Two weeks ago, I returned from the Montreal Groove Experience, and my heart is still glowing. In just a few days, I moved through the Groove Designer Training and the Facilitator Mastery Workshop, two immersive containers that sharpened my facilitation skills, expanded my creative dance experiences, and connected me with a generous community of facilitators from around the world.
This reflection captures what I learned in Montreal and how it’s already transforming my dance classes and mindful movement practice.
Groove Designer Training in Montreal
Creativity, Flow, and Intentional Design
The Groove Designer Training invited me to look at a class like a story with a beginning, middle, and end. We worked with rhythm, contrast, and arc, choosing music and movement prompts that guide dancers from curiosity to confidence.
Creativity was never separate from structure; the framework held space for play, surprise, and authentic expression. Designing with intention means every cue, transition, and silence supports the whole experience, allowing people to step into their fullest selves.
Crafting Powerful Dance Experiences
We explored how to create powerful dance experiences by balancing clarity with freedom. Clear invitation, simple, embodied prompts help participants feel safe enough to take risks.
Then we layered in improvisation, spatial choices, and partner moments to deepen connection. Thoughtful sequencing kept energy coherent, while moments of stillness let insights land. I left this module with practical tools for building flow, plus renewed trust in the transformative potential of dance facilitation.
Facilitators Mastery Workshop: Montreal Groove Experience
Tone, Timing, and the Art of Presence
The Facilitators Mastery Workshop was a masterclass in nuance. We refined the tone of how voice quality shapes nervous system safety and examined timing, from musical phrasing to the pacing of instructions.
Presence became a practice: reading the room, sensing what’s needed, and adjusting in real time. These subtle skills elevate a good class into a truly embodied movement experience where learning is felt as much as it’s understood.
Small Nuances, Big Transformation
We focused on micro‑choices that create macro impact: the words we choose, how we demonstrate, where we stand, and when we step back. Inclusive language fosters belonging; clear boundaries foster trust.
We practiced offering options for different bodies and abilities, making the work more accessible. This is the craft of facilitation skills, the invisible architecture that turns choreography into community and movement into meaning.
A Global Community in Motion
Shared Learning in the Montreal Groove Experience
What moved me most was the Montreal dance community and the international cohort it attracted. We learned from one another’s cultural perspectives, teaching styles, and artistic traditions.
Feedback was generous and specific, the kind that helps you grow without shrinking your spirit. Montreal itself felt like a collaborative, vibrant, welcoming, and full of creative momentum.
Embodied Movement and Mutual Support
Between sessions, we danced, debriefed, and swapped resources. Conversations about mindful movement, somatics, and creative leadership flowed as easily as the music.
We didn’t just add techniques; we strengthened a web of support that will continue to inspire future projects, collaborations, and creative dance experiences in our home communities.
Bringing the Magic Home to My Dance Classes
Fresh Energy, New Tools
I’m bringing this inspiration directly into my dance classes: clearer arc design, more spacious cues, and playlists that breathe.
I’m refining my warm‑ups to prime curiosity, using targeted prompts to unlock expression, and closing with integration practices so dancers carry new insights back into daily life. The result is a grounded, joyful movement practice that meets people where they are and invites them to expand.
An Ongoing Invitation
If you’ve been curious about dance facilitation or simply want to feel more alive in your body, come move with me.
The Montreal Groove Experience reminded me that artistry and accessibility can dance together and that when we design with care, every class becomes a memorable, embodied rite of discovery. Montreal, thank you for the magic! ✨
