Build Skills. Spark Discussion. Refine Practices. Get Involved. The Nextfest Arts Company presents the Nextfest Workshop Series.
Workshops will invite dedicated professional mentors and experts from the professional arts communities to teach, lead, and facilitate workshops directed at artistic skill growth, the business of being an artist, and the sustainability of artistic careers.
Participants will be given a common ground for discussion and the unique opportunity to learn from like-minded individuals.
Workshops are free for all. Workshops slots can be claimed by signing up below. Sign up soon – all slots are on a first-come, first-served basis, and space is limited.
Upcoming 2023 Free Workshop Series Sessions Overview:
- Contemporary Dance (with Max Hanic)
- Best Practices for Visual Artists: What you need to Know to Survive and Enjoy a Career as an Artist! (with Sharon Moore-Foster)
- Journey to a Song (or whatever…..) (with D’orjay)
- AFA Grant Writing Workshop (with Luay Eljamal and Kari McQueen)
- A Directors Workshop (with Kate Ryan)
- The Baby’s Coming: How to be a Considerate Playwright, Actor, and/or Director In A New Play Process (with Elena Belyea)
Learn more about these workshops and sign up below. Note: All workshops are free to attend, all are welcome!
Contemporary Dance
with Max Hanic (Good Women Dance Collective)
When? June 6th, 8th, and 9th, 10:00am-11:30am
Where? The Shumka Dance Centre
Workshop type: Movement/Dance
This will be a sharing of improvisation and composition tools gained from a variety of teachers and performance experiences. We will explore listening as a means of creation in the moment, alone or as part of a group, and experiment with a variety of “tasks” and “scores”. Our values for the workshop will be autonomy, joy, perspective, and spontaneity. This workshop is open to anyone with a desire to move and compose in space, not just “dancers”.
Each of the three workshop dates are a separate drop-in style class, so participants are welcome to attend any number of the three sessions!
Sign up for this Workshop here: Contemporary Dance Form
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Best Practices for Visual Artists: What you need to know to Survive and Enjoy a Career as an Artist!
with Sharon Moore-Foster
When? June 8th, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm
Where? The Roxy Rehearsal Hall
Workshop type: Visual Art
For emerging and established artists alike. You’ve chosen a career in the arts/or the arts have chosen you! What tools and information do you need to know to survive, succeed and enjoy your life?
What to Bring With You: Pen and paper to take notes!
Sign up for this workshop here: Best Practices for Visual Artists Sign Up
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Journey to a Song (or whatever…..)
with D’orjay
When? June 9th, 12:00noon-3:00 pm
Where? The Roxy Rehearsal Hall
Workshop type: Multidisciplinary: Music, writing, etc.
Finding the medicine in your music/writing/art. This workshop is for musicians, writers, and artists of all mediums and backgrounds who are interested in expanding where their art can take inspiration from through the shamanic journeying realm. As a full mesa-carrying shaman of over ten years, I have been able to utilize what I have learned to help shape my creative practice into medicine for my own soul and strive to help facilitate that for other creatives. Shamanic journeying is a form of active guided meditation accompanied by drumming/rattling that can assist in accessing a person’s subconscious for information and reference.
This three-hour workshop will be in three parts:
- Part One: Set up. Q&A and instruction for the shamanic journey.
- Part Two: Creation Time. Bringing forward what was discovered in the journey realm to a tangible medium (song, poem, story, painting/drawing etc).
- Part Three: Integration & Sharing. Sharing with the group some of or all of what you created as well as any realizations that may need to be witnessed.Pen and paper to take notes!
What to Bring With You: Musical instruments you create with, writing tools – natural or digital (Pens, pencils, notebooks/journals, ipads, laptops), Art supplies, cushion or yoga mat to sit on, water bottle, comfortable clothing
Sign up for this Workshop here: Journey to a Song Form’
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AFA Grant Writing Workshop
with Luay Eljamal & Kari McQueen (AFA)
When? June 9th, 1-2:30 pm
Where? Online
Workshop Type: Grant Writing
AFA Arts Development Consultants Luay Eljamal and Kari McQueen are providing a workshop for artists interested in applying for Individual Project Funding. AFA Individual Project grants can provide up to $15,000 to support the development of individual Alberta artists, arts administrators, or an ensemble of artists by providing funding for a specific artistic work, training, or marketing. Miranda will be providing tips and other useful information to help you develop your funding application and increase your chances of success.
Sign up for this workshop here: AFA Grant Writing Workshop Sign Up
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A Director’s Workshop
with Kate Ryan
When? June 9th, 1:00 pm-3:00 pm
Where? Lorne Cardinal Theatre at The Roxy
Workshop Type: Directing
Our goal as directors is to lead actors toward rich, authentic, compelling performances. This on our feet Workshop gives you the space to explore, to experiment, and to take risks – without the pressure of production. Led by director and teacher Kate Ryan, you will discuss and explore different tools and exercises for your craft as a director to connect with other artists in a supportive environment.
Exercises will be discussed that focus on tools and processes that support the actor’s process from first day to performances.
These include:
- Discovering the world of the play (Why this? Why now?)
- Text analysis and prep (understanding the character’s heart)
- Collaborating the rest of the creative team
- Speaking the language of the actor
- Staging and spatial awareness in the world
- Exploration without yielding leadership
- Intensify the circumstances to performance
Sign up for this workshop: A Directors Workshop Form
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The Baby’s Coming: How to be a Considerate Playwright, Actor, and/or Director In A New Play Process
with Elena Belyea
When? June 10th, 2:30 pm-4:00 pm
Where? The Roxy Rehearsal Hall
Workshop Type: Playwriting
New play development can be exciting, invigorating, and empowering! It can also be nerve-wracking, destabilizing, and majorly anxiety-inducing. In this workshop playwright/performer Elena Belyea will offer some tips and tricks to set yourself up for success, no matter what your role.
Sign up for this workshop: The Baby’s Coming Form
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Past Workshops
Contemporary & Improvisation
with Sofi Sydorak (Good Women Dance Collective)
When? May 30th, 10:00 am-11:30 am
Where? The Shumka Dance Centre
Workshop type: Movement/Dance
This workshop in contemporary and improvisation style, will allow you to feel your body from a new side, to give yourself the freedom to tell your own story through the body, movements, and music, and to add something special.
This workshop is now finished.
Smriti
with Hemali Boorada (Good Women Dance Collective)
When? June 1st, 10:00 am-11:30 am
Where? The Shumka Dance Centre
Workshop type: Movement/Dance
An Introduction to Creative Movement, Technique, and Kinesthetics in Indian Classical Dance. This workshop is targeted to anyone who is interested in learning about Classical Indian Dance theatre which has existed since the 5th CE.
Note: Participants will be dancing barefoot.
This workshop is now finished.
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Dance Class With Deviani
with Deviani Andrea Bonilla (Good Women Dance Collective)
When? June 2nd, 10:00 am-11:3 0am
Where? The Shumka Dance Centre
Workshop Type: Movement/Dance
Deviani Andrea choreographed “
” at Victoria Highschool of the Arts this Spring. Her class will encompass rhythmic sequences and floor work used during the creative process with the students.
“This piece explores rhythm and group dynamics. A mass force of dancers shape the stage through unison and variation. Transitioning from one rhythm to another, it’s about collaboration, listening, and waiting. The idea it’s to keep it simple and powerful.”
This workshop is now finished.
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Creating a Development & Pitch Package: From Concept to Market-Ready
with Nauzanin Knight and Mitra Knight (1844 Studios)
When? Friday, June 2, 1:00 pm-2:30 pm (1 hour presentation, followed by 30 minutes of individual workshopping)
Where? The Roxy Rehearsal Hall
Workshop type: Film
In this dynamic workshop, participants will dive into the world of creating a compelling development package and pitch materials for their projects, with a special emphasis on tying them into financing films or series. Whether you’re an aspiring filmmaker, screenwriter, or producer, this session will equip you with the tools and knowledge to prepare your projects for the competitive market.
During the course of this workshop, you will embark on a comprehensive journey, gaining insights and practical skills to make your projects “market ready.” With a focus on creating a strong pitch package, you will explore the key elements required to capture the attention of potential co-development, co-production partners, distributors, and development executives.
Topics Covered:
- Crafting a Captivating Logline
- Mastering the One-page
- Creating a stand-out Pitch Deck
- Preparing your Sizzle Reel
- Standing out with your elevator pitch
- Pitching yourself with confidence
- Seeking project financing
This workshop is now finished.
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FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS – Ensemble Style Audition: What It Is And How to Do It
with Jennifer Peebles, Shanni Pinkerton, Madi May, and Jan Taylor
When? June 4th, 5:00-6:15pm
Where? The Roxy Rehearsal Hall
Workshop type: Free Theatre Workshop for High School Students
In the “Ensemble Style Audition” workshop, teens will participate in a mock “Ensemble Audition.” As we go through “the audition”, participants will learn the kind of activities that could be involved in this style of audition and what a director might be looking for by using them. This “audition style” is often used when casting an ensemble of creators for devised theatre. Participants should come ready to play games, work as a team, move around, and create. No preparation or memorization is necessary.
This workshop is now finished.
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Artist Burnout: Addressing the Cause, Healing the Effect
with Adama Bundu and Nasra Adem
When? June 5th, 1:00pm-4:00pm
Where? ONLINE
Workshop type: Arts Connection
This workshop led by cultural worker Adama Bundu and multidisciplinary artist, spiritualist, and community builder NASRA explores the capitalist structures and exploitative strategies used to perpetuate artistic burnout; particularly among racialized and marginalized people. We will look to key African indigenous tools and perspectives that reject disembodiment and encourage a way back into our bodies and limitless creative nature. Participants can expect a mix of breathwork/writing exercises, art and labour history, and connections to local resources that provide support beyond what’s discussed in this session.
What to Bring With You: You are encouraged to bring water, something to write or record with, sensory items like fidgets or a weighted blanket, and whatever else allows you to learn and share comfortably.
This workshop is now finished.
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Introduction to Sound Design With QLab
with Dave Clarke
When? June 6th, 2:00 pm-4:00 pm
Where? The Roxy Rehearsal Hall
Workshop type: Sound Design
Participants are asked to bring headphones and a Macintosh computer preloaded with Qlab & Audacity software (both free). If you don’t have access to a Mac to bring in, let us know on your sign-up form and we will pair you with someone who does!
Sound designer Dave Clarke introduces beginners to QLab, a widely used playback system for live performance. Learn how to add audio, fade, adjust audio levels, mix, and sequence audio. No experience required.
Please download both of the following to your Mac before the workshop
- QLab 4 or 5 (depending on the Mac operating system and age of the computer there are links to older versions here: https://qlab.app/download/)
- Audacity: https://www.audacityteam.org/download/
This workshop is now finished.
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Workshop Partners
