Welcome to the Port

Welcome to the Port: An Introduction

Written by Maya Gale-Buncel

IMAGE: Maya by Hannah Grace Photography

Hey Friends, this is Maya - your new Frog in Hand intern! I am so excited to present the next couple of monthly blogs telling YOU all about what Frog in Hand has been up to. Before we start, a bit about me: I am a graduate of the Dance Performance Program at George Brown College (yay!) and this year I am doing a mentorship under Hanna Kiel and Derek Sangster (yay again!). My favourite styles of dance are contemporary and jazz, I love working with children, and I’m trying (and failing) to learn the guitar.

Now that the intros are out of the way, let's talk about what we did this month! FH started the year with an online script development session, working with voice actors for the new video game they are creating. It's called "Anomaly." It will be sci-fi, it will be nerdy, it will be thrilling and suspenseful and emotional and you WILL get attached.

It will be sci-fi, it will be nerdy, it will be thrilling and suspenseful and emotional and you WILL get attached.

And now let's explore WINTER IN THE PORT - a live, wacky, hilarious site-specific dance/storytelling experience featuring pop-up performances in local businesses throughout Port Credit. On a chilly but sunny Saturday afternoon in Mississauga, our group of gargoyles, witches and trolls gathered with members of the community at the local lighthouse. Our narrators led the audience down Lakeshore Road, visiting businesses and finding magical creatures along the way. The gargoyles, witches, and trolls came together in the end to bring light, warmth, and hope to the people of the Port! Thank you to the local businesses who welcomed us into their shops, and to our amazing audience who came out to help us bring magic to a January day. This project was commissioned by the Port Credit Business Association, and was one of many incredible initiatives animating the local waterfront.

We've got a highlight reel from the event below!

HIGHLIGHT VIDEO: WINTER IN THE PORT

And that’s all I’ve got for you! Thank you for coming along this journey with me and I hope to catch you next month - preferably with a little less rain but always warmth in our hearts. We'll be talking about stage combat and world building. See you then!

Celeste, Katie, Frederique, Eilish and Sully rehearse for Winter in the Port. Image: Maya Gale-Buncel

ABOUT MAYA Maya Gale-Buncel (she/her) is a dance artist and teacher currently based in Toronto, ON. She is excited to be working as an intern with Frog in Hand until April 2023, and looks forward to learning about how the company works with their artists and the people/communities around them. She is interested in exploring all the ways in which movement and other arts mediums can be presented within our world, and how this can create change both socially and individually.