Practice & Play: A Self-Trust Pollinate
Schedule
Sat Jan 17 2026 at 07:00 pm to 10:30 pm
UTC-05:00Location
Church of the Good Shepherd Kitchener | Kitchener, ON
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For the next while, we have decided that each Pollinate will focus on one of the principles that guide us in our practice and play. This deep-winter Pollinate we will focus on Self-Trust.
Self-trust. What does this mean to each of us?
And what feeds it?
This Pollinate will also fall close to the one-year anniversary of the death of Tasha Allain, whose fierce commitment to her self-trust feels woven into what Pollinate has become.
Tasha... tuning into her own sense-making and intuition, finding her way through deep challenges to create learning and meaning... with fierce rigor and mischievous delight.
Tasha... holding a sacred space for all of us to trust ourselves as part of a larger unfolding mysterious, seriously playful universe.
This Pollinate we wish to honour and celebrate Tasha and what it means to each of us to create a space for deepening our trust in ourselves.
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🍄THIS POLLINATE we are deeply excited to move to the live responsive soundscapes of Erwan Noblet, Joel Brubacher, Todd Scheidel, Fynn Fooks & Philippe Samutin on electric violin, cello, percussion, accordion, guitar, loops, keys, voice and other sweet instrumentations.
Followed by... a mystery DJ...TBA.
🍄THE PURPOSE OF POLLINATE...
is to create a space in KW where lovers of dance & music improvisation can come together in embodied research of what generates co-intelligence, flow and collaboration.
🍄WHAT IS POLLINATE?
Pollinate is a monthly dance event for those who enjoy moving in a focused creative space in collaboration with other dancers and with improvised sound. This includes solo, duo, group dancing, conscious witnessing & stillness.
Each event hosts veteran musical improvisers to support the space with inspiration for movement, expression, surprise and delight. This could include both acoustic & electronic sound.
And each month there will be a different themed focus and guided warm-up to offer a bridge into dancing and stimulate new ideas & practice.
As usual, there will be nibbles & spring water to energize our bodies, art supplies to entice our creative spirit, a cuddle zone to rest & co-regulate, and a tickle trunk to play with identity.
Bring your water bottle to hydrate your dance.
Children are welcome with supervision.
🍄THE ARC OF THE NIGHT
7:00 | Doors Open ~ let go of words & land in the body, with a personal warm-up to live soundscape
7:30 | Opening Circle (note that doors will be closed during circle)
7:50 | Guided Warm-up for the Collective Body
8:00 | Dance to Live Music
9:00 | Dance to DJ
10:20 | Closing Circle
10:30 | Pack Up & Mingle
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🍄 PRINCIPLES
that support our vision of collaboration & improvisation in this space:
1) LEARNING
I see myself & everyone as learners, and everything that happens as an opportunity to learn.
2) HONOUR & NURTURE SELF-TRUST
Everyone's experience & needs matter to the well-being of the whole. I will honour & nurture a space where I, and we, listen to and honour our needs.
3) CURIOSITY
When faced with the choice between curiosity & judgement or defensiveness, I choose curiosity.
4) RESPONSE-ABILITY
We are all interconnected and affect what happens.
5) CREATIVE TENSION
I can embrace both what is happening AND my vision of what I want (& don’t want) as a creative
tension.
6) SUBJECTIVITY
And when we do have occasion to speak, we speak from our own experience & perception of what is happening.
7) PRACTICE & PLAY
These are core to how we learn.
8 ) FOCUS ON NON-VERBAL CONVERSATION
Let go of the urge to speak, unless it’s necessary, so that we can deepen our experience of our dance.
🍄 POLLINATE WELCOMES...
everyone who embraces these principles in & around the dance space. All ages, abilities & backgrounds enrich our dance.
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🍃WHEN: Saturday January 17th
🍃WHERE: The Church of the Good Shepherd, 116 Queen St N, Kitchener.
🍃COST: Sliding Scale: $25-$30
🍃PAY-WHAT-MAKES-DEEP-SENSE:
We invite you to be present with
~ your own capacity to pay
~ the energies & resources that go into creating Pollinate, and
~what you wish to sustain & grow in your community
If you can't pay the lowest amount, talk to us to see if we can get creative with it!
Ways to Offer $:
Cash at the door
E-transfer: [email protected]
Advance Tickets: pollinatekw.eventbrite.com
🍃We love feedback and we are interested in your experience of Pollinate. Please feel welcome to email us or speak to us in person if there is anything you'd like to share.
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Where is it happening?
Church of the Good Shepherd Kitchener, 116 Queen St N, Kitchener, ON N2H 2H7, CanadaEvent Location & Nearby Stays:
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