Sept 23, 2026 / 11:30AM-12:30PM / Arts & Culture Centre

Join us for coffee, tea, pastries, and an informal gathering with Festival of New Dance artists, participants, staff, volunteers, and guests. Stay after Robyn Breen's Togethering workshop, meet others, and ease into the festival day together. At 12:30PM, the gathering flows into Meet the the Writers, Makers, & Illustrators in Residence in the Level 1 West Studio.

Sept 23, 2026 / 12:30PM-1:30PM / Level 1 West Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

Why dance? Why write about it, draw it, make something from it, or find another way to respond?

Meet the Writers, Makers, & Illustrators joining the 2026 Festival of New Dance Writers, Makers, & Illustrators in Residence pilot. Hear Kaija Pepper, Amy Bowring, Angela Antle, and Elijah Janka Martel talk about their different ways of encountering dance and turning those experiences into creative responses.

A relaxed conversation about attention, interpretation, and the many ways we can meet a performance through words, images, comics, textiles, conversation, and more.

Come and meet the residents and find your own way into responding to dance. All are welcome.

Sept 23, 2026 / 1:45PM-2:30PM / Level 1 West Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

How do we begin to respond to a dance performance? Writers and editors Kaija Pepper and Amy Bowring bring years of experience thinking, writing, and talking about dance to this practical introduction to creative response.

Through conversation and simple prompts, we'll explore the many ways we see, feel, think, notice, and make meaning while watching dance, and consider how those observations might become writing, drawing, or other forms of creative response throughout the festival.

No experience writing or responding to dance required.

Facilitator: Elijah Janka Martel

Sept 23, 2026 / 2:45PM-4:15PM / Level 1 West Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

Explore comics as a tool for observing, documenting, and responding to dance and performance. Through discussion, drawing exercises, and hands-on experimentation, participants will consider how subjective visual narratives can capture experiences that transcripts and recordings cannot.

Whether you're new to conics or already working in the medium, this workshop offers an opportunity to build skills, develop ideas, and think critically about visual storytelling.

Bring a sketchbook, tablet, or preferred drawing materials.

Facilitator: Angela Antle

Sept 23, 2026 / 4:30PM-6:00PM / WritersNL Office

Great artist profiles begin with great conversations. Drawing on more than three decades of experience as a CBC producer, writer, and interviewer, Angela Antle will introduce participants to practical strategies for planning, conducting, and shaping interviews into compelling written profiles.

Participants will explore different interview approaches, develop focus statements and question lines, and learn how the five-act narrative structure can help uncover meaningful stories and organize material. Whether you're new to interviewing or looking to strengthen your skills, this workshop will help you arrive prepared, ask better questions, and transform conversations into engaging narratives.

Participants are encouraged to come with a Festival of New Dance artist, participant, or event they would like to profile. Angela will support participants throughout the festival as they conduct interviews and develop their writing.

Facilitator: Amy Bowring

Sept 23, 2026 / 5:30PM-6:30PM / Anna Templeton Centre

Join dance writer, historian, and fibre artist Amy Bowring for an introductory gathering exploring how textile- and fibre-based practices can be used to respond to dance. Through conversation and creative prompts, participants will consider dance through material, gesture, repetition, labour, pattern, touch, and transformation before attending the Festival of New Dance opening program, ELEMENTAL, later that evening.

No prior dance experience is required. This session is open to fibre artists, crafters, makers, and curious creatives interested in engaging with performance through their own artistic practice.

Facilitator: Elijah Janka Martel

Sept 24, 2026 / 12:30PM-2:00PM / Level 2 East Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

A fun, low-stakes opportunity to play with a variety of accessible art materials and build—or expand—your unique visual language. Through hands-on exercises and experimentation, participants will explore line, texture, shape, and gesture while discovering new approaches to drawing and mark-making.

Whether you're responding to Festival of New Dance performances or simply looking to shake up your creative practice, this workshop offers space to experiment, take risks, and see what emerges.

Bring a sketchbook, tablet, or preferred drawing materials.

Facilitator: Amy Bowring

Sept 24, 2026 / 1:00PM-4:00PM / Anna Templeton Centre

Develop a fibre- or textile-based response to works presented during the Festival of New Dance. Guided by Amy Bowrig, participants will reflect on performances, explore choreographic response methodologies, and translate their observations into material form.

Thursday: Group discussion of the previous evening's performance (ELEMENTAL), introduction to response methodologies, selection of a focus work, and development of initial concepts.

Friday & Saturday: Open studio and drop-in making sessions. Participants are invited to work independently while benefiting from shared discussion, feedback, and support.

Participants will also be invited to share works-in-progress and insights from their creative process at a Writers, Makers, & Illustrators in Residence gathering on Sunday, September 27 in the Second Space at the LSPU Hall. Selected finished works may be featured on Festival of New Dance digital platforms.

Facilitator: Kaija Pepper

Sept 24, 2026 / 3:30PM-5:30PM / WritersNL Office

Come sit around the table at WritersNL and share your responses to Festival of New Dance performances in a supportive group setting.

Together, we'll generate ideas and approaches through discussion, writing, reflection, and feedback—whatever it takes to get a little closer to the dance. Bring a draft of an overnight response to workshop with the group, or a blank page to fill during the session.

From thoughtful reviews and personal reflections to close observation and creative response, all forms are welcome. Bring a notebook or a laptop, whatever you like to write with, and spend time going deeper into your experience of the performances.

Writers of all experience levels are welcome. Attend one session or both.

Facilitator: Angela Antle

Sept 25, 2026 / 12:00PM-1:30PM / Level 2 East Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

Turn your festival interviews into engaging artist profiles with writer and editor Angela Antle.

Friday: Story Development & First Drafts

Bring your interview notes, recordings, and ideas. Identify the story you want to tell and begin shaping a first draft.

Saturday: Editing, Refinement & Feedback

Bring your developing profile for feedback and focused work on structure, storytelling, and voice.

Attend one session or both. There’s no expectation to have a polished draft ready on Friday. The sessions are designed to give writers space to interview, reflect, write, and revise as the festival unfolds.

Selected profiles may be featured on Festival of New Dance digital platforms.

Facilitator: Amy Bowring

Sept 25, 2026 / 1:00PM-4:00PM / Anna Templeton Centre

Develop a fibre- or textile-based response to works presented during the Festival of New Dance. Guided by Amy Bowrig, participants will reflect on performances, explore choreographic response methodologies, and translate their observations into material form.

Thursday: Group discussion of the previous evening's performance (ELEMENTAL), introduction to response methodologies, selection of a focus work, and development of initial concepts.

Friday & Saturday: Open studio and drop-in making sessions. Participants are invited to work independently while benefiting from shared discussion, feedback, and support.

Participants will also be invited to share works-in-progress and insights from their creative process at a Writers, Makers, & Illustrators in Residence gathering on Sunday, September 27 in the Second Space at the LSPU Hall. Selected finished works may be featured on Festival of New Dance digital platforms.

Facilitator: Elijah Janka Martel

Sept 25, 2026 / 2:15PM-3:45PM / Level 2 East Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

Observe a Festival of New Dance rehearsal and experiment with drawing techniques that capture movement, energy, and gesture. Through quick sketches and impressionistic approaches, participants will explore how drawing can respond to bodies in motion.

Artists of all experience levels are welcome.

Bring a sketchbook, tablet, or preferred drawing materials.

Facilitator: Kaija Pepper

Sept 25, 2026 / 3:30PM-5:30PM / WritersNL Office

Come sit around the table at WritersNL and share your responses to Festival of New Dance performances in a supportive group setting.

Together, we'll generate ideas and approaches through discussion, writing, reflection, and feedback—whatever it takes to get a little closer to the dance. Bring a draft of an overnight response to workshop with the group, or a blank page to fill during the session.

From thoughtful reviews and personal reflections to close observation and creative response, all forms are welcome. Bring a notebook or a laptop, whatever you like to write with, and spend time going deeper into your experience of the performances.

Writers of all experience levels are welcome. Attend one session or both.

Facilitator: Angela Antle

Sept 26, 2026 / 10:30AM-12:00PM / Level 2 East Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

Turn your festival interviews into engaging artist profiles with writer and editor Angela Antle.

Friday: Story Development & First Drafts

Bring your interview notes, recordings, and ideas. Identify the story you want to tell and begin shaping a first draft.

Saturday: Editing, Refinement & Feedback

Bring your developing profile for feedback and focused work on structure, storytelling, and voice.

Attend one session or both. There’s no expectation to have a polished draft ready on Friday. The sessions are designed to give writers space to interview, reflect, write, and revise as the festival unfolds.

Selected profiles may be featured on Festival of New Dance digital platforms.

Facilitator: Amy Bowring

Sept 26, 2026 / 1:00PM-4:00PM / Anna Templeton Centre

Develop a fibre- or textile-based response to works presented during the Festival of New Dance. Guided by Amy Bowrig, participants will reflect on performances, explore choreographic response methodologies, and translate their observations into material form.

Thursday: Group discussion of the previous evening's performance (ELEMENTAL), introduction to response methodologies, selection of a focus work, and development of initial concepts.

Friday & Saturday: Open studio and drop-in making sessions. Participants are invited to work independently while benefiting from shared discussion, feedback, and support.

Participants will also be invited to share works-in-progress and insights from their creative process at a Writers, Makers, & Illustrators in Residence gathering on Sunday, September 27 in the Second Space at the LSPU Hall. Selected finished works may be featured on Festival of New Dance digital platforms.

Facilitator: Elijah Janka Martel

Sept 26, 2026 / 1:00PM-2:30PM / Level 2 East Studio, Arts & Culture Centre

Bring your drawings, comics, sketches, and visual responses developed throughout the festival to share in a supportive peer-feedback session.

Participants will have an opportunity to talk about their work, ask questions, and receive constructive feedback from fellow artists and illustrator Elijah Janka Martel. Whether you're looking for encouragement, fresh perspectives, or help moving a project forward, this is a space to learn from one another.

Artists of all experience levels are welcome.

Bring works in progress and/or finished pieces, questions, and curiosity.

Sept 27, 2026 / 1:00PM-4:00PM / LSPU Hall Second Space

Come together to share what you've been making in response to the 2026 Festival of New Dance.

Writers, makers and illustrators are invited to bring works-in-progress, sketches, notes, drafts, drawings, and other creative responses to share in a relaxed, supportive setting. There will be opportunities to hear from the artists-in-residence, exchange ideas, and celebrate the different ways we've experienced and responded to dance throughout the festival.

Come to share your work, see what others have been making, or simply join the conversation.

All are welcome.