Community Workshop
Write - Move - Talk
Memoir & Movement
in studio with Sara Porter
Sept. 18, 2022 | 11am - 1pm
Orillia Opera House
$25 workshop fee
A dynamic, multi-disciplinary workshop for personal & professional exploration that draws on the uniqueness of each person's story and bodily experience.
Community Workshop
Playwriting Lab
Sept. 13, 20, 27 & Oct. 4, 11, 2022 | 12 - 3pm
Orillia Opera House
$250 workshop fee
Do you have a story for the stage, but could you use a little help crafting your idea? Sharpen your writing skills with one of Canada’s most celebrated theatre artists!
A Bit About Us
Mission
Arts Orillia exists to build diverse artistic programs that foster positive experiences in the arts within our communities.
Vision
Our communities will experience a diversity of voices and stories that respond to the important issues of our time through powerful public encounters that encourage and support artistic creativity.
Values
Arts Orillia Believes in…
Collaboration: …actively working with individuals and organizations from our communities, our region, and beyond to encourage creative inspiration and expression.
Curiosity: …ensuring that we are ready to adapt to changing circumstances by encouraging the exploration of all artistic disciplines.
Innovation: …seeking out resources that enable us to be nimble and creative as we provide a setting that encourages outstanding opportunities for artists and their audiences.
Inclusion and Equity: …providing opportunities for all.
Performance
Orillia
Co-presented by Arts Orillia and Fall for Dance North
Sept. 23, 2022 | 12pm
Stephen Leacock Museum
Witness the personal, colourful, and surreal world of next generation choreographers - Zach Martel and Santiago Rivera (Montréal). A performance set to original and familiar compositions by Toronto’s Royal Conservatory musicians Daniel Hamin Go and Michael Bridge.
Performance & Artist Talk
Black in Canada
Shameka Blake/Artists In Motion
(Established Career Dance & Design recipient)
Nov. 24th, 2022 | 12 - 1pm
Orillia Opera House
A work about Black identity in Canada
Performance & Artist Talk
hard wire
Bare Nerve Collective - Emma Kerson and Jane Alison McKinney
(Transitioning Career Dance & Design recipient)
January 19, 2023 | 4:00pm - 5:00pm
Orillia Opera House
Suggested ticket contribution $8
“hard wire” plays with unexpected, fragmented moods and dramatic shifts of physicalized states, ultimately leading to a deeper reflection on life in the face of a climate in crisis.
Performance & Artist Talk
très loin
Sylvie Bouchard/BoucharDanse
(Established Career Dance & Design recipient)
January 26, 2023 | 12:30 - 1:30pm
Orillia Opera House
Suggested ticket contribution $8
A showing with excerpts of très loin, followed by a discussion about mental health among teens.
Showing cancelled.
Film Screening & Artist Talk
Aliyah Beckles
February 4, 2023 | 5pm
Creative Nomad Studios
Suggested ticket contribution $8*
* All proceeds go to the artist
A dance film & book reading
(Emerging Career Dance & Design recipient)
Introducing local artist Aliyah Beckles. Join us for a screening of her new film, Reduced and a reading from her book, We Are Here: Stories From Southern Georgian Bay BIPOC Women. You won't want to miss it!
Empty Space | Empty Time and Worlds Within
May 10, 2023 | 7:30pm
Orillia Opera House
Summer Camp
Arts Orillia Summer Camp 2023
August 14 -18, 2023
The Holding Space | Orillia, ON
Campers will explore their creative side through a variety of artistic expressions – sculpt, weave, draw, dance, create digital animation, enjoy a daily outdoor lunch & play, visit the public library for reading time. All these experiences and more while building friendships and unleashing each child's inner artist!
Fundraiser
Celebrate with Arts Orillia as we launch a dynamic 2023/24 season! Showcase features an exquisite evening of music with Laura Kelly, Bonnie Black, Dawn Ellis-Mobbs and a fabulous art auction with original signed macro photography by Sean Rees. Wine and cheese – with delights from Rind and Truckle!
September 21, 2023
Creative Nomad Studios
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Tickets: $75 through Canada Helps
Performances / Workshops
Heirloom
A Partnership with Fall For Dance North
September 22, 2022
Leacock Museum
Witness the personal, colourful, and surreal world of next generation choreographers - Zach Martel and Santiago Rivera (Montréal). A performance set to original and familiar compositions by Toronto’s Royal Conservatory musicians Daniel Hamin Go and Michael Bridge.
Black In Canada
Shameka Blake/Artists In Motion
(Mid Career Dance & Design recipient)
November 24th, 2022
Orillia Opera House
A work about Black identity in Canada
très loin
Sylvie Bouchard/BoucharDanse
(Established Career Dance & Design recipient)
January 26th, 2023
Orillia Opera House
A showing with excerpts of très loin, followed by a discussion about mental health among teens.
Global Steps
Dance Database and Workshop Series
Arts Orillia is building a teachers’ database for inclusive dance education with a global focus. This experience has two parts; teachers begin by receiving a package that gives information about a particular style of dance, including its cultural history and social context. Educators are supported with:
• several links to performances
• prompts for students to continue their learning
• a short recorded interview with a guest artist who is an expert in the style of dance that the children are learning about
The second part of the experience is an in-person dance lesson facilitated by artistic director Kate Hilliard and a virtual visit from the guest artist. The level of physical challenge will be adjusted for the grade level. We ask that teachers let us know about the accessibility requirements of students and staff prior to our in-person workshop.
Water Monument
Eco Art Workshop Series
Water Monument is an interactive eco-art experience for young environmentalists and student artists! This workshop begins by discussing water care through a variety of cultural perspectives, including the Western ideology of attaching monetary value to water and recognizing it as a precious resource. We also learn about “personhood,” an idea celebrated through Indigenous Traditional Knowledge which grants water the same protections as people.
Through this learning, participants will engage in a community assemblage project in an area of visual art practice. Elementary workshops are a half-day long: morning until lunch or after lunch-recess until the end of the school day. Nutrition breaks and all recesses will be taken as usual.
Participants are given the opportunity to design, discuss, and imagine a better future together. This experience places a strong focus on collaboration, mindfulness, and empathic listening as students take responsibility to protect our earth for future generations!
Inventing Utopia
Drama and Creative Writing
With Desirée Leverenz
What if we could imagine a perfect world? What does it look like? What does it take to get there?
Your students are invited to explore their creativity, and imagination through games, writing, improv, and more as they create a personal performance about the world they want to live in! We’re celebrating “weirdness,” new ideas, and above all else – we’re creating an inclusive place for students to be honest about the issues that they would like to tackle in their communities. This is a creative workshop that trains leadership. Join guest artist Desirée Leverenz - a theatre director, creator, mover and shaker, who will never wash Treaty 6 soil from beneath her feet. She works with students in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities to help our young people clarify and sharpen their questions. She hopes that a class might discover stories and conversations so that we can all dream of a better future together.