Articles tagged with: TALK Niagara

• COMMOTION wins Gold and Silver!

  Monday, April 06, 2015 | By Brock University

  Professor 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!

  Tags: Caitlin English, Carousel Players, Commotion, District School Board of Niagara, Gyllian Raby, Pablo Felices Luna, Prestige Film Awards, TALK Niagara
  Categories: Alumni, Faculty & Instructors, News

• Another Successful Event for COMMOTION

  Tuesday, December 13, 2011 | By Brock University

  

  Commotioneers From Laura Secord Secondary School created and performed “On the Line”, a play about violence on and off the internet. Photo: Ron Gonzalez, David Chanthilath, Sarah Lundrigan-Randall, Matt Willms, Nathan Hammerling, Alexandra Li Tomulescu, Danielle Lauzon, Lianna Wouda, Jenna Ahle, Tannar Smith, James Thompson and Tanisha Medford

  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 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.

  Twice a week, for a twelve week period, the students engage in high-octane, personal and inventive processes that lead towards devising a one-act play for public presentation. The groups alernate their creative strategies between four compass points of resource exploration, scored improvisation, evaluation of cultural assumptions and participation with their surrounding community. Community members from cross-disciplinary backgrounds provided feedback to the students and attempt to illuminate the expressive voice of the group presentation as a whole. As a crucial aspect to the program, this process aims to unfold the interests and concerns that are the common denominator of the group, rather than those proposed by external media.

  The presentations were held at the Courthouse Theatre in St Catharines between December 8th and 10th and were a great success!

  Gyllian comments, “In the last two weeks of the program, the COMMOTION team helps the groups ‘weave’ their material into a one-act plays and rehearse for the production. The fact that the play script arrives so late can be nerve-wracking, but the final production is made possible by the trust the participants develop in their work and in one another, as well as the professional artistic support by Carousel Players. The young people we have worked with have taught us a great deal about collaborative processes, ownership and creative practice. They have inspired us.”

  The COMMOTION Project is 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 approval from the District School Board of Niagara.

  Tags: Carousel Players, Commotion, District School Board of Niagara, dsbn, Gyllian Raby, Laura Secord Secondary School, Pablo Felices Luna, SSHRC, TALK Niagara, youth
  Categories: Events

• COMMOTION AT THE COURTHOUSE: a three-year Partnership with Niagara Region Schools

  Thursday, November 24, 2011 | By Brock University

  Over the past three years, the COMMOTION partnership between six Niagara Region high schools, Carousel Players, the Department of Dramatic Arts of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, Brock University, and TALK Niagara (Teams of Adults Listening to Kids) has given 80 students an opportunity to create and perform six new plays.

  Each group of high school students creates a play at their school through a 12-week drama program and presents it at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre. Brock University Professor Gyllian Raby and Carousel’s Artistic Director Pablo Felices Luna lead the project with the support of Bonnie Prentice from TALK Niagara, an umbrella group of 15 community organizations dedicated to youth concerns.

  This month, 22 students from Governor Simcoe Secondary School and Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School are playing with different modes of creativity known as RSVP to build their characters, scenes and stories into two new plays. Blythe Barker, Jacqueline Costa, Caitlin English and Trevor Rotenberg, facilitators trained through Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts, have been working with students an estimated 240 hours at their schools since September 2011.

  Free performances of the plays written and performed by these students will be held at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre in St. Catharines on Thursday, December 8, 2011, at 9:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.; Friday, December 9, at 9:30 a.m.; and Saturday, December 10, at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Reservations are required.  For the free tickets, call Carousel Players at 905.682.8326 x 26.

  “Now in the third year of COMMOTION, Pablo and I find it more invigorating than ever,” states Gyllian Raby. “Creating a show for this semi-professional production places enormous demands on these high school seniors, yet time after time they show themselves not only equal to the task but able to surprise everyone with their insights about, for example, the social pressures of the internet, abuses of authority, and balancing individual identity with relationships.”

  Co-leader Felices Luna adds, “COMMOTION takes the excellent work done by Niagara’s drama teachers to a new level outside the classroom. We’ve worked with 58 students from E.L.Crossley Secondary School, Eastdale Secondary School, Laura Secord Secondary School and St. Catharines Collegiate. We thank drama teachers Jennifer Benson, Tracy Garratt, Karen Hancock, Rassika Malhotra, Brenna McAllister and Tracy Thorpe for welcoming us into their schools, for actively fostering creativity in their students and for their passionate commitment to drama at their school. There are many other schools and teachers we hope to work with in the future.”

  The COMMOTION project is 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 approval from the District School Board of Niagara.

  For tickets contact: Jane Gardner, 905-682-8326 x23 or jane@carouselplayers.com

  Tags: Blythe Barker, Caitlin English, Carousel Players, Commotion, courthouse theatre, Governor Simcoe Secondary School, Gyllian Raby, Jacqueline Costa, Pablo Felices Luna, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, TALK Niagara, Trevor Rotenberg
  Categories: Alumni, Current Students, Faculty & Instructors, News

• COMMOTION AT THE OLD COURTHOUSE – YOUTH ISSUES TAKE THE STAGE

  Sunday, November 28, 2010 | By Brock University

  (Source: Carousel Players)

  COMMOTION will give 23 Niagara students an opportunity to perform two new plays that they’ve created over a 12 week drama enrichment program at their high schools and present it at the Sullivan Mahoney Courthouse Theatre from December 9-11, 2010. Thanks to support from TALK Niagara (Teams of Adults Listening to Kids) and Bonnie Prentice, students from 8 high schools all over Niagara will see these plays created by students from Eastdale Secondary School and Laura Secord Secondary School. Free performances at the Old Courthouse are Thursday, December 9th at 10 am and 12:30pm, Friday, December 10th at 10am and 12:30 pm, and Saturday, December 11th at 7pm. For ticket information call Carousel Players at 905-682-8326 X26.

  The play On the Line by Laura Secord Secondary School students tackles the influence of technology and media on young people, bullying and family relations. Students from Eastdale Secondary School have created the play Squawk: Flippin’ the Bird which explores the use and abuse of authority, decision-making and issues of identity. Both plays open up new doors for discussion with teens on what happens on the internet, the social pressures they face, and they encourage students to share stories with their peers about their own experiences. Roxolana Chwaluk, Caitlin English, Brandon Pachan and Trevor Rotenberg, facilitators trained through Brock University’s Drama Department have been working with the students an estimated 240 hours at their schools since September 2010.

  “The characters, scenes and stories from the plays evolved from improvised scenes created by the students and developed through a play building process called RSVP. In Commotion, we start exploring resource materials, like umbrellas or ironing boards, and allow the stories, issues and insights to emerge from this work” said COMMOTION leader Pablo Felices Luna, Artistic Director at Carousel Players. “The COMMOTION program is led by Professor Gyllian Raby with designers Michael Greves, Joe Lapinski and Doug Ledingham. We thank drama teachers Tracey Garratt from Eastdale Secondary School and Tracy Thorpe from Laura Secord Secondary School for welcoming us into their schools, for actively fostering creativity in their students and for their passionate commitment to drama at their school.”

  This is the second year of the three year COMMOTION project and involves Carousel Players, Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts and TALK Niagara (Teams of Adults Listening to Kids). Last year 35 students from E.L. Crossley Secondary School and St. Catharines Collegiate participated in the program. COMMOTION is made possible by SSHRC: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and approval from the District School Board of Niagara to work with participating high school students on the project.

  Tags: Carousel Players, Commotion, courthouse theatre, Gyllian Raby, Pablo Felices Luna, TALK Niagara
  Categories: Events