Workshops
Build Skills. Spark Discussion. Refine Practices. Get Involved. The Nextfest Arts Company presents the Nextfest Workshops.
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.
Nextfest workshops are completely free and open to all who would like to participate. If you are currently not a Nextfest artist, by participating in a workshop you are added to our Artist List for 2025 and you get a free festival pass and an invite to our famous closing night party.
All workshop participants must read and respect Nextfest’s Code of Conduct and Safe(r) Spaces Policy.
We ask that participants try to sign up ahead of time for the workshops, but if you are showing up on the day without signing up ahead of time (and there is room for you) you are welcome to take the workshop.
Drag makeup for beginners
with Gabe Autumn (All ages)
When: Saturday, June 7, 2025 | 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm
Where: Roxy- Green Room / Lorne Cardinal Dressing Room (The Roxy, 10708 124 Street)
Interested in the art of drag make-up but don’t know where to start? Want to glam up for the evening’s Nite Club: Dungeons and Drag Queens? This beginner workshop is for you! This class is for all ages and any gender. Participants are asked to please bring their own make-up, brushes, and sponges but there will also be a few tools provided as well. Please do not bring or use glitter.
Length of Workshop: 2 hours
Maximum Number of Participants: 12
Content Warnings: Please be prepared to put make-up on your face.
Workshop Provider: Gabe Autumn
Known for his versatility and boundless creativity, Gabe Autumn has been entertaining audiences across Alberta since 2021. A storyteller at his core, this glam rock hunk transforms into all kinds of characters and creatures to bring his intricate concepts to life.
GROUP AUDITIONS?!? NO PROBLEM. THEY’RE FUN.
with Kompany Family Theatre (Teens/ Under 18)
When: Sunday, June 8, 2025 | 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: The Roxy Rehearsal Hall Theatre (The Roxy, 10708 124 Street)
The Group Audition Workshop is focused on sharing with teens what a Group Audition might be like, creating a positive audition experience and is comprised of – Drama games – Ensemble building activities, – Improv / Creation based activities -NO memorization is necessary. This ‘audition style’ is often used when casting an ensemble of creators for devised creation. In fact, Kompany Family Theatre will be holding an audition (of this style) June 16th, for teens interested in acting in our teen troupe. Intended for teens only.
Length of Workshop: 60 minutes
Content Warnings: No content warnings
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Please bring: Clothes you can move in, waterbottle
What to expect: Participants will work through group exercises and improvisations.
Workshop Provider: Kompany Family Theatre
Kompany Dance and Affiliated Artists Society was created in 1979 by Darold Roles and Ron Schuster as a performance company dedicated to dance and musical theatre. After nearly 30 successful years promoting dance and musical theatre in Alberta, the future of Kompany was passed to current Artistic Director Jan Taylor. Jan, building on the strong foundation of K.D.A.A.S., transitioned the company to Kompany Family Theatre, focusing on a new mandate: to produce quality theatre for young audiences and families, as well as the creation and development of new works. Kompany Family Theatre provides opportunities for teen mentorship in the arts including their ‘Teen Troupe’ which will be performing as part of Kids Fringe this year.
That’s Scary! Horror Writing Workshop
with Susie Moloney (All ages)
When: Monday, June 9, 2025 | 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Where: On Zoom! Join us from anywhere!
Creative techniques that will scare the pants, shirts, and socks off your friends and enemies, on the page, on the screen, on the stage.
This workshop takes place over Zoom so you will need an internet connection and a device to connect to Zoom (iPad, phone, computer).
Sign up for the workshop through this link!
Length of Workshop: 90 minutes
Content Warnings: Discussions of horror, gore, spoilers for books and films, discussion of what scares us and how to manipulate feelings to frighten in film, theatre, and on the page
Maximum Number of Participants: No limit
Please bring: Something to write with– phone, lap top, notebook
Workshop Provider: Susie Moloney
Susie Moloney is the award-winning writer of several novels, Bastion Falls, the world bestselling A Dry Spell, The Dwelling, The Thirteen, and a collection, Things Withered: stories. She’s also the screenwriter of several award-winning short films and two features, Bright Hill Road, and Romi. Romi was featured at Montreal’s prestigious Fantasia Fest in August of 2023. She’s recently moved into documentary television, sticking to her roots writing about after death experiences and corpses. Moloney has been called “the female Stephen King,” and “the female Dave Barry” for her humour writing. To date, no one has been called “the male Susie Moloney.” Moloney continues to write fiction and has had multiple stories debut in the last two years in anthologies and journals. She occasionally teaches screenwriting at the University of Winnipeg.
Embodied Leadership: Bhavas, Somatics, and Restorative Practice
with Soni Dasmohapatra (All ages)
When: Tuesday, June 10, 2025 | 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm
Where: Nancy Power Theatre (The Roxy, 10708 124 Street)
Explore a transformative approach to arts leadership through the lens of the Natya Shastra’s bhavas (emotional states) and somatic-based restorative dispute models. This interactive workshop invites participants to connect ancient performance theory with contemporary leadership and restorative relational practices. Participants will engage in movement, reflection, and dialogue to cultivate emotional intelligence, deepen relational awareness, and imagine new ways of leading of self and leading collaboratively. Grounded in equity and care, this session offers tools to navigate tension, build trust, and lead with authenticity in creative and community-centered environments. No prior experience in somatics or performance required.
This workshop is provided by MacEwan Arts and Culture Management Department
Length of Workshop: 90 minutes
Content Warnings: Participants will be exploring feelings and emotional states related to art leadership practices
Maximum Number of Participants: 16
Please bring: A picture of an emotion experienced in Arts Leadership, please wear comfortable dress, pen, and water bottle
Workshop Provider: Soni Dasmohapatra
Soni Dasmohapatra is an interdisciplinary arts leader, facilitator, and researcher whose work bridges performance, cultural theory, and community care. She is an assistant professor in Arts and Cultural management at MacEwan University. Drawing from her academic role, post secondary education, South Asian heritage and training in somatic and restorative practices, she explores leadership through embodied knowledge, emotional intelligence, and collective healing. At NextFest Edmonton, Soni presents a workshop rooted in the Natya Shastra’s bhavas and restorative relational models, offering participants tools to lead with authenticity and navigate discomfort with care. Her practice centers equity, relational trust, and transformative collaboration in creative spaces, inviting emerging participants to reimagine personal leadership and shared emotional and cultural wisdom. Check Soni out online at www.sonidasmohapatra.com
Fun and Freedom through Clowning
with Christine Lesiak (All ages)
When: Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | 12:00 nn – 3:00 pm
Where: Nancy Power Theatre (The Roxy, 10708 124 Street)
Live in the moment, laugh, and celebrate your unique Foolishness! We’ll thrive in the pleasure of presence and find the fun in failure as we tap into our greatest creative resource – PLAY. We will play games, learn a (very) brief history of clowning, discover/explore their own unique personal clowns, and practice radical self-acceptance. Suitable for all levels of experience!
Participants should expect to participate in light to moderate physical movement.
Length of Workshop: 3 hours
Maximum Number of Participants: 14
Please bring:
- You’ll need a red clown nose that is held on with elastic (NO foam noses!) We have options:
- Bring your own/borrow one from a friend
- Plan to buy one from the instructor ($4 – $20, depending on type)
- Borrow one from the instructor
- A water-bottle
- Stuff to keep your hair out your eyes & off your forehead (e.g. hair elastics, hairpins, headband)
- If you’ve clowned before, feel free to bring your clown’s clothing/heart/gear.
- Optional: hat or hats that you have that you don’t usually wear that stay on the head well and don’t cover your eyes or forehead.
- Optional: Notebook/writing tool if you like to journal/take notes.
- MOST IMPORTANTLY… your most curious, playful self!
What to wear:
- Comfortable movement clothes – bring layers in case you get cold or warm.
- If you do not want to work barefoot, bring indoor studio shoes to change into (not outside shoes or socks).
Workshop Provider: Christine Lesiak
© Marc J Chalifoux Photography 2017
Christine Lesiak (she/her) is an Edmonton-based theatre artist, educator, and Artistic Director of her independent theatre company, Small Matters Productions (www.smallmatters.ca). She has co-created and performed in all 10 of Small Matters’ original works, including the multiple-Sterling award-winning production, The Spinsters (2023-25), and the interactive comedy hit, For Science! (2018-25). Christine has trained extensively in the Canadian/Pochinko style of clown, with clowning and physical theatre specialists from around the world, and has worked with hundreds of students. She was festival director of Play the Fool, Edmonton’s festival of clown theatre and physical comedy from 2017-24, and continues on as their 2025 The Rookie Cabaret program director.
Shake’n’ Make Movement Based Theatre
with Richard Lee (All ages)
When: Thursday, June 12, 2025 | 12:00 nn – 3:00 pm
Where: Lorne Cardinal Theatre (The Roxy, 10708 124 Street)
A 3-hour dive into methods of training for and making movement-based performance. Through task-based physical improvisation and practices from devised theatre, we will explore our capacities for adaptation, expression, and growth. Progressing from improvisation to composition, we will explore how our instinctive movement choices may be funneled and shaped into movement vocabularies for choreography and character. Suitable for dance-makers, theatre-makers, and anyone else interested in movement training for performance.
Length of Workshop: 3 hours
Maximum Number of Participants: 20
Please prepare the following ahead of time: Choosing from a favorite novel, play or movie, have in mind 4-5 key images that stick with you.
Please bring: water bottle, clothes you can move freely in, notebook and pen/pencil. Be ready to work in bare feet or to bring clean indoor footwear suitable for movement.
Workshop Provider: Richard Lee
Richard Lee (he/him) is an Edmonton-based performer, educator, and movement director working in contemporary dance and theatre. As a dance and theatre artist, he has performed across Canada, most recently here in Edmonton in Frozen for the Citadel Theatre. He has taught movement for the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, the Identity School of Acting in London (U.K.), the University of Alberta BFA Acting program, MacEwan University Theatre Arts, Artstrek, and the Foote Theatre School at the Citadel. Richard holds an MFA in Movement Direction and Teaching from the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, as well as a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta.