Movement

Please review each article prior to use: grade-level applicability and curricular alignment might not be obvious from the headline alone.

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Puppy Sphere yoga chain rolls out ‘mood-boosting’ first classes in Winnipeg

Aaron Epp 4 minute read Preview
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Puppy Sphere yoga chain rolls out ‘mood-boosting’ first classes in Winnipeg

Aaron Epp 4 minute read Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

Winnipeg yogis seeking to do a downward dog while surrounded by dogs are in luck: puppy yoga is here.

Toronto-based company Puppy Sphere began offering weekend yoga classes at Yoga Public (280 Fort St.) earlier this fall.

Each class consists of a 45-minute yoga flow led by a certified instructor, while puppies from local rescues and breeders roam the studio. The class is followed by a 30-minute wind-down that includes refreshments and canine cuddles.

Puppy Sphere founders Francesca Albo and Lea Burbidge Izquierdo said the classes began selling out almost immediately, which led them to add Thursdays to the schedule. The entrepreneurs are actively looking for a Winnipeg studio of their own.

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Friday, Nov. 7, 2025

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Puppy Sphere offers yoga classes led by certified instructors while puppies roam the studio and interact with participants.

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                                Puppy Sphere offers yoga classes led by certified instructors while puppies roam the studio and interact with participants.
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Ski jumper Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes takes to the air again for Canada

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Preview
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Ski jumper Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes takes to the air again for Canada

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press 5 minute read Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

CALGARY - Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes has returned to ski jumping after a hiatus of two and a half years.

Boyd-Clowes laid down Canada's final jump of the mixed team event at the 2022 Winter Games for bronze and the country's first ever Olympic medal in the sport.

The four-time Olympian is back in the air again. Boyd-Clowes competed in a pair of September competitions and provisionally qualified for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

"It's new and fresh and exciting. I took a long break and wasn't sure whether I would jump again and now I'm doing it," Boyd-Clowes said.

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Wednesday, Oct. 15, 2025

Canada's Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes soars through the air during the Men's Ski Jumping Individual HS 138 event at the Nordic World Championships in Planica, Slovenia, Friday, March 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)

Canada's Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes soars through the air during the Men's Ski Jumping Individual HS 138 event at the Nordic World Championships in Planica, Slovenia, Friday, March 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
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Artists, performers open their doors, and their souls, for Culture Days

The Arts & Life team 4 minute read Preview
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Artists, performers open their doors, and their souls, for Culture Days

The Arts & Life team 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

Culture Days, a national celebration of local arts and culture, kicks off today and runs through Oct. 12.

There are hundreds of free public events taking place across Manitoba over the next three weeks, including in Winnipeg, Morden, Gimli, Flin Flon and beyond. Nuit Blanche Winnipeg, the city’s annual late-night art party, also falls under the Culture Days umbrella and takes place Sept. 27.

Find a sample of the fun below and visit culturedays.ca for more information.

Central Park Moves: Weekend BeatsCentral Park, 367 Ellice Ave.

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Friday, Sep. 19, 2025

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Studio 393 brings the music and the moves to Central Park on Saturday.

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                                Studio 393 brings the music and the moves to Central Park on Saturday.
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A Lebanese dancer defies extremist threats and social norms with his sold-out performances

Malak Harb And Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press 6 minute read Preview
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A Lebanese dancer defies extremist threats and social norms with his sold-out performances

Malak Harb And Kareem Chehayeb, The Associated Press 6 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

BEIRUT (AP) — Alexandre Paulikevitch put on his white dress and wig and danced his way to center stage, knowing that the extremist groups who had threatened him before his controversial recital might be waiting for him outside the theater.

The Lebanese dancer’s sold-out performance to a cheering crowd at a popular Beirut venue had angered fundamentalist movements ranging from the right-wing Christian Soldiers of God to Sunni Islamists.

The fundamentalists say Paulikevitch is “promoting homosexuality" because he wears dresses and corsets and undulates to classical Arabic music in a way which society largely sees as exclusive to women.

Paulikevitch says he’s breaking social norms and reintroducing forms of dance that were commonplace for men as recently as the early 20th century.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Alexandre Paulikevitch performs at a theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Alexandre Paulikevitch performs at a theatre in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Sept. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
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Hotel-weary evacuees guests at powwow

Connor McDowell 3 minute read Preview
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Hotel-weary evacuees guests at powwow

Connor McDowell 3 minute read Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025

SIOUX VALLEY DAKOTA NATION — Evacuees displaced from their communities in northern Manitoba were invited to Sioux Valley Dakota Nation on Friday for what the chief called a mental health day.

A hundred people were at the afternoon event when the Brandon Sun visited.

The event, which included live music, games and children’s entertainment, was a way to give a day of fresh air to evacuees, Chief Vince Tacan said.

“We thought we’d give our relatives from the north a mental health day, because staying in hotels gets hard after a while,” Tacan said.

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Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun

Lynnianna Swan scrapes a bison hide during a family wellness day of cultural and entertainment activities at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Friday, for families displaced by fires.

Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun
                                Lynnianna Swan scrapes a bison hide during a family wellness day of cultural and entertainment activities at Sioux Valley Dakota Nation Friday, for families displaced by fires.
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Young swimmers look to make a splash at provincials

Zoe Pierce 4 minute read Preview
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Young swimmers look to make a splash at provincials

Zoe Pierce 4 minute read Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025

Young swimmers from across Manitoba and northwestern Ontario are racing against the clock Friday and Saturday at Pan Am Pool as over 260 athletes compete in the 2025 Manitoba Junior Swim Provincials, hoping to advance to the ManSask Championships in July.

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Thursday, Jun. 12, 2025

RENEE KARDASH PHOTO

Over 260 athletes will compete in the 2025 Manitoba Junior Swim Provincials this Friday and Saturday at Pan Am Pool, hoping to advance to the ManSask Championships in July.

RENEE KARDASH PHOTO
                                Over 260 athletes will compete in the 2025 Manitoba Junior Swim Provincials this Friday and Saturday at Pan Am Pool, hoping to advance to the ManSask Championships in July.
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Right To Play International asks people to play and share their stories on Wednesday

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Right To Play International asks people to play and share their stories on Wednesday

John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

As two of Canada's most experienced Olympians, Miranda Ayim and Erica Wiebe have made careers out of playing sports at the highest levels of competition.

But some of their most formative memories are of playing as children with almost no stakes.

"We basically would have a neighbourhood-wide game of tag where we were just jumping fences from yard to yard," said Ayim, who was on Canada's women's basketball team at four Olympics.

"I don't know if our parents really appreciated that, but we felt so adventurous going from yard to yard and running but still feeling safe to do so in that neighbourhood, and enjoying that time and that feeling of freedom."

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Canada's Miranda Ayim (9), right, passes the ball ahead of Spain's Laura Gil (24), left, during women's basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Canada's Miranda Ayim (9), right, passes the ball ahead of Spain's Laura Gil (24), left, during women's basketball preliminary round game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Saitama, Japan. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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Innovative horse simulator helps riders with disabilities get in the saddle

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Preview
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Innovative horse simulator helps riders with disabilities get in the saddle

Wolfgang Depner, The Canadian Press 4 minute read Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

VICTORIA - "Do you want to go faster?"

Jayne Imeson already knew the answer she was going to get from her six-year-old son, Casey, sitting astride his new steed in a park in Central Saanich, B.C.

He nodded with a smile. "Always faster -- this kid loves his speed," Imeson said.

Casey's usual ride is a Fjord horse named Valla, but on Thursday, he became the first official user of the MiraColt horse-riding motion simulator developed for the Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association.

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Friday, Oct. 10, 2025

Six-year-old Casey, of Saanich B.C., becomes the first official user of the new MiraColt Horse-Riding Motion Simulator as Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association board chair Liz Gagel assists him at a demonstration hosted by the VTRA in Central Saanich, B.C. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. The simulator is the first of its kind by pairing a commercially available simulator with software developed at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C. to create a more authentic and motivating experience for riders. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Wolfgang Depner

Six-year-old Casey, of Saanich B.C., becomes the first official user of the new MiraColt Horse-Riding Motion Simulator as Victoria Therapeutic Riding Association board chair Liz Gagel assists him at a demonstration hosted by the VTRA in Central Saanich, B.C. on Thursday, May 22, 2025. The simulator is the first of its kind by pairing a commercially available simulator with software developed at the University of Victoria in Victoria, B.C. to create a more authentic and motivating experience for riders. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Wolfgang Depner
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Ultimate test of sportsmanship: no refs, players resolve game disputes

Mike Sawatzky 6 minute read Preview
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Ultimate test of sportsmanship: no refs, players resolve game disputes

Mike Sawatzky 6 minute read Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018

At the World Masters Ultimate Club Championships being played this week at Little Mountain Sportsplex, the idea of respecting your opponent and promoting the integrity of the sport is not given lip service. Participants talk about respecting the spirit of the game and they mean it.

Following a round-robin men's division game between Winnipeg's Torque and Quantum of Quebec City, both teams convened for separate "spirit circles," as they are called.

These group sessions involved a discussion of the game and improvements that might be made for the upcoming match. Next, players from both teams locked arms for another spirit circle — a place where quality of play, any lingering disagreements over matters such as rough play or interpretations of the rules could be handled.

Spirit circles are part of all World Flying Disc Federation-sanctioned events.

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Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - Team Torque's #31Aaron Dobson goes high and wins possession against Best Before's #3 Dan Benvenuti in Ultimate Play Wednesday. See Mike Sawatzky's story. - July 31, 2018

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - Team Torque's #31Aaron Dobson goes high and wins possession against Best Before's #3 Dan Benvenuti in Ultimate Play Wednesday. See Mike Sawatzky's story. - July 31, 2018

Brandon man taking on punishing 3,500-km cycling route for cancer research

Aaron Epp 8 minute read Preview

Brandon man taking on punishing 3,500-km cycling route for cancer research

Aaron Epp 8 minute read Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

A Brandon cyclist is gearing up for the ride of a lifetime in support of cancer research.

Grant Hamilton is heading to Europe this week to join Tour 21, an annual event that sees a team of amateur cyclists ride the full Tour de France route, one week ahead of the professionals.

The team will pedal more than 3,500 km in 21 days, including climbs and summits in the Pyrenees mountains and the French Alps. It’s part of an effort to raise nearly $2 million for Cure Leukaemia, the official charity partner of the Tour de France.

Cure Leukaemia funds clinical trials, driving global advancements in blood cancer treatment and impacting those affected by the disease.

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Monday, Jun. 23, 2025

Grant Hamilton of Brandon is cycling in this weekend’s Manitoba championships, the Tour de Riding Mountain. The event will begin at the Northgate Trailhead before venturing south through the national park on Highway 10. (Matt Packwood / The Brandon Sun)

Grant Hamilton of Brandon is cycling in this weekend’s Manitoba championships, the Tour de Riding Mountain. The event will begin at the Northgate Trailhead before venturing south through the national park on Highway 10. (Matt Packwood / The Brandon Sun)

Graduates far from home ‘grateful’ for honour at school powwow

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Preview

Graduates far from home ‘grateful’ for honour at school powwow

Scott Billeck 5 minute read Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

Grade 12 Tataskweyak Cree Nation student Jonah Wavey was among several wildfire evacuees honoured Monday during a special celebration of Indigenous graduates at the University of Winnipeg’s Duckworth Centre.

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Monday, Jun. 16, 2025

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press

Jonah Wavey, a grade 12 graduate from Tataskweyak Cree Nation, with his mom, Abbie Garson-Wavey, at the special graduation ceremony held by Winnipeg School Division in partnership with Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, for graduates from northern Manitoba communities evacuated due to wildfires.

Ruth Bonneville / Free Press
                                Jonah Wavey, a grade 12 graduate from Tataskweyak Cree Nation, with his mom, Abbie Garson-Wavey, at the special graduation ceremony held by Winnipeg School Division in partnership with Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, for graduates from northern Manitoba communities evacuated due to wildfires.
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A show inside a cathedral featured raw chickens in diapers. The German president was in the audience

Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview
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A show inside a cathedral featured raw chickens in diapers. The German president was in the audience

Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press 3 minute read Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

BERLIN (AP) — A performance inside a Catholic cathedral in Germany earlier this month that featured raw, plucked chickens wrapped in diapers onstage — and the country's president and the local archbishop in the audience — has prompted the church and municipal leaders to apologize that the show “hurt religious feelings."

The show, "Westphalia Side Story,” was part of a May 15 celebration to mark the 1,250th anniversary of Westphalia, a region in northwestern Germany.

Video footage shows one woman and two shirtless men singing “Fleisch ist Fleisch” (“Meat is meat”) — apparently spoofing Austrian band Opus' 1984 pop song “Live is Life” — with scythes and dancing with the dead chickens on a stage in front of Paderborn Cathedral's altar.

Performance company bodytalk said in a statement Friday that the show featured work-in-progress excerpts from “Westphalia Side Story" — which references the American musical "West Side Story."

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Saturday, Sep. 20, 2025

This grab taken from video shows performers dancing as they hold raw, plucked chickens wrapped in diapers, inside Paderborn's cathedral, Germany, Friday May 16, 2025. (RTL via AP)

This grab taken from video shows performers dancing as they hold raw, plucked chickens wrapped in diapers, inside Paderborn's cathedral, Germany, Friday May 16, 2025. (RTL via AP)

French Open tennis players say nasal strips aren’t just for snoring

Tom Nouvian, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

French Open tennis players say nasal strips aren’t just for snoring

Tom Nouvian, The Associated Press 4 minute read Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

PARIS (AP) — If more tennis players find themselves breathing easier, it might just be thanks to Carlos Alcaraz.

The four-time Grand Slam champion, whose bid for a second consecutive French Open title was scheduled to continue with a third-round match Friday night, has often worn a nasal strip in matches since last season — although not during his first two contests at Roland-Garros this week — and the sport's other athletes took note.

After all, if Alcaraz finds something useful on the court, their thinking goes, maybe it makes sense to give the adhesive bands a shot.

“I saw Carlos playing in it,” said 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, a semifinalist in Paris last year and the No. 6 women's seed this time. “I’d be pretty interested to try and see if there is really a difference. If he plays matches in it, then probably there is.”

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Sunday, Sep. 21, 2025

FILE - Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, wearing a nasal strip, reacts after scoring a point against Italy's Jannik Sinner in the final of the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)

FILE - Spain's Carlos Alcaraz, wearing a nasal strip, reacts after scoring a point against Italy's Jannik Sinner in the final of the Italian Open tennis tournament at the Foro Italico in Rome, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)
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Youpe! Youpe! sur la glace en bateau-dragon

Daniel Bahuaud 4 minute read Preview
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Youpe! Youpe! sur la glace en bateau-dragon

Daniel Bahuaud 4 minute read Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017

Le bateau-dragon est l’épicentre d’une nouvelle vague d’engouement mondial. Mais d’une grosse nouvelle vague figée. Depuis fin 2015, les passionnés de cette pirogue se paient le plaisir de pagayer sur la glace. La première manitobaine aura lieu le 25 février.

Le tout premier Festival de bateaux-dragon sur glace du Manitoba se déroulera sur la rivière Rouge, près du Centre du kayak et du canot du Manitoba, situé sur la promenade Churchill.

Pour Alfred Bérard, un des organisateurs et l’annonceur officiel de l’évènement, il s’agit d’une “grande source de fierté d’être à la fine pointe des activités d’hiver.

“La Manitoba Paddling Association est une pionnière de ce sport au Canada. Nous, les Manitobains, on aurait pu être les premiers, mais le Festival de bateaux-dragon sur glace d’Ottawa nous a battus d’une semaine, parce que Winterlude, la fête d’hiver de la capitale avait lieu les 17 et 18 février. Et que cette année, notre Festival du Voyageur se tient pas mal tard.”

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Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017

Daniel Bahuaud Photo
Des équipes du Centre du kayak et du canot du Manitoba ont rodé leurs nouveaux bateaux-dragons, le 18 février, en prévision du Festival de bateaux-dragons sur glace du 25 février. Au moment d’écrire ces lignes, l’évènement de la Manitoba Paddling Association était toujours au programme.

Daniel Bahuaud Photo
Des équipes du Centre du kayak et du canot du Manitoba ont rodé leurs nouveaux bateaux-dragons, le 18 février, en prévision du Festival de bateaux-dragons sur glace du 25 février. Au moment d’écrire ces lignes, l’évènement de la Manitoba Paddling Association était toujours au programme.
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Danser à 95 ans

CAMILLE SÉGUY 4 minute read Preview
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Danser à 95 ans

CAMILLE SÉGUY 4 minute read Saturday, May. 5, 2012

L

E 9 avril dernier, la Franco-Manitobaine Hortense Sabourin a célébré ses 95 ans.

Un âge avancé qui ne l’empêche pas de poursuivre sa passion, la danse, malgré la perte de sa vue depuis plus de 15 ans.

“Quand, vers l’âge de 75-80 ans, mon médecin m’a dit que je devenais aveugle, c’était une triste nouvelle mais je n’ai jamais pensé abandonner la danse,” affirme Hortense Sabourin. “C’est un bon exercice et c’est bon pour le moral. On n’a pas besoin des yeux pour danser, mais des oreilles.”

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Saturday, May. 5, 2012

CAMILLE SÉGUY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
À 95 ans, Hortense Sabourin danse toujours, malgré la perte de sa vue.

CAMILLE SÉGUY / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
À 95 ans, Hortense Sabourin danse toujours, malgré la perte de sa vue.