News

  • Vocalist Fides Krucker to open Walker Cultural Leaders Series

    Wednesday, September 12, 2018 | By

    Internationally acclaimed artist and vocalist Fides Krucker, far right, will be the first presenter in the 2018-19 Walker Cultural Leaders Series, presenting on Sept. 19. (Photo by Cam MacLennan)

    (From The Brock News, Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)

    An innovative lecture and performance by renowned vocalist Fides Krucker will open the annual Walker Cultural Leaders Series when it returns to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) on Wednesday, Sept. 19.

    Krucker, a teacher, interdisciplinary artist and singer, will present in Studio C, located in room MWS 251 of the MIWSFPA.

    Working across Canada and internationally, Krucker has devoted 35 years to contemporary vocal practice. Her experience as a singer of contemporary opera and her interest in non-verbal human sound textures, as well as her strong belief in sustainable vocal practices serves as the basis for her emotionally integrated voice teaching method.

    Brock Assistant Theatre Professor Danielle Wilson is especially looking forward to bringing Krucker to the series this year, as her own research on voice and embodiment techniques in the rehearsal process has links to the work Krucker does.

    “I am excited for her to share her unique perspective on the connectivity of breath, voice, body and creative impulse,” said Wilson. “I had heard of Fides for years as a pioneer of voice work and when I saw In This Body, her show at Canadian Stage this past spring, I knew I had to work with her.”

    In her lecture and performance, Krucker will explore voice through non-verbal vocalization. She offers a unique opportunity for connection through breath; to slow down and connect to the deeply felt, unseen parts of body and mind.

    Wilson and Brock Associate Theatre Professor Gyllian Raby had the opportunity to work with Krucker once before on Sabina’s Splendid Brain, a production opening Friday, Sept. 14 at the Walker School.

    That collaboration further cemented Krucker’s well-deserved place as the series’ opener this year.

    “The connection to breath is at the heart of life,” Raby explained. “Fides is an acting teacher who can sing in five octaves and knows the human shape of poetry. I am honoured and inspired to see her work with our students.”

    Krucker’s concert and demonstration is free and open to the public.

    Seating is limited and is being offered on a first-come, first-served basis.

    The concert marks the first event in another great lineup of workshops and performances in this year’s Walker Cultural Leaders Series, bringing leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to Brock’s MIWSFPA.

    Elizabeth Vlossak, Director of the Walker School, said the series aims to engage students and the community with outstanding programming and cultural opportunities.

    “Our dynamic and impressive lineup of professionals in this year’s series will present content that is engaging and lively while also being challenging and thought-provoking,” she said. “These sessions celebrate artistic endeavour and achievement, as well as the indelible role of culture in our society.”

    2018-19 Walker Cultural Leader Series:

    Alejandro Cartagena

    Public lecture: Oct. 17, 6 p.m., Robertson Theatre, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
    Exhibition opening: Oct. 17, 5 p.m., VISA Art Gallery and Student Exhibition Space
    Exhibition runs: Oct. 4 to Nov. 7

    Christine Cucciniello

    Zine-making workshop: Oct. 18, 4:30 to 7:30 p.m., MWS 229A (inside the Learning Commons).
    To reserve a spot, please contact Catherine Parayre at cparayre@brocku.ca

    David Jalbert

    Masterclass for piano students: Nov. 16, 2:30 to 4 p.m., Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
    Public recital (part of the Encore Series): Partridge Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, at 7:30 p.m.

    David Psalmon

    Public talk and workshop: Towards a Contemporary Political Theatre
    Jan. 10 at 7 p.m., Marilyn I. Walker Theatre

    Alinka Echeverria

    Public lecture: Looking Back to Look Forward: The History of Photography in Contemporary Image-Making
    March 7 at 6 p.m., Robertson Theatre, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre
    The Road to Tepeyac: Opening Reception March 7 at 5 p.m., VISA Gallery
    Exhibition runs March 5 to 26

    Walker String Quartet

    Vera Alekseeva and Anna Hughes (violin), Faith Lau (viola) and Gordon Cleland (cello)
    RBC Music@Noon performance: March 5, Cairns Recital Hall, FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre

    Adam Dickinson

    Author’s talk: March 18 from 1 to 2 p.m., MWS 156

    Shawn Serfas, Adam Dickinson and Lorène Bourgeois

    Serfas, Dickinson and Bourgeois will be celebrated during a book launch through Small Walker Press, which publishes books by professors and students at the MIWSFPA and in the Humanities.
    Guest speaker: acclaimed artist/critic John Kissick
    TBD, week of May 6, MWS 156

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    Categories: Announcements, Events, News

  • Sabina’s Splendid Brain opens at MIWSFPA Sept. 14

    Thursday, September 06, 2018 | By

    Cellist Grace Snippe (BMus ’16), left, and Danielle Wilson bring the story of 20th century psychoanalyst Sabina Spielrein to life in Sabina’s Splendid Brain. The performance opens on Sept. 14 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. (Photo by George Enns.)

    (From The Brock News, Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018 | by Sarah Moore)

    While Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung have become synonymous with psychoanalysis, the name Sabina Spielrein might leave you drawing a blank.

    The Stolen Theatre Collective hopes to change that by bringing the rarely told story of the Russian-Jewish psychoanalyst to life in a new production at Brock beginning next week.

    Sabina’s Splendid Brain, which opens Sept. 14 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), chronicles the life of the tenacious and passionate Spielrein as she struggles through the circumstances of her family, her education and her therapy, the professional barriers facing women and wartime anti-Semitism.

    Spielrein was often known in relation to her famous colleagues: first as a patient, then as a lover of Jung, and later as a student and friend of Freud. As a psychoanalyst in her own right, however, she moved beyond them both to become one of the great thinkers in 20th century psychology.

    Her work was all but wiped from the history books due to Joseph Stalin’s repression of intellectuals and the Nazi invasion of her hometown of Rostov-on-Don, where she and her daughters were killed. Her diaries were recently discovered, however, and her publications were re-examined to reveal the profound impact that her work had on her teachers and peers.

    “Sabina had to fight for her voice,” said Brock Associate Theatre Professor Gyllian Raby, the production’s Director. “She walks the boundary between genius and delusion, and this production invites the audience to experience her journey from a screaming teenager with spittle in her hair to the woman who wowed Freud’s intellectual Vienna Circle.”

    Scripted by Carol Sinclair, Sabina’s Splendid Brain is rendered on stage in sets by Nigel Scott, projections by Karyn McCallum and lighting by James McCoy (BA ’14), and features performances by Brock Assistant Theatre Professor Danielle Wilson and cellist Grace Snippe (BMus ’16).

    “This is a project that fully explores the interdisciplinarity between the arts that was the founding dream of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts,” said Wilson, who is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of Stolen Theatre Collective. “Music, theatre and philosophy are a natural trio in this story of how psychoanalysis helped shape modern consciousness.”

    Fides Krucker, a Canadian interpreter, vocalist, opera singer and teacher, collaborated on the interdisciplinary production with Stolen Theatre. Her innovative vocal techniques and interdisciplinary work will be further highlighted later this month as part of the Walker Cultural Leaders Series on Wednesday, Sept. 19 at the MIWSFPA.

    Sabina’s Splendid Brain opens with back-to-back weekend performances Sept. 14, 15, 20, 21 and 22, all beginning at 7:30 p.m. Additional matinee performances will take place on Sept. 16 and 23 at 2 p.m.

    All performances are held at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, located at 15 Artists’ Common in St. Catharines.

    Tickets are pay-what-you-can-afford ($10, $25, $40 and $55) and can only be purchased in advance through the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre box office.

    Limited paid parking is available on-site, but city parking is available within close proximity to the venue.

    For more information on the production, please contact info@stolentheatrecollective.ca

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    Categories: Alumni, Events, Faculty & Instructors, News, Plays

  • Orientation activities planned for first-year DART Students

    Tuesday, August 28, 2018 | By

    Group of students hanging out in Marilyn I. Walker hallway

    As a new student enrolled in the Department of Dramatic Arts, you are invited to The New Student Welcome and Academic Orientation as your official welcome to Brock University on September 4! The orientation begins at 8 a.m. in the Ian Beddis Gym, where you’ll hear from President Gervan Fearon and enjoy an inspirational keynote to begin your day and kick-start your term. Afterwards, you are welcome to connect with your faculty and upper year student mentors to receive important information about academic supports and resources. Then, go check out the vendor and welcome fair, take a campus tour and to locate your classes, and get an orientation to the Brock Library. * Don’t forget to register for this orientation at Experience BU.

    You are invited to then attend the Faculty of Humanities orientation session, beginning at 10:00 a.m. in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre on Brock’s main campus.

     

    First-year MIWSFPA mixer and lunch
    open to students in all departments at the miwsfpA

    September 4

    12 to 1:30 p.m.

    MIWSFPA lobby

    Downtown St. Catharines

    15 Artists’ Common

     

    There will also be a special orientation planned for DART students specifically, taking place at the end of September:

    Dramatic Arts orientation

    Sept 24: 6 to 8 p.m.
    MIWSFPA Theatre
    15 Artists’ Common

     

     

     

     

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, News

  • Dramatic Arts grads in Toronto Fringe Festival spotlight

    Tuesday, August 14, 2018 | By

    (From The Brock News, Tuesday, August 18, 2018)

    Two plays featuring Brock Dramatic Arts graduates will be playing this week in Toronto as part of the Best of Fringe.

    First Dates, a play about love, loss and people aching to connect, is written and directed by Niagara Falls native and former DART student Wes Berger and features music by his brother, musician and Brock alumnus Aaron Berger (BA ’17).

    Also featured during the Best of Fringe event is Anywhere, the newest work by award-winning playwright Michael Ross Albert starring Brock alumna Cass Van Wyck (BA ’13). The thriller, set in an Airbnb, follows a cordial relationship between strangers that escalates into a tense battle for control.

    Anywhere and First Dates were both selected as 2018 Patron’s Picks at the Toronto Fringe Festival.

    “On behalf of the department, we want to congratulate Wes, Cass and Aaron,” says Professor Joe Norris, Chair of the Department of Dramatic Arts. “As always, we celebrate our students’ successes and are pleased their hard and talented work is recognized in the Ontario theatre community.”

    The Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival provides opportunities for emerging and established artists to share their productions with the community in an affordable and accessible way. The Best of Fringe remounts selected productions at the Studio Theatre, Toronto Centre for the Arts to give patrons a second chance to see the shows.

    Also in July was the Hamilton Fringe Festival, which showcased another production filled with Brock talent. September Songs was directed by Colin Bruce Anthes (BA ’14) and featured five Brock grads. The show will be coming to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre Nov. 1 to 3.

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    Categories: Alumni, Events, News, Plays

  • Dramatic Arts intern shares her experience at Shaw Festival

    Tuesday, June 05, 2018 | By

    Every year the Department of Dramatic Arts awards a two month internship at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-lake to one of our graduating students. Michelle Mohammed is the Department of Dramatic Arts’ 2018 Shaw Intern. In addition to sitting in on rehearsals of the Magician’s Nephew, Stage Kiss and their Secret Theatre, among others, Michelle will be apprentice assistant director to Peter Hinton in his direction of Oh What a Lovely War.

    Michelle has posted her vlog about her experience at the Shaw Festival on our YouTube channel:

    Hi Everyone! My name is Michelle Mohammed, and I am the 2018 Brock Intern at the Shaw Festival. I am assisting Peter Hinton on Oh What a Lovely War, and also getting to peek into several other rehearsal rooms, shows, and classes while I am here! Stay tuned for more “a week in my life” style vlogs.

    Visit our channel during the month of June for more stories about Michelle’s adventures at the Shaw Festival.

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    Categories: Current Students, Future students, In the Media, News

  • Brock hosts 28th annual national CITT/ICTS RENDEZ-VOUS

    Monday, May 21, 2018 | By

    The Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts of Brock University and the Meridian Centre extend a generous warm welcome to our professional colleagues, researchers, producers, specialist manufacturers, distributors, technicians and students from across the country for the:

    CITT/ICTS 28TH RENDEZ-VOUS ANNUAL CONFERENCE & TRADE SHOW

    CITT/ICTS holds an annual RENDEZ-VOUS every mid-August.The conference offers three days of sessions, workshops, backstage tours, trade show, social events and networking opportunities. The location varies from year to year to allow members from different regions of Canada to more easily attend.

    The Meridian Centre is located adjacent to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts of Brock University

    CITT/ICTS RENDEZ-VOUS 2018
    Annual Conference & Trade Show
    in St Catharines, ON
    at the Meridian Centre and the
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts (MIWSFPA)

    August 15 – 18, 2018
    Opening night: Wednesday, August 15
    Pre-conference: Tuesday August 14 to Wednesday August 15

    #citticts @CITTICTS

    on Facebook: www.facebook.com/CITTICTS
    website: www.citt.org/annual_conference

    STUDENT VOLUNTEER PROGRAM!
    Get INVOLVED
    Be CONNECTED
    Live the EXPERIENCE

    CITT/ICTS Annual Conference and Trade Show Rendez-vous has been held for over 25 years. During that time, student volunteers have played a key role in guaranteeing its success. Whether they assist in mounting the trade show, setting up the social events, or helping out at the registration desk, the student volunteers contribute in making our annual event a tremendous hit!

    During the conference, student volunteers are assigned various task, which includes setting up and tearing down the Trade Show, troubleshooting technical problems such AV projectors, sound equipment, etc. helping out with hospitality, giving a hand at the registration desk, and more… !

    for more information about the Student Volunteer Program

    CONFERENCE LEARNING opportunities include:

    2-day ETC Ion Xe Console Training
    CITT/ICTS along with the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), have arranged with ETC to hold a 2-day Ion Xe console training course prior to the CITT/ICTS Annual Conference and Trade Show. ETC’s Ion Xe lighting console provides simple and approachable programming and control for conventional systems as well as fully integrated lighting rigs. Join us to learn more about the features and functions of this amazing control system.

    ERD Certified Pyrotechnics Safety and Legal Awareness Course
    CITT/ICTS and AirMagic Special Effects are partnering to present a ERD Certified Pyrotechnics Safety and Legal Awareness Course with Mark Fine prior to the CITT/ICTS Rendez-vous 2018. Completion of the Pyrotechnics Safety and Legal Awareness Course is mandatory prior to certification as Pyrotechnician – Fireworks/Operator by ERD.

    Foliage – Past and Present Painting Techniques
    Jenny Knott from Rosco and Wendy Waszut-Barrett from Historic Stage Services LLC are returning to Rendez-vous for a third workshop, Foliage: Past and Present Painting Techniques.
    Explore a variety of painting techniques for foliage painting. Learn how to use historic techniques for contemporary applications, as well as some short cuts to make your job easier.

    for more information, registration and schedules

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Events, Faculty & Instructors, Future students, Visiting Artists

  • Dramatic Arts TA recipient of multiple awards

    Tuesday, May 15, 2018 | By

    Brock’s Three Minute Thesis winner Kaitlyn Kerridge, and award winners Shasha Hu and Jonathan Brower all spoke at the Graduate Student Awards and Donor Recognition Celebration on Thursday, May 10.

    (adapted from: The Brock News Monday, May 14, 2018 | by )

    It wasn’t until he started at Brock University that Jonathan Brower was able to marry his passions: theatre, LGBTQ2 studies and spirituality.

    During the Graduate Student Awards and Donor Recognition Celebration held on campus Thursday, May 10, the Master of Social Justice and Equity Studies student spoke about how the University and its donors have made a difference in his life.

    An actor, playwright and producer, Brower told the more than 100 guests in attendance about how support from donors allows him to focus on his research and continue artistic pursuits, without having to worry about financial pressures.

    “For research to truly be enriched, you need to be able to immerse yourself in it completely,” he said. “Support from donors allows me to focus my creative energy on academia, rather than having to worry about how my bills are being paid. Every layer of support I have received lifts me closer to success.”

    Brower was the recipient of multiple awards at the celebration: a Bluma Appel Graduate Entrance Scholarship for Excellence in Social Sciences, the Scotiabank Graduate Award and a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council CGS Master’s Scholarship.Hosted by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the awards event celebrated student success and thanked donors for their generous support of graduate students.

    Brower came to Niagara from Calgary, where he co-founded and ran a queer theatre company and wrote and produced a play, oblivion, about the struggle to reconcile faith and sexuality. The production toured Canada over three years, visiting major cities including Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto, with a stop in St. Catharines last year.

    Starting his master’s at Brock seemed a fitting next step for the student researcher, whose work explores “queer religious agency through narrative inquiry and applied theatre.”

    “My own experience as a queer person in the Christian faith was marginalized, which led to the creation of oblivion,” Brower said. “This thesis project takes things a step further using collective theatre creation to bring the experiences of queer individuals from different faith backgrounds into conversation.”

    In 2017-18 Brower was a teaching Assistant in the Department of Dramatic Arts for the courses DART 1F91 Introduction to Theatre and Performance (Dr. Jacqueline Taucar, Instructor) and DART 4F56 Advanced Studies in Theatre (Professor Gyllian Raby).  He recently collaborated on WE WHO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT HIAWATHA ARE PROUD TO PRESENT HIAWATHA as part of the Rhizomes for the 2018 In The Soil Festival.

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    Categories: Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • New for 2018: the Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award

    Monday, May 07, 2018 | By

    Beginning in 2018 the Executive of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts will be awarding the Marilyn I. Walker Textile Art Award.

    This award will be made to an undergraduate student who is graduating from the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), Brock University; who is awarded, by vote of the Executive Committee of the MIWSPFA, the top prize for a piece of textile art produced and submitted by said student.

    As the award must be granted to a student for the purposes of his or her continuing education and or development, students must also submit an expression of their intention to continue this education and or development.

    For the purposes of this award, textile art is defined as a work of art that utilizes any and all forms of textiles, either natural or man-made, and in any form of original artistic expression.

    For the purposes of this award, continuing education or development is defined as any form of post graduate education and development which the student may wish to pursue whether at a college, university, by way of apprenticeship at a technical institute or at a research facility.

    For more information about Marilyn I. Walker see: brocku.ca/miwsfpa/marilyn-i-walker

    We thank Marilyn I. Walker and her estate for the legacy of her generosity.

    See the article about the first recipient of this award, Victoria Reid (Bachelor of Arts (Honours) Studio Art, With First-Class Standing, 2018).

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future students, News

  • Breaking the Silence at In the Soil

    Monday, May 07, 2018 | By

    (Source: The Brock News | Wednesday, May 03, 2018 by Matthew Melnyk)

    Students from Stamford Collegiate took to the stage at the Marilyn I. Walker Theatre to present their original play, Breaking the Silence, as part of In the Soil Arts Festival on Friday, April 27. The public performance was sponsored by Brock University. The play — based on the stories of British Home Children who were torn from their families and sent to Canada for a ‘better life’ — earned Stamford the top prize at this year’s National Theatre School Drama Festival. Friday’s performance featured a quilt made up of historic photos of British Home Children.

    Stamford Collegiate at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. Seen l to r: Colin Anthes, BA (Honours) Dramatic Arts and Psychology, Minor in Philosophy, 2014; MA Philosophy (Contemporary Continental Philosophy), 2016; Certificate in Public Law (in process) is an alumnus of Stamford Collegiate, an instructor at the Department of Dramatic Arts, Artistic Director of Essential Collective Theatre and founder of Twitches & Itches Theatre; Angela Menotti, program leader of Drama at Stamford Collegiate; and Ethan Yando, who has a placement at Stamford Collegiate as he completes his BA (Honours) Dramatic Arts, Minor in English Language and Literature, BEd Teacher Education – Intermediate Senior in 2018.

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    Categories: Events, Future students, News, Plays

  • Brock students on Broadway

    Monday, April 30, 2018 | By

    Mirror Theatre performs on Broadway

    Cast members from the student-run Mirror Theatre had the unique opportunity to perform in the heart of the New York City theatre district recently.

    On Wednesday, April 25, the cast members performed vignettes from their applied theatre work at the Marriott Marquis hotel.

    Mirror Theatre is a comprised primarily of Brock Dramatic Arts students that produce and perform interactive scenes on a variety of social issues. The group is coached by Dramatic Arts Chair and Professor of Drama in Education and Applied Theatre Joe Norris. It gives students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they learn in their courses in real-world situations. Through experiential education, the students develop life and learning skills that will prepare them for their careers and future studies.

    Mirror Theatre was invited to attend the Arts Based Educational Research (ABER) business meeting in New York City by the ABER Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. At the conference, they presented “Employing Playbuilding Research and Pedagogy in Addressing Educational and Social Issues Facing Youth.” Their scenes addressed issues of academic integrity, seeking help, dealing with gossip, refusing unsafe working conditions, parental pressures and healthy eating.

    Regent cheque for Mirror Theatre

    Regent cheque presented to Mirror Theatre for $500.

    The trip was partially funded by the Regent Student Livings’ Dramatic Arts Student Independent and Outreach Projects fund. Recently, Mitch Allanson (BA ’16) presented Abby Rollo, Mirror Theatre’s President and Lindsey Abrams, Treasurer a cheque for $500. This award will be available to DART students each year and is part of Regent Student Livings investment in the success of the students at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Cast members of Mirror Theatre include, Lindsey Abrams, Dani Shae Barkley, Kaedyn Brouse, Candice De Freitas Braz, Aaron Drake, Nadia Ganesh, Rosa Moreno, Mike Metz, Abby Rollo, Sumer Seth, Dawson Strangway and Director Joe Norris.

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    Categories: Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News, Performance Season

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