Image credit: fjord gagnebin

Fluid Confluence(s)

May 6-10 2024

This year’s Movement Educator’s Forum, Fluid Confluence(s), marks the 10th anniversary of a community event that invites local folks that lead movement practice to come together to exchange, reflect and re-inspire their teaching. Acknowledging that many of us address common themes, such as our relation to gravity or spirals, the MEF celebrates the unique ways that each of us engages with any given theme.

This year, Kelly Keenan accompanied by co-curator Mathi LP, foreground fluids as objects of embodied inquiry in diverse movement practices. Over the course of the week, we are delighted to see what emerges and submerges from the confluence of fluid engagements through practices lead by our 6 invitees:

Charles Brecard — Monday
Shérane Figaro — Tuesday
Lauren Semeschuk et Scott McCabe — Wednesday
Eroca Nicols — Thursday
Mukoma « J-Style » Nshinga — Friday

Fluid Confluence(s) explores how different teachers envisage and mobilize what it is to be, and to become, fluid. With “fluid” we propose a broad term that could be used to describe a quality of movement, an embodied inquiry into the material bodily fluids, or fluid identities and social mediations, but ultimately leave space for a multifold of enactments.

We invite curiosity into:

What is meant by fluidity?
How does each invitee summon, or cultivate sensitivity to, the fluid body?
How does the fluid body listen?
What does each fluid body surface?
What does each fluid body submerge?

Perhaps, by the end of the week, our normalized ways of understanding what it is to be fluid will be blasted open by the practices of others.

Monday May 6th

Charles Brecard // FLUIDIFY

FLUIDIFY is a practice that challenges the body, the mind and perhaps the soul. Tools and principles are given to the participants to find a sense of fluid and endless motion through their bodies, histories, and capacities. The aim is to use the fluidity to discover and transcend one self’s abilities focusing on the experience and pathway instead of the reproduction of an aesthetic. Working on diverse techniques, flow-work, floorwork, rhythm patterns and improvisation tools, playing with physical, emotional, and imaginary states to give them a wide range of options to find the « Flow State » and freedom in their dance. Therefore, an environment prone to research, discoveries, playfulness, openness, softness, carefulness, and trust is facilitated. Nothing is forced, everything is suggested, nothing is serious, everything is a game. At the end, the true meaning is to collectively celebrate, learn, share and eventually, find solace.

Biography:
Born in Kanaky / New Caledonia from Vietnamese diaspora, Charles Brecard lives in Tiotia:ke / Montreal. He trained at the École de danse contemporaine de Montréal (EDCM) and has since collaborated with many local and international artists. Through his infinite curiosity, he develops his own practice: “FLUIDIFY,” influenced by street, traditional and contemporary dances and by his profession as a massage therapist, sharing his methodology during festivals, mediation events and educational courses (EDCM, Concordia, Danse à la Carte, BigBang, RQD etc.). His choreographies, imbued with an assertive gestural signature, intense physicality, poetry, and a re-questioning of our societal values, received recognition and awards here and abroad.

Tuesday May 7th

Shérane Figaru // Haitian Traditional Dance and ESANS

The workshop is based on a reflective and creative approach. Many of the references proposed are rooted in traditional Haitian dance. These references serve as a framework for opening up to fluid gestures and nurturing our imagination in order to give space to our own movement. Creative research is based on an intention, an object or certain rhythmic codes. During the workshop, the concept of invisible movement is used to focus attention on inner feelings while remaining present in the physical space. Participants are invited to use their imagination to develop a conscious dialogue with their body, while remaining connected to the group. The work of the body is oriented around notions of the center, anchoring, gravity, circularity and supports.

Biography:
Shérane Figaro is a dance artist, choreographer, performer, and teacher. For Shérane, dance is a way of reflecting on issues that challenge our humanity. Through her creations, she seeks to participate in the community conversations in the society in which she lives. She explores issues such as rites of passage, solitude and the memory of places and bodies.In addition to teaching traditional Haitian dances, Shérane teaches ESANS classes and workshops that explore gestures based on ancestral dances. In recent years, Shérane has developed a keen interest in movement approaches that support a process of searching and listening to oneself.

Wednesday May 8th

Lauren Semeschuk and Scott McCabe // Ilon Lev Quickie

To send and to receive. To lean and to fall. To spiral endlessly. Waves crashing over, in and through the body. The Ilan Lev Method (ILM is a somatic healing practice that seeks to expose and uncover the existing fluidity of the body via a dialogue of movement. Experienced either as a self-practice within a group led by a practitioner or in a one-on-one session, “[the] Method brings an explosion of movement, life force energy, playful provocation, and joy to the body”.
In this workshop, Lauren and Scott will introduce some concepts of the method, combined with their own research, through a “Quickie” format. The “Quickie” is a condensed experience of a regular ILM treatment that is practised in a group of more than one practitioner/receiver duo, all echoing together – almost in a dance. The workshop will be an opportunity to witness and, if you wish, to experience movement and motion that can dissolve old patterns and allow for new functions to emerge.

Biographies:
Lauren Semeschuk is a mover, collaborator and dance artist based in Tiohti:áke (Montréal) where she has worked and created with a variety of companies and choreographers. She is an Ilan Lev practitioner, Reiki practitioner and general movement nerd. She also can be seen doing income taxes on the side. Lauren loves to play in the woods and the world in general alongside her dog-friends and human-daughter. They seem to have a few basic things figured out. She has a deep respect for all of those who make, play, do, or who help others make, play, do.

Scott McCabe graduated from The Juilliard School with a BFA in 2013. They joined Ate9 Dance Company in Los Angeles and was a member from 2013 – 2015. Scott joined Compagnie Marie Chouinard and was a member from 2015 – 2020. Scott is now a freelance artist in Montréal working closely with Catherine Gaudet. Over the past 4 years Scott has created, along with partner Motrya Kozbur, a movement class for people without any formal dance training. The class aims to provide the possibility for people to explore their bodies in a safe, controlled and queer positive environment. Scott is also an Ilan Lev practitioner and has been certified since 2022. They thoroughly enjoy this practice as it provides a way for Scott to guide people back to their bodies.

Thursday May 9

Eroca Nicols // Consent in Fighting and Dancing

I am making chicken broth and thinking about how a messy carcass along with leftovers in my fridge transform into life-sustaining liquid. When people think about consent, they mostly want a set of “simple” rules to follow; to be told what to do and how to do it, so they can confidently say they are doing it “right”. Oversimplification of relations has never, in my experience, offered much good. If there is a way to do it right, then there is a way to do it wrong, that will, most likely, be punished. Reducing consent to a set of rules removes the messiness and the complexity of relations- at a cost.

I propose a series of practices (fighting and dancing), that begin (not end) with agreements. How do we agree to show up whole? And what do we need to reckon with to build the kind of trust that moves us toward a consent culture which requires humanization of ourselves and others? What might happen if we insist upon the wet, soupy confusion of the unknown?

Biography:
Eroca Nicols is a choreographer, a dancer, and a convener of contexts for collective liberation through relation building and embodiment. The teaching, performing, and training they do are deeply influenced by their ongoing study of practices including choreography, embodied consent, ritual, collective liberation, community care/disruption and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Thursday May 9

Mukoma (J-Stlye) Nshinga // Gliding

Dive into the fluid world of gliding in the Confluence(s) Fluide dance symposium. In this class, we’ll delve deep into the technique of gliding, exploring its nuances, and understanding its role in creating seamless, full-body motion. Through meticulous practice and my unique perspective, you’ll learn to master the precision and dexterity required to craft mesmerizing illusions with your feet.
Embracing gliding challenges conventional dance norms, shifting focus to the lower body while harmonizing with upper body movements. Drawing from my experience in Bruk Up, complemented by my training in Memphis Jookin, I’ve curated a curriculum that empowers you to grasp the essence of gliding, providing tools for post-class practice and integration across various dance styles. All are welcome to join, and the knowledge you take away is yours to shape.

Biography:
Mukoma-K. Nshinga, aka “J. Style,” is a street dance enthusiast since age 7, ignited by classics like “You Got Served.” Under Montreal’s elite, he mastered Popping and explored global dance styles. His talent shone on TV, notably in Révolution, and in commercials for brands like Little Burgundy. Mukoma’s versatility led him to embody the “Angel of Change” in the Kin Fables trilogy, winning acclaim at Fantasia International Film Festival. He showcased his skills in a UKG commercial during Super Bowl LVIII. Recognized as an enlightened judge and an international caliber competitor, he represents Canada worldwide. Today, he thrives as a clothing line owner with K A N K, co-directs Open Body performances, and contributes to his digital projects. With youth on his side and a future brimming with promise, Mukoma aspires to inspire through his unique dance journey.