SCHEDULE 

2-3 PM: Soft Foot Jigging with Marcus Merasty
3-4 PM: Movement Healing with Jeanette Kotowich
4-5 PM: The Spirit of Jig/House with Josh Jammin’ Cameron, André Bessette & Katheen Nisbet
5-6 PM: Exploring the Pocket with Sophie Dow

Supported through The Dance Centre’s DanceLab Interdisciplinary Research program.

• Accessibility: the workshops take place in the Birmingham Studio on level 3 which is wheelchair-accessible. There are wheelchair-accessible washrooms on levels 3 and 4 and in other locations around the building. Please contact us if you require any assistance.

WORKSHOP DETAILS

2-3 PM: Soft Foot Jigging with Marcus Merasty

In this workshop you will learn the basics of Métis jigging through a somatic approach. We will start with warm-ups intended to connect our feet with the ground and increase awareness in the body. The workshop then moves into the fundamentals of jigging and into improvisation. A cool down/reflection period will conclude the workshop.

Marcus Merasty is a Nehiyaw/Cree artist based in Treaty 4 territory/Regina, SK. He has worked as a performer and teacher for the past 11 years. Their work explores traditional and contemporary Indigenous dance forms.

3-4 PM: Movement Healing with Jeanette Kotowich

With the value of co-created space, collectively we will dive into explorations coming from Jeanette’s performance research. We will experience our own humanity through playing creative games, sense into our animal body + intuitive wisdom, and tap into joy with an introduction to Métis inspired movement & steps.

Jeanette Kotowich – Originally from treaty 4 territory, Saskatchewan, I create work that reflects Nêhiyaw/Métis cosmology within the context of contemporary dance, Indigenous performance, and Indigenous futurity. I fuse intercultural collaboration, de-colonial practices, and embodied research methodologies to explore concepts of emergence, relationship to the natural/spirit world, and Ancestral knowledge. My practice is intergenerational and vocational; it’s a living and lived experience.

4-5 PM: The Spirit of Jig/House with Josh Jammin’ Cameron, André Bessette & Katheen Nisbet

The statement, “The Spirit of House”, reflects the inherence of community, spirituality and inclusiveness in House Music & Dance created by Queer Black and Latin communities during the 70s & 80s. House merges varieties of African and Latin social and cultural dances. 200 years earlier Métis peoples blended traditional dances from their cultural backgrounds, including Nêhiyaw, Anishnaabe, Scottish, Irish, and French, to create Métis jigging.

Join Jammin’ Cameron and André Bessette’s experimental workshop investigating parallels between House Dance and Métis Jigging. We’ll jam House Steps and Jigs together led by Kathleen Nisbet on Fiddle paired with electronic music on the decks.

Josh Jammin’ Cameron – For most of his 17-year artistic practice, Josh “Jammin’” Cameron has primarily focused on researching and developing his proficiency and immersion in Street, Club and Cultural Dance with emphasis on Breaking, Hip Hop, and House.

He wears many hats in the artistic community (both figuratively and literally) having worked in roles as film director, choreographer, writer, performer, teacher, consultant, administrator, panel moderator, event organizer, and emcee to name a few. But at the end of the day, he’s just someone who really likes to dance, and dance he does!

André Bessette is a Métis/Croatian/French visitor to the unceded and ancestral lands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations. As a community trained dancer, André values a no-barrier approach to dance. He’s been inspired by the grassroots nature of street dances such as Lindy Hop, House and Breakdancing. André has jigged with Vni Dansi for 10 years and is a continual learner of dance.

Kathleen Nisbet is a fiddle player, multi-instrumentalist, singer and composer from Vancouver. Classically trained early on, she returned to her Métis roots, pursuing traditional fiddle music. A collaborator and regular accompanist with V’ni Dansi, Métis traditional dance, and Acuhko Simowuk Collective. Kathleen is an active member of Vancouver’s thriving bluegrass, old time, and folk scene, She has performed and toured internationally with her band Viper Central and produces the annual East Van Opry.

5-6 PM: Exploring the Pocket with Sophie Dow

Join Sophie as she weaves her parallel dance & music careers.  We’ll adventure through physical sensations of vibration, resonance and rhythm to eventually witness various roles that sound can play, through Métis jigging & contemporary dance.

Treaty 1-born Sophie Dow is a multidisciplinary creator, inspired by dance, music, film, collaboration and her Michif/Assiniboine roots. Sophie presently fulfills roles as a freelance dancer/choreographer/producer/musician/sound designer/bodyworker/artistic associate of O.Dela Arts/Matriarchs Uprising, The Chimera Project & V’ni Dansi/Louis Riel Métis Dancers.

Photos courtesy of the artists