Articles from:October 2018

  • DART Faculty co-direct a Play in Four Hours at Curriculum and Pedagogy conference in New Orleans

    Wednesday, October 31, 2018 | By

    Joe Norris, Rich Edmonson, Sharon Gile, Rick Breault, Janis McTeer

    Classroom Territoriality (Left to Right) Joe Norris, Rich Edmonson, Sharon Gile, Rick Breault, Janis McTeer

    A Play in Four Hours

    Using the playbuilding research process, Dramatic Arts Chair Joe Norris and graduate student Kevin Hobbs co-directed delegates at the Curriculum and Pedagogy conference in New Orleans, Oct. 17 and 18.

    After two, one and one-half hour devising sessions, and a one-hour rehearsal, they performed their series of nine vignettes, entitled: The Shape of School, at the closing conference event. The emergent themes included territoriality of classroom spaces, the pervasiveness of heteronormativity in the school yard, forms of administrative control of students and teachers, perceived status of particular schools and competing educational philosophies. It was concluded that these and other issues are strong undercurrents that contribute to the ethos of school experiences.

    Audience members participated in workshopping the scenes through body sculpting and discussions, with one conference delegate claiming that the images and issues would haunt her for some time to come.

     In addition to Norris and Hobbs, the participating playwrights were Rick Breault, Ashland University; Sharon Gile, Claflin University; Janis McTeer, Kent State University; Karen Morris, RJ Reynold High School, North Carolina; Sam Tanner, Penn State University; and Miryam Espinosa-Dulanto, Rich Edmonson, and Zulema Williams all from University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley.

     

    The Shape of Schools (Left to Right) Kevin Hobbs, Sam Tanner, Sharon Gile, Janis McTeer

    Leave it at the Door (Left to Right) Sharon Gile, Janis McTeer, Kevin Hobbs and Rick Breault

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    Categories: Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Brock Music students to take the stage for first time this season

    Friday, October 26, 2018 | By

    Brock music student is on stage playing his guitar.

    (From The Brock News, Friday Oct. 26, 2018)

    For the first time this season, students in Brock’s Department of Music are set to perform on the same stage that their instructors did just weeks before.

    The RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series continues on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    Students have the opportunity to perform in the Cairns Recital Hall in front of staff, faculty, fellow students and the community. Performers will include piano, vocal and instrumental students.

    Music@Noon is a free recital series that takes place most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year.

    For more information about the series, please visit the Music@Noon webpage.

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    Categories: Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, News

  • Public roundtable to explore Antigone’s relevance to modern society

    Thursday, October 25, 2018 | By

    Catherine Tait and Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk are seen on stage for Antigone.

    Students in Brock’s Department of Dramatic Arts have been working for months to bring the classic Greek tragedy Antigone to the mainstage this weekend. The production will have a six-show run at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in downtown St. Catharines, opening on Friday, Oct. 26. Seen during last week’s media call are actors Catherine Tait (Antigone), left, and Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk (Ismene).

    (From The Brock News, Thursday Oct. 25, 2018 | By Jaquelyn Bezaire)

    Gender inequality, corruption and the conflict between personal beliefs and the laws of society are all at the centre of Brock’s new mainstage production, Antigone.

    And although the classic Greek tragedy is more than 2,500 years old, a roundtable discussion will be held at the University next week to discuss its relevance to today.

    Elizabeth Vlossak, History Professor and Director of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), hopes to delve into the reasons why Antigone is one of the most read, performed and adapted plays in all of dramatic literature.

    On Wednesday, Oct. 31, she will moderate the roundtable that will include a panel of professors from Brock’s departments of Classics, Political Science, Philosophy and Dramatic Arts.

    Faculty, staff, students and the community are invited to join the panellists in the conversation, which begins at 3 p.m. in the Scotiabank Atrium of the Cairns Family Health and Bioscience Research Complex.

    The informative and lively discussion will highlight the importance of Antigone and the connections that can be made across academic disciplines.

    The panellists will explain why Antigone is not only studied in courses about Ancient Greece but is also used to explore political theory, gender dynamics and various religious and moral problems.

    Panellists include professors Roberto Nickel (Classics), Adam Rappold (Classics), Athena Colman (Philosophy), Stefan Dolgert (Political Science) and Mike Griffin (Dramatic Arts).

    Vlossak organized the event in part to promote the upcoming production of Antigone, which opens Friday, Oct 26. The play is presented by Brock’s Department of Dramatic Arts.

    “One of my goals as Director of the MIWSFPA has been to increase student, faculty and public awareness, interest and participation in our programming at the school,” said Vlossak. “But this interdisciplinary panel discussion is also about bridging the two campuses. It’s bringing faculty from different departments together to share their expertise with students and the public, and it’s showcasing how the fine and performing arts can be incorporated into all of our teaching, learning and research, as well as our everyday lives, in meaningful ways.”

    The roundtable will begin by exploring the world of Sophocles and Antigone’s significance in ancient drama and performance.

    Other topics of discussion include the legacy of Antigone in the fields of politics and philosophy, the continued pedagogical value of studying Antigone, and the play’s relevance in the current political climate.

    “Antigone still inspires political rebels today, who find in her obstinate resistance a role model for action in the present,” said Dolgert. “Antigone is for those who refuse to accept the tired cliché that politics is ‘the art of the possible,’ as it is her seemingly irrational affirmation of the impossible that ultimately prevails.”

    Griffin, a Dramatic Arts lecturer and the production’s Director, will join the panel and explain why he chose the play for Brock’s mainstage performance.

    He hopes to “paint Antigone as a strong woman,” and aims to show how themes of the #MeToo movement are reflected throughout the production.

    Antigone runs Oct. 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. and Nov. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a high school matinee on Nov. 2 at 11:30 a.m.

    The production will be held in MIWSFPA’s Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in downtown St. Catharines. Tickets are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office at 905-688-0722 or on the PAC website.

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    Categories: Current Students, Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Sounds of clarinet and piano to fill Music@Noon stage

    Friday, October 19, 2018 | By

    Zoltan Kalman

    Clarinetist Zoltan Kalman will perform Tuesday, Oct. 23 as part of the RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series.

    (From The Brock News, Friday Oct. 19)

    Headshot of Gary Forbes

    Pianist Gary Forbes.

    Clarinetist Zoltan Kalman and pianist Gary Forbes will combine their sounds for the next RBC Foundation Music@Noon Recital Series performance on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

    The show, which include works by composers Aaron Copland, Johannes Brahms and Luigi Bassi, is part of the free weekly concert series hosted by the Department of Music and generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation.

    Kalman performs as principal clarinetist for both the Niagara Symphony and Symphony Hamilton, and also acts as the conductor for the University Wind Ensemble at Brock University.

    Along with his work at Brock University as Staff Accompanist, Forbes is a freelance collaborative pianist, Director of Music at St. Cuthbert’s Anglican Church and founder of the Reverberations Concert Series.

    Kalman and Forbes are among many talented musicians who will grace the Music@Noon stage throughout the academic year. Performances in the concert series take place most Tuesdays at noon in Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    For more information about upcoming performances please visit the Music@Noon web page.

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    Categories: Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Antigone explores modern ideas through classic Greek tragedy

    Monday, October 15, 2018 | By

    Students in the DART undergraduate program performing Greek tragedy Antigone

    Students in the DART undergraduate program have been rehearsing for months to bring the classic Greek tragedy Antigone to life on stage with a run beginning Oct. 26

    (From The Brock News, Friday Oct. 15, 2018 | By Sarah Moore)

    Sophocles’ Antigone may be more than 2,500 years old, but its relevance to the #MeToo and civil rights movements of today makes it resonate as strongly now as when it was first written.

    The new mainstage production from Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) tells the story of a woman rebelling against patriarchy and the establishment — a woman who is willing to sacrifice everything to stand up for what she believes is right.

    Antigone’s tragic protest against King Creon’s prohibition of mourning her dead brother makes the audience question what choice we have when our personal beliefs conflict with the laws of the state. The play also examines the effects that gender inequality and unbridled power have on society.

    DART faculty member Mike Griffin, who adapted and directs the production that will run at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre, said the classic Greek tragedy was the perfect fit for the first mainstage performance of the 2018-19 season.

    “Antigone is one of the oldest examples of a powerful, independent female character in theatre and literature,” he said. “It is eerily unfortunate that this ancient world, in which she was born, has many similarities to the one we currently live in, and through that I think the play really speaks to today.

    “I also think it’s a fantastic challenge for my students to dive into a story that is really valued as such an influential, classical text.”

    Adam Rappold, Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics, worked with Griffin and the cast to dissect the Greek text and highlight major themes of the play pertinent to today’s audiences.

    “It is a work which manages to be, at once, both bewitchingly alien while still also familiar enough that it could have been ripped from today’s headlines,” Rappold said. “More pressingly for our current moment, it is likely the voice and personality of Antigone herself who continues to speak to audiences — a powerful and decidedly female scream of rage against iniquity and oppression, which, even after more than two centuries, refuses to be silenced.”

    With a contemporary approach to an ancient story, this production blends classical text with movement and image-based storytelling and explores a rich score of ensemble choral voices. The adaptation explores a shattered world touched by both contemporary and ancient times through a collage of poetry and physical theatre.

    “My vision is to paint Antigone as a strong woman, with the caveat that a strong woman should not be a stereotype but a norm that we are very familiar with,” Griffin said. “Hopefully her presence in standing up for what she believes in is something that can potentially propel audiences forward to feel confident in thinking that ‘when injustice happens to me, I will stand up for what’s right.’”

    The set and costumes for Antigone were designed by Brock Dramatic Arts Instructor Kelly Wolf, lighting was designed by Chris Malkowski and sound designed by Visual Arts Media Resource Co-ordinator Max Holten-Anderson (BMus ’10).

    The production showcases the talents of students in the DART undergraduate program. Student performers include Catherine Tait, Tristan Holmes, Alexandra Chubaty Boychuk, Matt Burt, Taj-Alexander Crozier, Tyler Simpson, Colin Williams, Mae Smith, Grace Martins, Samantha Rideout, Katie Cole, Diego Blanco, Heather Janser and James Dengate.

    Other student crew members include: Avery Delaney (Dresser), Peter Herbert (Stage Carpenter), Molly Lacey (Dresser), Sid Malcolm (Sound Operator), Heidi Nickel (Lighting Operator) and Jackson Wagner (Props Runner).

    Antigone runs Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 28 at 2 p.m., and Nov. 2 and 3 at 7:30 p.m. There will be a high school matinee on Nov. 2 at 11:30 a.m. The evening performance on Nov. 2 will include an American Sign Language interpreter for members of the deaf and hard-of-hearing community.

    The production will run at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre at Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines.

    Tickets for the show are $18 for adults and $15 for students and seniors. There’s also a $10 group rate and a $5 eyeGo high school program rate available. Tickets are available through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office at 905-688-0722 or on the PAC website.

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    Categories: Alumni, Announcements, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Brock cello instructor to take stage for Music@Noon

    Monday, October 15, 2018 | By

    Gordon Clenand, cellist, stand with his cello

    Cellist Gordon Cleland will perform on stage for the RBC Foundation Music@Noon series on Oct. 16 at the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    (From The Brock News, Monday, Oct. 15)

    The 2018-19 RBC Foundation Music@Noon series continues with its second performance of the season on Tuesday, Oct. 16.

    Generously sponsored by the RBC Foundation and hosted by the Department of Music, the free concert series performance will feature Brock cello instructor Gordon Cleland. All are invited to attend the recital, taking place in the Cairns Recital Hall of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in downtown St. Catharines.

    Currently performing with the Niagara Symphony as the principal cellist, Cleland has also performed as a soloist for the Debut Series in Montreal as well as across North America.

    Music@Noon takes place at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre most Tuesdays at noon during the academic year.

    For more information on upcoming performances, please visit ExperienceBU.

     

     

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    Categories: Department/Centre News, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Public talk and exhibition explore selfies and homeownership

    Friday, October 05, 2018 | By

    man taking a selfie in front of a group of people in black and white

    In his exhibition running until Nov. 7, Alejandro Cartagena has curated a selection of Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s vast collection of publicly shared selfies. (Photo courtesy of Alejandro Cartagena, from the official website of the office of the President of Mexico)

    (From The Brock News, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)

    While acclaimed artist Alejandro Cartagena’s work focuses mainly on suburban life in Mexico, the themes expressed in his photographs bear uncanny resemblances to issues also currently impacting Canadians.

    Brock Visual Arts Professor Amy Friend said it’s that universality that made Cartagena’s work so appealing and was why she invited him to this year’s Walker Cultural Leaders Series at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA).

    Alejandro Cartagena, an international award-winning artist, self-publisher and editor who lives and works in Monterrey, Mexico, will present a lecture and exhibition as part of the Walker Cultural Leaders Series Oct. 17. (Photo courtesy of Alejandro Cartagena)

    “I’ve seen Cartagena’s work making an impact in how he is able to question political issues, mostly focused in Mexico, but I think there is a really universal message in what he is presenting,” she said. “It’s also important for students and the public to interact on a personal basis with a successful, working artist. To see that these are real people making real work in the real world — and it’s creating a dialogue.”

    Cartagena is presenting an exhibition, Presidential Guide to Selfies, and giving a public lecture titled Visualizing space and some ideas of homeownership 2006 to 2018.  The exhibition opening reception and the lecture both take place on Wednesday, Oct. 17 and are free and open to the public.

    Hosted in the VISA Gallery and Student Exhibition Space, Presidential Guide to Selfies asks people to question the motives behind Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto’s vast collection of publicly shared selfies.

    Cartagena has curated a selection of these selfies (currently posted to the President’s Official website) as a means to examine whether these images are being shared to show the Mexican President’s engagement with the people of his country, or whether it is merely an exercise in vanity as he ‘poses with his fans.’
    Cartagena has also created an accompanying photobook for this exhibition in which he details the events surrounding each selfie.

    Friend noted that in an age of cell phones and social media, and with Canada’s own Justin Trudeau often affectionately and critically called ‘Prime Minister Selfie,’ the exhibition’s exploration of politics, social media connectivity and celebrity culture is exceptionally timely.

    Following the gallery opening, Cartagena will explore the interdependence of humans and landscape in the face of urban expansion in a lecture drawing from his own body of work.

    Carpoolers, for example, is comprised of a series of photographs taken of migrant workers travelling around Mexico in the beds of pickup trucks.

    In his public lecture on Oct. 17, Alejandro Cartagena will explore issues of home and ownership through the use of his work such as Carpoolers, which documents migrant workers riding in the back of vehicles. (Photo courtesy of Alejandro Cartagena)

    The images of hardworking labourers travelling from job to job during the harvest season can conjure connections to Niagara’s own large migrant worker population.

    In Ontario alone, tens of thousands of migrant workers come to farms, orchards and greenhouses as part of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program every year. They work and live in communities in the Niagara Fruit Belt, often spending six to eight months working in the agricultural hub of the province.

    “The idea of ownership floats around in Cartagena’s work, looking at suburban Mexican homes, border issues, migrant issues, issues of poverty and wealth,” said Friend. “It’s quite poignant now, in particular with what is happening with migration issues worldwide, and it also makes us question how we treat our own migrant workers. How do we decide how housing is built? Do we even know what is happening here in Canada?”

    The lecture is being held in the Robertson Theatre at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    Steve Solski, Executive Director, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, said hosting the event in conjunction with the MIWSFPA is another example of the close community partnership between the two establishments.

    “The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre and our neighbours at the Marilyn I. Walker School have together truly become the cultural hub for our city and region,” said Solski. “The synergy between bringing together the very best artists from across our country and world paired with nurturing and developing local artists and young creative minds, is key to our thriving arts community.”

    Tickets to the lecture are free, but registration is required by visiting the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre website.  The exhibition runs until Nov. 7.

    Presidential Guide to Selfies
    Exhibition opening: Wednesday, Oct. 17, 5 p.m., VISA Art Gallery and Student Exhibition Space, MIWSFPA
    Exhibition runs: Oct. 4 to Nov. 7

    Visualizing space and some ideas of homeownership 2006-2018
    Wednesday, Oct. 17, 6 p.m., Robertson Theatre, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

    The Walker Cultural Leader series brings leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University. Engaging, lively and erudite, these sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in our society. Please join us. This education program is generously founded by Marilyn I. Walker.

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    Categories: Events, Walker Cultural Leader Series

  • Brock mourning the death of Peter Partridge Sr.

    Friday, October 05, 2018 | By

    Peter Partridge Sr.

    (From The Brock News, Friday, Oct. 5, 2018 | by )

    One of the longest-standing supporters of Brock University has passed away.

    Peter Partridge Sr., a former Brock Board of Trustees member and the longtime Chair of the Rodman Hall Advisory Committee, died suddenly Thursday night.

    Partridge’s ties to Brock go back to the late 1960s when he was asked by then-President James Gibson to run a new University choir. A talented musician who studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, Partridge’s support for the arts at Brock and across Niagara was unwavering. He was a generous contributor to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. The Partridge Family Music Suite at the downtown arts school is named in his honour. At the nearby FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, one of the main halls — frequently used for music classes by Brock University students — also bears his name.

    “Peter provided outstanding leadership and support to Brock and the Niagara community,” said Pamela Shanks, Executive Director, Development and Alumni Relations. “Peter’s passion for music and art, and his generous philanthropy, have created a lasting legacy that will not be forgotten.”

    Partridge served on many boards and committees over the years at Brock, including serving on the Board of Trustees from 2004 to 2010. When Rodman Hall was taken over by Brock University in 2003, Partridge was named Chair of the Advisory Committee, a role he was still serving in at the time of his death.

    “Peter was asked by President David Atkinson at the time to take on that role and he was honoured to do it,” said Rodman Hall Director Tom Arkell. “During his 15 years as chair, Peter offered leadership, guidance, encouragement and support. He will be missed dearly by all of us who had the chance to work with him.”

    Partridge was also an ardent supporter of Brock athletics, and was a devout fan of the Badgers men’s basketball team. Partridge and his son, Peter Jr., were regular faces at Brock home games, and the pair travelled to Halifax earlier this year to watch the team compete in the U SPORTS National Championships. The men’s basketball team dressing room was renamed the Partridge Family Locker Room after a contribution in 2016 allowed it to be completely renovated.

    “Every university program should be able to experience the type of support, passion, commitment and dedication someone like Peter Sr. and his family provided,” said former Badgers men’s basketball coach Charles Kissi, who is on a one-year leave to coach with the Raptors 905 development team. “I learned a lot from him in terms of my coaching and the way he was always smiling and vibrant and how he engaged with others.

    “It’s a tremendous loss to his family and to the community and I would say to the world.”

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    Categories: Announcements, News

  • Walker Cultural Leaders Series Presents: Zine Making Workshop

    Thursday, October 04, 2018 | By

    open program with redacted text on a desk

    The Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture celebrates book-making!
    Join us for a zine-making workshop as part of our 2018 Walker Cultural Leaders Series. This is a free event open to the university and the general public.

    When: Thursday, October 18, 2018 (4:30 – 7:30 pm)
    Where: MIWSFPA 229A (inside the Learning Commons)
    What: Zine-Making Workshop, with Christine Cucciniello

    A zine is a small, non-commercial, often homemade publication.

    In this 3-hour-long workshop, zine author Christine Cucciniello will help participants in the creation of a common zine. Please join us for a fun, creative experience. Each participant will receive a copy of the zine. To reserve a spot, please contact Catherine Parayre at [email protected]

     The event is presented by the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture for the Walker Cultural Leader Series, generously founded by Marilyn I. Walker.

    The Walker Cultural Leader series brings leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University. Engaging, lively and erudite, these sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in our society. Please join us. This education program is generously founded by Marilyn I. Walker.

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    Categories: Events, Walker Cultural Leader Series