Guest workshop
With Helen Landalf, author, actor, dance educator
Sunday, February 22nd, 1:30-4:30, Phinney Neighborhood Center, Seattle (in-person)
$227 USD
Setting comes alive when it shapes how a character moves, notices, and feels.
In this in-person Labyrinth Guest Workshop, Helen Landalf guides participants through a playful, grounded exploration of setting using simple movement, drawing, and writing. You’ll discover how physical space—rooms, pathways, boundaries, objects—can deepen character, sharpen scene work, and help readers experience the “where” of your story rather than simply being told about it.
No movement or performance experience is required. All activities are gentle, accessible, and adaptable, and every movement exploration is paired with writing on the page. And for those who already work with movement, dance, or embodied practices, this workshop offers a fresh way to translate physical intelligence into exploratory writing.
This workshop is especially helpful if you want your settings to feel more vivid, emotionally charged, and connected to character—and if you’re curious about fresh ways to unlock scenes that feel flat or hard to enter.
You’ll leave with new writing, practical tools for working with setting, and a renewed sense of how space and story move together.
Helen Landalf is the author of eight books, including Movement Stories for Young Children, co-authored with Pamela Gerke, an instructional book used by children’s dance teachers worldwide, The Secret Night World of Cats, an award-winning picture book illustrated by her brother with autism, and the contemporary YA novel Flyaway, about a teen dealing with her mom’s drug addiction. Helen came to writing through dance, drama, and storytelling. She received her BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Washington. Helen honed her acting skills in the prestigious Professional Actors’ Training Program at the State University of New York, Purchase.