Q&A with Peggy Baker

Peggy Baker's Movement for Actors course has been a staple of the Volcano Conservatory since 2011. This course allows participants to connect with their physicality in new, exciting and imaginative ways and has had been popular among actors, directors, dancers, physical theatre performers and more every year that it has been offered. 

Peggy Baker is an internationally acclaimed dance artist and a master teacher. She teaches all across Canada and has designed programs accessible to dancers and non-dancers alike, across the spectrum of ability and background. We spoke to Peggy about Movement for Actors and why she keeps coming back to the Volcano Conservatory.

Photo of Peggy Baker by Vikram Dasgupta

Q: What can participants in Movement for Actors expect?

A: This work provides time and space and projects that bring us home to our bodies. We will connect with the reality of our flesh, blood, bones and breath and prime ourselves to listen to the images and impulses that emerge in an embodied state.

2015 Movement for Actors participants
Photo by Elee Stalker

Q: What excites you about teaching as a part of the Volcano Conservatory?

A: Working in a stripped performance space, with a group of artists ready to explore and create, is food for my soul. 

Q: Who might benefit from participating in Movement for Actors?

A: This class is designed for anyone who’d like to set aside the time to tune in to their body as a locus of creativity and expression. We’ll explore pathways to relax, to focus, to energize, to create, to perform and to witness. 

2015 participant, Photo by Elee Stalker

Q: What can actors learn about their bodies by taking your class?

A: The language of the body is sensation, intuition, imagination… and we’ll be working to access that language, and to speak it, with immediacy and originality.

Registration for Movement for Actors is still open. Spaces are limited, so register now! For more information on all the classes on offer in the 2016 Volcano Conservatory, click here.