This creation process will unfold as a collective exploration of time, rhythm, and togetherness. We will transform the task of walking into collective rhythms, challenging tempo and gradually distorting the task into something else, something beyond its everyday function.

Through this transformation, we will question what it means to move as a group: Can we walk in someone else’s shoes? Which rhythms shape us, and which ones do we choose to resist? These curiosities will guide both physical and emotional explorations, inviting performers to navigate empathy, individuality, and collective awareness.

Drawing inspiration from the unnoticed rhythms of daily life, the process turns the mundane into the poetic. I invite you to bring your favourite shoes and see what stories they have to tell.

moodboard for the creation: https://www.are.na/sydney-mcmanus/five-fifteen-creation-lab

work well if you are interested in:

patience — abstraction — playfulness and whim — improvisation as a creative process — queer perspectives

Syd’s Morning Class:

Class: form to formless

Syd’s class will begin with building form in the body, finding structure, stability, and strength through functional movement. The class will gradually evolve into guided improvisation tasks that distort structure, practicing choice-making and giving agency to the body. 

Syd’s Bio:

Sydney (syd) McManus, originally from London, Ontario, is an interdisciplinary queer artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, Quebec. Their practice revolves mainly around performance, objects, and publications. Having spent over a decade as a performer, they worked with RUBBERBAND Contemporary Dance Company from 2016-2021 as a full-time dancer, collaborator, and educator, where they were involved in four creations, a film project, and international tours. Their work for the company continues as an assistant, educator and guest artist. Alongside Jean Bui, they premiered their first full-length work “1, 2, maybe 3” as part of the Wildside Festival in March 2022 with La Chapelle Scènes Contemporaines and the Centaur Theatre. The project was then expanded into a publication in co-creation with artist duo Pénélope et Chloë and released in October 2022. Most recently, Syd obtained a Bachelor's in Fine Arts with a major in Design from Concordia University. During their studies, they examined how their background in performance could assist their design practice and research. Syd continues to explore this intersection within their work through exploring the moving body’s relationship to objects and space. Syd currently works as a freelance movement artist, designer, and tattoo artist.

Learn more about them here: https://sydneymcmanus.cargo.site/aboutcv-images