Waterfront Wednesdays with Art and Water is an exciting initiative aimed at bringing together dance, water, and community on Toronto's beautiful waterfront.
FREE two-hour workshops: Wednesdays from 6-8pm throughout this summer, led by multiple talented dance artists!
— 2024 Calendar —
May 29th
Abbey Richens/The Meaningful Movement
@profile improv jam: intermediate/advanced level
LOCATION: Join us at our shared floating dock at 585 Queen's Quay West. In the heart of Toronto's Waterfront neighborhood
Workshops
Descriptions
May 29th
Abbey Richens / The Meaningful Movement
@profile improv jam: intermediate/advanced level
@PROFILE is an improv based dance event that has been happening in Toronto since 2023. Dancers are invited to try the scores and connect through this offering. There are 4 scores: artist as other, artist as self, artists as group, and artists as gallery - we will start with an embodied movement warm up, and head into the first score where the dancers do not interact with one another: living art sculptures. With artists as self, movers would first be paired with another mover and have the chance to watch each other move as individuals. Following this, each dancer would have a short timeframe to expand upon the ideas they developed in this individual research in front of the entire group. Next, artists as group invites connection, we’d divide the group in half and have the dancers begin to interact, see, touch, copy, and learn from each other.
June 5
Rajvi Dedhia
Bollywood Fusion: open level
Born in India and moved to Toronto in 2021, Rajvi is a dancer, choreographer, teacher, singer and social media influencer. She facilitates Bollywood dance workshops in schools and dance studios and works with leading Canadian choreographers.
"For the first half an hour, I plan to lead the group through a warmup and a movement-based improvisational task influenced by some qualities in our surroundings in the moment. For the next hour, I will teach a choreography based on my artistic practice, heavily influenced by Bollywood culture, street and contemporary dance styles. The last 30 minutes would aim at dancing in groups and/or a cypher, encouraging participants to infuse their unique essence in the choreography and ending with a cool down - allowing us to adapt to the movement of the water surrounding us gradually."
June 12
Natalia Arancibia
Creative Movement for non-dancers
"My name is Natalia Arancibia, I’m an independent artist from Chile and I moved to Toronto in May 2023; during my time in the city I’ve been able to connect with amazing artists that have inspired me tremendously in this fast paced year. My practice is mostly within the realm of contemporary “technique” this going from floor work to full improvisation. I would like to offer a creative movement practice for non dancers; Ihave had the chance to offer movement classes for non dancers before, where we worked basing the class on drills related to coordination, rhythm and flow; all this with the objective to generate a very calm and non intimidating approach to movement for people who are simply not used nor aware of the possibilities and capabilities of their bodies. I think regarding the space, it’s a good invitation for the participants to reunite in a communal atmosphere that happens very naturally in the place where the dock is located."
June 19
House of Sole
House of Sole is a Toronto-based group of artists dedicated to exploring the rich vernacular forms of house dance and culture, while paying homage to its historical roots and the bodies that gave birth to it. Founded in 2020, under the guidance of renowned House Dance Educator Raoul Wilke (Moon Runners, Holla Jazz), the group initially emerged as a performance-based ensemble for the Luminato Festival. Their pieces primarily showcased the fusion of House and Jazz elements. Currently House of Sole collectively and individually hosts workshops and events with the goal of nurturing the Toronto House Dance Community.
Two of our crew members (Joel and Abel) will lead an immersive house dance session designed to be fun and interactive. The session will engage participants in freestyle concepts, energy exchange, and experience a safe space to express themselves.
1. The first part is a guided warm-up focusing on essential house grooves and basic footwork. 2. The second part will focus on exercises allowing participants to explore various ways to freestyle. Depending on the number of participants, they will be divided into different groups (circles). Each circle will be given a concept to play around with (e.g., shapes, levels, texture, variations of a step, etc.).
3. The third part is an opportunity for the participants to partner up with another dancer for an energy exchange. They may incorporate the concepts from the previous exercise or just freestyle.
4. The last part will be an hour of open session.
House Dance workshop and session: open level
June 26
Danah Rosales
Vogue Workshop and mini practice battle: open level
Danah Rosales is known in the kiki ballroom scene as Legendary Mother Maldita Siriano. She's a multi-hyphenated performance artist where her work encompasses community building, dancing, teaching, coaching, mentoring, producing, collaborative and interdisciplinary choreography and performance. Join Danah for a free Open Level 1hr15min Vogue Workshop + 45min battle practice session. The workshop includes a warm-up and drills of the elements (hands, catwalk, duckwalk, floor performance, spins & dips). The battle practice session would consist of 10's (preliminary round) and battles (GP Cash Prize of $50).