News

  • Dramatic Arts graduate speaks to future theatre makers

    Thursday, May 23, 2013 | By

    At the second Dramatic Arts Invitational for 2013 graduate Spencer Charles Smith inspired the 60 applicants with a short presentation about his professional development since he first enrolled at Brock in 2007. After graduating from Brock University’s Dramatic Arts program in 2011, he went on to complete a MA in Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies (specializing in queer performance) at the Center for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Toronto. Spencer is now a playwright, performer, dramaturge and Artistic Director of the queer theatre company, Straight Camp. Theatre credits include: Breath in Between (Crow’s Theatre/SummerWorks 2012), Spoon: A Queer Play (Straight Camp), Still Life (lemonTree creations/SummerWorks 2011), among others. Spencer is also co-owner of the famous Glad Day Bookshop in Toronto.

    Spencer concluded his presentation with inspiring advice for the new Brock students:

    1. Always say ‘Yes.’
    You never know what will come from a job. You never know who’s watching and who’s looking for someone new to collaborate with on future projects. One job almost always leads to the next. Keep busy.

    2. Take advantage of your resources and fail.
    Theatre school offers you free rehearsal space, a free theatre and a team of people who all want you to learn and grow. Take risks, play and don’t be afraid to fail. This is where you will discover your strengths, your weaknesses and your obsessions.

    3. See theatre.
    The only way you will ever realize theatre’s emotional, intellectual and creative potential is if you experience it first hand. Let it expand your imagination and inspire you to recreate it, deconstruct it, or refine it.

    4. Don’t burn bridges.
    The theatre community is very small and we need to support each other. We need to keep the dialogue going because art is meant to spark conversation. Find at least one positive in everything you see. Plus, you never know who will be on the other side of that audition table.

    5. Make your own opportunities.
    Don’t wait around for someone to offer you a job. Keep writing. Keep creating. Maintain your momentum. People respect passion, ambition and drive. I repeat: Keep busy.  

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • The Art of the Clown Doctor at the Department of Dramatic Arts: Register today!

    Wednesday, May 08, 2013 | By

    There’s a great new course taught by a world specialist in Clown Doctoring, Dr. Bernie Warren, being offered by the Department of Dramatic Arts in Spring 2013.

    Current students in Dramatic Arts, New students with some relevant experience and specialists in the field (who are not students registered at Brock) are invited to apply!

    DART 3V91: The Art of the Clown Doctor
    D27: 2013/05/08 to 2013/05/14 MTWRF 900 -1600 TH 141 (running May 08-10 and 12-14, 6 days only)

    This course is a unique opportunity to learn about the practice of clown-doctoring in lifespan maintenance and therapeutic environments. Involving lectures, lab, and running 7 hours per day, this course will be of particular interest to students interested in Drama in Education and Applied Theatre.

    Dr Bernie Warren of the University of Windsor will be returning from his travels abroad to lead this very special opportunity for students and professionals in the field. See the article in the Brock News about Dr. Warren and the profession of Clown Doctoring. Did you see the banner picture on the homepage of University website www.brocku.ca? this is a big deal. Don’t miss out!

    The course is open to DART (single or combined) and DART (Honours)/BEd (Intermediate/Senior) majors AND OTHERS with permission of the Department. The only prerequisite is DART 1F95 or permission of the Department.

    for more information contact dramatic.arts@brocku.ca
    and see the story: “Clown doctor in the house this summer at Brock” in the Brock News at http://www.brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=21584

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • IASC students interviewed by Cogeco TV

    Monday, April 29, 2013 | By

    The team of 4th year IASC students who created the Awaken video game that won "Best Game" at Toronto’s Level Up gaming showcase, was interviewed by Cogeco TV at the game’s official launch party.

    Check out the video interview:

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • New Fair Dealing Policy – Why should you attend?

    Tuesday, April 23, 2013 | By

    The Fair Dealing Policy changed effective March 1st. 

    Are you confident that what you are doing in teaching & research complies with Canadian copyright?

    Join us for 1 hour on Thursday May 16 and learn how these changes affect you.  For additional information about this Copyright session visit https://ctlet.brocku.ca/events/726

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • Dramatic Arts Professor Karen Fricker receives Excellence in Teaching Award at McGill University

    Friday, April 05, 2013 | By

    The Department of Dramatic Arts at Brock University congratulates Professor Karen Fricker for her recent Award for Excellence in Teaching at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.  Professor Fricker is the first recipient of The Charles Bronfman and Rita Mayo Award for Excellence in Teaching at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada . This is based on evaluations of her Fall, 2013 course, Performing Qu_bec in the Global Age. The award was granted by a jury consisting of Professors Robert Leckey and Nathalie Cooke, and MISC Director Will Straw.

    The Award was established in 2012 with a gift from Heather Munro-Blum and Leonard Solomon-Blum. The Award recognizes outstanding teaching at the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada in the Faculty of Arts, with special emphasis on advancing the interest of students in the study of Canada. All faculty in the McGill Institute for the Study of Canada are eligible for the Award, which has a total value of $1,000.

    The MISC congratulates Professor Fricker on this Award and thanks her for her excellent contributions to their teaching program.
     
    See the original news posting on the website of the MISC at McGill University.
     
    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • Interactive Arts and Science students’ video game AWAKEN wins Best Game at Level Up gaming showcase

    Thursday, April 04, 2013 | By

    The Interactive Arts and Science program is proud to announce that Brock University’s 4th year IASC students showcased their video game AWAKEN at Toronto’s gaming showcase, Level Up…. and won BEST GAME!! Congratulations to the team!

    Level Up was held at Design Exchange in Toronto on Wednesday, April 3rd. It showcases the work of the most talented students in design, animation and computer science programs from colleges and universities across Ontario.

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • Dramatic Arts sponsors the Arts in Education Award for 2013

    Friday, March 22, 2013 | By

    The Department of Dramatic Arts is pleased to sponsor the Arts in Education Award for 2013. Nominate a deserving artist now!

    The St. Catharines Arts Awards recognize and celebrate excellence in all areas of artistic creation. The Arts Awards seek to increase the visibility of St. Catharines’ artists and cultural industries, honour cultural leaders and their achievements, and cultivate financial and volunteer support for the arts sector. Each award winner will be presented with a civic certificate of appreciation and a cash prize of $300.

    Nominations are now being accepted!

    Six Arts Awards categories are open for nominations this year. Nominations can be submitted using the forms below.

    Nomination Deadline April 15, 2013 at 4:30 p.m.

    The recipients of the City of St. Catharines Arts Awards will be announced on Saturday June 8, 2013 at the St. Catharines Museum and Welland Canals Centre. All nominees will be provided with advance tickets to the event.

    Save the Date! Tickets for the Arts Awards are $10 and will go on sale in March.

    Connect with St. Catharines Cultural Services on Facebook

    Looking for inspiration? View a list of past winners

    Arts in Education Award

    The Arts in Education Award celebrates an individual, collective or organization that has demonstrated an outstanding commitment to engaging St. Catharines residents through arts education activities.

    View the Arts in Education Award Nomination Form

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • 4th year IASC students to showcase video game at major Toronto event

    Thursday, March 21, 2013 | By

    4th year Interactive Arts and Science students are going to be taking their AWAKEN video game to major gaming showcase, Level Up happening in Toronto April 3rd. Level Up is the first event of its kind that showcases the most talented students in design, animation and computer science programs from colleges and universities across Ontario. We are proud to have our 4th year IASC students representing Brock University at this event.

    The students in the Interactive Arts and Science program who have created Awaken are participating in the program’s capstone game development course. This course challenges students to propose, conceive, develop and produce a polished, critically-engaged interactive media or game prototype. The Awaken team, which makes up the fourth cohort to graduate from the program, has devised a first person game with surprising plot twists and challenging gameplay. This work demonstrates the group’s depth and breadth of knowledge in a wide range of topics and skills – from game theory to game engines. The team brings together a diverse range of talent that has enabled them to create a complex narrative and characters; build 3D models, audio and spatial environments; design and implement puzzles and other interactions between player and game system; and produce and integrate cinematic enhancements for the game.

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • Interactive Arts and Science Program is a partner in the newly launched Praxis Network

    Wednesday, March 20, 2013 | By

    The Praxis Network is a new partnership of innovative graduate and undergraduate programs that are making effective interventions in the traditional models of humanities pedagogy and research. Brock University’s Interactive Arts and Science program is proud to play a crucial role in this partnership.

    Announcement of the Praxis Network.

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

  • Khalida: a play for the Arab Spring, opens in St. Catharines at the Sullivan-Mahoney.

    Thursday, February 28, 2013 | By

    By Dr. Karen Fricker and staff

    The story told in Khalida, a new theatre production playing this week in St Catharines, might at first glance seem somewhat removed from the experience of many Canadians. Subtitled ‘a play for the Arab Spring’, it takes the form of the confession and testimony of Said, a man on the run from his native Middle Eastern country, which has become a battle zone.

    But the play’s origins couldn’t be more local: it springs from the friendship between author/director David Fancy, associate professor of Dramatic Arts at Brock, and the Iraqi actor Addil Hussain, who received a BA in Dramatic Arts degree from Brock in 2006.

    ‘Addil was Saddam Hussein’s favourite actor,’ Fancy explains. ‘He fled Iraq during the first Gulf War and, after living as a refugee in Jordan for six or seven years, finally ended up in Canada. He did a degree in the Drama in Education and Society stream at Brock and became a Canadian citizen’. Audiences might remember Hussain’s performances in two of the three plays performed in An Arabian Trilogy, a departmental mainstage production in 2006. In the third play he performed the role of the father in Leila Tatadaffah Bil Rasass. Mun Youaniquha? (By the Warmth of the Bullet that Kills) set in modern-day Baghdad and written by another Brock graduate Abbas Aldilami.

    Fancy says he wrote the play ‘for the express purpose of continuing a conversation with Addil, having witnessed the challenges that he experienced as an individual and as an artist finding a voice as a new Canadian.’ The play is being produced by neXt Company Theatre, of which Fancy is co-artistic director.

    While his friendship with Hussain offers fascinating insight into Khalida’s origins, Fancy believes an appreciation of the production does not rely on this backstory. ‘This is about a person somewhere in the world who has experienced difficulty and is using creativity to frame that and move beyond it,’ he explains.

    The role of Said is being played by Toronto-based actor Jason Jazrawy, whose father is from Iraq. Jazrawy calls Said ‘an Arabic Everyman who whom all ethnicities can relate’ and says he welcomes the opportunity to ‘portray an Arab as a positive role model for a change,’ having found himself often cast as a terrorist jihadi because of his heritage.

    Alongside Khalida, neXt Company Theatre has facilitated a community engagement project, The Arab Spring Monologues, which features 9-10 Niagarans, including four Brock students and recent graduates, writing about how the Arab Spring connects with their own experience or with the region.

    Students from across the DART concentrations – Applied Theatre and Drama in Education, Theatre Praxis, Performance, and Production and Design – will be attending the production.    The production presents an excellent model for the Brock students’ creative investigations in writing and dramaturgy, performance, and production,  as well as personal and social identities and citizenship, remarks the Chair or the Department, David Vivian.

    As for Addil Hussain, he returned to the Middle East in 2010, and is now working as an actor in Baghdad. Despite being half a world away, this production of Khalida is very much on his radar. Via Facebook, he sent this message to Fancy and his collaborators: ‘Khalida was just a wish, and an idea, then became reality… I’m fully confident that Khalida is in great hands, hands with a great level of professionalism. Break a leg!’
    ———-
    Khalida plays at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre from 26 February-2 March. Tickets are available here. The Arab Spring Monologues play 5-7 pm on Saturday, March 2 at Robertson Hall, 85 Church Street, St. Catharines. Admission free; groups are requested to contact the company in advance here. 

    Categories: News, Uncategorised

1 … 11 12 13 14 15 … 19