WORKSHOPS
Before attending a workshop, please review the Important Info below, including what to wear/bring, FAQ’s, and accessibility info.
Building Entry: Buzz ‘02’ ONLY for entry. Please arrive 5 to 10 min before class to change and settle. Entry to the building is only granted 15 min before and 15 min after an activity starts.
For more information about our workshops, please contact us at info@edamdance.org.
If cost is a barrier and you are interested in attending activities, please reach out to us at: info@edamdance.org.
photo: Flavia Mash
BECOMING DANDELIONS
THROUGH
CONTACT IMPROVISATION
with Arash Khakpour and Viktória Kaslik
Saturday, Nov 8th
1 - 4pm
Early Bird rate: $53
General registration: $70
This workshop will be led by Arash Khakpour and co-facilitated by Hungarian jurist and artistic researcher, Viktória Kaslik. Through inviting the spirit of Dandelion as a third partner in the dance, Viktória and Arash facilitate a new space of discovery to identify, dance with, and maybe even integrate the untouched parts of ourselves.
In this workshop, we approach the dance as a vehicle for us to reflect on our lives, and a way to meet the parts of us that were unreachable before. Contact principles, such as reaching, leaning, modulating, internal expansion, weight-sharing and falling together, that we share as part of the practice, become the doorways to our personal research. We use these doorways to cultivate softness, deeper listening and a graceful ability to respond in the moment.
What to expect:
* Gentle meditations
* Movement improvisation in solo format and contact improvisation in duet, trio, and group formats.
* Verbal sharing in small groups and the whole group
* Drinking dandelion root tea
This workshop is designed for intermediate to advanced practitioners of dance and Contact Improvisation.
Arash Khakpour by Luciana Photography
Viktória Kaslik by Laura Szekeres
Arash Khakpour (آرش خاکپور) is a dancer and choreographer from Tehran and based in the Coast Salish Territory. Arash has been practicing dance and performance for the past 15 years and has been a company member and part of the EDAM ensemble since 2017. He tends to invest in the nuances of prejudices in the body as a way of inviting the unconscious to the conscious, and as a doorway to meet the unknown emotions. He sees dance as a process of emotional and spiritual discoveries and a mode of transformation. He works with dance as a language that researches the human condition through mythical, historical, social, political and animistic interpretations. As a first-generation immigrant, he continuously considers what healing he can bring to the land and communities he works with. He is building a culture of relationality and reciprocity that celebrates the multiplicity of presences and approaches. He is the co-founder and artistic director of the dance-theatre-film companyThe Biting School (alongside his brother Aryo Khakpour). Most recently, Arash was one of nineteen participants in ‘the Mystery School of Choreography’ directed by Meg Stuart and Ana Rocha.
Viktória Kaslik has a background in law, artistic research, and systemic constellations. She explores the terrain of nature-sourced laws through systemic constellations, shamanic work, research, writing, legal rituals, artistic collaborations, and consultation. Her work makes tangible why law has always been art and why the legal system needs the field of art to be transformed. She is from Hungary, where she is based.
photo: Hayley and Olivia by Luciana Photography
Fundamentals Workshop
Januray 2026
If you are new to Contact, this workshop is for you! This workshop introduces Contact Improvisation basics, providing you with the fundamentals to begin your practice.
Email us at info@edamdance.org if you’d like to be notified when registration opens.
Early-Bird: $70
Regular: $92
IMPORTANT INFO
Membership
To participate in workshops at EDAM, you must be a member.
If you are new to EDAM, please purchase a membership when you register.
EDAM Membership is a lifetime membership (one-time $5 membership fee).
Waivers
All EDAM participants (every person who attends an EDAM class, workshop or jam) must read and agree to: EDAM Waiver and EDAM Safety, Consent and Inclusion Policy before coming to the studio.
Refund & Cancellation Policy
Admin Fee: There is a non-refundable $10 admin fee for all workshop cancellations. This helps us cover the cost of managing cancellations.
Cancellations made at least 4 working days (Monday to Friday) in advance of the workshop start date are 100% refundable, minus the admin fee. Please email us.
Cancellations made 48 hours in advance of the workshop start date are 50% refundable minus the admin fee. Please email us.
Cancellations made less than 48 hours in advance of the workshop date are non-refundable.
If you know you will not be attending the workshop (for any reason) you may give your spot to a friend. Please email us.
Sick Policy: We understand and respect that sickness happens unexpectedly. Cancellations made due to illness are 50% refundable minus the admin fee. Please email us.
EDAM reserves the right to cancel the workshop for any reason. Registered participants will be contacted and full refunds will be issued.
EDAM reserves the right to change the teacher if the booked teacher can no longer attend. Registered participants will be contacted and may request a refund if they no longer wish to attend the workshop with the new teacher.
What to Bring/Wear
Wear comfortable clothes that you can move and slide in (we recommend long sleeves and full-length pants, as they are helpful for sliding on the floor), wear minimal jewellery, and bring knee-pads (optional/personal preference).
We sell knee-pads for CI practice ($35) at the studio. Ask your teacher or email us at: info@edamdance.org.
Bring a bottle of water.
EDAM is a scent-reduced space, please help us keep our studio odour-free.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a difference between a class and a workshop? A class is a short focused session. A workshop is a longer session (with small breaks at the teacher’s discretion). Both are facilitated around the teacher’s interests and knowledge.
What is a Contact Jam? Jams are leaderless practice environments in which dancers practice CI with whoever gathers — friends, strangers, experienced dancers, newcomers. In our Open Jams, an EDAM teacher will hold the space, however, there is no instruction.
I have never done Contact Improvisation. Can I join any class or workshop? If you have never done Contact Improvisation, please sign up to a Thursday evening class our our Fundamentals Workshop, to acquire some skills and tools. Depending on your experience and previous training, you may request to join our advanced Morning Classes. Our teachers can support you in this journey.
Accessibility Info
Read our accessibility info here.
EDAM gratefully acknowledges the Coast Salish peoples; the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, on whose traditional, stolen and occupied territories we live and work.