EDAM Performing Arts Society

### Context Profile for EDAM Performing Arts Society

1. **Organization Mission & Cause**:
   - **Mission**: EDAM Performing Arts Society is dedicated to fostering a vibrant community through the art of dance, particularly focusing on Contact Improvisation. They aim to create inclusive spaces for diverse participants, especially BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) dancers, to explore movement and creativity.
   - **Cause**: The organization emphasizes accessibility in dance, providing opportunities for individuals of all backgrounds to engage in artistic expression and physical movement.

2. **Type of Activities**:
   - **Classes**: Regular classes in Contact Improvisation, with a focus on BIPOC participants. Classes are designed to be beginner-friendly and encourage exploration and creativity.
   - **Workshops**: Special events and workshops led by experienced instructors, such as Natalie Tin Yin Gan, aimed at developing skills in Contact Improvisation.
   - **Community Jams**: Open jam sessions for dancers to practice and improvise in a supportive environment.
   - **Membership**: A lifetime membership is required for participation, promoting a sense of belonging within the community.

3. **Tone of Voice**:
   - The tone is **friendly**, **inclusive**, and **supportive**, aiming to create a welcoming atmosphere for all participants. The language is approachable, encouraging, and emphasizes community and collaboration.
   - The content often uses phrases that invite participation and exploration, reflecting a nurturing and encouraging environment.

4. **Emoji Usage**:
   - The website and email communications do not prominently feature emojis. The tone remains professional and clear without the use of visual embellishments, focusing instead on straightforward communication.

5. **Key Facts**:
   - **Founding Info**: Specific founding details are not mentioned on the website, but the organization has established a strong community presence.
   - **Scale**: EDAM has conducted 8 forms and 12 email campaigns, indicating active engagement with their community.
   - **Impact Metrics**: While specific metrics are not detailed on the website, the focus on BIPOC engagement and community accessibility suggests a commitment to inclusivity and outreach.
   - **Volunteer Info**: There is no explicit mention of volunteer opportunities on the website, but the community-oriented nature of the organization may imply volunteer involvement in events and classes.

6. **Writing Guidelines**:
   - **Style**: Use clear, concise language that is accessible to a broad audience. Avoid jargon unless it is clearly defined.
   - **Inclusivity**: Always prioritize inclusive language, especially when discussing events and classes aimed at BIPOC participants.
   - **Encouragement**: Use inviting phrases that encourage participation, such as "join us," "everyone is welcome," and "explore your creativity."
   - **Structure**: Keep content organized with headings and bullet points for easy readability. Ensure that important information (dates, times, and contact details) is highlighted clearly.

This context profile serves as a guide for creating personalized and effective content for EDAM Performing Arts Society, ensuring alignment with their mission, values, and community engagement strategies.

LXCL:Nov 8th &nbsp;1 - 4:00PM

Early Bird rate

General Admission

LXCL:To participate in classes and workshops at EDAM, you must be a member. If you are new to EDAM, please purchase a membership. EDAM Membership is a lifetime membership (one-time $5 membership fee).

EDAM Membership

Hi <span data-custom-variable="{{firstname}}" fr-original-class="fr-deletable styled-tag-chip" fr-original-style="" style="background-color: rgb(248, 248, 255); border: 1px solid rgb(191, 191, 255); border-radius: 4px; color: rgb(42, 42, 196); padding: 1px 8px; font-size: 11px; display: inline-block; margin: 0px; overflow-wrap: anywhere; user-select: none; box-sizing: inherit;">First name , Thank you for registering for the workshop Becoming Dandelions Through Contact Improvisation at EDAM. Your registration is inclusive of GST. Nov 8th, 2025&nbsp; 1:00 - 4PM What to Wear + Bring:- Comfortable clothes to move in, with layers for changing body temperature. Long sleeves and pants are best.- Water / water bottle- Knee pads (optional - we do sell them for $35/pair; cash or e-transfer at the studio) Reminders:- Please arrive about 10-15 min early so you have time to get changed and sign-in.- We are a scent-reduced space, thank you in advance for helping us keep the space odour-free.- Our studio is located on the ground floor of Western Front. The main lobby is for passing through &mdash; please come directly into EDAM where we have a space for you to store your belongings. Getting Here:- EDAM is located at 303 E 8th Ave- Entry: The front door is usually locked, buzz &ldquo;02&rdquo; to enter.- Driving: If you are arriving by car, there is free street parking in the neighbourhood along Scotia St and around Dude Chilling Park (check for hour limits and permit signs). Parking can sometimes be difficult to find, so allow yourself an extra 10-15 min.- Biking: We have a bike rack out front.- Transit: We are within a couple blocks of public transit and are closest to stops at Main/Broadway and Main/Kingsway. If you have any questions about your registration or attending, please do not hesitate to reach out to us at: <a fr-original-style="text-decoration-color:currentcolor;user-select:auto;box-sizing:inherit;" href="mailto:info@edamdance.org" style="text-decoration-color:currentcolor;user-select:auto;box-sizing:inherit;">info@edamdance.org</a> We look forward to dancing with you! Warm regards,Sierra Megas General Manager EDAMinfo@edamdance.org

<div><div>BECOMING DANDELIONS THROUGH  CONTACT IMPROVISATION Saturday, November 8 1 - 4PMThis workshop will be led by Arash Khakpour and co-facilitated by Hungarian jurist and artistic researcher, Viktória Kaslik. This is a meeting place for our heart-body, through contact improvisation. Dandelions nourish the kinship network through their interconnectedness and entangled systems of generosity. Dandelion’s spirit of receptivity and independence inspires the direction of our exploration within the practice of Contact Improvisation. In this workshop, we approach the dance as a vehicle for us to reflect on our lives, and a way to meet the parts of us that were unreachable before. Contact principles, such as reaching, leaning, modulating, internal expansion, weight-sharing and falling together, that we share as part of the practice, become the doorways to our personal research. We use these doorways to cultivate softness, deeper listening and a graceful ability to respond in the moment.By tasting the dandelion root tea, we invite the participants to indulge in the sensorial relation with the plant and in dancing with the other. Through inviting the spirit of Dandelion as a third partner in the dance, Viktória and Arash facilitate a new space of discovery to identify, dance with, and maybe even integrate the untouched parts of ourselves. Through giving attention and inviting the unconscious internal tendencies that we carry and allowing them to become conscious, we envision a future that allows for the integration of new relational ways of becoming.We are committed to a space of kindness, care and compassion where people are encouraged to participate in a way that feels comfortable for them.We ask for your commitment to playfulness, mystery, the unknown, and reverence for this workshop.“She is growing for the light, to reach the Sun and eventually to become the Moon, living in eternal cyclicality. She is travelling to places where her message needs to be heard, where her nurturing is needed, where water needs to be kept, where the condensed soil needs to be loosened, where the concrete needs to be cracked. She is cracking the concrete with her timing. She came to retrieve our broken fabric. It is not about reclaiming any claim, yet it is sourced and pouring from beyond the physical plant body, from a field of the archetypal dandelion-ness. From the cosmos constituted of an invisible fabric, a semi-terrestrial fascia gluing us, together. She perhaps invites us to rejoin, to ask to see what is, and ask again what laws are.” (Excerpt from the book “Dandelion Feast. A protocol to eliminate legal waste from Earth bodies”)This workshop is designed for intermediate to advanced practitioners of dance and contact improvisation. What to expect in this workshop:<ul><li>Gentle meditations</li><li>Movement improvisation in solo format and contact improvisation in duet, trio, and group formats. </li><li>Verbal sharing in small groups and the whole group</li><li>Drinking dandelion root tea</li></ul> Please email <a href="mailto:info@edamdance.org" target="_blank">info@edamdance.org</a> if you have any questions about attending. Arash Khakpour (آرش خاکپور) is a dancer and choreographer from Tehran and based in the Coast Salish Territory. Arash has been practicing dance and performance for the past 15 years and has been a company member and part of the EDAM ensemble since 2017. He tends to invest in the nuances of prejudices in the body as a way of inviting the unconscious to the conscious, and as a doorway to meet the unknown emotions. He sees dance as a process of emotional and spiritual discoveries and a mode of transformation. He works with dance as a language that researches the human condition through mythical, historical, social, political and animistic interpretations. As a first-generation immigrant, he continuously considers what healing he can bring to the land and communities he works with. He is building a culture of relationality and reciprocity that celebrates the multiplicity of presences and approaches. He is the co-founder and artistic director of the dance-theatre-film company<a href="https://www.bitingschool.com/" target="_blank"> The Biting School</a> (alongside his brother Aryo Khakpour). Most recently, Arash was one of nineteen participants in ‘the Mystery School of Choreography’ directed by Meg Stuart and Ana Rocha. Viktória Kaslik has a background in law, artistic research, and systemic constellations. She explores the terrain of nature-sourced laws through systemic constellations, shamanic work, research, writing, legal rituals, artistic collaborations, and consultation. Her work makes tangible why law has always been art and why the legal system needs the field of art to be transformed. She is from Hungary, where she is based.<a href="https://viktoriakaslik.com/" target="_blank">viktoriakaslik.com</a><a href="https://www.forumdanca.pt/en/palestras-pacap8-mys-viktoria-kaslik/" target="_blank">Lecture at Mystery School</a> Photo by Flavia Mash</div><hr />Membership<ul><li>To participate in workshops at EDAM, you must be a member.</li><li>If you are new to EDAM, please purchase a membership below.</li><li>EDAM Membership is a lifetime membership (one-time $5 membership fee).</li></ul>Waivers<ul><li>All EDAM participants (every person who attends an EDAM class, workshop or jam) must read and agree to: <a href="https://www.edamdance.org/waiver">EDAM Waiver</a> and <a href="https://www.edamdance.org/edam-safety-consent-inclusion-policy">EDAM Safety, Consent and Inclusion Policy</a> before coming to the studio.</li></ul>Refund &amp; Cancellation Policy<ul><li>Purchases are non-refundable — we do not issue refunds for workshops unless EDAM cancels the event.</li><li>EDAM reserves the right to cancel a workshop for any reason. Refunds will be issued and the registered participants will be contacted.</li></ul>Accessibility &amp; Building Info<ul><li><a href="https://www.edamdance.org/contact">Accessibility and building info HERE</a>.</li><li>Please email us at: <a href="mailto:info@edamdance.org">info@edamdance.org</a> if you have specific access requests or questions.</li></ul></div>

EDAM Performing Arts Society

Workshop: Becoming Dandelions  Through Contact Improvisation

303 E 8th Ave

General Admission

$70

EDAM Membership

$5

Add a donation for EDAM Performing Arts Society

EDAM Performing Arts Society

Workshop: Becoming Dandelions Through Contact Improvisation

303 E 8th Ave

General Admission

$70

EDAM Membership

$5

Add a donation for EDAM Performing Arts Society

Workshop: Becoming Dandelions  Through Contact Improvisation