and Marco Esccer, and the Spring workshops were curated by Carolina Bergonzoni and Lisa Mariko Gelley.
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.