Our Creating Change Conversation Series is back for our 5th season! These conversations really are the heart of what we do here, because each group of panelists helps all of us to think through: HOW DO WE MAKE THE ARTS MORE EQUITABLE, MORE ACCESSIBLE, MORE RELEVANT, AND MORE IMPACTFUL IN OUR COMMUNITIES?
Join us June 26th at 7pm ET . Panelists:
Canyon Carballosa (they/them)is an autistic queer trans nonbinary professional dancer, movement maker, and outspoken advocate. They currently work as a professional dancer, national award winning choreographer, competitive judge, and DEEA educated teacher. They received their training in New York City, where they attended the Broadway Dance Center Professional Program with a focus in contemporary and hip hop. Canyon’s professional career has always had a focus on accessibility and community. As a budding artist they founded and directed Ocala Dance Alliance, an organization designed to make masterclasses financially accessible for their hometown dance community. Through their work with ODA, they focused on bridging the gap between competitive studios and reorienting towards a community centered on a shared love of movement.
Canyon has gone on to also have an incredibly fulfilling commercial career working with a number of productions and artists. Some of their credits include Dua Lipa, Facebook Meta, Sylvan Esso, Fitz and The Tantrums, Stella Artois, Angel Olsen, Disney Jr star Genevieve Goings, Showtime, and Starz TV. They’ve choreographed for a number of productions including viral artist’s JORDY’s “Till It Hurts” music video, Jenny Kwon’s “Hollywood” music video, and Facebook’s “Fit Out” campaign. Most recently, their choreography can be seen in the release of the new Monster High doll, Twyla, and the rest of the Monster High characters.
Canyon believes dance is the ultimate way to connect mind, body, and spirit. They have spent years collecting tools for healing traumas, breaking through personal walls, and rediscovering a genuine love for one’s most authentic self. With that knowledge they released a 30 day online program, More Than Moves. The program was designed to offer guidance and exploration through journal prompts, guided meditations, affirmations, daily improvisational dance tasks, and a number of other tools to connect to curiosity and self.
Canyon’s movement classes take a radical approach to the typical hierarchical structure of education. Their class offers a safe space to explore in new ways, ask questions without judgement, and choose to commit to yourself. They believe that through conversation, trust, and vulnerability, dancers are able to bring their real life experiences on to the dance floor. Honesty is magic and art in its purest form. All people are innately born with the capacity to experience that magic and no systems of oppression should prevent that. Canyon knows dance is meant for all people to enjoy, and strives to make their dance spaces safer, equitable, and more inclusive for all.
CONTACT: canyoncarballosa@yahoo.com
INSTAGRAM: @canyon_grace
VENMO: @canyongrace ZELLE: canyoncarballosa@yahoo.com
Shira Helena Gitlin (they/them) is a Boston-based director, dramaturg, gender consultant, and musical theatre enthusiast. Select directing credits include: The Normal Heart (New Repertory Theatre), Indecent (The Concord Players), For the Fish (Moonbox Productions), Echo & Narcissus, Clemenza (Off-Brand Opera), Organic (National Women's Theatre Festival), 7 Rooms: The Masque of the Red Death (Flat Earth Theatre), Tales from Camp Strangewood: Mr. Champagne (Sparkhaven Theatre), Precious Stuff, Where the Fireworks Come From, Deep Blue (Boston Theatre Marathon), Shrek: The Musical (Mohawk Trail Regional School), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Hampshire College). Associate/Assistant Directing: The Prom (SpeakEasy Stage Company), Eat Your Young (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), The Pink Unicorn (SpeakEasy Stage Company), Fanny & Stella (NAMT). As a gender consultant, Shira has held Transgender Inclusion workshops and consulted for individual theatre makers and various theatres and organizations across the US and Canada. They are also a member of the Gender Explosion Initiative. Shira is a graduate of the Arden Professional Apprentice Class 26, was an Artistic Fellow at SpeakEasy Stage Company, and is an alum of Directors Lab North in Toronto, Canada. They have a BA from Hampshire College in directing with an emphasis on musical theatre studies. For more information, please visit shirahelenagitlin.com. Venmo: @shira-gitlin.
Abra Myles (she/they) is a dance artist, choreographer, singer/songwriter, educator/facilitator, writer, and podcaster. They've danced professionally with Nashville based contemporary company, Found Movement Group. They've also taught and set work at various schools and studios, including their high school alma mater, Nashville School of the Arts. They have trained in a variety of styles, with an emphasis in modern, contemporary, improvisation and embodiment, and developing inclusive movement experiences for all movers and movement enthusiasts. While a large portion of her background and experiences are within the professional dance world, her work is not limited to those who are or are aspiring to be professional dancers. They believe movement can serve all people in various ways and are dedicated to dismantling elitism and hierarchies within dance communities to allow room for us to explore what movement has to offer the world as a whole. Abra has recently been re-establishing herself in the music scene in Nashville, TN and has had the privilege of performing her own original works as a songwriter, as well as hosting and singing in various tribute shows with All You Can Eat Productions. Abra is also the host of 2 podcasts, Misfits & Mystics (currently on hiatus) and I Don't Know What I'm Doing (set to release later this year). Wherever you find Abra, she is committed to co-creating spaces with communities that are safe, affirming, inclusive, and accessible. Contact info: Instagram- @abramyles / email- abra.myles@gmail.com Cashapp info: $abesthedancer
Moderated by Colleen Hughes (she/her) is an intimacy coordinator as well as a certified intimacy director with Intimacy Directors and Coordinators where she also serves as Director of Core Training. She works in this capacity both nationally and internationally, including recently in collaboration with the Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch and on Maya Hawke’s music video Thérèse.
The rest of our Creating Change Conversation Series schedule is:
Monday July 24 at 7pm ET: Neurodiversity and Disabiity in the Arts
Monday August 28 at 7pm ET: Educators’ Edition
We do pay our panelists for their time and sharing. Please consider your privilege and their lived experiences when donating. All funds support our mission, and to help us continue to make our resources for artists and arts educators free and/or affordable, using sliding scale and donation-based pricing models.