LOCATION:
100 Bain Ave, Toronto, ON, M4K 1E8
DATES:
May 7 to May 10, 2026
SCHEDULE
Day One (full Wheel of Consent day)
10:00 am to 5:00 pm – Workshop
Lunch and dinner provided
We will have 75 minutes for lunch and 1 hour for dinner
6:00 pm to 7:30 pm – Evening guided dance jam
Day Two (full Wheel of Consent day)
10:00 am to 6:00 pm – Workshop
We will have 75 minutes for lunch, and lunch will be provided.
Day Three (½ Wheel of Consent and ½ Contact Improvisation)
10:00 am to 6:00 pm – Workshop
We will have 75 minutes for lunch, and lunch will be provided.
Day Four (full Contact Improvisation day)
10:00 am to 5:00 pm – Workshop
75 minutes for lunch (lunch provided)
Snack time before jam
4:30 pm to 5:30 pm – Dance Jam
5:30 pm to 6:00 pm – Closing circle
DESCRIPTION
Join Sasha Lasdon and Kathleen Rea for a 4-day exploration of the Wheel of Consent and Contact Improvisation. We’ll explore where the Wheel of Consent and CI (and associated movement practices) meet, how they can inform each other, and where they don’t overlap.
The first 2.5 days of the workshop will be a full introduction to the Wheel of Consent. The Wheel of Consent, created by Dr. Betty Martin, is a set of practices and ideas on how to detangle and explore receiving and giving. It helps us by asking the questions: “Who is doing an action?” and “Who is it for?” No prior experience with the Wheel of Consent is necessary.
We’ll have an opportunity to experience embodied practices that invite us to:
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connect with and understand our desires and limits more deeply
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explore and examine how we make choices
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feel our Yes and No in our bodies
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explore ways to create clearer agreements about what we may or may not participate in
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experience a set of practices and tools
The last 1.5 days of the workshop will explore how the Wheel of Consent can inform Contact Improvisation. Contact Improvisation is a social dance involving touch, in which momentum between two or more people is used to create and inspire dance movements. Dancers move within a constantly changing physical reality. There are no set leaders or followers. While there is technique involved, the quality of the relationship and communication within a dance is the main focus. CI welcomes dancers of all levels and abilities.
Sasha Lasdon, a certified facilitator and faculty member with the School of Consent, will guide us through the embodied practices of the Wheel of Consent.
Sasha and Kathleen have both been practicing Contact Improvisation for over 25 years. They each bring a depth of experience in sensing agreements through movement with others. Both have experience exploring consent in CI and writing jam guidelines. The Wheel of Consent offers tools for exploring limits (what I’m not willing to participate in) and desires (what I want to participate in or make happen), bringing clarity to movement practices that include paradox and complexity. These practices and concepts can help us clarify moments and dynamics in our dancing by actively noticing and asking, “Who is it for?”
The CI component of this workshop is an opportunity to hone and deepen an existing practice of CI, dance, or movement. We may play with negotiated dances, witnessing, and moments of discussion.
THIS WORKSHOP IS FOR YOU IF:
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you have experience navigating dance spaces, jams, workshops, or classes (any level of movement experience is welcome!)
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you are able to learn in group spaces
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you want to hone your consent skills
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you’ve heard of the Wheel of Consent and want to learn more
THIS WORKSHOP MAY NOT BE FOR YOU IF:
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you are in the acute stage of processing a consent violation in your life
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you are not able to regulate your nervous system or identify what you need when upset
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you experience active psychosis
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you are not interested in dancing at all
For those who request it and complete the four-day workshop, a certificate of participation can be provided.
Optional pre-reading:
The Art of Receiving and Giving by Dr. Betty Martin
COST
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Ocean – $900 (can afford extras like a vacation abroad)
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Lake – $650 (need to consider my budget to attend)
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Pond – $385 (need to carefully consider and plan my budget to attend — only 10 available)
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Puddle – $300 (only way I can attend — only 3 available)
BIOGRAPHIES
Sasha Lasdon (they/them) has worked with movement, sexuality, gender, bodywork, and consent education for over 25 years. They are a certified facilitator of the Wheel of Consent and faculty with the School of Consent. With a home base in the GLACIER community (Great Lakes Area Contact Improvisation Enthusiast Retreat), they have taught and danced internationally in Contact Improvisation, aerial/circus, and integrated/disability dance. In collaboration with their communities, Sasha co-wrote jam guidelines for both the Madison CI Jam and GLACIER. They are in private practice as a Somatic Sex Educator. Other influences include years of hospice care work, elections work, and experience in cooperative business and living structures. Sasha is a white Jewish queer non-binary trans person who finds joy in teaching from and about the body and how we connect our insides to the outsides. They currently live and work on Ho-Chunk land called DeJope (Madison, WI, US).
Kathleen Rea danced with Canada’s Ballet Jörgen, the National Ballet of Canada, and Tiroler Landestheater (Austria). She fell in love with Contact Improvisation 22 years ago and has been involved in the community ever since. She has choreographed over 40 dance works and has been nominated for five DORA Awards. Kathleen has a learning disability, meaning writing takes her six times longer than average; despite this, she loves writing and is a published author (The Healing Dance). She holds a Master’s in Expressive Arts with a minor in Psychology and is a certified teacher of the Axis Syllabus and Buteyko Breathing. Kathleen is the director of REAson d’etre dance, a Toronto not-for-profit CI-based company producing a weekly jam, a film festival, and dance theatre productions. She is autistic and works to educate about neurodiversity. She developed the widely read REAson d’etre Dance Jam Guidelines, which over the past 20 years have influenced consent culture in the global CI community. She is also the founder of the Contact Improv Consent Culture Blog.
Kathleen Rea’s Demo Reel
Archana Rama
Archana is a former Buddhist nun, retreat organizer, Reiki Master, Huna practitioner, certified gemstone healer, and aromatherapist. She is trained in chakra balancing, meditation, yoga, and works as a medical and spiritual intuitive.
https://archanarama.ca/home
CANCELLATION POLICY
TBA
ACCESS
The studio is wheelchair accessible.
Please contact us with access questions or requests.
PRODUCED BY
REAson d’etre dance
Archana Rama
Integrated Eros
