Social Art Training

Social Art Training

Dates: January 10-11, 2025, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm

The National Centre for Dance Therapy (CNDT), the Research, Innovation and Knowledge Transfer Centre in Circus Arts (CRITAC), and Cirque Hors Piste (CHP) are joining forces to offer a co-development training program on the theme of performing arts for social change.

CRITAC’s mission is to advance human potential and performance through applied research and innovation. It develops applied research projects, provides technical support, information, and training to professionals in the performing arts and human performance fields.

CHP is an organization dedicated to social circus, providing an alternative, inclusive creative space for marginalized or at-risk youth. It uses circus arts to offer these young people an alternative personal development path with artistic and social support, allowing them to progress and thrive as citizens.

Description

The Social Art training is designed for live arts teachers, artists, and social workers. The program focuses on the broad context of art as a tool for social transformation. This intensive two-day training aims to enrich the hands-on experience of facilitator-artists who work to enhance the quality of life of vulnerable individuals through presence and connection.

Focused on the facilitator-artist’s role, trainers will share their field experience to encourage reflection and awareness among participants. Through experiential exercises, participants will be challenged, exchange ideas, and demonstrate creativity and openness.

Topics Covered: Movement posture, the roles of the artist and social worker, ethics and boundary management, strategies and impacts of social art, opportunities and challenges in arts-based interventions.

Four segments over two days: self, partnership, participants, and community

Workshop Objectives

• Identify one’s artistic identity and use it effectively in social interventions
• Reflect on the posture and attitude to adopt with oneself, in tandem, with participants, and with the community
• Highlight transferable artistic skills in a social intervention context
• Develop skills in workshop design and facilitation
• Foster a high level of personal and professional ethics
• Place live arts and creativity at the core of the intervention approach

Experiential learning is the preferred teaching method for this training, offering concrete learning situations with a focus on participant engagement and knowledge-sharing. The trainer acts as both a facilitator and an expert, balancing practical exercises, movement-based experiences, participant exchanges, and theory.

Trainers

The training will be led by Marilou Vinet, Intervention Coordinator at Cirque Hors Piste; Émilie Barrette, Dance Therapy Lead at the National Centre for Dance Therapy at Les Grands Ballets; and Emmanuel Bochud, social circus trainer and Director of Development and Innovation at CRITAC.

Registration

Dates: January 10-11, 2025, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Participants are expected to attend the entire workshop and must therefore be available for both days. Participants will also be invited to a panel session on Sunday, January 12, on the concept of artistic transfer (details to come).
Location: Studios GB, Wilder Building Espace Danse, 1435 de Bleury, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 2H7
Language: The training will be conducted in French, but participants are encouraged to engage in English.

Cost: $50 plus taxes

This training is offered at a reduced rate thanks to support from the RBC Foundation.