COMMUNITY THROUGH KOLLECTIVE

At Kollective Studios, community is among their core tenants alongside creativity, choreography and just a little bit of chaos. Among Kitchener- Waterloo’s newest creative ventures, the Kollective Studios partnership introduced Kollective Kreations, a crafting space that focuses on the art of decoden. Decoden is derived from the Japanese words for decoration (deco) and phone (den). Known for its over-the-top cute designs, decoden is a DIY craft using whipped cream-inspired glue and adorablecharms to decorate items like phone cases, Polaroid frames and accessories.

Their grand opening weekend for their new venture took place over the weekend of Jan. 9 to 11, 2026. Community members came out en masse to try their hand at decoden and to support business duo Kezea Shayne Gamboa and Alex Duong.

Following up the successful launch of their dance studio Kollective Khaos on Aug. 22, 2025, the two are now offering alternative creative outlets to their dancers as well as the wider Waterloo Region audience.

As an immigrant who came to Canada from the Philippines with her family in 2017, Gamboa always found that community was a big part of her life. Being able to foster a creative community in a leadership role has been a lifelong dream of Gamboa’s, starting in high school where she choreographed dances and taught them to her classmates.

“I really want to build a community where it’s filled with different stories, different backgrounds and different types of creativity,” Gamboa said. Gamboa and Duong met in 2023, in one of Gamboa’s K-pop dance classes. They quickly became friends through the environment that Gamboa cultivated in her classes, with post-class group dinners to Korean BBQ.

Duong loved the atmosphere so much that he began encouraging Gamboa to open her own studio and further expand her ethos to more than just her own classes.

“That’s where Kollective Khaos dance comes from. We want everyone to feel like they’re part of it and that they’re not just coming for dance class. It’s a safe space and a place where you can feel empowered to be yourself or discover new parts of yourself,” Duong said. Gamboa’s ambitions were not just limited to the dance studio either; on weekends the dance studio used to sit empty, but now Saturdays and Sundays host bustling decoden workshops, allowing folks to come out and try a different kind of creativity.

“When people ask for my advice on how to get over a choreography creativity block, I always tell people to do something else. Do something else that fires up that creativity that’s not dancing,” Gamboa said. “

It really helped me a lot with my creativity blocks and then, because you’re still using your brain, it’s just not on the one thing that you’re stressing about. It’s like a different type [of creativity] and it’s making your brain happy again and allowing it to breathe,” she said.

At its core, Kollective Studios is all about community and connection. For both Gamboa and Duong, without opportunities to socialize together outside of class, they wouldn’t have some of the meaningful relationships they do now. Every month the studio holds a movie night in their space which they pair with a themed dance routine. In January, they watched Bring It On: All or Nothing and learned a routine with guest instructor Sky Pahl, Canadian Football League and National Lacrosse League cheerleader and dancer.

“[It’s] a great time, because we have like a little slumber party almost, so we get to talk to each other … we get to hang around, we get to laugh at the movie and talk about it. I think that’s a huge thing with building community, and I think we’ve had a good response,” Duong said.

Kollective Studios offers multi-week sessions and drop-in dance classes from Monday to Friday in the evenings. On weekends, Kreations runs from noon to 6 p.m. and offers a multitude of accessories for crafters to customize. The studio is moving on Feb. 8 from their current location at 275 Larch St. in Waterloo to a bigger space at 259 King St. W., Unit 203 in Kitchener.

Feeling like consuming a photosynthetic bacterium without digesting it #saturdays

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Back after all, listening, watching. Birds nearby, birds in distance. Student life across the streets behind windows half opened, both kinds: That one involving books and paper, and that one involving music and drinks. Chances and paths within familiar boundaries. And ones own limitations everywhere nearby. A sigh in cold air. Sleep tight everyone wherever you are.

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Nachmittag Vorabend in Stadtluft. Die eigenen Schritte auf kaltem Stein. Parkbuchten, Haustüren, Nachbars Hunde. Die ersten Supermärkte haben ihre Tore verschlossen. Zeitlos am Rande des Weges, immer noch im Tag.

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(Grey sky dim streets black coffee bright candles. 8am and on, slowly taking shape, a day ahead and setting a brief route to steer through the hours. Curious restless and always in a bit of motion.)

#outerworld #concrete city #saturdays #the winter in everything

Und dann wird schnell Morgen, zieht die begrenzte Helligkeit dieser Zeit in ruhende Flure ein, wechselt eine begeisterungslose Katze den Schlafplatz, nimmt die noch mit Bewusstwerdung ausgelastete innere Logik bereits wieder Zweistelligkeit im Monat wahr. Erste Handgriffe, falscher Posteingang, kurzes Erschrecken über Themen, die heute eigentlich ohne Bedeutung sind. Wasser im Gesicht. Kratzige Stoppel unter der Hand. Rasurverweigerung, dünne Schuhe, matschiger Weg unter den Füßen. Immer kurz vor dem ersten Kaffee. Habt es mild heute.

#outerworld #concrete city #waking to the day #saturdays

(Sonnenaufgang, Sonnenuntergang und die Leerräume dazwischen. Defokussiert, unproduktiv und unsicher, inwieweit das ein schlechtes Gewissen braucht. Manchmal hängen die Dinge an der Wahl der Musik.)

#outerworld #urban escapism #saturdays #concrete city

Früher Nachmittag über den Plätzen, immer noch stürmisches Wetter und die Nachbarschaft arbeitet sich lustlos, rauh aneinander ab. Tannenbäume hängen an zu schnellen Fahrrädern, Kisten mit Getränken und Lebensmitteln werden aus großen Autos geladen, man kommt sich in die Quere, murmelt unangemesse Worte und zeigt, dass Verzicht auf Freundlichkeit und Umgangsformen Alter und soziale Schichten überspannt. (Treppauf, Türe öffnen. Türe schließen. Zweimal. Und Kaffee, Tee am Fenster. Hinreichend weit von allem.)

#outerworld #concrete city #afternoon deviations #saturdays

Gleiches Zwielicht, andere Stunde und hinter den Häuserzeilen macht sich schon wieder der Abend bereit. Noch einmal da hinaus. Rucksack, Schuhe, dichte Jacke. Und ein vertrauter Weg, immer irgendwie nahe des Flusses.

#outerworld #concrete city #afternoon deviations #saturdays

(Zustand: Überfüllt. In den Seitenbereichen des Viertels drängen sich Fahrzeuge. Die Parkbuchten sind alle verstopft, wer ohne Geduld unterwegs ist, verweilt in der zweiten Reihe. Durcheinander aus Einkaufswägen und Tannenbäumen und hinreichend viel Frust und Zorn auf einander und alles und nichts. Und an der Ecke stehen immer wieder die beiden Frauen in gedeckter Kleidung und halten wortlos immer diesselben Broschüren in ihren Händen. Von Entscheidungen und Wichtigem und der Frage, welchen Dingen man Kraft widmet.)

#outerworld #concrete city #saturdays #outskirts escapism

Close to 10am already, surprised to see time fled without much of a goal or roadmap so far. Moving for some more order, grey clouds above, neighbours apparently cleaning their flats and there's a dense omnipresent buzz and noise in everything. Somehow disturbing but also strangely comforting.

#outerworld #saturdays #concrete city #somewhere in between

Hype for the Future 44D: Calculated Saturdays for 2026

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9am already, slow and indecisive. November in its grey clothes, hazy rain, clouds and mood hidden somewhere below. Pondering words, rituals, time. No real ideas, just fragments. As always.

#outerworld #concrete city #saturdays #november grey

Past 9pm, feels much later, slow breath, sleepy and detached from these hours. Clean dishes dirty dishes and a teapot, mostly empty. Diffuse lights on a hazy windowpane, the city outside feeling like but a layer of shapes and colours, forming images but lacking any depth or structure. Music from the pub, a bit more noisy today, not annoying but just not blending with the current mood very much. Yawning and turning down heat. Early night but late enough again. Sleep tight everyone wherever you are.

#outerworld #concrete city #the late hours #saturdays

Mit den Stunden schwand die Sonne. Vorabend unter dichten Wolken, milder Wind fächelt über den Parkplatz. Im anderen Supermarkt werden die Regale umsortiert und allein die Beobachtung erzeugt spürbare Nervosität. Gegenüber warten noch zwei große grimmige Kürbisse an der Kreuzung aber in ihrem Inneren fehlt heute das Licht. Ahnungen von Äußerlichkeiten und Leere, während der Tag weiterzieht.

#outerworld #concrete city #afternoon deviations #saturdays

Closing in on 9am. Picking the right clothes and appropriate tools and a pair of strong gloves. Continuing where earlier days left of. A cautious push for structure, with whichever energy is available for that.

#outerworld #concrete city #saturdays #where we do what we do

(Innehalten in stilleren Räumen. Die Heizung rauscht wieder. Warten auf eigene Lichter, deren Stunde noch nicht heran ist, während laute Bässe über die Straße treiben, an den Fassaden tanzen. So viele Aufbrüche in den Abend, so viele lose Bilder zwischen zwei Atemzügen.)

#outerworld #concrete city #crafts and magic #saturdays

9am and on. An empty room. Different echoes. Question marks. A thin veil of motivation and a nervous imposter trying to take control. A sigh a deep breath and a next step. Slowly.

#outerworld #concrete city #saturdays #other tasks familiar places

Local elections 2025: Biggest wins and closest calls as special votes loom

Adams, who is now heading into his third term leading the Hauraki District, receive…
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