This past fall, I had the opportunity to sit at my kitchen table with more than 20 Calgary performing artists from the 2025/26 Werklund Centre’s TD Incubator program. In its fifth year, the TD Incubator program works with multidisciplinary artists by offering a myriad of opportunities for collaboration, networking, and professional development, culminating in the AMPLIFY performance series at the Engineered Air Theatre on Jan 16, Feb 20, March 27, and April 24, 2026.
This performance series is the beating heart of the program’s large structure, and as Incubator Fellow, I am the hand gently holding the fragile and precious practices of the artists involved. This involves a body of communication with arteries of administration and limbs of facilitation that all work together, fueled by the AMPLIFY series director, Steven Conde; the Werklund Centre team, Josh Dalledonne, Sanja Lukac, and Yeisen Chang; stage manager, Emily Parkhouse; and a whole host of technical and administrative staff.
The first show of the series, AMPLIFY EPISODE ONE, features members of the alt-pop spectacle SHY FRiEND Julie Olive and drummer Milo Clarke, along with the genre-defying contemporary drama of Murmur Theatre led by Rita Rebetskaya and Polina Kaulio with actors Veronique Tomlinson, Nikhat Saheb, Warren Sulatycky, Maxim Vinogradov and Grace Fedorchuk and the dancer and choreographer Sierra Ozust.
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Oszust knows the body well. She has developed a mesmerizing approach to movement over more than a decade through collaborations onstage, both local and international. “I am deeply aware of my body when I am creating,” said Oszust. “Not in a self-conscious way, but in an embodied one. My body becomes both the site and the source of information. Sensation often leads before thought. I notice weight, temperature, breath, and internal rhythms guiding decisions long before language arrives.”
Watching these artists is a unique experience. All involved start as strangers and then fully engage in the collaborative process. It is powerful to witness creativity unfolding as a living, breathing collaboration with the bodies as the instruments.
“When I collaborate with my body, it is a give and take,” said Julie Olive, bandleader of SHY FRiEND. “The emotion my body brings to my work is undeniable, but it can often lead to pain if expressed freely. I love the opportunities my body gives me to connect with other souls around me, through physical connection and through the way I present myself, with bright and bold visuals.”
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Her bandmate Milo Clarke agrees. “My body when creating is akin to city sanitation,” said Clarke. “It’s easy not to notice when it is effective, but immediately noticeable when it isn’t. When I get into a flow state, however, my body manages all the details without me having to actively consider them and carries the music while affording me space to think ahead and listen to the signals given by other artists.”
Polina Kaulio is Murmur Theatre’s co-artistic director and “scenographer.” Together with the director and co-artistic Director Rita Rebetskaya, they create visually expressive, body-oriented performances with the feminine form at the forefront.
“When I’m creating, I often take unusual poses or work from the floor while drawing or modelling,” said Kaulio. “Being close to the ground makes me feel grounded, connected, and somehow closer to my work. I experience a deep focus — a kind of full-body listening where time collapses, and I sometimes forget to eat. There’s a physical sense of flow and warmth, as if my body, my fingers know where to go before my mind does.” Kaulio mirrors my belief that creativity is housed in the space between things, and the only way we can bring it into being is through our bodies in collaboration.
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Showcasing conversations with Alberta artists helps foster a culture that values their work on and off the stage. It is with that in mind that I am bringing these conversations off the page in a new artist talk series called How We Create LIVE: The Amplify Series, which can be seen January 17 at Motel in Werklund Centre as a part of the High Performance Rodeo, February 7 at Heliopolis Social Cafe, March 15 at Studio Bell’s National Music Centre, and April 11 at The Alcove.
As artists collaborate, nothing becomes something. Collaboration is the most powerful of relationships; the organic, nebulous thing that holds space for everyone involved, respecting and acknowledging how we create in unique ways.
