An End is Another Beginning

I-Ying Wu is a somatic and improvisation practitioner, artist, and researcher whose work is deeply rooted in the Daoist philosophy of qi (Chinese internal energy). She earned an MA from the National Taiwan University of the Arts in 2006 and a PhD in Performing Arts from the University of Northampton, UK, in 2014. From 2016 to 2017, she served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Improvisation Studies Centre in the Faculty of Media, Art, and Performance, University of Regina, Canada.

I-Ying’s research and artistic practice reconceptualize improvisation as a spontaneous phenomenon emerging from a state of heightened consciousness in the present moment, guided by a Daoist understanding of qi-energy. Rather than perceiving improvisation as an art form, she approaches it as an inherent state of being, arising through subtle awareness that transcends the boundaries of specific artistic forms. Her practice integrates movement, mindful states, and cross-disciplinary collaboration, fostering deeper, holistic connections between the self, others, and the environment.

I-Ying’s work has been presented internationally in Taiwan, the UK, and Canada, engaging with diverse cultural contexts. Based in Regina, she teaches, performs, and collaborates with artists across various disciplines while continuing to share Subtle Practice, a training approach she developed for interdisciplinary improvisation.

Photo by Raymond Ambrosi

Heather Cameron is an electric mover whose choreography fuses the quick, lethal stabs of a black widow spider with the intricate, silky webs it weaves. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Contemporary Dance from Concordia University (Montreal) and moved to Regina in 2005 to co-found FadaDance Troupe, known for creating innovative dance in alternative venues and through cross-disciplinary collaborations.

In 2024, FadaDance Troupe created the 20-minute film, the weight of our feet, featured this fall in The Memory of Trees exhibition at the MacKenzie Art Gallery.

As an independent artist, Heather has performed works by Ralph Escamillan (FakeKnot), Johanna Bundon, Misty Wensel, Bill Coleman, Robin Poitras, Michele Sereda, and Turner Prize*. She recently choreographed [b]reach, a duet filmed across Regina’s Heritage Neighbourhood with music by Juno Award-winner Nicole Lizée.

Heather approaches artmaking as an act of exploration—provoking, illuminating, and inseparable from how she lives her life.

Photo by Eagleclaw Thom

Traci Foster is a d/Disabled somatic artist, body worker, and theatre maker who explores and develops her work with a focus on where awareness, intuition, and action intersect in the (anomalous) body. She works with creation as care, and unapologetically seeks pleasure in all aspects of life, including art making. Her trauma informed approach to facilitation was cultivated through her long journey to find her voice, and her right to be in her body with pleasure and ease. Traci was Canada’s first certified Fitzmaurice Voicework™ instructor (2006) and is one of the country’s lead practitioners. The heart of her work lies within the space where compassion meets creativity.

Traci is the Founder and Artistic Director of Listen to Dis’ Community and Arts Organization - Saskatchewan’s first and only disability led arts organization - and is an unrelenting advocate of disability culture and justice. Traci has worked with the company for 18 years, developing a portfolio of multidisciplinary projects aimed at creating professional opportunities for disabled artists and allies while informing the broader community about disability through the lens of lived experiences, both past and present. Actors and musicians with Listen to Dis’ perform innovative, original work across the province, tackling issues of sexuality, identity, and disability, the desire to belong, ableism, and the political right to be in one’s body.

Traci has been involved in the nurturance and development of new and emerging professional artists for over 25 years, serves as sessional instructor for the University of Regina, and more recently as a disability arts consultant for Walton Wilson, head of Yale University’s Department of Speech and Drama. Traci maintains a private practice as a craniosacral therapist, somatic experiencing therapist, and somatic coaching practice in all aspects of performance exploration.

Traci is extremely grateful to her mentors for helping her find her way into embodied presence and practice. She recognizes their lineage through the awards she has received in the past two decades.

Photo by Jeff Ellington

Dr. Shannon Holmes is an actor, singer, theatre-maker, intimacy director, educator and scholar. Currently an Associate Professor and Head of the Theatre Department at the University of Regina, her scholarly and artistic practice spans the disciplines of music and theatre, with voice as the primary medium. As a classically trained singer with an extensive background in theatre, she seeks pathways in which her art can thrive within the liminal spaces between spoken and sung expression.

Shannon holds a BFA in Theatre and Music from Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art from Goddard College USA, and a PhD in Drama and Theatre Arts from the University of Birmingham, UK. Trained in a wide range of voice, acting, and dance methods, she has appeared in Opera, Musical Theatre, Shakespeare, Contemporary Theatre, and Devised projects. She has performed, presented her research, and taught across Canada, the US, the UK, and Europe. She has published articles in the Voice and Speech Review, Critical Stages, co-authored a book chapter in Applied Theatre: Voice Performance and Social Justice (Bloomsbury) and co-edited special issue No. 196 of Canadian Theatre Review “Voice Work in Canada”. Her most recent local performances included her solo shows: The Crook of Your Arm presented as part of the double-bill (Re)member for On Cue/RISER Regina (2024) and Brux at the Tic Toc TEN Short Performance Festival (2025).

A mother of six (mostly grown) kids Shannon is happy to call the Cathedral neighbourhood of Regina home. When not engaged in scholarly or artistic pursuits you can find her reading, following her favourite NBA teams (Go Knicks!), or walking her dog, Vinny along Wascana Creek.

Photo by Bernardo Fernande

Tessa Rae Kuz (she/her/hers) is a dance artist, performer and teacher based on the Treaty 4 Territory of Regina Saskatchewan. She is a graduate of Toronto Metropolitan University's Performance Dance BFA program. Her extensive repertoire includes notable works by choreographers Margie Gillis (QC), Robin and Edward Poitras (SK) and Adam Barruch (NYC). She is grateful to be a participant of Margie Gillis’ Legacy Project, a project devoted to transmitting concepts of creation, teaching and humanitarian vision to the next generation of dance artists. 

Tessa has completed her Dancing with Parkinson’s teacher training course with Sarah Robichaud and is a DWP teacher offering free weekly classes in Regina. In partnership with City of Regina and Listen To Dis’, Tessa also facilitates Inclusive and Adapted Dance – a free inclusive dance class for youth of all abilities. 

As a performer, she is recognized for her versatility and ability to engage with classical, contemporary and folk dance genres. She enjoys expanding her movement knowledge through collaboration with fellow artists. These relationships have inspired her ongoing studies in South Asian, Middle Eastern, Caribbean and African dance forms.

Photo by Ishaq Sholi

Jon Vaughn (they/he) is a multidisciplinary artist, curator, independent publisher, and experimental musician and DJ, born in Treaty 6, Saskatoon, currently living in Treaty 4, Regina, Saskatchewan. Their releases can be found on Canadian labels Magnetic Domain, No Type, Panospria and Oral, American labels, Flish and Slapart, Krakilsk from Norway as well as their own labels Absolute Perspective, Telepathy Tapes and Pop Quiz Records. Vaughn has opened for artists such as Merzbow (Japan) and Mats Gustafsson’s The Thing (Sweden) and performed at festivals including send + receive (Winnipeg, MB), Vancouver New Music Festival, Sounds Like (Saskatoon, SK), Phantom Power (North Bay, ON), RE:FLUX (Moncton, NB), Mutek, Suoni Per Il Popolo, Rien A Voir, Sight + Sound, Akousma, and Initial Shock (Montreal, QC).  

Vaughn has performed, recorded and released music in groups such as Slime Street (with Dallas Kruszelnicki aka Greenmist), Nuthre & Vaughn (with Jeff Morton), Mennonoise (with Jacob Audrey Taives aka Holzkopf) as well as in collaboration with Alexandre St-Onge, Toshimaru Nakamura, William Davison, Tim Olive, Sidhartta Talukdar, Ernie Dulanowsky, Max Haiven, Aime Dontigny, Cal Crawford, David Turgeon, Ames Sanglantes, Joshua Padarathsingth, Sarah Krawec, Steven Reed, Scant Intone, Irene Eliott, Aaron Scholz and many more. They are also a member of the Regina-based Holophon Audio Arts Collective who produce the annual experimental and electronic music festival Wavefield, and works at the Regina Public Library as Film Theatre and Digital Media Specialist. 

Photo by Zoë Schneider