John

Choreographer and Key Collaborators

Choreographer(s)/Creator(s) Name(s):
Helen Walkley

Additional Key Artistic Collaborators:
Composer/James Maxwell
Light design/James Proudfoot
Text/Helen Walkley and an archive of family letters dating from 1959 – 2010
Performers/Josh Martin and Billy Marchenski
Costume/ Leah Weinstein and Helen Walkley
Set/Helen Walkley

Community Engagement

As a contemporary dance artist (choreographer, performer, improviser and teacher) certified Laban Movement Analyst (1985) and somatic movement educator I have taught and facilitated group process in urban, rural, community-based populations, academia, and the professional milieu for over 30 years in Canada, the U.S., Germany, England, the Netherlands, Spain and Croatia.

Locally, community based populations include Roundhouse Community Dancers, the Carnegie Centre (the downtown eastside), G.F. Strong Rehabilitation Centre (mixed ability work), inner city high schools and the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts Continuum and Youth in Motion. I have facilitated movement processes with visual artists as well as taught in pre professional theatre training programs. As a somatic practitioner I work with a diverse population on integration and connectivity in the body/mind.

My curiosity is to flesh out together with the presenter(s) the direction of the community engagement or outreach work. The format could be a two-hour class, a one or two day workshop (approximately 4 hours/day) or a weeklong residence. The content would include improvisation and a somatic approach to integration and connectivity in the body contextualized for the specific population.