Talk to Me About it: Critical Dialogue Group

The Talk To Me About It discussion group is a free opportunity, and attendance is offered via an Call Out for Expressions of Interest. Find out more here.

Talk To Me About It is an initiative of dance+words, a collective led by Canadian writer/filmmakers Philip Szporer (Montreal) and Kathleen Smith (Toronto). Developed for dance, theatre, and screendance festivals, the project invites participants into guided small-group discussions that encourage reflection and dialogue. The sessions, shaped by their critical framework, focus on audience enrichment rather than artist feedback. They provide fresh entry points into understanding works, particularly in screendance and new technologies.

With many years of experience in screendance production, curation, education, and writing, Philip and Kathleen are dedicated to cultivating discourse in dance, performance, and movement arts—an essential part of sustaining a healthy creative environment.

Alongside the discussions, Talk To Me About It generates episodes of Critical Conversations, their podcast hosted on the dance+words website, which highlights festival programming and extends dialogue to a wider community. Together, these elements deepen audience engagement and amplify festival conversations.

Co-founded by filmmaker, writer, and lecturer Philip Szporer, and writer, filmmaker and curator Kathleen Smith, dance+words is a collective dedicated to fostering dialogue in dance, performance, and movement arts through writing, filmmaking, and public engagement.