Workshops
Willy Badger
Aug 22 – 24
Liliona Quarmyne
Aug 24 @ 3pm
Nova Bhattacharya
Aug 24 @ 1pm
The call to adventure for Willy Badger all started while working as a clown in Vancouver, Canada. There he was recruited to perform at a Scottish Castle in Japan!
The class clown in primary school, one of his earliest stage appearances was in grade five, as Prince Charming in Sleeping Beauty. Willy arrived on stage with his modified tricyclehorse, purposefully tipping it over. The audience roared with laughter, and Willy’s career as clown was well and truly born.
After receiving his BA in Drama from Bishop’s University in Quebec, Willy taught drama for three years, then moved out to Western Canada and joined a traveling performance troupe.
An award-winning, multi-lingual performer, The Willy Show has been featured at many different venues throughout Japan and Canada.
Dance artist Liliona Quarmyne has worked across Canada and internationally, including performing with Compagnie Danse Nyata Nyata; dancing with MamaDances; and creating with Diane Roberts through the Arrivals Process. Liliona is currently showing her new piece Tide, developing another piece, teaching dance for the Antigonish Creative Dance Association and for her own organization Generations in Motion, and coordinating programs for the Tatamagouche Centre. Liliona sees her body as a link to past and to future generations, and uses it to create art that is unconventional, provocative, and grounded.
Nova Bhattacharya creates powerful and humanistic dance works. She has performed works by many acclaimed creators including: Peggy Baker, José Navas, and Mika Kurosawa. Critics have said Nova is “adept at transforming bharatanatyam dance vocabulary into stunning contemporary dance” (Globe & Mail). In 2008 she established Nova Dance, the company’s productions and educational programs have been presented from coast to coast in Canada, Germany, and Japan and have garnered five Dora Mavor Moore Award nominations. Nova Dance is committed to nurturing the upcoming generation. Through internships, one-on-one mentoring, and contract engagements the company contributes to the artistic and professional development of emerging artists. Bhattacharya was the 2012 recipient of the Victor Martyn Lynch Staunton Award for outstanding artistic achievement in dance and a 2003 Chalmers Fellowship recipient. She is the President of the Toronto Arts Council and a board member of the Toronto Arts Foundation.