St. Catharines Workshops: Composing Community

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About

Artists Vik and Skye will hold a two-day workshop series focused on movement practices, improvised choreography, and community building. The first workshop will lay down the foundations of embodied movement, collective attunement and the physicalization of images and ideas. Participants will engage in mindfulness and focus-based activities to tune into their sense of self, movement explorations to develop basic dance vocabulary, and group composition activities as they begin to explore our overarching theme of “Community Garden.”

This will be followed by another workshop focused on understanding the structural elements of movement composition and creating choreography as a collective. Participants will engage in more group movement exploration as well as structured individual idea development through writing exercises and visual exploration. As a throughline from the previous day’s workshop, participants will dive deeper into the theme of “Community

Garden.”

While participation is encouraged in both workshops, single workshop participation is also welcome. Folks do not need to identify as artists, dancers or movers to participate.

Come and witness, wonder, and wield your creativity with us!

Vik Mudge (he/they) is a trans non-binary dance artist, choreographer and instructor living on Treaty 3 territory, in the city colonially known as St. Catharines. Vik uses techniques like improvisation and instant composition to tell raw and authentic stories that encourage critical dialogue. He believes that the core of art-making is collaboration. His continuing mentorship with Sid Ryan Eilers (Aeris Körper) and collaborative partnership with Skye Rogers (retrograde: dance in motion) allow Vik to pursue the professional development of his skills and connect with folks across cities, further enhancing the web of creativity, community and connectivity that he strives to spin.

Skye Rogers (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and leader based in Hamilton. With roots in dance, theatre, and music, her artistic practice is dearly devoted to cultivating creative communities who move together. She is a graduate of the Randolph College for the Performing Arts in 2019 and Brock University in 2022. Skye’s current and previous work is a patchwork of passions. Some of her favourites include choreographing SAMCA (Spindle Collective, 2024), producing a series of community-engaged movement workshops (Dance & Movement Days, 2023/24), and debuting two original contemporary dance pieces (The Body and The Brain, 2023; what is woman?, 2022).

Composing Community by Vik Mudge and Skye Rogers is commissioned as part of Ontario Culture Days' Creatives in Residence series and presented in partnership with the City of St. Catharines.

Links

• Creatives in Residence onculturedays.ca
• Composing Community Dance Showcase culturedays.ca

Organizer

Ontario Culture Days

The Ontario Culture Days Festival is an annual celebration of arts, culture and heritage taking place each fall across the province. Each year, we work with organizers of all disciplines to produce this province-wide festival. Organizers host programs throughout Ontario and invite the public to participate for free.

Ontario Culture Days lives at the local level. We support organizers from the smallest hamlets to the largest cities, while coordinating with other national and provincial Culture Days partners. We support the success of our sector colleagues through resources and network development, while highlighting the breadth and heterogeneity of Ontario’s arts and culture to the wider public.

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