Presenter: Nina Meehan Audience: General Musical theatre thrives on momentum, musical, emotional, and communal. This workshop invites theatre teachers to rethink efficiency not as control, but as clarity, trust, and intention. Participants will learn a director’s toolkit for staging musical numbers quickly while preserving narrative integrity and expanding student agency. We’ll focus on how to set strong objectives, read the emotional architecture of music, and use stage space as a storytelling partner. Rather than dictating movement, directors learn how to shape environments where students discover solutions that serve character and story. This session is for educators who want rehearsals that move faster and feel more alive—and who believe that students do their best work when they are trusted as artists.

Presenter: Jack Grinhaus Audience: General Developing an ensemble that can work, intrinsically with each other is at the core of a good creative team. There is also a need to present exciting and dynamic movement as well as an organization of space to create engaging theatre with. Using aspects of the Viewpoints method, developed and codified by the SITI company under the leadership of Anne Bogart, participants will get a crash course that is hands on. In this session we will explore and examine the 9 Viewpoints and exercises to help in creating strong teams and compositions, offering many options towards staging in new ways that are practical and easily applicable.

Presenter: Theatre Calgary Audience: General Strategies for creating movement with participants with a wide range of dance backgrounds, including those who have little to no dance experience. Covers scaffolding choreography so everyone feels confident, using group patterns to support individual learners, and working with varying skill levels.

Presenter: The Kinkonauts (BLOX Arts Centre) Audience: General Please note: This add-on session is an additional $25 to be paid during online registration. Step into the world of unscripted storytelling with a two‑hour long‑form improv workshop led by the Kinkonauts, one of Calgary’s most dynamic improvisational ensembles. Join fellow theatre educators to explore the foundations of long‑form improv creation, including character development, ensemble collaboration, and the narrative structures that allow improvised stories to unfold with depth and momentum. Guided by an experienced Kinkonaut’s performer, this workshop offers insight into formats such as montages, thematic explorations, and extended narrative arcs. Participants will engage hands‑on, build scenes together, and consider the many ways long‑form improv can be used in the classroom, from skill‑building exercises to performance opportunities like lunchtime improv clubs and student‑led showcases.