SATURDAY MORNING WORKSHOPS 9:00 - 10:30 am

PRESENTED BY Rachel Luke (she/her) 

Work with Rachel as she walks delegates through an exciting project geared towards senior drama students.  

Workshop on a summative project for grade 12 students - Theatre Around the World

Using a variety of resources, a small group of students are required to research and present a 10-15 minute oral presentation of:

• the history of the theatrical form (origins to now)
• specific movements (revolutionary, challenges and breakthroughs) associated with the theatre/theatrical style;
• elements (stage design/set, make-up, stylized movements, characters, costumes, language, target audience, message/ purpose);
• typical play structure;
• famous plays
• famous playwrights
• additional interesting tidbits, etc.

Students are also required to find a professionally written script by a playwright from the theatrical style and choose a scene (at least 3-5 minutes in length) and memorize, rehearse and perform it as part of their presentation to the class.

You may be particularly intrigued in this workshop if your focus is: Secondary Drama

Rachel Luke has been teaching at Glenforest Secondary School in the Peel District School Board in Mississauga for 20 years. She holds an Honours Bachelor of Arts (Distinction) from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Education from York University, and a Specialist in Drama from OISE. 

In and beyond the classroom she is committed to integrating anti-oppressive principles of universal design and culturally responsive approaches to improve student well-being and achievement.

In 2020 and 2021, Rachel received Canada’s highest honour for Teaching Excellence. She was the recipient of a Regional Certificate of Achievement from the Prime Minister’s Awards for Teaching Excellence in 2020 and in 2021 she was a recipient of the Prime Minister’s National Award for Teaching Excellence.

You may be particularly intrigued in this workshop if your focus is: Secondary Drama

PRESENTED BY  MonstrARTity and Sam Gujral (aka Kween Mallika)  

Coming from the classical dance background of Kathak and a scientist by day, Sam Gujral now promotes inclusivity and STEAM education under the stage persona of Kween Mallika. CODE conference delegates will have an intimate interaction with Sam and learn about his journey as a dance artist and drag performer, how the arts play an important role in learning and fighting for social justice, as well as how and why Sam now conducts community outreach as a drag performer. Attendees will also enjoy samples of Sam's Bollywood and Kathak dance workshops, presented under the #MonsterArts for Youth program. We will discuss how the workshops are connected to dance, theatre, math, social studies and world history curriculum and how Sam provides a fresh perspectives on those disciplines. 

 You may be particularly intrigued in this workshop if your focus is: Secondary Dance 

Sarbjeet Singh Gujral (He/Him) works as a pharmaceutical scientist and as a Pharmacist full time. He is an open, out and proud Sikh gay guy who is also working with people by giving them emotional support, especially to people who are coming out to their family and friends.

Sarbjeet is also a performing artist (a Drag Queen) and is known by the stage name Kween Mallika. She is known as the Bollywood Queen of Toronto and as Madhuri Dixit of Drag. She is working towards making the Indian style of Drag more acceptable as a style of drag in the Western world. 

PRESENTED BY Jose Miguel (Miggy) Esteban (he/him)  

How do the practices of disabled artists invite us to reimagine our interpretation of the curriculum’s expectations of dance? How might we shift our own teaching practices to be inclusive of, and shaped by, such embodiments of difference? Through this workshop, I invite teachers to join me in rethinking our conceptions of dance. By immersing ourselves within the worlds of disability arts and culture, this workshop pushes teachers to consider how disabled embodiments might inspire us to shift our understandings of dance, of disability, and of learning within the classroom. The workshop is divided into three sections: (Re)Introduction to Disability, (Re)Introduction to Dance, and (Re)Introduction to Our Gestures.  

(Re)Introduction to Disability: This first section of the workshop invites teachers to reflect on how we come to know/identify/understand disability within our everyday work in the classroom. Introducing teachers to a disability studies and disability justice orientation, I push us to question how we can disturb taken-for-granted educational conceptions of disability as embodying lack or limit. I invite us to wonder how disabled embodiment might teach us to move differently within educational spaces.  

(Re)Introduction to Dance: This second section of the workshop introduces teachers to the work of disabled artists and to the practices of disability arts and culture. Exploring creative processes that centre aesthetics of access, care, and difference, I invite us to stretch our imaginations of what dance is—of what dance can be.  

(Re)Introduction to Our Gestures: In this last section of the workshop, we return to the curriculum and to our interpretation of its expectations. Together, we engage in a final creative exploration through various gestures. I invite teachers to join in an inquiry through our dancing bodies, inspired by the practices of disability arts and culture.  

You may be particularly intrigued in this workshop if your focus is: Elementary Drama and Dance 

Jose Miguel (Miggy) Esteban is a Filipino-Canadian dance/movement artist and educator based in Tkaronto/Toronto. He shares his work through local festivals, community events, showcases, and through self-produced process showings with Impetus Movement Project. He further shares his practice through workshops that invite a return to the body as a stage for collective storytelling.  Miggy is a PhD student in disability studies and dance/performance studies at the Department of Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto. Influenced by disability arts and culture, Black radical traditions, Indigenous storytelling, and queer performance, his work engages in embodied practices of improvised research-creation to encounter the interpretations of gesture as sites for inspiring a return to our bodies, to our (un)belonging within space, and to our movement in relation with one another.  

 NOTE: This is Round Table Discussion

PRESENTED BY Matthew Sheahan (he/him) and Arwyn Carpenter (they/them)

NOTE: This is a Panel Discussion

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission requested in the 2015 94 Calls to Action, the creation of “age-appropriate curriculum on residential schools, Treaties, and Aboriginal peoples’ historical and contemporary contributions to Canada...for Kindergarten to Grade Twelve students.”  Many arts educators are eager to explore and integrate Indigenous issues and voices into their everyday practice and focus, but are left wondering if the ways in which they are attempting to incorporate these important issues are ethical and/or authentic. Or they might still be attempting to find access points for meaningful integration into their drama or dance program. Through a mix of panel and roundtable discussion, delegates will be challenged to investigate these avenues for meaningful integration of Indigenous content and be given several tools for program development in a classroom with a diverse student body.  With a particular emphasis on avoiding appropriation of culture and voice, and fostering best practice, this interactive discussion will help both experienced and reluctant allies to augment their practice and bring lively and engaging drama and dance activities into their classroom that will help foster a greater understanding of Indigenous issues and the development of empathy and understanding.  

You may be particularly intrigued in this workshop if your focus is: This is a cross curricular and cross panel discussion.

PRESENTED BY  Roseneath Theatre, Rachel Marks and Andrew Lamb  

In this workshop, Rachel (Accessibility Coordinator at Roseneath Theatre and Relaxed Performance & Disability Access Consultant) and Andrew Lamb (Artistic Director, Roseneath Theatre) will share stories, tips, examples and best practices on making your arts spaces d/Deaf and Disability friendly. From “relaxing” your space to working with d/Deaf actors to creating space for previously marginalized communities in shows, classes and the creation process - we will take a deep dive into Disability Arts together. Roseneath Theatre has a reputation for creating social justice work for children and youth; during the pandemic we began to expand the access points for our digital shows to include: Relaxed & Venue Guides, Audio Description (for the Blind/Partially Sighted Community) and Deaf Theatre Interpretation (using Deaf actors to retell the story as opposed to a hearing ASL interpreter) in order to make sure that our work was reaching any person who wanted to access it. We’d love to share this journey with you and offer ideas, ways and practices so that you can do the same. We’ll also offer examples of some of our work; arts companies to watch (who’s doing the work, how can you access it); things you can do in your classes; and artists you can invite in to help with this process. This session would have scheduled time for questions and answers towards the end as well as some hands-on exercises. We look forward to working with you to create a future that includes safe spaces for all young artists and arts lovers to embrace the magic of the stage! 

You may be particularly intrigued in this workshop if your focus is: Secondary Drama

PRESENTED BY Robyn Sidhu (he/she/they) and  Tonya S. Lewis (she/her) 

The Arts Inspired Program guides educators to engage the arts with a goal of sparking meaningful conversations and learning with youth. Created through a series of co-design sessions with youth involved in CANVAS' spoken word program, Back Talk: Voices Against Violence, this workshop builds key skills in developing inspiring arts programs for marginalized youth. Facilitators explore how spoken word and other art forms can be engaged by educators to explore topics such as race, identity, resilience, and community advocacy. The program is generously funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

You may be particularly intrigued in this workshop if your focus is: This workshop is open to both Drama and Dance teachers. It is ideally suited for secondary (I/S) and is open to both pre-service and experienced teachers.