PD Sessions // We supplement the TCML rehearsal and performance experience with professional development panels and workshops. These activities address wider topics that connect to safe working conditions for artists, interpersonal dynamics, community-building, and more. You can explore previous TCML panel discussions on our media page.  

How to Run A Rehearsal // June 8

• Location // 918 Bathurst

• Facilitated by TCML organizers and guest mentors

• A focused discussion on strategies for effective rehearsals. A chance for participants to discuss various topics such as when a composer should be present, how to actively create space for everyone to share their thinking, being critical without being condescending, and more.

Rehearsal Mentorship // throughout workshop

• Location // 918 Bathurst

• Facilitated by TCML Organizers and Guest Artists

• We invite past TCML participants to serve as guest mentors to take part in group improvisation activities, as well as visit with working groups to provide commentary and suggestions closer to the conclusion of the rehearsal process. TCML organizers will also offer insights from years of rehearsal facilitation (as musicians and composers) at various stages during the week.

Anti-Oppression Training // June 8 and 13

• Locations // 918 Bathurst (part 1), and CMC (part 2)

• Facilitated by Rania El Mugammar

• Rania El Mugammar will facilitate a two-part anti-oppression session designed for artists and cultural producers. Rania explores the language, theories and practices of anti-oppression in depth, including institutional, community-based and organizational strategies for building equity and unlearning oppression. Creative, technical and collaborative models for building equity and liberation will be explored through group activities, case studies and discussion. Rania conducts a pre-workshop survey in order to tailor the learning experience to the TCML participants, and she also provides an extensive set of digital and print resources to prepare for and extend the learning journey beyond the scope of the sessions at TCML.   

Panel on Curating and Collaborating in Interdisciplinary Contexts // June 9

• Location // TBD

• Panelists TBA, Moderated by TCML organizers.

• We convene a panel of artists whose work explores theatre, staging, and the integration of other media into an audience experience. We discuss how chamber performance can connect with other artistic skills, and how this impacts conceptual work, project timelines, and budgets, while also creating unique career and touring opportunities.

Taking Time, Holding Space, Taking Care // June 11

• Location // CMC

• Facilitated by Belinda Kwan

• A true commitment to diversity and inclusion can be taxing, full of burnout and misunderstanding. In the midst of deeply entrenched hierarchies and institutional barriers, how can an arts organization become a supportive environment for members of marginalized communities, and how can this move toward equity become a collective and sustainable effort? The answer is a moving target, and we're often forced to push ourselves to the point of burn out and major anxiety. Treating transformative justice and participatory action research (PAR) as major points of departure, Taking Time, Holding Space, Taking Care will open up a co-learning/co-teaching space for strategies on how to foster modes of survival, anti-oppression, and collective well-being within art institutions. Special attention will be directed towards the nuances of systemic privilege, allyship, complicity, and the question of what it means to simultaneously hold space for oneself and others. We will also seek to discuss the macro- and micro-aggressions experienced within arts communities—in domains of institutional bureaucracy, artistic production/reception, and everyday encounters. Although the facilitator will begin the workshop with a discussion of her own positionality and experience, as well as a guided introduction to active listening and self/peer-care strategies, they will open the space up for participants to share their own strategies and stories.

Composing Community // June 12

• Location // 918 Bathurst

• Facilitated by Jumblies Theatre

• Jumblies Theatre presents the day-long Composing Communities program. Participants will be redistributed in unique working groups that include interdisciplinary artists with community-engaged practices (dancers, actors, illustrators, storytellers, and more). Group members will collaborate to create multidisciplinary presentations reflecting on local and personal histories, and other thematic material drawn from personal experiences.