Arts educator in Canada and abroad, Maxine teaches and coaches creative process, pure movement and interdisciplinary performance techniques, choreography, integrated movement-voice technique, Action Theatre, and her Cycles training.
More than 35 years of teaching experience and explorations have led Maxine to an approach to training which is both rigourous and open to each individual’s distinct characteristics. Working across cultures has helped her define a perspective that tries not to presume imperatives, responding to the expressive needs of the moment.
Maxine regularly gives workshops for all levels of students in Toronto and abroad. She is invited worldwide as mentor and particularly to teach the "Cycles Series": her performance & creation method based on neurological patterning and on energy impulses and cycles, and to teach her integrated movement-voice technique. Her work as a guest and resident artist has integrated her into arts centres and communities across North America, Europe, throughout Southeast Asia, and Australia.
Always humanistic in themes and approach, in 1995 she founded "Across Oceans: collaborations in contemporary Arts" creating platforms for in-depth research and presentation of new work in Toronto and internationally.
Some teaching positions include Founding Head of Dance at Toronto's Claude Watson High School for Performing Arts, faculty at the contemporary dance department of Concordia University, and Ladmmi, Montreal, for theatre and dance at York University, and Artist-in-Residence at University of Toronto's drama department 2009-2010. Overseas include Hong Kong's Academy for the Performing Arts, Singapore's Substation and Lasalle and Nanyang Colleges of the Arts, Indonesia's Sumbr Cipta and STSI arts institutes, VietNam's National College of Dance, Rallou Manou and The Duncan Centre Greece and mentor to many dance companies and individuals including Yelp! and Metamorphosis (Greece) and Kreativitet (Indonesia).
Corrin Adams, Rebecca Todd, Tina Park in seminar
Maxine founded the dance department of The Claude Watson High School for the Performing Arts (1982-86), and was head of modern dance at the Koffler Centre School of Dance (1977-91). In Montreal she was faculty at Concordia Contemporary Dance Department (1993-2000) and at LADMMI and Studio 303. Currently she is teaching at University of Toronto's drama department. She is often a guest artist at York University’s Faculty of Fine Arts (Toronto) also mentor for Studio Hanafi and Sumber Cipta (Indonesia), and in Greece (since 2001) at the Duncan Centre for Dance Research, Eniamorfo, and Yelp companies. Maxine was a visiting-mentor of the Associate Artists' program of the Singapore Substation from 2004-2007. Her earlier associations include returning guest artist at the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Dance Academy of VietNam, Nanyang Academy for Art and SIA-Lasalle College for the Arts (Singapore), Philippines Arts Centre, the cross-country Indonesian Arts Institutes, as well as (in Toronto) creative dance (St. Christopher House 1980-1983) and dance therapist (Clarke Institute 1978-1980) (Reena Foundation 1981-86), to mention a few.
Her writings about collaboration and creative process have been published by many journals and international conferences.
"From the outside it would be called her own style.
From the inside it is an unfolding of observed detail into formalized expression."
“Maxine teaches with passion, integrity, intelligence- authentic, bold & in tune with her time.“ J Goodwin, Toronto
“Inspiration & full dedication, the practice was rich in complexity and creativity". R. Soutter, Ottawa.
“Challenges
movement awareness, opens possibilities & new layers to work on,
combine, construct or deconstruct. It feels like the motion is
inexhaustible in resources & possibilities.” S. Premus, Slovenia.
“A rare person, teacher & choreographer, precious to the development of the artform”. M. Nestora, Athens
“Maxine’s
process & understanding of movement is at a high theoretical level
that also is profoundly human. Her methods first intrigued me & now
have actually changed the way that I perform. She has managed to
develop a practice that integrates both intuition & intelligence:
content & meaning translated into impulse, control of physical
energy, & three-dimensional space. The result is dance that is more
detailed, more grounded, more substantial, more sensual, more human.
She has led me to dance right to my nerve endings – exhilarating!“ T.
Segawa, Japan
“Out
of our usual framework, you allowed me to break free of pressures I had
felt previously & had repressed, pushing us to focus on creative
capacities.” L.Stevens, Montreal
“A memorable stimulating experience that has left a deep impression.” Lee MW, Singapore
