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January 5 - February 11, 2024 | Various Times | Various Locations

MOVERS & MAKERS is an eight part choreographic workshop series that explores the art of choreography and movement invention. The workshop series invites individuals interested in the performing arts practices including dance, theatre, film, musical theatre, etc. The workshop is inclusive of all levels of experience and welcomes participants of diverse abilities.
Participants will be introduced to the art practices and methods incorporated by workshop instructors in creating movement in their respective disciplines; from live dance and theatre performances, dance in film, opera, to music videos.
The workshop series offer unique perspectives and approaches toward creating your own movement studies. It will culminate in a public sharing as part of NDH BLUEPRINT Performance Studies/Works In Progress. The series is co-curated by Robin Poitras and Marnie Gladwell. Guest teachers include Davida Monk, Edward Poitras, Johanna Bundon, Rania al-Harthi, and Arthur Milner.

​“Arising from Movement I, Part 1 introduces a creative template that is flexible, layered and comprehensive, allowing participants of different levels to benefit according to their experience.”
- Davida Monk

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Schedule

Session One, Part 1: Operating the Language of Movement
Friday, January 5, 2024 at the Art Gallery of Regina
Led by Davida Monk
7:00pm to 9:00pm

Session One, Part 2: Immersion in the Language of Movement
Saturday, January 6, 2024 at the Art Gallery of Regina
Led by Davida Monk
10:00am to 6:00pm

Session One, Part 3: Emergence of a Choreographic World 
Sunday, January 7, 2024 at the Art Gallery of Regina
Led by Davida Monk
12:00pm to 2:00pm

Session Two, Part 1: Again, about starting
Sunday, January 14, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Johanna Bundon 
9:30am to 12:00pm

Session Two, Part 2: Movers and Sitting Still
Sunday, January 14, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Arthur Milner
1:00pm to 3:30pm

Session Three, Part 1: Acting is Energy
Sunday, January 21, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Rania al-Harthi
9:30am to 12:00pm

Session Three, Part 2: Independent Creation
Sunday, January 21, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Robin Poitras & Marnie Gladwell
1:00pm to 3:30pm

Session Four, Part 1: Collaborative Process with Focus on Dance and Visual Arts
Sunday, January 28, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Robin Poitras & Edward Poitras
9:30am to 11:30am

Session Four, Part 2: Independent Creation
Sunday, January 28, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Robin Poitras and Marnie Gladwell
12:00pm to 2:00pm*

*Note: There is a Regina Music Club concert at Darke Hall at 3:00pm
Pre-concert chat on stage at 2:30pm

Session Five: Independent Creation
Sunday, February 4, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Robin Poitras & Marnie Gladwell
9:30am to 2:30pm

Session Six: BLUEPRINT Performance Studies/Works In Progress
Sunday, February 11, 2024 at New Dance Horizons
Led by Robin Poitras & Marnie Gladwell
1:00pm to 2:30pm
​Final Performance / Free to Public

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Presenters

…………………………………………….Robin Poitras C.M.
…………………………………………………Edward Poitras
…………………………………Rania al-Harthi رانيا الحارثي
…………………………………………….,,,, Johanna Bundon
…………………………………………………….Davida Monk
………………………………………………..Marnie Gladwell
…………………………………………………….Arthur Milner

BIOGRAPHY of Robin Poitras C.M.

Robin Poitras C.M. is one of Saskatchewan’s most prolific dance and performance creators. Creating dance, performance and installation works, she has been actively engaged in contemporary dance practice since the early 80s. For many years Robin has traversed the formal worlds of dance and performance art. She co-founded New Dance Horizons in 1986, with Dianne Fraser where she continues to act as Artistic Director. With an interest in research into diverse fields of artistic and somatic practice she has developed a unique interdisciplinary approach. Robin’s works have been presented across Canada, in Spain, France, Germany, Mongolia and Mexico. She is a recipient of the 2022 Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal, 2021 recipient of the Order of Canada, 2016 Lieutenant Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the 2006 Mayor’s Awards for Business & The Arts’ Lifetime Achievement Award, and the 2004 Women of Distinction Award for the Arts.
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BIOGRAPHY of Edward Poitras

Edward Poitras was born in 1953 in Regina, Saskatchewan and is a member of the Gordon First Nation. He studied with Sarain Stump at the Saskatchewan Indian Cultural College in Saskatoon (1974) and then with Mexican Aboriginal artist Domingo Cisneros at Manitou College in La Macaza, Quebec (1975-1976). Poitras then became an instructor himself, teaching at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College in Saskatoon (1976-1978), the University of Manitoba (1978) and the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College at the University of Regina (1981-1984, 1989-1990, now First Nations University of Canada). Poitras has also worked as a graphic artist for New Breed magazine (1984-1985).

Poitras's mixed-media sculptures and installations combine a variety of natural and human-made elements. His work explores themes including history, treaties, the effects of colonialism, and life in urban spaces and on the reserve.

Poitras's work has been exhibited in solo and group shows across the country and in the United States and Finland, and has been included in nearly every major contemporary Aboriginal exhibition since 1980. In 1995, Poitras became the first Aboriginal artist to represent Canada at the Venice Biennale. A 2002 exhibition organized by Saskatoon's Mendel Art Gallery, “Qu'Appelle: Tales of Two Valleys,” included many of his recent works.

Poitras's work is part of the collections of the Canadian Museum of Civilization (Hull, Quebec), Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon), Saskatchewan Arts Board, MacKenzie Art Gallery (Regina), Thunder Bay Art Gallery, and the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs, among others. In 2002, Poitras was awarded the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts. In November 2020, Edward joined Robin Poitras C.M. as the Co-Artistic Director of New Dance Horizons.

BIOGRAPHY of Rania al-Harthi رانيا الحارثي

Rania al-Harthi works in theatre, film, installation, Palestinian embroidery, and Arabic calligraphy. Her studio production consists of collapsed objects that incorporate sound, film projection, and performance. Current projects explore themes of diaspora and cultural memory through film; documentary and animation. She worked as an independent artist in Palestine, Jordan and Tunisia before coming to Canada in 2012. Since then, she has earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Regina and has worked for several arts organizations, including Globe Theatre, Curtain Razors and the Mackenzie Art Gallery.

BIOGRAPHY OF JOHANNA BUNDON

Johanna Bundon is an independent artist whose practice includes dance and theatre performance, choreography, and teaching. She has been working in the field of movement arts for over 15 years.

A 2005 graduate of LADMMI (Les Ateliers de Danse Moderne de Montréal), a 2008 graduate of the Globe Theatre’s Actor Conservatory, and holds a BA in Arts & Culture from the University of Regina.

As a choreographer, Johanna’s work has been presented across Western Canada through the Prairie Dance Circuit and as a part of the National Arts Centre’s Prairie Scene.

Johanna has been instructing Yoga and Somatic studies since 2006. She is recently sharing her work in Feldenkrais since graduating from San Diego 4 Feldenkrais Professional Training Program (2020). Johanna is an Authorized Trainee Awareness Through Movement® teacher. She loves this work and is enthusiastic about sharing this dynamic practice with other movers / thinkers / feelers.--

Davida Monk, Choreographer, Performer, Teacher, Artistic Director

Davida Monk began her professional career in 1985 with Le Groupe de la Place Royale of Ottawa, and was instrumental in the development of Canada’s first professional contemporary dance laboratory for choreographic development, Le Groupe Dance Lab.  Monk’s works have been presented across Canada and in Europe.  Amongst her most celebrated creations are LYRIC (2002), The Land Quartet (2011), and Dream Pavilion (2013), Pan (2015), The Call (2016) and Ashes for Beauty (2017).   She has taught dance technique, creative process and choreography in a wide variety of contexts and has danced for and collaborated with many Canadian choreographers and artists of other disciplines.   Monk is currently engaged in creative and performance projects in Alberta and across Canada. Recently she has danced solo works from Calgary choreographers Linnea Swan, Helen Husak and Catherine Hayward, and was in residence with a company of seven dancers at Vancouver’s Scotiabank Dance Centre where an evening of her works was presented in May 2019.  Her current project Songs Without Words focuses on the creation of 20 distinct solos, and their dissemination and creative production, live and on video, over several years, with other artists, emerging and mature across Canada. Monk is the recipient of awards for choreographic development and touring from the University of Calgary, Calgary Arts Development, and Alberta Foundation for the Arts, the Canada Council for the Arts and the Banff Centre. Monk directed Calgary’s Dancers’ Studio West, an organization dedicated to the development of choreographers from 2008 – 2018. Monk is Associate Professor Emerita (University of Calgary), and Artistic Director of M-Body (www.m-body.ca), dedicated to the development of her own works, since 2004.

BIOGRAPHY OF ARHTUR MILNER

Arthur Milner is a playwright, theatre director and regular contributor to inroadsjournal.ca. His most recent plays include Getting to Room Temperature, presented by Regina’s Curtain Razors in 2022; and Facts, presented in London, U.K., Istanbul (in Turkish), and Palestine (in Arabic). He has lived across Canada and now lives in Regina, where he’s busy working on a new play about Father Athol Murray and Tommy Douglas.

BIOGRAPHY OF MARNIE GLADWELL

​Marnie Gladwell began her professional dance career as a company member of the Regina Modern Dance Works. Since then, she worked as an independent dance artist, freelance dance teacher and arts educator. Her work has included solo performances as well as collaborations with choreographers, poets, musicians and visual artists. She received her dance training in centres throughout Canada as well as New York and London. Over the years Gladwell has been a strong advocate for the arts knowing the importance of performance and learning to a healthy environment. Currently Gladwell sits on the executive of the Canadian Network for Arts and Learning.

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