Art Making: France and Jenny creating performance
In the Fall of 2020 Jenny Hazelton and Lauren Foy, in partnership with Branch Collective, were awarded a Theatre Recommender Grant from the Ontario Arts Council. Jenny is a performer, director, teacher, clown, movement and physical theatre creator. Lauren is a teacher, choreographer and dancer based in Sudbury. We decided to use these funds to spend some time in the studio working and creating movement together. We were particularly interested in colliding our respective skill sets to discover a methodology of working together that blends dance and physical theatre.
The fluctuating landscape of the pandemic made it so that we weren’t safely able to get into a studio until the following fall in 2021. After the long wait, we soon decided to bring on a third collaborator, France Huot. France is a bilingual actor, clown, director, and community arts builder. Having a third person allowed for Lauren to be more of an outside eye and choreographic consultant for the movement work of Jenny and France.
In this collaborative exploration Jenny and France met many times in-studio to experiment with diverse theatrical forms exploring alternative methods of storytelling beyond text-based realism. We experimented with structured physical exercises, movement improvisation, object manipulation, use of music, filming, and then choreographing selected selections from these explorations. The process involves a kind of reverse discovery. As opposed to imposing a dramatic structure/plot from the start, we discover the story and themes and craft it throughout our creation process. Lauren re-joined the collaboration for several sessions towards the end of our creative development process. She was able to bring her choreographic eye to look for moments in the work that could be workshopped, evolved and solidified into movement sequences. This involved playing with rhythm, speed, stillness, repetition and breath to add dynamism to the movements.
From these explorations and developments, France, Jenny, and Lauren created some exciting new work that has become the springboard for another creative endeavour where we hope to apply for more funding to continue the work in the coming year. This experiment has ultimately resulted not only in productive new movement material but also the gathering of knowledge and a vocabulary for working together in this new way. The physical theatre and dance worlds have a lot in common, but also a lot to learn from each other. In colliding these skill sets together we have found joy and common ground in our creation process together.
New Year, More Dancing: January + February Workshops
Moving into 2021, we kept our Monthly Practice ONLINE series going with these awesome teachers.
GORGEOUS portraits from StudioBabyCupid
Penny Couchie
Led an awesome workshop titled Reflected in Water in January that aimed at exploring relationship to ourselves, each other and our environment. What are we moved by? How do we celebrate the diversity of our bodies and the multitude of ways we express ourselves? Reflected In Water looks at shared leadership in a dance class. This workshop looks at contemporary dance training informed by Anishinaabe worldview.
Check out more of Penny’s work at Aanmitaagzi Big Medicine Studio in North Bay.
Jasmine Rainville
Jasmine led Contemporary Combinations in January focusing on choreo pick-up skills and learning how to make a general choreography one's own. It will focused on organic movement trailing from ballet technique and how to use that movement to improve transition skills.
Jasmine currently teaches adult ballet drop-in class on Wednesday nights from 8:30-9:30pm for $17 at Dance Evolution.
Hannah Pilon
Hannah also taught in January and led a class title Improvisation and Movement that focused on different ways to create movement and different improvisational tools. Each class explored prompts and ideas to inspire movement and had everyone moving with creative freedom!
As an ode to Hannah’s looooove for BTS, check out the playlist below.
April Martin
April led Musical Theatre Extravaganza in February that focused on one fabulous hit musical each week that got all of our bodies moving and shaking. We danced our way through Hairspray!, Chicago!, Grease, and Mama Mia! April is now back in Glasgow to finish up her Masters degree in Musical Theatre, but you can follow her on instagram for all upcoming classes and work.
Christine Friday
Christine taught Healing & Storytelling workshop in February, and the description she provided is so perfect, I’m going to leave it right here for you:
Rooted in our own healing. We have knowledge with in our own DNA- with in each of us is our own healing power. Finding balance inspired through physical movement and breathing we connect to our own inner power revealing our own individual teachings we begin to recognize the light in ourselves. This series will involve yoga, dance and storytelling Each session will begin with 30 minutes of Synergii: a combination of yoga and dance techniques. Participants will Inspire and create the opportunity to activate healthy life styles and choices. Promoting mental, emotional health and wellbeing directly connected to spirit and physical exercise. Participants will link to a land-based activity that will to connect to their own creation as it relates to healing and storytelling.
Tonye
Tonye, who works with Afrofest Sudbury, led a workshop under the name It’s Afrofest Time! This class was a blast and included Afro moves from different African countries. Tonye let the class in a way that was accessible for people and dancers of all skill levels, creating workshops that were so much fun!
Check out Afrofest Sudbury for future classes and programming!
December Dancing
December is always an odd month for programming, even in a non-pandemic year. The preparation and celebration of holidays, the end of a school semester, and the end calendar year is a busy time for so many people. Luckily, we were able to bring in Emily Caruso Parnell to lead her class Leap into Limon for three weeks.
GORGEOUS photos from Dance by aKaiserPhoto
Emily Caruso Parnell
Emily is a pillar of the dance community in Sudbury.
If you don’t know her, Emily wrote an awesome and honest reflection on our blog and it is a great entry point to this leader and artist. To get to know her in person, find Emily teaching dance at Dance Evolution and at Laurentian University (in the School of Education).
November Practice
Well, we are almost to the end of January…time to wrap up 2020!
GORGEOUS portraits from StudioBabyCupid
In November we had a great line up of teachers leading us through a range of movement in our Monthly Practice ONLINE workshop series. They are all teachers and artists that you might want to keep an eye on as they continue to develop and create. Check them out!
Sidney Cassidy
Sidney led Sid’s Stretch and Strength class every Wednesday during November. She teaches kids dance classes at Diane Boulais Dance Studio through out the year. Follow her to keep an eye on future adult classes. In the meantime, you can keep stretch to her playlist.
Andy
Andy led new/old school hip hop every Thursday. His classes were so full of joy and absolute belief that the power of dance to have a positive impact on your life everyday! Andy teaches with Chantae in a program titled BigMoves Dancing. keep an eye out for classes to restart whenever we move past this pandemic.
Jenny Hazelton
Jenny led us through her workshop New Pathways to Movement Creation on Sundays throughout November. If you are interested in continuing to work with Jenny, send Branch Collective an email. We will pass on your information to Jenny for you to arrange teaching for one on one, or for private groups. Recently, Jenny has also started a new ongoing collaboration with France Huot called Hoquet Hiccup. The duo is interested in making and devising new work that incorporates clown, physical theatre, puppets, and more. You can also follow Jenny for potential future workshops in Clown, Mime, Physical Theatre Creation, and Skill Sharing.
October Workshop Wrap-up!
October already feels like SO long ago with all that has been happening in the world. As COIVD-19 numbers continue to increase across Ontario, Branch Collective continues to feel thankful that we decided to keep all programming online. Dancing with one another online does not have the same magic as dancing with one another in person, but we hope that our meeting online builds a small bridge from your home to ours. In October we had some awesome dancers lead Monthly Practice ONLINE workshops. Below is some information for you to continue to follow and get to know who they are.
GORGEOUS portraits from StudioBabyCupid
Simisola Tayo
Simi lead Freestyle House + Hip Hop class every Friday in the month of October and has provided us with an awesome playlist to keep you moving as the days get shorter.
We also NEED some absolutely images of Simi captured by aKaiserPhoto. This fall, Branch Collective set up out first community focused photo shoot, providing local dancers with an opportunity to work with Mike and Brittany of aKaiserPhoto for free and walk away with movement photos and a head shot. This collaboration also provides Branch Collective with images for our social media, empowering us to promote and share images of local dancers and avoid dance stock photos. Now we have beautiful photos of movers from our community. The photo shoot was a huge success and we look forward to hosting more collaborative shoots in the future!
In the meantime, take a look at some of Simi’s absolutely awesome shots:
Tanveer Alam
Branch Collective had the absolute pleasure of inviting Tanveer to teach as a part of Monthly Practice for the second time! Dancing with him this past October reminded me of how fun it was to dancing with him in person. In November, 2019, Tanveer led a workshop open to the public at Thorneloe University as well as a class at Sudbury Secondary School for the dance students.
Tanveer teaches at the Collective Space (221 Sterling Rd,Toronto, Unit 5) near Lansdowne station on Sundays from 2-5pm. For those of us who are not in Toronto, Tanveer is also open to teaching online! You can reach out to him on instagram, facebook, or his website. Of course Tanveer has put together a playlist, check it out!
Ixta Richie
Branch Collective has been trying to find a way to work with Ixta for a long time now. Pre-COVID, our team was working with Ixta on an absolutely awesome project that was slated for August 2020. Of course, the project did not happen (as it was meant to be a live, in-person project), but we hope to revive this collaboration when it is eventually safe to gather once again. And yes, that was an intentionally teaser for the AWESOMENESS that is to come in the future. In this time, we all need things to look forward to, and we look forward to resuming our collaboration with Ixta in the future.
We were SO excited that she could join us in this workshop series and lead her workshop Contemporary Movement throughout October.
Ixta is a member of the team at Dance Evolution, well as frequently teaching in the public school system. Follow her on the gram to stay in touch and know when she is teaching in the future. Make sure to stay groovy with her playlist!
September WRAP!
That is it for September! Are we all used to the online/altered/synchronous/a-synchronous/different door drop off/mask-wearing variation of school yet? And don’t forget to dance-in-the-box! The new choreographic challenge for all dance studio teachers! Covid-19 is still and increasingly a reality in our world. As CERB is now finished, Branch Collective began our workshop series, Monthly Practice, online to be able to provide safe dance classes (FOR FREE) and a paid monthly gig for as many dance and movement teachers as possible.
GORGEOUS portraits from StudioBabyCupid
In September, we were so lucky to have Zoi Monroy teaching her workshop Sexy Salsa, and Chantae Robinson teaching Afrobeats x Dancehall. As we move into October, we want to be sure to connect you with Zoi and Chantae so you can continue to learn from them and support their work.
Zoi Monroy
Zoi teaches every twice a week:
Wednesdays - Walk Strut + Salsa Foundations
Location: Zoom ( ko-fi.com/walkstrutsalsa)
Time: 7:00 to 8:00 pm
Registration Fee: $(Donation) - Drop in
$20 a month (suggested) // $105 for 7 classes
Sundays - All levels
Salsa and Bachata
Location: Please contact us
Time: 12:30 to 1:15 pm
Registration Fee: $20 pp (Drop in) // $105 for 7 classes
Be sure to check out her website for more information. Zoi has also made a playlist of songs that she used in her workshops of us all to enjoy and continue to salsa all-day ever-day!
Chantae Robinson
Chantae and her dance partner Andy (who will be teaching with Branch in November! Surprise!) are the founders and teachers of BigMoves Dancing. A Youth Outreach Program that became so popular that now it is open for all to join. Due to, you guessed it, Covid-19, the space BigMoves was using is no longer available. Both Chantae and Andy would LOVE to continue the program but need a generous home to host their classes that provides enough space to be safe. If you have or know of a space that might work, please get in touch with Chantae through her instagram or with us at branchcollective@madeformovers.com Check out the awesome work BigMoves Dancing is doing:
Chantae is also the owner of a natural skin care product line called Xaymaca Natural! We all know what’s coming…
…and we all know we need to moisturize.
And of course Chantae also whipped up a playlist of songs from her workshops. Have a listen!
Madame, did you used to dance?
I caught myself doing it again yesterday: standing in front of the buses, waiting for the last few students to load, waiting for the buses to be ready to leave. It’s always when I’m waiting. My feet start to move almost of their own accord. Coupé, rond de jambe, tombé, soutenu, and on and on. It’s a bit like doodling in a meeting but with my feet instead of my hands and I’m not completely aware that I’m doing it until a child approaches me on the way to her bus and says: “Madame, did you used to dance?”
In the moment, as I swing out of the way of the yellow behemoths and send them on their way, I say: “yes sweetie, have a great weekend” but the question lingers in my brain. Yes, I used to dance… a lot.
I danced seriously, intensely, multiple times daily for all of my teens and much of my twenties. I completed two university degrees that were focused on dance. I trained all over North America with some of the best teachers of ballet and modern dance in the world. It was my passion and I was good at it.
But dance is hard. My friends who are still dancing professionally (yes, people do that well into their 40s now) are experts in weaving financial threads together, layering teaching onto performing onto choreographing onto body work onto administration onto grant writing and off into the sunset. It is not an easy life. I know what day I can retire. I know how much money I’m going to make this year. I know that my benefits plan is going to pay for the massage I need to cope with a life of making my joints work too hard. From a certain perspective, perhaps from the perspective of those same friends, I have traded dance for a life of security.
But I still dance. I still teach dance. I still write grant proposals. Once in a while I even perform. One of the least forgiving parts about a career in dance is that there are very few pathways for people who want to continue dancing, without making it their entire lives. Almost every music teacher I know continues performing. Some of them play with our local symphony, some of them have bands, some of them even record. It’s considered completely normal that they would continue to perform in public while making teaching the primary focus of their professional lives. There are lots of opportunities for them to remain part-time performers and there are audiences who want to watch them do that. Most of them will continue to perform well past their retirement from teaching
For middle-aged, part-time dancers, there are precious few performing opportunities and audiences are very thin on the ground. In our culture, we consider dance a pursuit of the young. Parents delightedly enroll their small daughters in dance but many, like my own parents, are aghast that those same daughters, now grown, might want to pursue dance as a career pathway. We’re not quite sure how to interpret dance that isn’t virtuosic, that is subtle, that asks us to think. We’re unaccustomed to thinking of the body as a site for interpretation, political ideas, self-expression, memory and story-telling, beyond perhaps Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker. Brains think, bodies just follow… right? The idea that bodies are a site of intelligence is very foreign to most people, until, of course, they take an adult dance class and discover how hard it is.
It’s a dilemma I’ve been pondering since I made the decision to make teaching my primary job. How can I keep dance in the mix? Where do I fit it in? How can I remain part of this community, to be taken seriously as an artist, without making it my full-time job? I can’t say that I’ve found an answer to those questions but they continue to niggle at me, sometimes in the middle of the night and sometimes as I wait for the buses to leave, dancing in the slush, for an audience of none.
Emily Caruso Parnell
As a student and dancer, Emily trained and performed in ballet and modern dance across North America. Her students have gone on to complete professional and post-secondary programs in dance at many major institutions including Canada’s National Ballet School, York University, l’École de danse contemporaine de Montréal, Simon Fraser University, Ryerson University, The School of the Toronto Dance Theatre and The Rock School for Dance Education.
Emily holds degrees in Dance and Education from York University, the University of New Brunswick and the University of North Carolina, Greensboro and is a candidate in the Doctorate in Education program at Athabasca University. Emily is a registered teacher of the Royal Academy of Dance and is a content advisor for Canada’s National Ballet School Sharing Dance program.
Emily also manages the ballet program at Dance Evolution, teaches sessionally in the School of Education at Laurentian University and is a vice principal in the Rainbow District School Board.
Turning My Passion into My Career
Since the moment I stepped foot into a dance studio, I was hooked. I loved the expression, creativity and the family atmosphere. From a young age, I knew dance was more than an outlet for me; it was my future.
My life as a dancer began at the Ida Sauve Dance Studio (now known as Dance Evolution) at the age of four, the studio quickly became my second home. By the time I was eight, I danced competitively and at 11 I was assisting teachers in their classes. It was while I was assisting that I discovered my passion for teaching. I went on to compete across Ontario until the age of 21 and won numerous special awards and medals for both group and solo performances.
I’ve trained in Tap, Jazz, Acrobatics, Lyrical, Contemporary and Hip Hop and am a certified ADAPT (Associated Dance Arts for Professional Teachers) teacher in both Tap and Jazz. The teachers at Dance Evolution and I are all YPAD (Youth Protection Advocated in Dance) certified, which means we are committed to ensuring age appropriateness in all facets of our work, including music selection, costuming and overall atmosphere at the studio.
Becoming YPAD certified has played a huge role in my commitment to creating a safe space for my students to learn and grow into confident and empowered young people. I use my teaching role as an opportunity to show my students that dance is so much more than competing or winning. Every time I step into a class, it’s a new opportunity for me to teach my students the importance of community, respect and self-love, and to show them just how strong they are physically, mentally and emotionally. In the age of social media, it’s extremely important to me that I teach my students how to love and appreciate their body for all that it does for them, and all that it is capable of.
At Dance Evolution, community involvement has always been a priority. We’ve been dedicated to supporting various charitable organizations including; NEO Kids, NOFCC, Heart and Stroke Foundation, Canadian Cancer Society, Canadian Blood Services, and Northern Lights Festival.
This past year, stepping into my new role as Owner and Director of the studio has been very exciting for me and has only strengthened my passion for dance. I am committed to creating a safe space where students feel inspired, motivated and supported in their growth into becoming confident, empowered young people.
- Taylor Austin
Space.
You know how it goes…
The search in Sudbury is not of space, but for space. Space for dance, for creation, and for training. I began the search for space in August for Branch Collective’s new Monthly Practice workshop series and hit many bumps along the way before we found our home with the Theatre Department at Thorneloe University.
Sudbury School of Dance, 165 Pine St. | 📸: Mikaela Demers
Sudbury School of Dance is owned and under the artistic direction of Denise Vitali, and the home of her current students, the earthdancers, and her past dancers that just will not leave her alone, that’s me. Denise generously offers her studio to myself personally and to Branch Collective in-kind for community programming whenever it is available. But of course, it is a school and runs regular programming 7 days week. This eliminated SSoD and every other dance studio in Sudbury as a potential home for our new workshop series. What to do?
I began researching a contacting other large, indoor, potentially viable spaces that could be used for dance workshops: public schools, community centres, churches, event venues. Through my research, I discovered that most of the viable public spaces (churches with available hall spaces, community centres, public school gyms) that have made an effort to be accessible to the community are fully booked! I was delighted to hear about the programming that exists in these places and the communities they are supporting, but no, there is no space for additional programming. In reaching out to event spaces, I learned that hourly rates and discounted rates for non profits are not available. Hundreds of dollars of a half or whole day rental of an event space for a two-hour workshop is not sustainable.
Luckily we established a partnership and home with the Theatre Department at Thorneloe University and are very excited to work in the Ernie Checkeris Theatre space. But our new workshop series, Monthly Practice, is not the extent of Branch Collective programming. As we create plans and budgets for future projects, space continues to come up as a roadblock. It is not only the cost of available spaces, but the fact that there is no space for the research, creation and practice of dance that is affordable and accessible to non profit collectives and artists in Sudbury.
At the same time as I am thinking about dance spaces and resources in Sudbury, an event hosting a conversation about dance space in Hamilton pops up. Initiated by Lisa Emmons of Aeris Korper and hosted by Jeremy Freiburger of Cobalt Connects, it was awesome to see an event brought forth by the community to talk about what it needs. It was also important for me to be reminded that we are often not alone in the barriers and problems we face, and we have lots to learn from one another.
My last reflection on artists in space brings me to a studio my friend, Charlit Floriano, and 3 other artists share. To a dancer who pays for space by the hour, the idea of renting a space on a monthly basis to have for WHENEVER YOU’D LIKE IT…sounds amazing. But paying a monthly rent with your name on a lease is significantly more commitment than an hourly rental. It makes me wonder how much more we might create with access to a space on a regular basis. The collaborative sharing of a space and financial risk is something I am definitely interested in investigating moving forward.
- Mikaela
Brian Solomon on CBC The Move
Posting this awesome video to share the voice of an influential dance artist, Brian Solomon.
Talking to Brian about our world, dance as a form, and life as an artist always results in such a genuine conversation. I find he is able to accurately assess what is going on around him and understand it in a way that is immensely encouraging moving forward. I value every time we talk.
For this reason, Brian is joining branch intensive for the second year in a row. This video hints at the presence Brian brings to every project. Come take his class this summer and catch some of the light he will shine on you. <3
Find more episodes of The Move at CBCArts
Early-Bird Registration OPEN !!!
From now until March 31st you can register for branch2018, the whole week-long intensive, for $300 !!!
Regular registration will continue starting April 1st - June 15th
REGISTER HERE and one of our team members will be in contact with you to touch based and collect you 50% deposit to secure your spot for this summer!
Dream of that warm weather!
branch2018 - SAVE THE DATE
ANNOUNCEMENT!
Dates for branch2018:
Monday, July 16th - Saturday, July 21st
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