Ontario Presents’ annual Spring Retreat provides our community with the opportunity for collaborative learning, reflection and study, mixed with the right proportion of R&R.
Thanks for coming! Our Annual Spring Retreat was held on June 1-3, 2026 at Living Water Resort in Collingwood , Ontario.
Summary of the experience coming soon.
This Year's Guests
Karan Chahal
Workshop on June 1st @ 1:30 pm
Karan Chahal is the Principal Lawyer at LSC Law, advising artists, creators, and entertainment-driven companies across the music and digital media industries. He represents JUNO Award–winning, platinum and gold artists, as well as songwriters, producers, managers, labels, and publishers. A former artist, producer, and manager, he brings a commercially grounded perspective shaped by real experience inside the music industry.
Workshops: Ask a Lawyer (Presenter Stream, Artist & Agent Stream)
Workshops for presenters and artists/agents exploring key contract considerations that impact your work. We’ll cover some useful topics and walk through real-world contract examples, highlighting what to watch for when negotiating or signing agreements. Come prepared with questions! These sessions are designed to be practical and interactive.
Tara McGee (MSW, RSW)
Workshop on June 2nd @ 10:00 am
Tara is the Founder and Director of the Collingwood Psychotherapy and Yoga Centre, an integrative mental health practice that blends relational psychotherapy, somatic work, and contemplative practices to support deep and lasting transformation. An entrepreneur, psychotherapist, facilitator, and lifelong student of embodied practice, Tara has spent over two decades guiding individuals, families, and groups through meaningful personal and relational change.
She holds a Master’s degree in Social Work and completed advanced clinical training through a Diploma program at the Toronto Institute for Relational Psychotherapy. Tara previously served as Team Manager and Psychotherapist at the Pine River Institute, where she provided intensive psychotherapy, led therapeutic groups, facilitated family workshops and parent intensives, and guided youth on wilderness canoe expeditions as part of the program’s experiential treatment model.
Across her work, Tara is dedicated to creating innovative experiences that help people reconnect with themselves, strengthen their relationships, and build lives that are meaningful, grounded, and loving.
Workshop: Sustaining Your Wellbeing in High-Demand Work
In live entertainment and performance-based industries, it can be easy to override your own limits and lose touch with what helps you stay steady. This talk offers a grounded look at how theatre managers, booking agents, artists, and others in high- demand roles can care for their mental and emotional wellbeing during stressful stretches, with practical strategies for boundaries, stress regulation, rest, movement, and emotional processing. Attendees will leave with accessible tools they can use to recharge, reset, and sustain themselves more effectively in both work and life.
InterComplimentary Journeys
Performing on June 2nd @ 6:30 pm
Performance: Rising Synergy
A thriving organism: parts that connect, support, and rely on each other.
Rising Synergy is a cross-Disability poetic aerial fabric duet with aerialists Erin Ball and Maxime Beauregard, and in-person musician Andrew Heule, that imagines the body as a vessel made tangible. This spectacular work was created over the span of three years with various collaborators. The creative process prioritized creative accessibility and strengths of each individual to create artistry and movement that sometimes rushes like a pulse, and sometimes pauses, holding tension.
This iteration was made with collaborators Jim Ruxton and David Bobier of VibraFusionLab, and access strategist Amy Amantea. Layers of visceral connection are added for audiences with VibraFusionLab technology, transforming the live heartbeats of aerialists into pulsing sounds and vibrations. Woven with the live heartbeats and Andrew Heule’s music, this aerial act is low vision friendly, with pre-recorded open creative description that flows throughout with poetic metaphors and visual descriptions.
Past Retreats
2025 Spring Retreat
The 2025 Annual Spring Retreat was three inspiring days of connection, learning, and rejuvenation! From May 26–28, Ontario Presents members, colleagues, and friends gathered at Living Water Resorts and the Bear Estate in Collingwood, Ontario for a rich mix of professional development, discussion, and good fun.
We began the retreat on Monday with an energizing keynote from Diana Webley, Reset, Refocus, Reignite, followed by expert Q&A sessions with Serge Cassano of Entandem and Robert Baird, President of BAM!, who offered valuable insights on licensing, international touring, and taxation. Attendees then joined an Indigenous Welcome Walk with Jennifer Parker and Jillian Morris at the Awen’ Gathering Place, grounding the retreat in gratitude and local connection. The evening wrapped up with a BBQ farmhouse buffet, a lively line dancing lesson, and time for games and laughter with colleagues.
Tuesday began with an icebreaker and an engaging session, Arts Centres as Community Hubs, led by Franco Boni and Aislinn Rose from The Theatre Centre in Toronto. The afternoon featured Key Topic Round Tables, where participants dove into areas such as programming, marketing, funding, and the role of AI in the performing arts. The evening ended with another delicious dinner, more games, and even a cozy book club gathering around the campfire.
On Wednesday, we came together for a Big Ideas Brainstorm, building on the previous day’s discussions to identify creative strategies for the sector’s future, before parting ways with gourmet boxed lunches to go.
A heartfelt thank you to all our speakers, facilitators, and the team at Living Water Resorts and Bear Estate for hosting us in such a beautiful setting. We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!
2024 Spring Retreat
The 2024 Annual Spring Retreat consisted of two wonderful days of professional development, networking and fun! From June 12th - 14th, 2024, OP members, colleagues and friends gathered at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario to connect, learn from each other and engage in important informal sector discussions.
We began the retreat with two simultaneous sessions. The first was a Presenter 24/25 Seasonal Review during which presenters were invited to an opportunity to meet with colleagues to review the block booking process for the 24/25 season. The second was a Community Sector Conversation facilitated by booking agents Genny DeMerchant (owner, You Will Love It Live) and Nicole Rochefort (owner, AIM Booking Agency) where they reviewed a variety of current-day topics that are relevant to industry members across the sector. The evening concluded with a dinner at The Mill on Main.
The following day began with an opening of the event circle from local Indigenous leader Shawn Waters Corbiere and an introductory session in which we greeted and met with our friends, new and old. Following this was an inspirational session on the Slow Touring Project lead by Programs Associate Ceilidh Wood. The rest of the day was spent making new connections and soaking up the beautiful Deerhurst sun. We ended the day at Tall Trees restaurant for an amazing meal full of laughter and good conversation.
Our final day at Deerhurst consisted of productive roundtable discussions and a closing of the event circle presented by Hunter Corbiere.
We send a huge chi miigwetch to both Shawn Waters Corbiere and Hunter Corbiere for the lovely opening and closings they offered us and a heartfelt thank you to Dan Watson at the Huntsville Festival of the Arts and the Deerhurst Resort for hosting us!
