News

  • General Brock’s October Soiree for 2011 a brilliant success!

    Monday, October 17, 2011 | By

    soiree2011Students from the Department of Dramatic Arts along with their colleagues in the Departments of Music and Visual Arts entertained almost 350 guests and dignitaries in period costume at the General Brock’s October Soiree, held Saturday October 15, 2011.  More than $110,000 was raised, fifty percent of which after costs will accrue to scholarships in support of students in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Douglas Kneale, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, remarked “To judge from the comments of guests during the evening, it was universally acknowledged as the best Soiree yet, with a high degree of talent and professionalism in our re-enactors, emcee Derek Ewert, and all the singers and dancers.”

    See the Cogeco TV news item which includes on-camera interviews with several Brock spokespeople.

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  • Special performance: Which Way to the Bastille? at Rodman Hall

    Thursday, September 29, 2011 | By

    Image: Milutin Gubash, The Hotel Tito, 2010. Lambda color print (24" x 50"). Image courtesy of the artist.

    Image: Milutin Gubash, The Hotel Tito, 2010. Lambda color print (24″ x 50″). Image courtesy of the artist.

     

    MILUTIN GUBASH
    The Hotel Tito
    September 16 – December 30, 2011
    Opening Reception: September 15, 2011, 7 -9 pm
    Curated by Shirley Madill

    In collaboration with Musee d’art de Joliette

    Special performance:  Which Way to the Bastille?
    Following the premier on September 15 the second of eight short performances by students of the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) occurs September 23, 2011 after 12 noon. Tanisha Minson and Dylan Mawson, senior students in the DART program have collaborated with the artist and faculty of DART to create a brief interpretation of the text during the course of the exhibition.  The performance will function as a dramatic evocation of the principal tenets of the artist’s and the curatorial program.

     

    Performance are scheduled for:
    Thursday, September 15, evening, at the opening reception.
    Friday, September 23, 12 noon, last day of the artist’s residency
    Thursday, September 29, 6:30 pm
    Saturday, October 15, 2:30 pm
    Thursday, October 27, 8 pm
    Sunday, November 6, 2:30 pm
    Friday, November 18, 11:30 am
    Saturday, December 3, 2:30 pm

    The exhibit in brief:
    Milutin Gubash has pursued a multidisciplinary practice revolving around video, photography and performance since 2002. This ten-year survey of work by Milutin Gubash includes a residency project with the Department of Dramatic Arts and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University. Beginning with the work titled, Re-Enacting Tragedies While My Parents Look On, the exhibition includes various works that focus on daily-life occurrences with historical and philosophical narratives. Gubash is interested in exploring how individuals and ideas can overwrite commonly held perceptions of landscape, politics and expectations of representation.
    www.milutingubash.com
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    The exhibit in detail:
    Milutin Gubash has pursued a multidisciplinary art practice revolving around video, photography and performance since 2002. He first made a name for himself in 2003 with the webcast project Re-Enacting Tragedies While My Parents Look On, in which he “re-created,” with his parents, various tragic news stories reported in the Calgary Herald. Gubash plays the part of the victim, dressed in a dark suit that now has become a signature for the artist.

    By layering daily-life occurrences with historical and philosophical narratives, Gubash is interested in exploring how individuals and ideas can overwrite commonly held perceptions of landscape, politics and expectations of representation. His imagery portrays the same individuals (family and friends) living absurd situations or experiencing actual moments of psychological reflection. Together, the Gubash family and friends create a dreamscape of funny and sincere gestures while experimenting with their own relational identities. Gubash often insists on creating multiple contexts within which to engage his series of mini- narratives. By locating his own performative gestures at the scenes of such events, Gubash dares to heighten his personal psychological inquiry and that of his collaborators.

    This exhibition includes a selection of works produced over the past ten years with emphasis on the recent interconnected projects: Which Way to the Bastille?, These Paintings, and Hotel Tito.

    During a residency with the Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University, Gubash worked with Associate Professor David Vivian, Associate Professor Dr. Natalie Alvarez, and a company of selected students to develop a “live animation” of Which Way to the Bastille? Situated as an ongoing and regular interpretation of the text during the course of the exhibition, the performance will function as a dramatic evocation of the principal tenets of the artist’s and the curatorial program. Associate Professor Catherine Parayre (Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures) of Brock University will lead an upper-level course in text and image based around this exhibition under the auspices of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    A version of this exhibition will also be seen at the Carleton University Art Gallery, Ottawa; Southern Alberta Art Gallery, Lethbridge; and the Musée d’art de Joliette, Quebec.

    Milutin Gubash was born in Novi Sad (Serbia) and has been living in Montreal since 2005.

    Shirley Madill
    Exhibition Curator

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  • DART students attend Stratford Shakespeare Academy

    Wednesday, September 28, 2011 | By

    Stratford Shakespeare Academy.
    DART Students Josh Davidson and Emma Bulpin engage in valued ‘Art Talk’ between classes!

    Every summer students of the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) attend the annual Stratford Shakespeare Academy for a three week intensive two-course experience. The courses present an opportunity to study Shakespeare through the lenses of both performance and structured analytical criticism with some of Ontario’s leading university professors and Stratford professional coaches. During the typical 7.5 hour day students observe and enquire of the talent of working actors, trainers and directors while experiencing first-hand the programming of one of Canada’s most triumphant theatre Festivals.

    Josh Davidson, a fourth year performing arts student at DART, describes this opportunity as “…an experience unlike any other. During my traditional school experience, I never had the opportunity to embody Shakespeare, or any stylized theatrical form, quite like this course offered. My fellow students and I are always asked to focus on a multiplicity of various forms, in relationship to different classes during the school year. The Stratford Shakespeare Academy offers you the opportunity to study Shakespeare, and only Shakespeare, for a three week period. The benefit of this intensive class structure was invaluable.”

    The course encouraged students to formulate opinions and discussions in response to the four Shakespearean plays presented during the 2011 Stratford season. Davidson says “having the ability to witness professional Shakespeare productions, while in the midst of studying Shakespeare, was helpful and inspirational.” Acting students train to develop a personal artistic palette, molded and shaped with specific skill sets, knowledge and vocabulary. He continues, “Observing Shakespearean acting professionals “live” allowed me to reflect upon what my artistic palette already consists of and helped identify the areas needing more time and improvement.”

    Complementing the coursework is the opportunity for theatre students from the sponsoring universities – Guelph, Windsor, Queens and Waterloo – to meet and share their learning experiences. Josh asserts “the other side of this adventure was found in the social environment. We were able to share experiences, class work, opinions, and beliefs with other students who have been trained in different forms, theories and techniques from our own. This made for some great art-talk! I brought what Brock had to offer, and they brought what their own school offered. This intermingling between schools sparked new friendships, new artistic discoveries and made the course experience very rewarding as a student and actor.”

    Josh concluded, “I would encourage any high-school student with performance interests to attend Brock University for these types of remarkable course experiences. The benefit of this intensive class structure is invaluable… I don’t think anyone could walk away from this experience without finding something to enrich their studies, while also helping to form the work they create in the future.”

    In September these fourth year students return to DART, fresh with the legacy of these formative course experiences.  Working together with their newly tuned artistic palettes, they will create provocative and innovative theatrical performance for the Brock community.

    Students interested in more information about the Stratford Shakespeare Academy should contact the Department at dramatic.arts@brocku.ca

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    Categories: Alumni, Current Students, News

  • Hot off the presses: the DART Newsletter for 2011-12

    Wednesday, September 14, 2011 | By

    dart_newsletter_2011_thThe Department of Dramatic Arts (DART) Newsletter for 2011-12 is now available for download.
    Contents include information about the programs and Concentrations, annual production and presentation activity, special invited guests, faculty and staff, alumni accomplishments, student awards and bursaries, the Invitational process, and DART at the Stratford and Shaw Festivals.

    Paper copies are available upon request from dramatic.arts@brocku.ca

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  • Mainstream’s Summer Drama Program at DART

    Sunday, August 28, 2011 | By

    A week long intensive introducing adults with developmental disabilities to the world of drama was held at Brock University this summer. During the morning sessions, participants were led by local theatre practitioners in various aspects of drama (i.e. Voice, Movement, Improvisation, etc.) The afternoon sessions focused on the creation of short performances which opened for the public on Friday July 29th, 2011 at 1pm.

    Mainstream was founded in 1984 and continues to be a strong presence in Niagara, operating various programs to support adults with a developmental disability. Mainstream’s mission is to ‘improve the quality of life for people with a developmental disability by providing a supportive environment that strives to empower individuals with necessary skills and confidence for lifelong learning and growth.”

    www.mainstreamservices.com

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  • TAP Jamaica celebrates five successful years

    Wednesday, July 20, 2011 | By

    TAP participants in 2011Turn Around Projects of the Arts – lead by graduates, students and colleagues of the Department of Dramatic Arts of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts – began its fifth year on July 7th, 2011 in Port Antonio, Jamaica.  TAP is a multi-national initiative using the arts and education to build sustainable communities.

    This year, four talented Brock students attended TAP Jamaica: Lescia Poppe, Jamez Townsend, Dorothy Kane and Meaghan Gowrie, as well as seven Brock graduates, Tiffany Stull, Rox Chwaluk, Mike Irwin, Whitney Lee, Alycia McQueen, Christine Cassar, and Matt McLeod. Along with 8 others, the Canadian/American team developed successful workshops in dance, visual arts, music, creative writing, dramatic arts, culinary arts, film, and photography. Many weeks since the conclusion of the program the spirit and principles of TAP persist in the hearts of the Canadian facilitators and the Jamaican youth who participated. The hard work, dedication and compassion that every single team member brought to the project has once again guaranteed its success.

    The TAP pilot project began in 2007 with a collaboration between the programming director of the project and former Drama in Education and Society program graduate, Tiffany Stull, her classmates, and their guest professor the renowned Canadian Dub Poet Michael St. George. Students of the third year dramatic arts course Alternative Forms of Theatre worked together to create a two-week long program of intensive educational workshops for the youth in an impoverished region of Jamaica.  With the leadership of former DART professor Jane Leavitt and Michael St. George a five year commitment to TAP Jamaica was established with the intention of initiating and maintaining integrated arts workshops every July.

    Participant and third-year DART student Meaghan Gowrie exclaimed, “From a personal standpoint, I can proudly say that when facilitating the music workshop, my success was in part rooted deeply in the skills, knowledge and values that I have been taught so far as a Drama in Education and Society student at Brock University.”

    Now that the five year commitment to TAP Jamaica has come to an end the Canadian team is prepared to move into Phase 2 of the program, training Jamaican youth to become facilitators of an autonomous and self-directed workshop program.  This summer the groundwork was laid for Phase 2 with the creation of the F.I.T. team (Facilitators in Training). This team included ten Jamaican youth who have successfully achieved the objectives of TAP through their actions and leadership skills in previous years.  Five of these participants graduated the F.I.T. program in 2011 and will facilitate workshops in July 2012.

    Gowrie added, “The experience that I had as a Canadian team member, educator and friend to the amazing 44 Jamaican youth that attended the program is completely impossible to describe in words or writing. It is my hope that anyone who comes in contact with the pictures, videos, and people of TAP will get a small taste of the impact that the first five years has made on everyone who has ever helped in the execution of, or attended the program. The optimism and positivity that is now ever-presently radiating in each of us will inspire the people of Brock University and eventually the world that the arts can change lives, that anything is possible and that step by step, we WILL make it to the top!”

    Further information about the 2011 program can be found at the project blog http://turnaroundproject.ca/blog/ .  For information about TAP please contact info@turnaroundproject.ca .

    TAP participants in 2011

    TAP participants in 201

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  • The experience of a young actor’s lifetime

    Friday, July 15, 2011 | By

    Caitlin Popek at the National Voice Intensive in 2011. photograph courtesy of Fabrice Grover www.fabricegroverphoto.com and the National Voice Intensive.

    Caitlin Popek at the National Voice Intensive in 2011. photograph courtesy of Fabrice Grover www.fabricegroverphoto.com and the National Voice Intensive.

    Caitlin Popek, graduate of the Department of Dramatic Arts (DART), recently returned from Canada’s National Voice Intensive.  This renowned five-week professional training workshop in Vancouver is attended by professional artists from across North America and abroad.

    An ambitious, dedicated and focused student in her academic studies, Caitlin excelled on the stage when she played the lead character Desiree Armfeldt in the DART 2009 production of the Stephen Sondheim musical A Little Night Music.  More recently she honed her skills as the Teaching Assistant for DART 3P54 Directing and she has just begun production managing for Showboat Festival Theatre in Port Colborne.

    “My experience at the Voice Intensive was absolutely amazing! . . . One of the first things they told us was, ‘You will be confused and that’s exactly where we want you to be.’  Even with that statement I was confused!” she says, “You mean, we’re not here to get answers?”  After experiencing 5 weeks of intense vocal, physical, emotional, and mental work that first statement made complete sense. “I did leave with a lot of confusion, but it was the kind of confusion that drives me to keep digging and discovering and investigating in my work.”

    Caitlin adds, “There were things that I understood already about my voice from classes experienced at Brock and the Intensive just pumped up the volume on all those things. . .   For example, I knew that my voice reveals who I am but I did not really understand how much my voice reveals, AND that that is the only thing it can do.  As a speaker, all you can do is allow what is inside you to be revealed and the response is out of your control!  To allow myself to be fully revealed is a very scary thing but when I achieved this feat it was the most wonderful feeling I have ever experienced.  To allow myself to be whoever I am inside, at any given moment, became an amazingly freeing thing.”

    Caitlin graduated in 2010 with First-Class Standing in the Performance Concentration of the Honours Dramatic Arts program. Working with some of the best emerging actors and trainers in Canada in 2011 Caitlin has already achieved an experience of an actor’s lifetime.

    “Without the help and guidance from many professors at Brock I would not have been able, or ready, to experience what I did at the Voice Intensive.  It was such a wonderful experience and I want to thank everyone who helped me to get there!!”

    Congratulations on your success, Caitlin!

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  • DART Alumnus on stage in Toronto in Marat/Sade

    Sunday, July 10, 2011 | By

    af220Dart Alumnus Andrew Fleming hits the boards playing Duperret in Soup Can Theatre’s production of Marat/Sade. The show runs from July 19-24 at the Alumnae Theatre in downtown Toronto (Berkeley Street). All performances are at 8pm except for the final show which is a 2pm matinee.

    Andrew first performed in the play on the stage of the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre at Brock University when the Department of Dramatic Arts produced Mara/Sade in 2009.

    Please see www.maratsade.ca for information including the production concept as well as promotional photographs of the production.

    Break-a-leg, Andrew!

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  • DART alumni at the Toronto Fringe

    Sunday, July 10, 2011 | By

    circus-poster-one-final-copy-copy-220Once again DART alumni are taking the stage and making scenes at the Toronto 2011 Fringe Festival.  Some of the productions were first work-shopped or developed during our students’ academic year at Brock.  Shows include:

    “Circus”
    by Nathan Tanner Mac Donald
    presented by Moment by Moment from St Catharines, ON

    http://fringetoronto.com/fringefest/indoorBYOV_listings.html#C

    Come one, come all! Enter the Big Tent! Witness everything from a baby’s first steps to the dart board of death! BING, BAM, POW! Ever feel like your mind is the centre ring of a circus? Well, John does.

    Director: Nathan Tanner Mac Donald
    Genre: Play, Drama
    Warning: Mature Language
    Venue 12 Factory Theatre Mainspace

    50 min.
    Wed, July 6 10:30 PM 1203
    Fri, July 8 5:15 PM 1209
    Sun, July 10 3:00 PM 1221
    Tue, July 12 8:45 PM 1236
    Thu, July 14 4:00 PM 1247
    Fri, July 15 7:30 PM 1256
    Sun, July 17 Noon 1266

    “Visa Called this Morning”
    by Jen Gallant
    (www.jjmoneyproductions.ca)
    presented by JJ Money Productions from Toronto, ON

    Her creditors are calling. Her bank accounts are freezing. Jen finds herself feeling more like a criminal than a valued customer. she is forced to reconcile her toxic relationship with debt. Jen’s struggle to survive her maxed out reality leaves her realizing that, the banks don’t love you like your parents.

    Cast: Jen Gallant
    Genre: Play, Comedy
    Venue 11 Theatre Passe Muraille Backspace

    60 min.
    Wed, July 6 10:00 PM 1103
    Fri, July 8 4:45 PM 1109
    Sat, July 9 6:45 PM 1116
    Mon, July 11 5:45 PM 1127
    Tue, July 12 8:30 PM 1135
    Wed, July 13 3:00 PM 1138
    Thu, July 14 9:45 PM 1148
    Sun, July 17 4:00 PM 1163

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  • DART Alumna in Canopy Theatre’s Outdoor Theatre for Downtown Toronto production of LYSISTRATA

    Sunday, July 10, 2011 | By

    lyspostcardBrock Alumna and DART TA, Lauren Shepherd, will be seen performing this summer in Canopy Theatre’s Outdoor Theatre for Downtown Toronto production of:

    LYSISTRATA – the sex strike by Aristophanes (Adapted by Germaine Greer and Phil Willmott)
    Known for its bawdy humour, Lysistrata tells the tale of how one woman encourages a nation of lustful ladies to deny their husbands any sexual attention until the men declare peace and put a stop to civil war.  Germaine Greer’s adaptation keeps all of the expected phalli, sexually charged hijinks and anti-war rhetoric while also exploring issues of gender politics and class bias.  Guaranteed to be the sexiest production ever seen on Philosopher’s Stage, Lysistrata comes with a ‘mature content’ warning: This is not a family show!

    Tickets can be purchased online at: www.canopytheatre.ca, or at the door. Students, Wednesday nights are PAY WHAT YOU CAN! Bring a blanket and enjoy the fun!

     

    Event Details:

    July 20 – August 6, 2011
    Wednesday – Saturday
    doors open at 7:30pm, curtain at 8pm

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