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.
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Khalida: a play for the Arab Spring, opens in St. Catharines at the Sullivan-Mahoney.
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!’
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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. -
The Walker Cultural Leader Series: Daniel Levinson, leading movement and stage fighting expert to present a Movement and Stage Combat Intensive program
BROCK UNIVERSITY
MEDIA RELEASEFebruary 12, 2013
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
905.688.5550 x4765New Walker series opens doors for arts students and the public
A major series of cultural events, workshops and performances being launched this fall by Brock University will provide new learning experiences for students, and in many cases will also be open to the public.
The Walker Cultural Leader Series will see leading artists, performers and academics convene more than a dozen events in disciplines ranging from animation to classical music and theatrical performance. The events will take place on campus as well as in the community.
Presented by Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), the series opens Oct. 16-19 with workshops, studio visits and performances by Sobey Award-winning performer and animator Daniel Barrow.
The series will also feature presentations by Joan Watson, principal horn of the Canadian Opera Company; performer and author Stephen Nachmanovitch; acclaimed Canadian pianist Robert Silverman; and Daniel Levinson, an expert in movement and stage combat.
The new series is being funded thanks to the Marilyn I. Walker Fund, an endowed fund created in 2008, when Marilyn Walker donated $15 million to Brock’s school of fine and performing arts.
Derek Knight, director of the Walker School, said the main objective of the series is to engage students, but pointed out many sessions are open to the community.
“The new series is committed to inviting varied and interesting guest speakers,” said Knight. “It will be engaging, lively and erudite. These sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in our society.”
Douglas Kneale, Dean of Humanities at the University, said the initiative is another step forward for Brock on the academic, cultural and community fronts.
“Thanks to the generosity of Marilyn I. Walker, we are able to offer students unique interactions with creative leaders in the fine and performing arts, and also extend to the community educational and cultural opportunities that will be enormously enriching.”
The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is comprised of the departments of Dramatic Arts, Music, Visual Arts, and the Centre for Studies in Arts & Culture.
For more info and follow-up interviews: Marie Balsom, Communications, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University, 905-688-5550 x4765; mbalsom@brocku.ca
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Dramatic arts prof interviewed on national radio
A Brock University dramatic arts professor was interviewed on national radio about the current state of affairs of entertainment giant Cirque du Soleil.
Karen Fricker was a guest Monday on CBC Radio’s Q, a daily arts and culture magazine. The assistant professor talked about the implications of Montreal-based Cirque du Soleil’s recent announcement that it was laying off 400 people.
“This is significant because Cirque du Soleil is a very strong brand and usually the coverage around it is positive,” Fricker said.
The segment of the show, hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, looked at whether the company was in crisis and if the layoffs meant the end of a Canadian success story made world famous for its performances that incorporate gravity-defying acrobatics and stunning choreography.
From Fricker’s perspective, Cirque du Soleil isn’t going anywhere but it has grown at an unsustainable rate.
The company has even admitted to not having appropriate control over its spending.
“That’s an important admission,” Fricker said. “They’re making money but they’re spending too much and (cutting jobs) is a line in the sand, a signal their practices need to change .”
Fricker was joined by J. Kelly Nestruck, a theatre critic for the Globe and Mail, on the show.
The segment will air again Monday night on CBC Radio One at 10 p.m. and can be heard online or as a podcast.
This article was first published by tmayer tttton Jan 21st, 2013 in The Brock News.
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Brock student hits the international red carpet
DART student Katie Coseni was recently featured in an article in The Brock News:
"Katie Coseni’s first experience at the Toronto International Film Festival was not typical.
Rather than chasing celebrities for autographs and crowding the edges of red carpets in hopes of catching a glimpse of movie stars, the second-year dramatic arts student found herself on the red carpet soaking up the limelight.
Coseni plays one of the lead roles in the film Foxfire: Confessions of a Girl Gang, which premiered at this year’s festival on Sept. 10."
The article continues: ". . . . Coseni’s long journey to the red carpet in Toronto all started when she responded to an open casting call in 2010.
“A friend and I went to a drama camp when I was in middle school,” she says. “I guess we stayed on their mailing list and they sent out a flyer about this audition.”
. . . Coseni credits her fellow students and professors in the dramatic arts program at Brock for being extremely supportive of her foray into film. Students would share their notes with her when she missed classes and professors were accommodating when it came to handing in assignments.
“Because I was going to school for drama and I was missing school because of a movie, they understood,” she said. “It’s a very supportive and friendly environment.”"
From the article by Jeffrey Sinibaldi in the Brock News. Read more of the article here.
congratulations to Katie!
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Special Guest Fujimoto Takakyuki gives a workshop in light art at DART
On January 26 and 27, 2012, Fujimoto Takakyuki – pioneer of stage design with LED lighting – visited the Department of Dramatic Arts to give a demonstration and creative workshop with this innovative technology.
Fujimoto has created a unique staging method using LED light systems and installations to manipulate all colours of the spectrum. His aim is to create new “circuits” to connect directly to the audience with no less strength than the connection created by the stage performer communicating directly to the audience in a live stage experience. He is principle designer for the Japanese performance group Dumb Type. Independently his work True, created with
Tsuyoshi Shirai (AbsT/BANETO) and Takao Kawaguchi (Dumb Type) has been touring since 2007. He has worked with Ryoji Ikeda on the videomusic concert series “formula”, with Hong Kong choreographer Daniel Yeung, Vietnam-French choreographer Ea Sola, Singapore’s video artist Choy Ka Fai, on the installation/concert path with the guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi and singer UA, and with dance company Monochrome Circus. He recently designed for Kyoto Noh Theatre’s 2011 production.Fujimoto was hosted in Canada by Across Oceans and artistic director Maxine Heppner, a Toronto-based organization that produces international arts platforms in Canada and worldwide, with acclaimed performing, visual and literary artists, and develops interactions created specially for specific environments and communities. Programming includes live performance, 2-D and 3-D art exhibits, film/video screenings, public forums, advanced training and research. Fujimoto’s recent collaboration with Across Oceans my heart is a spoon was well-received by Toronto critics and audiences.
Fujimoto shared his creative approach in technology with approximately 15 students and professionals. A selection of videos from the workshop may be seen on a youtube channel.
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Industrial Fabric2: Festival of the Arts
Brock University
Media Release
St. Catharines, ON
March 1, 2012Industrial Fabric2: Festival of the Arts
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
March to April 2012The second Festival of the Arts showcasing the remarkable talents of students enrolled in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be held March to April 2012. Industrial Fabric2 signals that time of year when students who have been preparing individually and collectively will bring their in-class, independent or studio projects to fruition. In the spirit of openness and mutual generosity, we invite you to celebrate their achievements on stage, in studios and galleries, and at regional venues.
As part of the culminating activities that signal the end of the academic year Industrial Fabric2 offers a dynamic range of creative events open to the University and community at large from theatre to musical performances to art exhibitions. Enjoy original student-written and performed plays produced as part of the Department of Dramatic Arts’ Gimme 3 or One Acts Festival, and a production written and produced by fourth-year students called Shadows of a Toymaker; a rich selection of concerts from the Department of Music including its Tuesday Music@Noon series, Student Recitals, the ENCORE! Professional Concert Series, the VIVA VOCE! Choral Series, and the University Wind Ensemble; exhibitions from the students of the Department of Visual Arts reflecting their achievements in photography, drawing, book making, and intermedia as well as the annual juried show, and a fourth-year honours exhibition hosted by Rodman Hall Art Centre. This year we are honoured by the participation of Donna Szoke, Visiting Artist, whose video installation and all watched over by machines of loving grace will be installed at CRAM Gallery.
"Industrial Fabric2 represents the creative thread that binds students in common effort, to perfect and bring their creativity to audiences both large and small, on and off campus. It promises to deliver over the course of two months a rich plethora of collective and individual talent mentored under the guise of our tremendous faculty and staff. This continues to be a testimony to the strength of our academic programs – where else can one find such brilliant vitality and collaboration that manifests itself from year to year with such vision, energy and dedication?" states Derek Knight, Director of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.
The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, part of the Faculty of Humanities at Brock University, is comprised of the Departments of Dramatic Arts (DART), Music (MUSI, and Visual Arts (VISA), and the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture (cSTAC).
All are welcome. Click here for a calendar of events.
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Media inquiries:
Marie Balsom, Communications
Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
T: 905-688-5550 x4765
E: mbalsom@brocku.ca
W: www.brocku.ca/finearts -
DART Alumna Kate Trotter to be awarded Distinguished Alumni Prize for the Humanities
Kate Trotter, a celebrated actress of theatre, cinema and television will be presented with the “Distinguished Alumni Prize for the Humanities” on March 31, 2012 at Brock University. Ms. Trotter graduated from Brock University with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Dramatic Literature, First-Class Standing, in 1975 and the National Theatre School of Canada in 1978.
During the past 37 years Ms. Trotter has established an international reputation as a lead actress in film, television and stage production. Roles in theatre have included significant work in both classics and modern pieces: she has performed in Canadian plays by Anne Chislett, Tmothy Findley, David French, John Murell and Sharon Pollock among others as well as various Shakespeare, comic, tragic, and lyric theatre productions. She has collaborated with Canadian luminaries such as Martha Henry, Bill Hutt, Brent Carver, Robin Phillips, Richard Monette, RH Thompson, Al Waxman, Bill Shatner and Donald Sutherland.
Roles in cinema include Marie Currie in Glory Enough for All, and working alongside actors such as Charles Bronson, Angelina Jolie, James Woods, the three Carradine brothers, Claire Bloom, Clive Owen, Gary Sineese, Whoopi Goldberg, Edward Woodward, Jon Voight and Sophia Loren, to name a few.
Her numerous roles in television include Being Erica, The Murdoch Mysteries, The Jane Show and CSI.
She has also directed for the National Film Board and for women in the director’s chair as well as for the stage. Ms Trotter has taught Shakespeare at George Brown College, is co-founder of a program supporting kids at risk called youth and the law and for several years has been part of training programs for Canadian judges teaching communication skills in the courtroom.
The “Distinguished Alumni Prize for the Humanities” was founded in 2002 to celebrate the achievements of Brock’s finest graduates. The award is conferred upon alumni who have made outstanding contributions to their field of study and the larger Brock community, as both a scholar and role model.
On March 30, 2012 from 7pm-9pm the Department of Dramatic Arts will be hosting a special event (Studio Theatre ST 107) to introduce Ms Trotter to our current students and aspiring artists. All DART students and faculty are welcome to join the Department as we celebrate her success and raise a glass to toast this alumna of Brock Theatre.
For more information see Ms Totter’s YouTube DEMO REEL or her entries in the Internet Movie Database and Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia (last updated 2009).
A poster advertising the event is available for download.
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Brock DART graduates are playing IN THE SOIL
The Clockmaker by Stephen Massicotte
April 27 @ 8:00pm and April 28 @ 2:00pm
Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre 101 King Street, St CatharinesTickets: $10 at the door
Festival pass: $25 through inthesoil.on.caNathan Tanner MacDonald – Director
Geoffrey Heaney – Performer
Dylan Mawson – Performer
Michael Pearson – Performer
Caitlin Popek – Performer
Kate Hardy – Stage Manager
Finn Archinuk – DesignerGraduates of the Department of Dramatic Arts are on the boards again and this time they are playing IN THE SOIL.
Nathan Tanner Mac Donald – A resident of the St Catharines downtown area and recent graduate of the Department of Dramatic Arts has brought together a team of DART students to present this metaphysical rollercoaster. The Clockmaker may seem like little more than a love story set inside a murder-mystery-to-be, but it just might end up exposing the very truth of existence itself.
Nathan recently performed in the 2011 STRUTT wearable art show and this past summer he wrote and directed Circus, which played at Factory Theatre in the 2011 Toronto Fringe Festival. He cannot wait to share the brilliant play The Clockmaker in this year’s festival.
In the Soil Arts Festival brings Niagara artists from a range of disciplines together to provide unique audience experiences. The festival nurtures the creation of new work, showcases talent, encourages innovation, offers learning opportunities for youth and provides intimate and uncommon platforms for audiences to experience work by contemporary performing and literary artists, musicians and media artists. In the Soil is Niagara’s homegrown arts festival and is working to make a Niagara that is self-determining and culturally distinct.
for more information see the IN THE SOIL website
Break-a-leg, Nathan, Caitlin, Geoffrey, Kate and Finn!
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cSTAC Prof hits national airwaves this Sunday in CBC quiz
Humanities professor Sharilyn Ingram will put Brock University on a national stage this weekend. She’s one of three academics who will duke it out in a pre-Canada Day quiz on CBC Radio’s flagship current affairs program, the Sunday Edition.
The show was pre-taped with host Michael Enright earlier this month, though Ingram is sworn to secrecy about who prevails in the good-natured derby between herself, University of Calgary professor Rebecca Sullivan and Anthony Stewart of Dalhousie University.
She says the experience was fun, if a bit nerve-wracking. The questions cover a broad range of topics, from history to geography and pop culture.
“There are some very creative answers, and we all laughed a lot,” said Ingram, who teaches in the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture. “The quiz was meant to be a light-hearted look at all things Canadian, and I think it lived up to this goal.”
Staging a quiz with contestants in three different studios across Canada has its challenges. She said each contestant was asked to bring their own noisemaker to signal their attempt to answer.
“I learned that it was most important to be the first to get the noisemaker going, and only then worry about whether you knew the answer – which accounts for some pauses, as well as some wild guesses.”
Ingram ended up on CBC through a twist of fate. At a recent social event in Toronto, a producer for the program was mentioning the search for an academic who is a good fit for a pop-culture quiz on Canada. A friend of Ingram’s was present, and the rest is history.
“One of my former employees said I would be perfect – never defeated in Trivial Pursuit.”
The quiz will air June 24 during the show’s final hour, between 11 a.m. and noon, on 99.1 CBC Radio One.
see brocku.ca/brock-news/?p=17110
Posted by tmayer tttton Jun 22nd, 2012 and filed under Gallery, Top stories. ttYou can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. ttttYou can leave a response or trackback to this entry
