Shaping Reciprocity

Co-produced by HarpSparks and the Voices Dance Project, with composer Jack Hui Litster and guest choreographer Autumn Eckman. Original artwork for Shaping Reciprocity created by Meredith Luce.

Shaping Reciprocity is a multi‑day celebration of contemporary dance, harp, and ecological imagination, bringing together artists, composers, and community members to explore how humans live in relationship with the more‑than‑human world. Through performances, workshops, and collaborative creation, the festival invites audiences to listen differently, move differently, and imagine futures shaped by care, responsibility, and interdependence.

The festival features two programs of performance, including the premiere of new works created through the inaugural HarpSparks: Composer Lab, where emerging composers learn to write for the harp and collaborate directly with members of the Voices Dance Project. These works—ranging from playful improvisational ecosystems to meditations on birdsong, trees, light pollution, and human–nature relationships—offer diverse, imaginative perspectives on reciprocity across species and environments.

Alongside the performances, Shaping Reciprocity offers three workshops and conversations with the artists that deepen the festival’s themes through practice and dialogue, in partnership with Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE), Ecology Ottawa, and Civic Imagination Lab.

Together, these performances and workshops form a festival that is both artistic and ecological—a space for learning, imagining, and practicing reciprocity in community. We hope you will leave this weekend feeling more connected to our local community and inspired to take action for the causes that are close to your heart.

 

Shaping Reciprocity Programme  

 

In partnership with The Albion Rooms ticket holders will receive 15% off food orders (excluding alcohol)

 

Tickets will be available at the door. 

 

DESCRIPTION OF EVENTS

PERFORMANCES

Reflection 1
Three showings: Friday and Saturday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm

A mixed-program of contemporary dance, harp, and digital art, Reflection 1 explores how humans live in relationship with the more‑than‑human world. The works move from melting ice to endangered marine life to imagined futures held in kelp forests, blending scientific insight, folklore, humour, and ecological imagination. Together, the dancers and harpists trace interdependence across species and generations—sometimes with gravity, sometimes with playfulness, as in a comedic duet inspired by the plastic toys that will outlast us all.

Co-produced by HarpSparks and the Voices Dance Project, featuring music by composers Jack Hui Litster and Michelle Gott, and choreography by Artists of the Voices Dance Project and Autumn Eckman, Reflection 1, invites audiences to witness, reflect, and imagine futures shaped by care, responsibility, and shared hope.

Programming:

• Drift by Jack Hui Litster (harp trio) with digital artwork by Jonathan Marquis
• All My Friends Will Outlive Me by Michelle Gott (solo harp and synthesizer)
• are you here, with me?  by Michelle Gott (harp duo and synthesizer)
• Values by Jack Hui Litster (harp trio)

Dancers: Jessica Dallaire-Clark, Autumn Eckman, Anna Farinaccio, Kendra Guidolin, Audrey Lanoux, Melissa Nicholls, Jasmine van Schouwen, Megan Tolmie

Harpists: Angela Schwarzkopf, Audrey Morris, Michelle Gott

Reflection 1 includes musical and dance themes of ecological and animal harm, but no video or image depictions of violence. May not be suitable for very young audiences. 

 

Reflection 2: HarpSparks Composer Lab Showcase
One showing: Sunday at 12 noon

Reflection 2 emerges from the inaugural HarpSparks: Composer Lab, where emerging composers learn to write for the harp while collaborating directly with members of the Voices Dance Project to bring their new music to life through choreography. This program features the premiere of new works for harp and dance by seven emerging, local composers!

In this playful, exploratory showcase, dancers and harpists meditate on reciprocity through sound, movement, and improvisation. Across the program, small ecosystems come alive: beings learning to coexist inside shared environments, birds offering musical gifts, trees interacting with the species that depend on them, light shifting across a polluted sky, and relationships between humans and nature stretching, breaking, and finding new forms of balance. Each work offers a distinct lens on interdependence—sometimes humorous, sometimes tender, sometimes cautionary—yet all rooted in the question of how living bodies sense, respond to, and shape the worlds they inhabit.

Choreography by Artists of the Voices Dance Project

Programming:

• Dawn Approaching by Malcolm Gillis (solo harp), with Anna Farinaccio and Megan Tolmie
• At the Birdfeeder by Elysha Vorstenbosch (lever and pedal harp duo), with Jade Mauzeroll
• Lied Auf der Erde by Zhihao Xu (solo harp), with Megan Tolmie and Jasmine van Schouwen
• Ruissellement by Tristan das Eiras (solo harp), with Kendra Guidolin and Anna Farinaccio
• Braids by Elizabeth Foster (harp duo), with Audrey Lanoux, Jade Mauzeroll, & Melissa Nicholls
• Rhythms of the unmeasured  by Natasha Holub (harp duo), with Jessica Dallaire-Clark
• The Harbour by Isla Elieff (horn and harp duo), with Audrey Lanoux and Jade Mauzeroll
• Light As... by Michelle Gott (solo harp), with Autumn Eckman

WORKSHOPS

Workshop 1: Environmental Empathy and Action

Co-hosted by Sectoral Climate Arts Leadership for the Emergency (SCALE), Ecology Ottawa, the Voices Dance Project, and multi-instrumentalist Jack Hui Litster, this workshop invites participants to deepen their relationship with the more-than-human world through music and movement. Set to a soundscape of field recordings from local sites, and a projection map of the Ottawa watershed, participants will be led through movement exercises that encourage empathy with local ecosystems. Participants will then be encouraged to situate themselves among the many humans working to protect the lands, air, waters, plants, and animals that call our city home.

 

Workshop 2: The Embodied Score - Exploring the Inner Landscape through Movement and Music

Guided by Audrey Lanoux and Kathryn Patricia Cobbler, this workshop explores the mind-body connection through movement and sound. Participants will engage in guided improvisation, unpacking themes of joy and possibility, and navigating how movement connects us with others. Inspired by a musical landscape, we will create an exploratory work that reflects our collective interpretations of presence: to ourselves and one another.

 

Workshop 3: Expression through the Harp with Dr. Angela Schwarzkopf

Presented by JUNO award-winning, Canadian harpist Dr. Angela Schwarzkopf, our final workshop explores fascinating and innovative writing for the modern pedal harp. You will leave with fresh perspective on the evolving voice of the modern harp!

 

SCHEDULE

FRIDAY MAY 29, 2026

7:00pm - 8:00pm – Performance: Reflection 1 (LabO Theatre)

8:15pm - 9:15pm –  Conversation with the Artists (LabO Theatre)

 

SATURDAY, MAY 30, 2026

2:00pm - 3:00pm – Workshop 1: Environmental Empathy and Action (Room 2202)

3:30pm - 4:30pm – Workshop 2: The Embodied Score - Exploring the Inner Landscape through Movement and Music (Room 2202)

7:00pm - 8:00pm – Performance: Reflection 1 (LabO Theatre)

 

SUNDAY MAY 31, 2026

10:00am - 11:00am – Workshop 3: Expression through the Harp with Dr. Angela Schwarzkopf (Room 2202)

12:00pm - 12:45pm – Performance: Reflection 2 (HarpSparks Composer Lab Showcase)  (LabO Theatre)

12:50pm - 1:30pm – Conversation with the Artists (LabO Theatre) and Civic Imagination Lab

3:00pm - 4:00pm –  Performance: Reflection 1 (LabO Theatre)

 

FESTIVAL PASSES AND TICKETING

$50           Single Ticket – Performance: Reflection 1 (Friday, Saturday, or Sunday)

$30           Single Ticket – Performance: Reflection 2 (HarpSparks: Composer Lab Showcase)

$99           Full Festival Pass

Festival Pass includes

Reflection 1: Performance (choose one: Friday, Saturday, or Sunday)
Reflection 2: HarpSparks Composer Lab Showcase
Workshop 1: Environmental Empathy and Action
Workshop 2: The Embodied Score - Exploring the Inner Landscape through Movement and Music
Workshop 3: Expression through the Harp with Dr. Angela Schwarzkopf

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

 

Can I buy tickets at the door?

Yes! Tickets will be available for purchase at the door before each performance or workshop!

 

I purchased a ticket for Saturday or Sunday, but my email shows a Friday start time?

Showpass has a slightly confusing system for multi-day events. Please read the following information for a quick clarification on your ticket times:

• Please check your tickets directly to see the showtimes.
• Showpass may send reminders or other confirmation emails with a start time of May 29, 7:00pm. This is the start time for the whole festival.
• But each ticket will have the correct showtime on the ticket itself.
• There are multiple events and performances throughout the weekend.

 

How do I attend the workshops?

Tickets to the 3 workshops are included with any Festival Pass purchase, subject to availability. 

 

If I bought a Festival Pass, which ticket should I scan for the included events?

After you purchase the Festival Pass you'll receive all the included event tickets. Please show the ticket for each individual event at the door for that event. Your Festival Pass ticket will not scan for individual events. 

 

I bought a Festival Pass but I haven't received all the included tickets?

Once a Festival Pass is purchased, we will send the included tickets for all shows and workshops within a few hours. If you've purchased a Festival Pass but haven't received your additional tickets after a few days, please contact us to confirm. 

 

What if I bought a Festival Pass but can't attend all the events included?

The Festival Pass comes with separate tickets for each included event, and these individual tickets can be transferred to another person. Follow these instructions to transfer your tickets.

 

Can I transfer my ticket to someone else?

Yes! All tickets can be transferred using your Showpass account. 

 

When should I arrive for each event?

The doors open 30 minutes before each event. Bring your ticket to be scanned in!

 

How do I use the discount at The Albion Rooms?

Every ticket will have a coupon directly on the PDF download. Show this coupon to the restaurant to receive your discount! See restaurant for details and restrictions.