Internationally renowned New York City director and playwright Richard Maxwell of the New York City Players recently Skype chatted with students of DART 4F90 Critical Theory and Practice about his touring production of “Ads” and responded to questions of liveness, performer presence, and commodity culture.
DART 4F90, New York City Players, Richard Maxwell
Categories: News, Visiting Artists
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 can be found on YouTube.
Fujimoto Takakyuki, production and design
Categories: News, Visiting Artists
Published on November 06 2011
Students in second year Stagecraft and third year Stage Management recently had the opportunity to hear Cheryl Lalonde, the production/stage manager of TDT, speak about the her career experiences and creative challenges in the mileu of Canadian contemporary dance.
Lalonde began her career in the arts with Act IV Theatre at Adelaide Court. After two years backstage at Toronto Workshop Productions, her design debut was for the premiere production of Tomson Highway’s The Rez Sisters under mentor and director Larry Lewis. Splitting her time between design and stage management has allowed her to travel the world as well as collaborate with many companies, including: Desrosiers Dance Theatre, Danny Grossman Dance Company, Fujiwara Dance Inventions, Eclectic Theatre, Alberta Ballet, Dreamwalker Dance Company, Theatre Smith Gilmour, and Kaeja d’Dance. Ms. Lalonde has served on the faculty of Theatre Arts at The Banff Centre for eight summers, and recently participated in a panel of Canadian Stage Managers to establish a DACUM occupational analysis for Stage Management. 2011 marks Cheryl’s eleventh season with TDT.
Later that evening Christopher House, Artistic Director for TDT, invited the public for in an informal discussion of The Visual Art of Dance at the Niagara Artists Centre. DART first year students had previously attended a special workshop on movement lead by instructors of the TDT School and will also attend the presentation of Severe Clear in late November at the David S. Howes Theatre of the Brock Centre for the Arts. Lighting Design for Severe Clear is conceived by DART alumnus, Roelof Peter Snippe.
THE DEPARTMENT OF DRAMATIC ARTS
DART 3V90: Theory and Practice of Drama in Education with JONOTHAN NEELANDS
Six-day intensive course: Monday, July 25 – Saturday, July 30, 2011
Through a combination of workshops, demonstrations, reflections, and lectures, this course examines models for the planning and teaching of process drama. It will provide the opportunity for students to examine the community effects of drama and its role in our personal and social development. This half-credit course will be intensely practical and relevant to teaching the full age range of children through to adults. The learning experiences will be supported by readings and other materials developed for sustainable learning.
Jonothan Neelands is an internationally renowned drama-in-education professor who has written extensively about the use of drama as a learning medium. He has worked with teachers of all age groups, assisting them in understanding how they may employ process drama techniques in teaching a variety of subjects. He is the National Teaching Fellow, Chair of Drama and Theatre Education and Director of Teaching and Learning in the Institute of Education at the University of Warwick and an associate of the CAPITAL Centre for creativity and performance in teaching and learning, a joint initiative between the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and the University of Warwick. This project aims to improve the quality of Shakespeare teaching at all ages through an ensemble and rehearsal room pedagogic approach.
A part of the Department of Dramatic Arts Visiting International Professor program, we are pleased to offer students the opportunity to study with someone of Dr. Neelands’ caliber.
Nina Arsenault recently visited us for an artist’s talk, part of Dramatic Arts 3P96 Studies in Praxis II: Queer Theories and Performance Practices.
Arsenault is a “transsexual cyborg” theatre and performance artist whose one-woman show, The Silicone Diaries, has had sold-out runs in Toronto and Montreal, and will be touring the country this coming Spring. Ms. Arsenault gave a short talk about her process followed by an interview with Praxis course director, Paul Halferty.
Artists who will be visiting DART this season include:
Nina Arsenault
February 15th, 2011 13h-14h30 DART 3P96 Studies in Praxis II
Open to the public 15-16h30
ST 107
www.ninaarsenault.com
Jen Capraru
Thursday February 17, 9h00
DART 1F95 Drama in Education and Applied Theatre I
TH 243
Artistic Director > Theatre Asylum
ISÔKO | The Theatre Source
Modern theatre for social harmony and cultural growth in Rwanda
www.isoko-rwanda.org/
www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6YoNN6RyKU
http://www.harbourfrontcentre.com/worldstage1011/themonument.cfm
www.theatreasylum.com
Greg Grainger
Thursday February 17 10h00
DART 2F41 Stage Craft
ST 108
Join students in DART 2F41 for a special presentation by a former student of DART. Grainger will speak of his academic and professional career in theatre. Now a professional technician, Grainger will answer your questions about how to succeed in the Canadian entertainment industry. Followed by a Q & A
PDF poster
8 Day ALBA Emoting workshop Guest lecturer Nancy Loitz
April 22-30 (with the 26th off)
TH141
The workshop will be taught in four hour sessions daily, with one day off. The work is described as intimate, intense, and emotional. The workshop is limited to 12 participants.
ALBA Emoting: Alba Emoting was developed by neuroscientist Dr. Susana Bloch as a safe, purely physical alternative to emotion memory for releasing, maintaining, and controlling emotional states on stage.
visiting artists
Categories: Announcements, News, Visiting Artists
The Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University will host Dr. Jonothan Neelands, a world leader in Drama in Education on Monday, Nov. 1, 2010.
Neelands will provide an invitational workshop to local Niagara Catholic District School Board (NCDSB) and the District School Board of Niagara (DSBN) secondary teachers between 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., held at Denis Morris Secondary School, 40 Glen Morris Dr., St. Catharines.
Later that day, between 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., he will give an open two-hour workshop at Brock University held at the Schmon Tower Room ST103. This is a free workshop with a few openings remaining. Interested registrants can contact Joe Norris directly.
Neelands will conclude his visit to the Niagara region with a one-hour workshop with a Drama in Education class for the Department of Dramatic Arts.
Joe Norris states, “This is a remarkable opportunity for all those wishing to teach/learn through experiential and role play models of instruction that incorporate multiple intelligences and the use of the imagination.”
Dr. Jonothan Neelands is a National Teaching Fellow, Chair of Drama and Theatre Education and Director of Teaching and Learning at the University of Warwick. He is an experienced trainer and workshop leader with a national and international reputation for delivering high quality professional training and development opportunities. He is an associate of the CAPITAL Centre for creativity and performance in teaching and learning, which is a joint initiative between the University of Warwick and the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Neelands plans to return to Brock University next summer to teach a six-day course for the Department of Dramatic Arts about learning through process drama.
Star of the the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Broadway, Soulpepper Theatre Company, and cinema (among his many successes), Canadian actor Brent Carver visited the students of the Department of Dramatic Arts to talk about his upcoming return to the Stratford Festival and his experiences training and maintaining a career in theatre. Carver attended the second last performance of Big Love, produced by the Department of Dramatic Arts in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre of Brock University.
Hailed by the New York Times as “one of the most innovative and essential theatre artists to emerge from American experimental theatre in the past decade,” Obie-award-winning New York City playwright and director Richard Maxwell and members of the New York City Players visited Toronto and the Brock University campus for the first time April 18th and 19th, 2009.
Students, faculty, and members of the theatre community engaged in a discussion with Richard and members of the New York City Players in an informal workshop that included a mini-retrospective of their productions to date and exercises demonstrating principles that are central to their work. The evening concluded with a site-specific show entitled Showcase that takes place in a hotel room. Showcase plumbs the thoughts of a businessman absorbed in the world of his private, hotel room as he and his shadow examine his past.