Skip to main content

Courses

Crafting Genuine Body Language

with Hanna Kiel

Immerse yourself in the art of authentic body language under the guidance of Hanna Kiel. Throughout this transformative course, Hanna will expertly lead each participant through a journey of crafting physical actions that evolve into expressive movements.

Operating within an engaging and interactive environment, Hanna fosters a dynamic space where she introduces movements and concepts, inviting participants to interpret and expand upon them. Drawing from the wellspring of participants’ personal experiences and emotional memories, Hanna skillfully weaves these elements into choreographic material. This amalgamation of individual narratives and physical tasks culminates in the creation of truly genuine and heartfelt movement expressions.

Participants will master the art of authentically conveying their stories through their bodies, seamlessly intertwining movement with voice. As the course reaches its culmination, Hanna will orchestrate the integration of all the developed materials, guiding the collaborative process to craft a captivating performance piece. The culmination of this creative journey will be an informal showcase on the final day of the Workshop.

Prerequisites for Participation: This course warmly welcomes performers of all backgrounds and movement enthusiasts, irrespective of their prior dance experience. Hanna places no emphasis on previous dance training; instead, she values participants’ willingness to embrace openness and exploration throughout the workshop’s progression.

Application Deadline – October 8, 2023

How to Enroll

Artists are invited to submit a short letter of interest and CV to education@tarragontheatre.com with the subject line MOVEMENT COURSE.

If you are applying for a subsidized spot please include SUBSIDY in the subject line.

For accessibility accommodations or to submit your application in an alternative format, please email or call Heather Caplap at education@tarragontheatre.com |(416) 531-1827 ext 249

Application Deadline – October 8, 2023

All applicants will be contacted by October 17

Cost

Regular Rate – $300
Subsidized Rate- $100*

*If you are applying for the subsidized rate please note it in the subject line of your application email. You are welcome, but not required, to include a few sentences about why you would like to apply for the subsidized rate.

Dates and Times

Location: Tarragon Theatre

Time: 10am-1pm

Dates:

  • October 24
  • October 25 
  • October 26
  • October 28
  • October 29

Instructor

Dora winner Hanna Kiel is from Seoul, South Korea, and moved to Vancouver in 1996. She has presented her work at 12 Minutes Max, PlanB Singles and solos Festival, Dancing on the Edge Festival and Pulse at the Scotiabank Dance Centre in Vancouver. In 2007, she collaborated with Yoko Ono as a dancer and choreographer at the Centre A. Moving to Toronto in 2008, Hanna has continued choreographing for: Rosedale Heights School of the Arts, Conteur Dance Academy, George Brown Dance, Toronto Metropolitan University, School of Toronto Dance Theatre, Kenny Pearl’s Emerging Artist Intensive, IGNITE, ProArteDanza, Ballet Jörgen, Alias Dance Project, The National Ballet of Canada, Canadian Contemporary Dance Theatre, Toronto Dance Theatre, Kaeja d’Dance, Dusk Dances and Decidedly Jazz Danceworks in Calgary. She also collaborated with Tarragon Theatre on their 23/24 production ‘Cockroach’ and is currently working with Silk BathCollective as a choreographer. In 2012 she won Northwest Dance Project’s ‘Pretty Creatives’ international choreographic competition and she was an E-choreographer in 2015 for Springboard Danse Montreal. Hanna is a founder and artistic director of Human Body Expression and a resident choreographer at Canada’s Ballet Jorgen.

Currently Running

Stage Voice and Vocal Technique with Christina Pastor

Christina Pastor

Stage Voice and Vocal Technique

This course is designed to be a tailor made stage voice technique class to address the particular needs of each participant. An individual analysis will be made of each student’s vocal needs during the first session. The remainder of the course will be specifically tailored to address the various needs which are highlighted on the first day. Tools and exercises will be shared so that each participant will have both workable and applicable tools to fix their particular needs. General vocal technique and healthy vocal habits will be touched upon as well.

Generating Pages with Jeff Ho

Jeff Ho

Generating Pages

This course is an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and create with a community of playwrights. Whether coming in with a draft in progress, or a completely new idea waiting to be launched: sessions will be structured to provide space to create, revise, and share material week to week – honed around the theme of generating material, working against perfectionism, working around nurturing curiosity and joy in playwriting. Through an exploration of playwriting exercises, practical conversations around new play development practises and dramaturgical collaborations, and discussions and sharing of material – participants will experience new tools and access tailored to their writing practise. From bristling language, to diving into the messiness of new writing, to that detailed process of revising, join us each week as we create, laugh, share, and connect over playwriting.

Upcoming Courses

Playwriting with Marcia Johnson

Marcia Johnson

Playwriting

COMING SOON – WINTER 2024

So, you have a great idea for a play. You’ve got tons of research. Now what? Marcia Johnson will help participants learn to incorporate that information (without making it seem like information) into a dialogue-based, character- and story-driven script. Participants will not finish their scripts by the end of the workshop but will have the tools that they need to complete their drafts on their own. (No solo shows, please).

Directing with Mike Payette

Mike Payette

Directing

COMING SOON – Winter 2024

Stay tuned for more information!

Writing for Actors and Acting for Writers with Diane Flacks (weekend intensive)

Diane Flacks

Writing for Actors and Acting for Writers

COMING SOON – Spring 2024

Theatre is a live, connected art form, and if you happen to have more than one skill set, or area of interest, they can help each other. If you’re an actor and want to write your own material, or a writer and want to find a way to make your work more playable, this workshop is for you. Whether you have material that you want to develop, or an idea you aren’t sure how to make active, bring it to the group and we will bring passion, fun, and dynamism to the work.  

This workshop is for people who aren’t afraid to get up and write, who want to connect with an audience, and who want to reach out and make people think, laugh, and feel.

Getting Unstuck with Diane Flacks (weekend intensive)

Diane Flacks

Getting Unstuck

COMING SOON – Spring 2024

If you have an idea that you need to talk through, or a completed script that you can’t seem to crack, this workshop will tend to what ails you. Think of it as a visit to a playwrighting doctor, who will help you to diagnose your issues, and start to find a way to confront them, all with a positivity, gentleness, and precision. We will focus dramaturgically on the problems and possibilities, and you will leave excited to lose time with your story again.

Previous Courses

Generating Pages with Jeff Ho

Jeff Ho

Generating Pages

This online course is an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and create with a community of playwrights. Whether coming in with a draft in progress, or a completely new idea waiting to be launched: sessions will be structured to provide space to create, revise, and share material week to week – honed around the theme of generating material, working against perfectionism, working around nurturing curiosity and joy in playwriting. Through an exploration of playwriting exercises, practical conversations around new play development practises and dramaturgical collaborations, and discussions and sharing of material – participants will experience new tools and access tailored to their writing practise. From bristling language, to diving into the messiness of new writing, to that detailed process of revising, join us each week as we create, laugh, share, and connect over playwriting.

Physical Theatre Creation Weekend Intensive with Andy Massingham

Andy Massingham

Physical Theatre Creation Weekend Intensive

Andy’s workshop at Tarragon is geared toward the experienced artist who is interested in creating new, physically-based theatre pieces. Exercises utilizing clown, pantomime and movement to tap your creative centre.

Playwriting as Resistance with Makram Ayache

Makram Ayache

Playwriting as Resistance

In this 4 week course, you will have the opportunity to explore writing as a vehicle for social and cultural change. Explorations will range from the personal to the political and you will have the opportunity to apply fundamentals of storytelling for the stage. If you are interested in translating social and political work into character driven narrative stories, this course will provide you the support you need.

(How to Think About) Acting for Auditions with Tanja Jacobs

Tanja Jacobs

Refresh Your Approach to Preparation

At a good audition, the director feels like they have seen you. They have had a glimpse of you, allowing yourself to be seen, as you try to wade into the character’s mess.

This series of 6 studio classes will allow participants to build their audition confidence, to bring more of themselves to their auditions, and to refresh their approach to preparation.

Playwriting & Dramaturgy with Brian Quirt

Brian Quirt

Setting the expectations of creative workshopping

This online course is an exploration of playwriting and play development practice and its relationship to dramaturgy. The work will include: in-class writing exercises; practical discussions on working with playwrights, dramaturgs and directors; and expectations for playwrights in a workshop environment.

Making the Actual Theatrical, Finding the Drama in True Stories with Marcia Johnson

Marcia Johnson

Making the Actual Theatrical, Finding the Drama in True Stories

Want to write a historical drama? How about delving into family history? Marcia will help you turn a true story into a play.

Preparing for Auditions with Sarena Parmer

Sarena Parmer

Preparing for Auditions

In this course, participants will investigate how to select, prepare and perform material specifically suited for the audition environment. We will break down techniques to feel more confident and prepared, so your audition is a true expression of you.

Grant Writing with Aaron Jan

Aaron Jan

Grant Writing for the Playwright

In multi week “grant-writing unit”, 30x grant winner, Aaron Jan will lead you through the basics of grant writing from an artist’s perspective, as well as walk you through various streams of funding and the strategies he uses to win them. He will discuss grants he’s been awarded at the OAC, TAC and CCA level, types of union contracts, common pitfalls of applying for grants, and his experiences on the other side as a theatre projects juror with the Toronto Arts Council, The Ontario Arts Council, the Manitoba Arts Council and an RGTC juror with Cahoots Theatre.