Session descriptions are listed in the order of their presentation during the weekend:
Megan Jerome, Singer Songwriter:
IGNITE! will present Megan and her music during the opening session on Friday night. "Megan’s music is deceptively transient. The simple song structure and lyrics feel like folk songs, but the musicianship on her albums is rooted firmly in jazz". -Travis Boisvenue, Guerilla Magazine www.meganjerome.com
Babette Lightner, Movement:
Saturday morning Session
Awakening Awareness–Entering a process–Embodied Being
Let movement remind you of your innate wholeness of being. We’ll start the day by locating your whole self in time, space, sensation, connection, thinking, feeling, breathing... You'll access your built-in guidance system or internal compass to lay a personal foundation for the rest of the conference.
Sunday morning session Meta-patterns™ – a movement mediation
Layers, fluid, line, spiral, sphere, wave, space – these shapes or meta-patterns become a resource for presence and perspective that allows creativity to flourish. Experience this powerful practice to keep you rooted and embodied when tumult reigns.
Let movement remind you of your innate wholeness of being. We’ll start the day by locating your whole self in time, space, sensation, connection, thinking, feeling, breathing... You'll access your built-in guidance system or internal compass to lay a personal foundation for the rest of the conference.
Sunday morning session Meta-patterns™ – a movement mediation
Layers, fluid, line, spiral, sphere, wave, space – these shapes or meta-patterns become a resource for presence and perspective that allows creativity to flourish. Experience this powerful practice to keep you rooted and embodied when tumult reigns.
Jennifer Moir, Singing From Your Insight Out!
Whether in the voice studio, in the lecture hall or in front of a choir, I am conscious of the potential to facilitate any person becoming his or her most expressive self. As an arts educator, I strive to empower people through experiences that re-kindle their confidence and joyful recognition of their built-in capacity for creative expression. During IGNITE!, participants will be invited to explore their expressive potential through song. We will use canon-singing as a means to involve all participants, regardless of their level of singing/musical training. No previous singing or musical experience is required for choristers to experiment with unison singing, singing in harmony, and improvisation techniques. Every person’s contribution in canon-singing is valued. In this way, we will be embodying the principles of healthy community and collaboration.
Peter Ryan, Playground Balls:
The ball is a portable cultural icon, embodying societal and individual identities, connecting the roots and branches of human passion across centuries and continents. With a ball, we can explore movement and dance; it’s also a means of communication, conveying energy, intention and information. Finally, we can cultivate relationships and express emotions, all in a context of serious fun...
Over the past two decades I have developed a training and performing practice using simple playground balls. For each group I work with, the goals are different but the work incorporates several general features regardless of context.
Work with the ball specifically addresses the following: as a physical object, developing grace, balance, strength, coordination and manipulation skills
to practise varying qualities of movement, alone and with others
to assist in the development of hand-eye coordination, spatial orientation and perceptual acuity to develop positive relations with other students, in duets and larger combinations to develop the understanding of an ensemble, in which all members contribute generously to the shared direction and goals of the group
Kathy Armstrong, African Drumming:
West African drumming, movement and singing is a wonderful physical metaphor for exploring themes of change and transition, unity and diversity, and individual expression within a larger community. It provides a vibrant opportunity for:
releasing and enhancing creativity and encouraging expression through working with patterns developing multiple layers of awareness through active listening
welcoming adaptation and variation developing focus and engaging in collective experience. IGNITE! Participants will work with the Ewe stick-drumming piece Gahu, an intoxicating and rich texture of music, movement and song, driven by a cyclical bell pattern and interlocking drum parts, which occasionally break into call and response patterns. Emphasis is on personal expression, playfulness, and a social atmosphere.
Alice Vander Vennen, Visual Art:
Alice will lead participants to explore the empowering process of assembling materials, such as paper, canvas, copper etc into their own surprising and compelling sculpted piece of art. No previous experience visual art experience is required. Each participant will leave the workshop with a unique piece of art created by juxtaposing textures, colours, and shapes, working through the logistics and creative magic of realizing the exciting connection between the creative spirit and the visual response.
Participants are encouraged to include their own "found object" such as stones, pieces of glass, or bits of interesting metals to deepen the visual story and bring out a new voice.
Bill Shields, Harvesting & Stepping Forward; Working Creatively with Intention & Resistance:
This Sunday morning session will engage participants in a process of collecting the various insights and directions that have emerged for them throughout the weekend. After gathering the ideas that have arisen, we will work with the dynamics of stepping forward with our expressions of creativity. We will use movement and imagination to work with the fears and resistance that naturally arise, welcoming them as an integral part of the process. Participants will be supported in finding the next steps in bringing their creativity into expression in the world.
