News

  • Looking for a Humanities Context Credit? DART 1F95

    Tuesday, July 28, 2015 | By

    dart1f95-flyer_picDrama in Education & Applied Theatre I
    Releasing your Creative Side

    Through collective creation and collaboration with classmates students learn how drama can be used for social change, team building, and as a learning tool. Students can experience the meaning of social commitment through dramatic creations that provoke, inform, celebrate, and respond to local and global events.

    DART 1F95
    9:00-­‐10:00 (Seminar)
    +
    10:00-­‐1:00 (Studio/Lab)
    (W or R)
    (See calendar for details)

    contact dramatic.arts@brocku.ca for more information

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    Categories: Announcements, Current Students, Future students, News

  • Class blog takes centre stage with theatre criticism

    Friday, July 03, 2015 | By

    (Source: The Brock News, Friday, July 3, 2015 | by . Photo: DARTcritics started as a class blog but has grown to fill the void of local arts criticism.)

    They call themselves critics with class.

    But more than being clever, the student writers behind the DARTcritics website are providing theatrephiles with thoughtful arts criticism about performances in Niagara and beyond.

    That wasn’t always its purpose, however. The two-year-old theatre review website, which was recently relaunched with a new look, started as a forum for Dramatic Arts Prof. Karen Fricker to post standout assignments by students in her theatre criticism class. But it soon became apparent the site served a larger purpose.

    DARTcritics picked up where slashed and shrunken newsrooms left off with their arts coverage. Other than a handful of metro and national dailies, few newsrooms boast a dedicated arts and entertainment reporter anymore, leaving a void to be filled.

    “What we discovered was that in some instances, the reviews that we published were among the only, if not the only, review response that productions would receive, because there is so little arts criticism in Niagara,” Fricker said. “This was a startling and empowering realization for the students — that they were in dialogue with art and artists in a privileged way.”

    Of course, seeing their names in print was nothing short of thrilling, too. Hayley Malouin was hooked the moment she got her first byline for her review of London Road, a musical about an English town coping with the murders of five of its women.

    “I thought ‘OK, we’ll see some shows,’” said Malouin, who signed up for Fricker’s class in her third year. “I wrote the first review and got it up on the blog and was ‘This is like crack.’”

    Being published was an incentive, but writing reviews for posting was ultimately a way for Malouin to use what she had learned from Fricker about articulating her opinions of a production beyond saying whether or not she like it.

    “I hated (London Road) and finding out why I hated it was so fun,” she explained. “It really changed my view of what happens in theatre. There’s this critical side to it – this analytical side to it…. I think you can be analytical and creative and that’s a really special thing.”

    Fricker, a former critic with The Guardian in the U.K., capitalized on the opportunity to turn DARTCritics into a bona fide source of arts criticism last April when Malouin and fellow student Nick Leno landed funding from BUSU to cover St. Catharines’ In the Soil Arts Festival.

    She also coached the duo to be editors and social media curators. This summer, they’re running the site like a newsroom with two staff writers, fourth-year DART students Elizabeth Amos and Alex Jackson. Together, they cover theatre in Hamilton, Niagara, Toronto and Stratford, thanks to support from the Match of Minds program run by the Office of Research Services and BUSU.

    The relaunch of the DARTcritics site coincides with this summer’s move of Dramatic Arts to the new home of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in downtown St. Catharines, Fricker noted.

    “It’s such an exciting moment for the arts at Brock and in St. Catharines more broadly, with the new First Ontario Performing Arts Centre opening in the autumn, as well as our own building,” she said. “This seemed the perfect occasion for us to take DARTcritics to a new level with a new look, and more reviews.”

    Fricker will resume the editor’s post when classes resume in the fall, but for summer, the site is “Nick and Hayley’s baby.”

    “It’s a great experience of entrepreneurialism and leadership for them.”

    It has also carved out a potential career path for Malouin. Theatre criticism has become something she would like to pursue further, either as a freelance writer or by developing her own theatre review site.

    Still, there has been one downside to being a DARTcritic: it’s tough to shut off and watch a show for pleasure.

    “I see theatre and can’t not be critical now,” Malouin said. “People see that as a negative but it’s not. I’m always on now when I see a show. I do wish I could go see a Mirvish show and say ‘That’s great!’”

    Visit DARTcritics

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    Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, In the Media, News

  • Dramatic Arts welcomes the new Foster Festival to St. Catharines

    Tuesday, June 16, 2015 | By

    foster_festival_launch_220The Department of Dramatic Arts is excited to be part of the new Foster Festival and their inaugural 2016 season at the new FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre in St. Catharines, Ontario.  Celebrated Canadian playwright Norm Foster recently joined festival executive director Emily Oriold and artistic director Patricia Vanstone (see photo, at left) for the launch of the festival – which is the first in Canada to celebrate the work of a living playwright.

    Mike Zettel recently wrote about the festival launch in Niagara This Week:

    Vanstone said one of the first partnerships they formed was with Brock’s dramatic arts department, which will be housed in the Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts right behind the performing arts centre. The Foster Festival will have access to a state-of-the-art production facility and will offer summer employment and educational opportunities to the department’s brightest and best current and graduating students, giving them their first crucial work experience in a professional environment.

    “It’s a tremendous partnership,” Vanstone said, adding it’s an example of welcoming atmosphere across the city and the willingness of groups to band together for a common cause. “This is a community that understands a great work ethic and the ability to pull together.”

    Professors Gyllian Raby and David Vivian (Chair) were present for the launch along with Alesia Dane (Coop Programs) and Jana Boniferro (Development and Communications Officer for the Faculty of Humanities) from Brock University and Sara Palmieri and Steve Solski of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, among others.  To read about the launch see the articles in Niagara This Week and the St. Catharines Standard and visit the Festival website.

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    Categories: Announcements, 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 dramatic.arts@brocku.ca

    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 dramatic.arts@brocku.ca

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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

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