Thirteenth International Conference on The Arts in Society

Abstract

Using two performance-based projects as case studies, I would like to talk about my experiences as the Education Manager at Workman Arts (an arts and mental health organization in Toronto) and about how my practice as a choreographer has been woven into my role through the experience of creating work with and alongside Workman members. Workman Arts supports artists who have lived experience of mental health and addiction issues through providing access to free multi-disciplinary art education, studio space, professional development and presentation opportunities. I would like to discuss the foundation and context that Workman Arts provided for two collaborative works I created with Workman members: Chorus (a site-specific performance at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health hospital) and You&Us (a 360 degree dance film for an audience of one). Both of these works aimed to dissolve distinctions between professional/non-professional, able/disabled and performer/audience through process-based performance and workshop facilitation. For this conference presentation, I aim to give an overview about Workman Arts, show documentation and describe the case study pieces, “screen” the 360 film and offer embodied examples of how the work was created.