BE HEINTZMAN HOPE + NÈNÈ MYRIAM KONATÉ (MTL) — Womb CXRE presents : LANDING(S)

Sept. 24 to 28, 2018 – 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (Mon.-Fri.)
$75 with the support of *Emploi-Québec (or $250, non-eligible rate)
$17 drop-ins Mon.-Wed. only (unless full)
Open to artists of all disciplines / Bilingual teachers
Capacity: 25 people, priority for full week attendance

“Studying with Be Heintzman Hope has been one of the most healing, life changing experience of my life. I’ve mostly done Womb Cxre, and it’s been key in changing and developing my relationship to dance after a 10 year hiatus after 8 traumatic years of ballet.” (Hannah Harris-Sutro)

“Mantric statements—writhing, vocalizations, utterances, and guttural sounds—are a central component of Womb Cxre, used to heal bodies through the deepest personal intimacy and care. Womb Cxre pushes its participants to connect to their own body goals, centering on their personal knowledge of and relationship with their bodies, in order to speak to and pay attention to those parts of the body that need tenderness, care, or even shock.” (Lindsay Nixon, Mice Magazine)

In this workshop, breath, voice and movement will be used as mediums to embody interpersonal landing(s). How does your voice land on others and in spaces you navigate? How is your body influenced by the voices of those around you?

Breath happens without being asked, it simply is, yet is changing all of the time. The breath carries laughter, screams, words, memory and so much more. Be Heintzman Hope works with the philosophy that the body carries many voices inside, the voices of one’s own and the voices that have landed on our bodies. Landing(s) offers an embodied approach to looking at how these voices inhabit us.

Throughout the course of one week, participants will experience working solo, in pairs, as well as in group dynamics. Exercises are built to give participants new pathways of movement that acknowledge the power of external influence. Participants will first be guided through gentle breathing exercises before moving into partner work that will stimulate wider discussions on embodied history, ancestry and future imaginaries led by nènè myriam konaté. These daily discussions led by nènè will facilitate engagement on the topics of land, voice and movement at the end of each day.

This workshop is open to people of all bodies, genders, ages and practices. This work is trauma-informed but holds roots in play and pleasure. We encourage feedback and dialogue about what that means and how it may be expanded upon.

Be Heintzman Hope is a mixed race performer and facilitation artist based in Tio’tia:ke, Montreal. A descendant of the first Chinese immigrants to arrive in ‘Canada’, they also hold German and Scottish blood as part of their ancestry and settlement on Indigenous land. Over the past five years, they have cultivated a breath, voice and movement practice under the name Womb Cxre. This practice centers giving birth to movement and to self. Be has facilitated and performed in various contexts locally and internationally. Presently they are cultivating solo performance work while prioritizing ongoing collaborations with other diasporic queer and trans artists. A larger part of this quest is co-creating alternative economies and community-based structures of radical tenderness and care.

Born to Haitian-‘Canadian’ and Malian-‘Canadian’ parents, nènè myriam konaté is an artist, writer, creative director and facilitator whose work focuses on intergenerational learning, embodied knowledge and coalition. In November 2015, nènè created The Clap Back, a space to informally discuss everything from pop culture phenomena to divisive political issues. Since then, nènè has had the pleasure of moderating discussions on topics such as micro aggressions, iterations of love within racialized communities, instances of popular Black cultural production, as well as (in)visibility, identity and culture within a Canadian context. In August 2016 nènè co-founded Collective Culture Montreal, an interdisciplinary festival that celebrates the voices of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour. nènè’s work has been featured at SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Writers Read’s Off the Page Festival, at Articule Artist Run Centre, and in Sophomore Mag. nènè’s collaborators include McGill University’s Social Equity and Diversity Education Office, Two Hungry Children, Womb Cxre, Black Love Matters Montreal, The Woman Power, HerDay, SoHo House Toronto and Centre Never Apart.


All workshops are for professional performing artists. Some require advanced dance training.

Registration – Please contact (514) 393-3771 or at info@studio303.ca. A non-refundable deposit of $20 is required to reserve your spot.

Payments – By check, cash, Paypal or credit card on the phone or in person ($1 to $2 fee)

Reimbursement policy– No reimbursement possible without a good reason (ex: sickness or injury).

*Emploi-Québec –  With the support of Emploi-Québec. In order to get this rate, participants must be Canadian citizens or permanent resident and live in Québec. Full-time students and social assistance beneficiaries are not eligible to this rate. In case of inadmissibility, you can refer to the non-eligible rate, contact us for questions.

Studio’s accessibility – Consult this page for detailed information.