News

  • DART, MUSI and MARS present in Toronto at PLS (Poculi Ludique Societas) Festival of Medieval Theatre

    Wednesday, June 10, 2015 | By

    vsCOLLEAGUES, STUDENTS, FRIENDS & FAMILY, If you were in Toronto in early June you were fortunate to see a performance of:

    Visitatio Sepulchri
    (the Visit to the Sepulchre)

    A 12th-CENTURY EASTER MUSIC DRAMA
    acting version transcribed and translated
    by W. L. Smoldon from the ‘Fleury Playbook’

    A collaboration between:
    Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies,
    Department of Dramatic Arts, Department of Music

    Part of the PLS (Poculi Ludique Societas) Festival of Medieval Theatre.

    When: Saturday, June 6, 7 p.m.
    Sunday, June 7, 2:30 p.m.
    Where: Trinity College Chapel University of Toronto,  6 Hoskin Avenue

    Music Director: Dr. Brian Power, Department of Music
    Stage Director: Professor Virginia Reh, Department of Dramatic Arts

    img_1284cr_400px

    The company of Visitatio Sepulchri in the Trinity College Chapel. Photograph by Mrs. Chin Tso.

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

  • Students and Alumni representing Dramatic Arts at Fringe Festivals around Ontario

    Friday, June 05, 2015 | By

    NOTE: this article does not refer to the Fringe Festivals of 2015.

     

    Promotional poster for Super

    Students and alumni of the Department of Dramatic Arts are engaged in creating, performing and producing new and innovative theatrical productions In three out of the four Fringe Festivals in Ontario. Canada enjoys more Fringe festivals than any other country in the world with 16 individual festivals. Originating with the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in 1947, these shows create an opportunity for affordable and accessible theatre where artists and audiences can take risks in an unjuried, uncensored, lottery programmed festival of the performing arts. The festivals are united under the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals.

    The London Fringe Festival closed on June 16th and featured two shows developed and performed by DART students and graduates. 

    Promotional poster for Trailers, Credits, Prologues & Epitaphs

    James Lowe (class of 2013) wrote and directed the production Super. A comedic farce on the Superhero genre, Super showcased the trials and tribulations of seven mismatched and dysfunctional Superheroes with unfortunately awful powers. Performing in the show were 8 students/grads of the program, Brent Cairns, Rachelle Lauzon, Kendra Kneaves, Brianne Lidstone, Cassandra Van Wyck, Matt Da Costa, Nicholas Leno, and Emma Strong. All of these performers have been featured in main stage productions at Brock. In a review published in theatreinlondon.ca  Erika Faust said “The eight members of the cast work well together as they help each person tell the story of how they discovered their powers. Super is definitely about the journey, not the destination.”

    Current DART student Evan Bawtinheimer wrote the edgy piece Trailers, Credits, Prologues & Epitaphs also produced at London Fringe this year. In theis new play a runaway teen, a husband with severe memory loss, and a nurse with a guilty conscience are victims of a movie theatre shooting. Each of them seeks redemption and recognition in this memory play exploring family, honour, and love.

    The cast of A Young Lady’s Guide to Vivisection posing with portraits of their historical counterparts

    Toronto Fringe, running July 3rd to 14th, has many DART students and graduates among the participating creators and theatre makers. 

    Empty Box Theatre is producing the new show A Young Lady’s Guide to Vivisection. This “gruesome dramedy” follows the Queen’s University medical class of 1884 as they adjust to the arrival of the first female students, new scientific ideas, and the marvellously mad world of Victorian medicine. Artistic director and DART student Keavy Lynch has cast performers from both the Brock and Queens theatre communities including DART grad Jonathan Philips (class of 2012).

    In her review in Toronto Now Magazine, Kathleen Smith wrote “In a series of well written vignettes by director Keavy Lynch and the company, the struggles of women and men wanting to become doctors in mid-nineteenth century Ontario are explored, with both silly and macabre humour.”

    Promotional poster for Spoon

    Spencer Smith (class of 2011) is presenting his show Spoon in the Toronto Fringe Festival. This play premiered at Brock University as a part of his Honours thesis project. Spencer recently spoke to gathered future students at the May DART Invitational and imparted some words of wisdom about studying theatre.

    Mooney on Theatre, a Toronto-based theatre website run by Megan Mooney, reviewed Spoon saying “The mention of a play in this year’s Fringe that explores queer theory through the lives of a gay couple trying to make sense of gender stereotypes caught my interest. Happily, this play more than delivers on its promise.” The full review can be found here.

    Christian Baines wrote in The Charlebois Post: “Spoon swings happily from the disturbingly violent to the perversely erotic. But more than just titillating, writer and actor Spencer Charles Smith has created a work that attacks our preconceived notions of gender within the scope of a budding relationship […] It’s great to find a work that’s willing to go there with such vulnerability and intelligence.”

    Another DART grad, Trevor Ketcheson (class of 2012) is also performing in the Toronto Fringe in The Retirement Plan, a comedic cautionary tale that examines one family’s priorities and the trade-offs they make in attempts to control their future. Mooney on Theatre also reviewed this production calling it “a charming play” and “while the play was a satire I left thinking about my own plans for the future.” The Retirement Plan was chosen as one of the Patron’s Picks. Selection is based on a combination of cash ticket sales after the first four shows coupled with media reception and overall ‘buzz’ of the production. The chosen shows receive an additional performance slot on the final day of the Festival.

    promotional poster for Here playing in the Toronto Fringe Festival

    Graduate Evan Mulrooney (class of 2013), general manager of the company Fulcrum Theatre, is producing the show Here. This multimedia dance-theatre piece examines the notions of being stuck and learning when to say goodbye to something you love. Another grad, Erica Charles (class of 2013), performs the role of Ester in the production Here. Erica was recently awarded the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship (Master’s) for her work “The voice in phenomenology and semiotic theory” as part of her Honours Thesis. Here is also being produced for the Hamilton Fringe Festival running July 18th-28th.

    Mooney On Theatre also reviewed the production saying “Here has all the ingredients of a great play. It has the drama, the dance, the romance, the betrayal, the flashbacks and so much more.”

    Production poster for Nobody’s Idol

    Alexandra Lean (class of 2007) is producing her show, Nobody’s Idol, also in the Toronto Fringe. This is an edgy musical parody where misfits and wannabes dual with their voices for a grand prize of a “lifetime supply of fame” at the world’s most popular televised competition.

    In her graduating year Alexandra was awarded the F. Janet Dolman Prize for Playwritting. We asked her about her experience during the six years since graduating from the Department of Dramatic Arts. Alexandra commented “This award, which came out of the experience I gathered at Brock, really gave me the confidence to go out into the world and say I’m a playwright. I found my experience in courses like Directing (DART 3P53) and Advanced Studies in Theatre (DART 4F56) gave me the hands on experience I needed to take on the task of putting on my first professional production. Even though my Fringe show is a musical I have taken all that academic talk about theatricality and such into this experience” Alexandra continued. She also spoke of her experience running the Brock Improv club. “This was my first real leadership role and it has informed my work as both a writer and producer.”

    Also playing in the Hamilton Fringe Festival (July 18th-28th) is Nocturne, where you will see Michael Pearson (BA 2011, BEd 2012) as a young aspiring (albeit incompetent) magician thrown into the depths of the second world war. See their Facebook page here.

    The Department of Dramatic Arts is proud to have such talented, creative students and alumni in some of the largest Fringe Festivals in North America. Break a leg!

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    Categories: Alumni, Current Students, News

  • Trio of awards for dramatic arts professor

    Tuesday, May 19, 2015 | By

    (Source: The Brock News, Tuesday, May 19, 2015 | by . Photo: Joe Norris was recently presented with two international awards and one from Brock for his unique approach to research.)

    It has been a busy spring for Joe Norris.

    In the midst of packing up his office to transfer to the new Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, the dramatic arts professor added three newly acquired items to take with him: two awards from the American Educational Research Association and one from Brock University.

    Norris and Richard D. Sawyer from Washington State University captured the association’s Significant Contribution to Educational Measurement and Research Methodology Award.

    They were recognized for their book, Understanding Qualitative Research: Duoethnography, which Norris and Sawyer co-wrote. The book details the duo’s new research methodology called “duoethnography.”

    This involves two people conversing with one another on the same subject from very different viewpoints. As they gain insights and knowledge through the course of the conversation, the two people begin to change their perspectives. These changes in viewpoints become the research data.

    This differs from traditional information-gathering methods, such as using questionnaires, surveys, interviews, observations and other methods.

    Norris’s second American Educational Research Association recognition is the 2015 Tom Barone Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts-Based Educational Research, which is given every three years for a lifetime of dedicated research.

    “It is rewarding to know that something you’ve created supports the work of a large number of people,” says Norris of his recognitions and his focus on creating and developing unique research methodologies. “People have come up to me and said I’ve been able to provide a rationale that gives them justification for what they want or need to do.”

    Among his many activities, Norris is credited with transforming playbuilding into a research methodology that uses theatrical devices to create performance/workshops that deepen our understanding of the social world.

    Here, the participatory research “data” includes audience members’ responses to what they see on the stage or video. The audience addresses the problems they see being acted out, teaching themselves about the topic in the process.

    To add to his collection, Norris also won the Faculty of Humanities’ 2015 Humanities Award for Excellence in Research and Creative Activity.

    “Professor Norris’s accumulated record of work in theatre and social issues has certainly earned him this award,” says Carol Merriam, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Humanities.

    “His use of his skills and talents in the exploration of social issues, including mental health issues, violence in the workplace and the negative impacts of alcohol, and the involvement of his students in this work, is especially impressive.”

    Norris says he is heartened by the “generosity, playfulness and rigour” of students involved in his research projects, particularly Mirror Theatre, which he co-ordinates. Norris is currently exploring the pros and cons of the written word compared to other media, such as visual work, performances, dance, music and video.

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    Categories: Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News

  • Dramatic Arts Professor reports on Eurovision’s 60th birthday

    Tuesday, May 19, 2015 | By

    book cover for: Performing the 'New' Europe: Identities, Feelings and Politics at the Eurovision Song Contest

    book cover for: Performing the ‘New’ Europe: Identities, Feelings and Politics at the Eurovision Song Contest

    Professor Karen Fricker of Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts reports about the Eurovision Song Contest for the May 19th, 2015 edition of the national CBC radio show “Q”.

    “Eurovision turns 60: Karen Fricker on what to watch for this year
    Yes, Eurovision is a song competition — but it’s also a microcosm of geopolitical tensions, says scholar Karen Fricker.”
    (source: CBC website)

    Professor Fricker is co-founder of the Eurovision and ‘New’ Europe academic research network. She has spent the last decade attending “Europe’s favourite TV show”, the Eurovision Song Contest, the annual pop song festival watched by over 170 million people all over the world.

    Professor Fricker, who lectures in the praxis concentration at DART, launched her co-edited book Performing the ‘New’ Europe: Identities, Feelings and Politics at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013. This volume argues that this popular music competition is a symbolic contact zone between European cultures: an arena for European identification in which both national solidarity and participation in a European identity are confirmed, and a site where cultural struggles over the meanings, frontiers and limits of Europe are enacted.

    To listen to the radio interview, read more about the 60th anniversary edition of Eurovision and to see select videos of participating artists see the cbc.ca article here: http://bit.ly/1HqiC1a

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    Categories: Faculty & Instructors, News

  • Terry Judd, Co-Artistic Director and Founder of Theatre Beyond Words, in memoriam

    Monday, April 27, 2015 | By

    The family hosted a celebration of Terry’s life on Sunday April 26 from 1 – 4 pm at the Community Centre, 14 Anderson Lane (just off Hwy 55/Stone Road) in Niagara-on-the-Lake.  Spoken memories of Terry, a DVD of some of Terry’s work and a slide show of special family moments were presented from 1:30 – 2:30 pm.   This was followed by time for visiting, storytelling and raising a glass to a life well lived.

    We are very saddened to learn of the passing of our dear colleague and friend, the late Terry Judd, one of the original six co-founders of Theatre Beyond Words.

    Theatre Beyond Words was founded as a creation collective in 1977 and three of the original six members, Robin Patterson, Terry Judd and Harro Maskow were until recently still actively involved with the company.  Before they were called TBW they were a company with Adrian Pecknold called the Canadian Mime Company, and ran a Canadian Mime School in the Niagara-on-the-Lake Courthouse that Shaw now uses for its regular prsenentation program.

    The ensemble develops original physical theatre works for both young and adult audiences – the ratio is about half and half.  TBW is renowned for its fine artistic productions that transcend language barriers through the innovative uses of masks, puppetry, visual images, text and music.

    The work is created in the Niagara Region. Some of it has toured to schools and studio theatres in Ontario; much has toured to the general public in 10 provinces of Canada, 40 states in the USA, and throughout Spain, France, Germany, Portugal, Russia, Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia, Moldava, Azerbaijan, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Kores, Australia and Argentina.  The company has represented Canada at international festivals, EXPOs and prestigious theatres such as the NAC (Ottawa), The National Theatre of Japan (Tokyo), The Lincoln Centre (NYC), The Odessa Opera House (Ukraine), The Pushin Theatre (Moscow), The Gelbenkian Institute (Lisbon) and La Chartreuse (Villeneuve-lez-Avignon).

    Theatre Beyond Words is DART and Brock University’s Resident Theatre Company, and have been for almost as long as the university has been in existence. Our colleague Glenys McQueen-Fuentes remarks that ” …although it was perhaps less known in recent years, their partnership with Brock was, back then, a daring and unusually creative move….TBW were at the peak of their work, were the best known physical theatre troupe in Canada, and were traveling around the world annually.  Brock was the ONLY university to have a Resident Theatre Company–and TBW’s annual spring/summer full credit course in physical theatre, mime and mask was also the only such course in physical theatre offered at any university in Canada…and the panorama continued like that for many, many years.  So they and Brock created new inroads in theatre, in theatre in university, and in partnerships between academic institutions and performance art groups, which has continued up to the present. Entire generations of our students were introduced to Theatre Beyond Words from their Potato People school touring series of plays for children and youth, and they were equally enthralled with the more adult non-verbal theatre productions that TBW have presented many times as DART field trips.”

    Glenys reminds us that “one of the most valuable undertakings between DART and TBW was in the area of apprenticeships.  TBW held physical theatre workshop sessions, and auditioned participating DART students to be an integral part of their touring group, and many of our graduates were fortunate enough to be trained for and perform in international, national, and provincial tours.  In fact, TBW created a junior company, called “The Spuds” to revisit, invent, and tour both old and new material.  They have been a driving force in our Department!”

    Terry and Robin Patterson have taught the Spring intensive course DART 2F04 Introduction to Physical Theatre for many years. Robin and Terry also teach/have taught within the DART program during fall and winter sessions, and they also frequently performed for University projects, such as the annual Soirees, the United Way drives, etc. This past December Terry and Robin co-directed A Commedia Christmas Carol at Niagara University in Lewiston, New York.

    The Department of Dramatic Arts honours Terry and TBW for their many contributions to Canadian theatre, to the Niagara Region, and more specifically to and with Brock University.

    On Sunday February 15, 2015, Terry died quite peacefully at the St. Catharines General Hospital.  His struggle with Leukemia, conflicting heart problems and then pneumonia was finally too much for his system to bear.  He passed away quite peacefully with family by his side.

    Our hearts go out to Robin and Harro and their families.

    Please see this page for further information.

    To submit a comment or share a memory about Terry, please e-mail [email protected]

    a selection of comments marked ‘public’ are posted below
    (with material from the Theatre Beyond Words website)

    From the Theatre Beyond Words website:

    “Terry Judd, Co-Artistic Director
    A graduate of Wilfred Laurier U. in Waterloo, ON, Terry is a founding member of Theatre Beyond Words and has performed, written and directed for the company from its inception to the present.  He teaches physical theatre credit courses part time at Brock U, St. Catharines, ON and Niagara U, NF, NY.

    Other theatre credits include the Stratford Festival where he won the Chalmers Apprentice Award; the Manitoba Theatre Centre; Neptune Theatre; the National Arts Centre; and the Shaw Festival.  He was also one of the original members of the Gryphon Theatre Company in Barrie.  Terry has performed with Carousel Players in productions of The Lion,the Witch and the Wardrobe, Patty’s Cake and George and Martha; and with Odyssey Theatre, Ottawa in the commedia dell’arte productions of The Wedding and Bungsu and the Big Snake.

    Most recently for TBW, he performed in Silly Old Men Ought Not to Fall in Love (2003-2005); was part of the creative team and performed in the Canadian tour of the Argentinean co-production Imaginarius (2004-2007); and continues to perform in the 30th anniversary lecture-demonstration Journey Behind the Mask.  He was Co-Director for the Niagara University production of Night Train to Foggy Bottom (2008).  In 2009 he performed in the TBW première of Gifts from the Heart and played Sir Simon de Canterville in the Shaw Festival/TBW workshop of The Canterville Ghost.”

    Selected comments from our community:

    Name: Mikko Kivisto
    Location: St. Catharines, ON
    When and how did you know Terry?: As a student of DART 2F04, Summer 2013
    Your comments: I had the pleasure of learning about physical theatre from Terry and Robin back in the Summer of 2013. Terry was was a kind and warm soul, full of encouragement and support for the students. My relationship with Terry continued beyond the classroom, as I worked on a research paper on Theatre Beyond Words the following year, and as a front-of-house volunteer. I will miss him very much, and offer my condolences to Robin.

    Name: Monique Wengler (Seheult)
    Location: Germany
    When and how did you know Terry?: I was a part of the TBW company back in around 1990.
    Your comments: Thanks to the professional yet personable training of Terry, Robin and Harrow, and the great opportunity that they had given me to travel the world as Nancy Potato, I have wonderful memories to share with my children and many other people whose paths have intertwined with mine. So thank you Terry. Rest in peace… You life’s footprint lives on in many a heart. ❤

    Name: Stephanie Jones
    Location: Manhattan
    When and how did you know Terry?: Theatre, Niagara, Forever
    Your comments: I first met Terry in the mid-nineties at Brock as I took the summer course with Theatre Beyond words. I would practice soccer and then leave the practice early to rush off to what my fellow soccer players called, “Clown class”.
    Terry knew everyone in arts Niagara and everyone knew him. There wasn’t a person in my life who had not seen a TBW show either at school or in NOTL, and knew of the company. As a student, I was curious as to how Robin and he made a relationship work with all the other tasks to navigate while being an artist and a young mum, and at school they always graciously answered my way too personal questions.
    As I grew into my own, they became colleagues and friends, and their generosity of spirit, and easy going way, always made it easy to deal with them no committees and in discussion about our fair region and its future. it made our getting together a delight instead of a task.
    He was, and will remain one of the most solid actors I had the privilege to work with, and his zen smile will come back to mind often. You will be missed, Terry, and my thoughts go out to Robin and your family.

    Name: maurice yacowar
    Location: calgary
    When and how did you know Terry?: we met when his company joined Brock
    Your comments: I met Terry when we invited his marvellous company to accept residency at Brock. He was a very gentle, insightful man, who easily harnessed the energies, imagination and energies of his inspired troop. He embodied the purity of art. We shall miss him.

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    Categories: Announcements, News

  • Looking for a unique Spring/Summer course? Register for DART 2F04: Introduction to Physical Theatre

    Wednesday, April 22, 2015 | By

    Theatre Beyond Words - object-based theatre and full-body mask

    Theatre Beyond Words – object-based theatre and full-body mask

    Looking for a unique Spring/Summer course? sign-up for a three week-long intensive Introduction to Physical Theatre taught by the resident theatre company of Brock University, Theatre Beyond Words, along with special guest artist Trevor Copp of the company Tottering Biped Theatre based in Burlington. www.totteringbiped.ca

    DART 2F04: Physical Theatre – Education through Collective Creation
    Students will explore a wide range of physical theatre styles (mask, mime, pantomime, graphics, theatrical clown, and commedia dell’arte) by recreating a series of scenes from professional repertoire using masks, puppets, costumes and sets from international touring theatre ensemble and Brock Resident Theatre Company, Theatre Beyond Words. This is a 3-week intensive, full-credit course, running 6 hours per day, 5 days per week. There will be a final performance for invited friends, family and staff at the end of the 3 three weeks. As this is a practicum course, attendance at all classes is mandatory.

    More information about this full-credit course may be found at https://brocku.ca/springsummer/courses/intro-to-physical-theatre

    Enrollment is limited to 20 students. Don’t delay!
    Applicants without previous theatre training at Brock University may enrol with permission of the instructor.

    for more information contact [email protected]

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    Categories: Current Students, Future students, News

  • COMMOTION wins Gold and Silver!

    Monday, April 06, 2015 | By

    commotion_prestige_220Professor Gyllian Raby of Dramatic Arts (DART) and DART Alumna Caitlin English were recently honoured by the news that their film COMMOTION was awarded a Gold medal in the education category and a Silver medal in the research category by Prestige Film Awards, an international juried competition that connects filmmakers with distributors.

    Commotion is a tri-generational program that trains emerging Brock Graduates to create theatre and work with high school students in the surrounding community. The program is run by Gyllian Raby, a Brock professor and Pablo Felices Luna, the past artistic director for Carousel Players youth theatre in St Catharines.

    In reaching out to the local youth, this program is a vital resource to identifying and teaching the relationship between the creative process and group dynamics for Brock’s emerging artists.

    For more information about the project see this news item from November 2011.  See also Prestige Film Awards.

    The COMMOTION project was made possible by SSHRC: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Department of Dramatic Arts of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University, Carousel Players, TALK Niagara and with support from the District School Board of Niagara.

    Congratulations Gyllian and Caitlin!

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    Categories: Alumni, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • DART Spring and Summer courses open for registration March 9

    Friday, March 20, 2015 | By

    Snowbanks are deep and winter term still has weeks to go, but registration will soon open for Brock’s expanded Spring Summer 2015 course offerings.

    Two years of double-digit enrolment growth speak to the program’s booming popularity, and on March 9 registration will open for Spring Summer 2015.

    The 2015 course lineup can be viewed now at brocku.ca/springsummer/

    See the complete article here.

    DART courses available for registration include:

    Contact the Department for more information: [email protected] or 905.688.5550

    A special opportunity to study in Ottawa at Canada’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival!

    Canada’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival (MNTF) takes place in Ottawa this year, and students in this three-credit undergraduate course (for University of Ottawa) will explore its past, present and future during one intense week focusing on theatre history, performance analysis and criticism. Students are expected to see all nine MNTF shows outside of class time (evenings and weekend).

    from the University of Ottawa:

    Special Summer Course Announced

    Canada’s Magnetic North Theatre Festival (MNTF) takes place in Ottawa this June 2015, and students in this three-credit undergraduate course will explore its past, present, and future during one intense week. [read more].

    Students approach the Festival from a number of perspectives, as arts administrators, theatre historians, theatre critics, artistic directors, and arts consultants. They explore MNTF’s mandate and wider role in Canadian theatre; track the history of theatre festivals in Canada and MNTF’s place in this; engage with this year’s festival by viewing and reviewing many of its productions; and consider the festival’s role in disseminating and promoting Canadian theatre. Assessed outcomes include reviews of MNTF productions; optional engagement as a volunteer with the festival; and a final consultant’s report analyzing the 2015 MNTF. This course will be taught in English.

    http://www.magneticnorthfestival.ca/uottawacourse2015festival/

    See this document for all the details!

    Students from Canadian universities (such as Brock) may register as of Wednesday, April 15th but must first complete this form for the University of Ottawa, as well as this form at Brock University ASAP in order to receive a Letter of Permission to earn credit for the Ottawa course.  LOP’s are recorded as Pass or Fail on the Brock transcript. Once the course is finished, you must order a transcript to be sent directly to the Brock Registrar’s office to have a Pass awarded to you. This course will earn you 0.5 credit towards your Brock degree as a third-year level course.

    See here for more information about completing Letter of Permission courses at Brock University.

    Brock students would be reponsible for the Brock LOP application fee, tuition at the University of Ottawa, travel and accommodation costs as well as the Magnetic North Theatre Festival pass available at a discounted rate from the University of Ottawa and the fee for the Univerity of Ottawa transcript.

    At DART please contact Professor Karen Fricker for more information: [email protected]

    for most inquiries regarding the course at the University of Ottawa contact Ms Valérie Laframboise in the Faculty of Arts office at (613) 562-5800, extension 1132, or by e-mail at [email protected]

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future students, News

  • Dramatic Arts student in the news: Students build skills, community during Alternative Reading Week

    Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | By

    (Source: The Brock News, Wednesday, March 18, 2015 | by . Photo: A crew of Brock staff and students travelled to South Carolina during reading week to build a house with Habitat for Humanity.)

    Like many other students come Reading Week, Aaron Drake hopped a plane to an exotic locale. But the first year dramatic arts and education student didn’t kick back and relax when he arrived.

    Drake was one of several Brock students who travelled to El Salvador with Habitat for Humanity to build sidewalks and tamp dirt floors in houses. The experience gave him new perspective, he said.

    “By encouraging myself to continue broadening my understanding of community, I have learned that a world where everyone has a decent home is possible,” Drake said. “It’s about a hand-up, not a hand-out, and when we move beyond the barriers that hold us back, we will find those waiting with open arms.”

    The excursion was part of Student Life and Community Experience’s fifth annual Alternative Reading Week program. This year, 110 Brock staff and students gave up the opportunity to catch up on sleep or studying to volunteer locally or abroad.

    el-salvador-2015-dirt-arrival-300x199

    Brock students helped build sidewalks and tamp floors in houses in El Salvador during Alternative Reading Week.

    Students also joined Habitat for Humanity in South Carolina, where they built a single-story home. Others travelled to Dominican Republic to teach English and lead children’s activities in partnership with Outreach360.

    At home, participants volunteered with Start Me Up Niagara, Lincoln County Humane Society, Heartland Forest, Job Gym/John Howard Society, and the Learning Disabilities Association of Niagara.

    Students were challenged to learn new skills while bettering their community and the lives of others. By the end of the week, staff and students logged 4,100 volunteer hours.

    Jamieson Carr, who joined Drake in El Salvador, would do it all again, if given the opportunity.

    “It’s an incredible experience where you get to witness the impact you can have while serving others,” the first-year accounting student said.

    “Travelling with Brock was an incredible experience,” added kinesiology student Haley Gourley, who went to South Carolina. “I met some amazing people that I never would have gotten the chance to meet otherwise, challenging myself in learning new skills. It was a journey of a lifetime. If you like fried chicken, you’ll love this opportunity even more.”

    Amber Scholtens, a Student Life staff member, led the South Carolina trip. She marvelled at the work Brock students put into the build.

    “Everyone worked hard, with such a positive, genuine attitude and willingness to learn. It was truly an incredible display of what the University is all about and what it means to be a Badger,” Scholtens said. “Witnessing the impact we had on the community and the impact the overall experience had on everyone was amazing.”

    To learn more about students’ experiences during Alternative Reading Week, bring your lunch and join the Service-Learning lunch conversation on Thursday, March 19 from noon to 1 p.m. in TH253.

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    Categories: Current Students, In the Media, News

  • DART students improving gender representation one webpage at a time

    Monday, March 16, 2015 | By

    Second year DART students Sarah Bradford and Sidney Francolini share their new Wikipedia page for theatre director, actor, and professor of the Department of Dramatic Arts, Virginia Reh.

    Second year DART students Sarah Bradford and Sidney Francolini share their new Wikipedia page for theatre director, actor, and professor of the Department of Dramatic Arts, Virginia Reh.

    On March 8, 2015, International Women’s Day, Dramatic Arts students, faculty, and community members joined Equity in Theatre in addressing the online gender disparity of the representation of women in theatre. For three hours, Brock’s Hackathon joined groups of theatre practitioners and supporters from across the country as part of Equity in Theatre’s Hackathon to create or update Wikipedia pages for diverse women in Canadian Theatre.

    Brock’s Hackathon was led by a group of student leaders from DART 1F93, Introduction to Drama, but also saw students from other cohorts in attendance. Musicians Bri Lidstone and Hayley Malouin, fourth year Dramatic Arts students, performed strategically female-driven set-lists during the event, creating an empowering and inclusive atmosphere for all those in attendance. At the end of Brock’s Hackathon, the group had updated and completed 16 Wikipedia entries, focusing on female faculty and staff members, as well as members of the greater Niagara arts community. While the official number of pages updated and/or created is yet to be released from Equity in Theatre, if the online communication and support from groups across the country is any indication, the event succeed in increasing gender representation online, and fostering a network of engaged young theatre practitioners. (Kat Gottli)

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    Categories: Current Students, News

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