SOLD OUT! Movement Practice: Body Language with Jen Otisi

This is a FREE in-person class, with limited space.

When: Saturday, October 23, 2021
Time: 4:00 – 5:45 pm
Where: Drop-In Dance Winnipeg – 1381 Portage Avenue

(For access info please email younglungs.wpg@gmail.com)

Click here to register!

As per the current Provincial Health Orders, proof of vaccination is required upon entry. Participants who are not able to provide proof of vaccination will not be given entry to the facility. Masks are mandatory in all public spaces of the facility.

About Movement Practice:

YLDE invites all movers and thinkers to learn new skills, experience alternative pathways, and engage in dialogue at our free Movement Practice sessions. At every session a different guest is invited to share whatever is currently inspiring them about their movement practice, bringing their own unique knowledge, experience, and inquiry to the floor.

In this movement practice session, Jen will lead attendees through the popular heels/stiletto style dance genre. The focus will be on musicality with R&B and Soul music, highlighting the lines of the body and improving self confidence through body language. Heels are not essential for the practice, some might say dancing with bare feet feels better.

Jen Otisi is a Nigerian dance artist and choreographer based in Winnipeg, MB. Her dance style draws influence from traditional Nigerian styles, Afrobeat/Afrofusion and Dancehall. Moving from Nigeria to Winnipeg, She gradually submerged into the Winnipeg dance scene under the direction of B.O.S.S dance team, training in various dance styles such as Hip Hop, Dancehall, Vogue and Waacking.

In Winnipeg, she has performed in productions such as Artist Within, Afropeg, Step Threat, competed in street styles dance battles and has appeared in live performances for Canadian music artists including Alexa Dirks “Begonia”, Carine Bado and Ben Tamana. 

YLDE’s programming is made possible with the generous support from Manitoba Arts Council.

Photo credit: @bnbstudioswpg
IG: @jenotisi

Cancelled: Hip Hop Intensive with Shaqueel Lawrence

This is a week-long in-person workshop with an option to sign-up for individual classes. If you choose to take the whole workshop make sure to sign up for each day’s class separately. Limited space available.

Date: October 18 – 22, 2021
Time: 4:00 – 5:30 pm
Where: Drop-In Dance Winnipeg – 1381 Portage Avenue

Payment is sliding scale $0 – $30 per class.
Click here to register!

(For access info please email younglungs.wpg@gmail.com)

As per the current Provincial Health Orders, proof of vaccination is required upon entry. People who are not able to provide proof of vaccination will not be given entry. Mask wearing is mandatory.

About the Workshop:

Shaq’s classes will be high energy and choreography-based with influences from a number of different styles. Some of those styles include breaking, popping and animation to name a few. The focus for each class will vary but the overall intent will be to grow, share energy, and have fun while doing so. 

Shaqueel Lawrence was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Shaq currently co-directs a dance team out of Winnipeg called IKIGAI Collective and teaches a weekly drop in slot out of Muse Dance Studio. All of this while also travelling to teach classes across the continent. Recent studios include Millennium Dance Complex Toronto, Pas De Deux Hawaii, Studio 604 (Vancouver), EXPG in New York, The Jukebox Grounds and Elektro Academy both in Arizona and many more. Shaq is also coming in hot off the stage after backup dancing for the popular Kpop band BTS out of the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey/New York and recently added to the KAOS Cast!

This workshop is made possible with the generous support from Manitoba Arts Council.

YLDE invites all movers and thinkers to learn new skills, experience alternative pathways, and engage in dialogue at our free Movement Practice sessions. At every session a different guest is invited to share whatever is currently inspiring them about their movement practice, bringing their own unique knowledge, experience, and inquiry to the floor.

Using imagery and precise directives, the class will attempt to find authenticity through movement with a focus on communication. In order to find and develop authentic movement, we will push past our movement comfort zones into new methods of moving. We need to learn to recognise and when needed, discard old movement behaviours and patterns to make room for new ones. It is possible to discuss and describe complex ideas through movement in a clear way. Come with ideas for current or future work, newer choreographies and movement explorations. Bring a notebook.

When: Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Time: 4:30 pm – 6:00 pm (CDT)

Where: Online over Zoom, click HERE to register!

This is a FREE event and all are welcome to attend.

About Jackie Latendresse:

Jackie is the founder and artistic director of Free Flow Dance Theatre. Her professional choreographic work with Free Flow has been publicly acclaimed; she has been nominated for various awards including the Saskatchewan YWCA women of distinction award (which she won), Saskatoon Champion for the arts, the SK lieutenant governor’s award and has received numerous government grants from federal, provincial and municipal sources in support of Free Flow Dance Theatre and its programming.  Jackie is a voice for the arts and an advocate for dance. She endeavours to create a strong and vibrant dance community by providing opportunities for the arts to flourish in her company’s annual season of events. She strives to create bonds and connections between artists that will continue to grow through the years and works to make dance an art form that is accessible to all. www.freeflowdance.com

YLDE’s programming is made possible with the generous support from Winnipeg Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts.

Creative Accessibility is a series of online webinars and panel discussions that will explore disability art, the experiences of artists with disabilities and how to make art accessible. These workshops will be beneficial not only for emerging artists with disabilities, but artists at all levels of their career with and without disabilities.

What does access mean? What can access look like? Join Adriana Alarcón (curator and artist), Jordan Sangalang (Deaf Performer) and Cheryle Broszeit (Deaf photographer) as they discuss their experiences within the art world. Find out the types of accommodation that artists who are Deaf/disable need to participate in the arts and how their lived experiences reflect in their artwork.

When: Monday, May 31

Time: 6:00 – 8:00 pm CST

Register for this FREE event and a Zoom link will be sent to your inbox closer to the event date. All Creative Accessibility workshops will have ASL interpretation.

Presented in partnership with Arts Accessibility Network Manitoba

For more information, including details on classes and workshops in this series, please click HERE.

Movement Practice: Afro Moves with Zahra Badua

This International Dance Day, join us for an exciting movement practice with Zahra Badua as we learn some afro moves!

When: Thursday, April 29, 2020

Time: 4:00 – 6:00 pm CDT

Where: Online over Zoom

This is a FREE event, all are welcome. Click HERE to register.

About This Month’s Movement Practice:

YLDE invites all movers and thinkers to learn new skills, experience alternative pathways, and engage in dialogue at our free Movement Practice sessions. At every session a different guest is invited to share whatever is currently inspiring them about their movement practice, bringing their own unique knowledge, experience, and inquiry to the floor.

In this movement practice session, Zahra will lead attendees in African street dance styles. The session will be an introduction to Afro moves, vocabulary, and grooves. The attendees will learn core-based Afro movements including body isolations, hip movements, and footwork.

About Zahra Badua:

Zahra Badua is a Ghanaian dancer/teacher/choreographer originally from Montreal, Quebec. Her passion for dance started at a very young age as a means to learn and understand her African heritage. Through discovery and training, she is skilled in Traditional West African, Afro-Caribbean folklore, Afrobeats and soca. 

Now based in Toronto, Zahra teaches and performs all over the city with several dance companies such as Coco Collective, Alpha Rhythms and Roots, and BlackStars Collective. In addition, Zahra established an educational and performance based company called ZahraMoves. The goal for her classes/workshops is to educate her students, to promote and preserve the culture and dances from the African Diaspora. She also uses her company to spread joy, promote togetherness, self-expression, and confidence building. To learn more, please visit ZahraMoves Website.

YLDE’s programming is made possible with the generous support from Winnipeg Arts Council, Manitoba Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts.

Orange, a New Dance Duet by Less San Miguel and Deanna Peters

When: Friday, April 9, 2021 – 7:00 pm PDT (9 pm CDT)

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Saturday, April 10 – 5:00 pm PDT (7:00 pm CDT)

Cost: Tickets are FREE or by donation

Where: Online over Zoom

About the Show:

Combining experiences in street, club, and stage dance, experimental dance artist Deanna Peters + Winnipeg-based street dance Less San Miguel investigate what happens when they turn their gazes towards each other; to dance with and for each other. What arises from an intimate state of seeing and being seen? How does a focus on one another invite others to see us?

This show is presented as part of Plastic Orchid Factory’s adaptive series, with support from the Canada Council for the Arts, British Columbia Arts Council, Young Lung Dance Exchange and What Lab.

For more information and to register, please click HERE.

Photo credit: Reza Rezai

Workshop Submissions: Disability Informed Creation in Dance with Debbie Patterson and Christopher House

We are now accepting submissions for the Disability Informed Creation in Dance Workshop with Debbie Patterson (WPG) and Christopher House (TO). Submissions are due Monday, March 15, 2021.

This workshop will be hosted by Young Lungs Dance Exchange and Sick + Twisted Theatre from April 12 – 16, 2021 @ 1:00 – 4:00 pm (CST), Online over Zoom.

Overview of Workshop:

This five-day online workshop brings together disabled (Deaf, Crip, mad, sick) and nondisabled dancers, choreographers, movers and makers.

Engaging with the disruptions created by disability, we will use this time to develop connections and remove barriers to collaboration across abilities. Engaging with the disruptions created by Covid, we’ll take advantage of the limitations and opportunities of online meeting. 

The workshop will explore choreographic practice as a way of questioning, examining and expressing the body’s truth and its capacity for radical specificity in relation to time and space. How does the disabled body inform choreographic practice? How does choreographic thinking inform the disabled performer’s practice?

Participants will choreograph and perform each day, working quickly and intuitively on short projects; sharing their work with the group; participating in discussions, and joining in giving and receiving supportive feedback. 

The goal of the workshop is to bring each participant’s intuitive knowledge and curiosity into a productive dialogue with their critical mind. We will approach this in a spirit of rigour that includes lightness and play. Ideally, this workshop will act as a springboard to launch new collaborative relationships among integrated groups of performers.

The workshop is hosted by Debbie Patterson, Artistic Director of Sick + Twisted Theatre, and veteran choreographer and mentor Christopher House, former Artistic Director of Toronto Dance Theatre. 

Participants must be available for a short conversation with the facilitators during the week before for the workshop; have access to the internet and a device, preferably a  laptop, for running Zoom; and be able to commit to the full duration of the workshop. 

Who Should Apply:

This program is open to all Manitoban artists and will be conducted in English with ASL interpretation. Non-disabled dancers, choreographers and movers interested in exploring disability-informed movement and Disabled performers interested in expanding their approach to movement in performance creation are encouraged to apply.

How to Apply:

Write to us at sickandtwisted@outlook.com with:

• Your resume or CV
• An artist statement that includes:
• A description of your artistic practice
• What you hope to get out of this program (or what excites you about this program)
• Some things you’re artistically curious about right now.