News

  • Halfway home: It’s good news for Brock’s downtown arts school

    Tuesday, February 11, 2014 | By

    Brian Hutchings, Vice-President of Finance and Administration, who joined President Jack Lightstone and Humanities Dean Douglas Kneale at city council presentation

    (Source: The Brock News, Tuesday, February 11, 2014)

    The construction of Brock University’s new arts school in downtown St. Catharines has passed the midway point, as workers have kept the major project moving along despite this winter’s harsh weather.

    Three senior University officials appeared before St Catharines City Council on Monday Feb 10 with an update on the $45-million project that will house the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    And their news was good.

    “We’re on time, and we’re on budget,” said Brian Hutchings, Vice-President of Finance and Administration, who joined President Jack Lightstone and Humanities Dean Douglas Kneale for the council presentation. Hutchings said the Walker School is still scheduled to be open for September 2015.

    Lightstone, who first proposed the idea of twin downtown arts projects when he appeared in the same council chamber seven years ago, said the urban-centre location lets the University play a role in helping local communities. The University and City worked together to find a site for the Brock project in an industrial heritage building, the former Canada Hair Cloth plant.

    “Brock University is proud to be a partner and supporter of St Catharines, and indeed of Niagara,” said Lightstone. “For years Brock has publicly stated that one of our top priorities is to help strengthen our host communities intellectually, socially, culturally and economically.”

    Kneale said creating a new centre of learning in the shell of an old industrial site is a “perfect metaphor” that will help future generations become part of Canada’s billion-dollar cultural sector.

    “We are taking a 19th-century textile factory and turning it into a state-of-the-art facility for more than 500 students,” said Kneale. “Opportunities like this happen but once in a lifetime.”

    As part of the presentation, city councillors viewed a video presentation on the project done by Tracy van Oosten, a Brock graduate of visual arts and film studies.

    At the worksite, the full footprint of the Walker School is now visible. The main structure for the project’s new construction – mainly, the new dramatic arts theatre – is up, and now workers will largely focus on the complex interior work in all of the buildings, the most time-consuming being the renovation and repurposing of the older structures.

    The University and City arts projects were the initial catalysts of a massive downtown renewal initiative, which now also includes the Meridian Centre, a 4,500-seat ice rink and spectator facility expected to be completed this autumn.

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    Categories: In the Media, News

  • Arts centres on time and on budget: Brock, St. Catharines

    Tuesday, February 11, 2014 | By

    Marilyn I Walker School of performing arts building rendering

    (Source: The St. Catharines Standard, Tuesday, February 11, 2014 | By Marlene Bergsma)

    Construction on both the city’s Performing Arts Centre and Brock University’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is on time and on budget – but the recent cold snap has forced the city’s contractor to rent ground-thawing equipment.

    Brock president Jack Lightstone told St. Catharines councillors it’s been seven years since he first made a presentation to council suggesting a partnership to revitalize downtown, and he said Brock continues to be “proud to be a partner and supporter of St. Catharines and Niagara.”

    With an anticipated enrolment of 500 students plus faculty and staff, and the city’s construction of an adjacent performing arts centre, the Walker school of art “will truly revitalize the downtown core of the city,” Lightstone said.

    Brock’s VP of finance and administration, Brian Hutchings, said construction and renovations on Brock’s part of the project are “50% done, and we are on time and on budget.”

    Showing pictures to council, Hutchings said the university is preserving much of the character of the former Canada Hair Cloth building, by showcasing wooden pillars, exposed masonry and existing windows.

    Douglas Kneale, Brock’s Dean of Humanities, said turning the former factory building into classrooms and rehearsal studios “is the perfect metaphor for St. Catharines’ industrial past and post-industrial future.”

    Quoting English Romantic poet William Blake, Kneale said the project is turning “dark Satanic mills” into engines of education and creativity. Kneale also described the state-of-the-art music practice rooms that will offer acoustic isolation with sound-blocking walls, ceilings and windows, and the perfect humidity for singers’ voices and musical instruments.

    Meanwhile a significant part of the foundation has been poured for the city’s performing arts centre project. An aerial shot of the site, taken recently, shows the elevator shaft on the left, next to the crane, and a dark hole in the centre of the frame, which will provide the stairway access to Brock’s school of arts, said St. Patrick’s Coun. Mark Elliott. On the bottom left is bare earth which will be the site of Partridge Hall, the centre’s biggest venue with 775 seats, which will boast sophisticated and invisible acoustical panels which can be automatically adjusted for the type of concert or event.

    Parks and recreation director Rick Lane said the city’s project is also on time and on budget, although the cold weather which has frozen the ground has posed some problems for Bird Construction, which has been using heaters to thaw the earth so they can continue with necessary excavation.

    Mayor Brian McMullan thanked Lightstone for the “vision and passion” he has brought to the project, and said it was “one of the reasons it succeeded and it will truly be a transformative project.”

    Lightstone also showed a video showcasing Brock’s arts programs.

     

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    Categories: In the Media, News

  • Brock community event looks at theatre criticism in the digital age

    Monday, February 10, 2014 | By

    karen fricker

    (Source: The Brock News, Monday, February 10, 2014)

    An upcoming series of community discussions at Brock University later this month will debate the question: is everyone a critic?

    Media professionals, theatre experts, scholars and students will assemble in Sankey Chamber at Brock Feb. 21 and Feb. 22 to take part in the colloquium, The Changing Face of Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age, hosted by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    “The rise of blogging and Twitter, combined with the decline of print journalism, is raising important questions about what counts as legitimate, professional criticism,” says Karen Fricker, event co-ordinator and a professor of dramatic arts. “Our discussions will focus on the current critical scene in Niagara, as well as imagining possible futures for the arts in our community.”

    Panel members include two of Toronto’s most influential theatre critics: J. Kelly Nestruck of The Globe and Mail and Richard Ouzounian of the Toronto Star. Others include local figures like Jackie Maxwell, artistic director of the Shaw Festival, and Steve Solski, director of the St. Catharines Centre for the Performing Arts.

    The colloquium will also feature international critics: Jill Dolan, Princeton University professor and noted theatre blogger (thefeministspectator.com); Maddy Costa, a London, England blogger and journalist; and Andy Horwitz, founder of New York arts blog culturebot.net

    Dolan is visiting Brock as part of the Walker Cultural Leaders series. While here, she will deliver a public lecture, “Moving the Body Politic: How Feminism and Theatre Inspire Social Re-imaginings.” Her lecture, co-sponsored by the Department of Dramatic Arts and Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies at Brock, takes place Friday, Feb. 21, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon, also in Sankey Chamber.

    All of these events are free and open to the public.

    Funding for these events is provided by the Walker Cultural Leaders Series, the Brock Humanities Research Institute and the SSHRC Institutional Grant scheme, and the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre.

    All events will be live-streamed.  [Click on “live video”]

    —

    SCHEDULE: The Changing Face of Theatre Criticism in the Digital Age

    All events take place in Sankey Chamber at Brock University

    FRIDAY, FEB. 21:

    * 2 – 2:30 p.m.: Welcome
    Presentation by Brock dramatic arts students from the third-year class, Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    * 2:30 – 4 p.m.: Panel discussion “Critics and the arts in Niagara”

    • Jill Dolan (respondent)
    • Monica Dufault, artistic director, Essential Collective Theatre
    • David Fancy, associate professor of Dramatic Arts, Brock University, co-artistic director, neXt Company Theatre (chair)
    • John Law, arts and entertainment writer, Sun Media
    • Sara Palmieri, co-founder, In the Soil Festival
    • Stephen Remus, minister of energy, minds, and resources, Niagara Arts Centre
    • Steve Solski, director, St. Catharines Centre for the Performing Arts
    • Candice Turner-Smith, managing director, Niagara Symphony Orchestra

    * 4:15 – 5:45 p.m.: Panel discussion “Embedded criticism: a new way forward, or criticism-as-PR?”

    • Maddy Costa, critic and blogger
    • Karen Fricker
    • Andy Horwitz, founder, culturebot.org
    • Jackie Maxwell, artistic director, Shaw Festival
    • Jacob Gallagher-Ross, assistant professor of theatre, University of Buffalo (respondent)
    • Lawrence Switzky, assistant professor of Drama, University of Toronto at Mississauga (chair)

    SATURDAY, FEB. 22:

    * 10 – 10:30 a.m.: Welcome
    Presentation by Brock dramatic arts students from the third-year class, Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    * 10:30 a.m. – 12 noon: Panel discussion “Bloggers, critics, and cultural legitimation”

    • Jill Dolan
    • Karen Fricker (chair)
    • Andy Horwitz (respondent)
    • J. Kelly Nestruck, lead theatre critic, The Globe and Mail
    • Richard Ouzounian, lead theatre critic, Toronto Star
    • Holger Syme, chair, Department of English and Drama, University of Toronto at Mississauga, and blogger (disposito.net)
    • Odette Yazbeck, director of public relations, Shaw Festival

    * 12:15 – 1 p.m.: Colloquium wrap-up

    • Maddy Costa; Jill Dolan; Karen Fricker (chair); Rosemary Drage Hale, director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Brock University; and Andy Horwitz

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    Categories: In the Media, News

  • Media Release: Jehanne of the Witches

    Tuesday, January 28, 2014 | By

    jehanne_promo_dvBrock University
    Media Release
    St. Catharines, ON
    January 28, 2014

    The Department of Dramatic Arts’ mainstage production of Jehanne of the Witches is beset with twists and turns, black magic, illusion, sexuality, and the use – and abuse – of power!

    Students of Brock University’s Department of Dramatic Arts present Jehanne of the Witches, a Canadian play that probes into the nature of magic, truth and illusion. Performances will be held at the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University on February 13, 14 and 15, 2014.

    Jehanne of the Witches, written by award-winning Canadian playwright Sally Clark, recounts Joan of Arc’s story with historical accuracy, and explores modern, feminist ideals, as well as Christianity and Paganism. Using historical facts, Clark weaves a story exploring the strange relationship that existed between Joan of Arc and her comrade-in-arms, Gilles de Rais – the notorious Bluebeard. In this production, Gilles de Rais is in his own personal purgatory where he is condemned to endlessly relive the events of his life from his first contact with Jehanne to his own death.
    Directed by Virginia Reh, with scenography by David Vivian, and lighting by Cameron More, this second mainstage production of the Department of Dramatics Arts’ 2013-14 Season showcases the talents of students in the undergraduate program: Katie Coseni, Mallory Muehmer, Rachel Romanoski, Hayley Malouin, Elizabeth Smith, Nikki Morrison, Erik Bell, Derek Ewert, Josh Berard, and Lewis Whiteley.

    “Sally Clark’s unique and unorthodox look at the Joan of Arc legend has called to me for a very long time,” states Reh. “This multi-layered play questions the very nature of history: how and by whom it is relayed and manipulated. It deals in power, mystery, a yearning to believe and the very nature of theatre itself. Layers behind layers are torn away in a search for the elusive “truth.” Who is a saint? and who is a monster?”

    This play contains sexual themes and occasional strong language.

    Performances for Jehanne of the Witches will be held in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University on February 13, 14, and 15, 2014 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinée performance on February 14 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors and students, $12 for groups, and $5 for the eyeGo high school ticket program. Available from the Centre for the Arts Box Office: 905-688-5550 x3257 or visit: http://arts.brocku.ca/ For more information about this production and the Department of Dramatic Arts visit: brocku.ca/miwsfpa/dramaticarts.

    Productions from the Department of Dramatic Arts are an integral part of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts’ mandate to build connections between the community and the breadth of talent and creativity at Brock University.

    If you wish to experience the legend of Joan of Arc through the media of classic film and live choral performance, then you won’t want to miss Chorus Niagara’s CN CINEMA – The Passion of Joan of Arc, taking place on February 28 and March 1 at 7:30 p.m., held at St. Thomas Anglican Church in St. Catharines. Tickets can be purchased through the Centre for the Arts Box Office (purchase information is listed above).

     

    Media call: Thursday, February 6, 2014 at 6 p.m., held in the Sean O’Sullivan Theatre, Brock University

    For interviews please contact:
    Marie Balsom, Communications
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    T: 905.688.5550, x4765| E: mbalsom@brocku.ca | W: brocku.ca/finearts

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    Categories: Media Releases

  • Industrial Fabric 4: Festival of the Arts

    Friday, January 17, 2014 | By

    Industrial fabric poster

    Download a copy of the Industrial Fabric 4 Brochure.

    Industrial Fabric is a festival of student art, imaginative performances and musical collaboration presented by the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Engage in two months of events that will demonstrate the vitality of the Arts at Brock University – on stage, in studios and galleries, and at regional venues.

    The Walker School with be moving to its new downtown facilities in 2015.

     

    Dramatic Arts Events

     

    Music Events

     

    Walker Cultural Leader Series Events 

     

    Visual Arts Events

     

    Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture

    • Please visit our website for upcoming events.

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    Categories: Events, Industrial Fabric

  • Teaching Opportunity: Assistant Professor – Drama in Education/Applied Theatre & Performance

    Tuesday, October 29, 2013 | By

    miwsfpa-icon-220Full-time Teaching Opportunity in the Department of Dramatic Arts:
    Assistant Professor – Drama in Education/Applied Theatre and Performance

    The Department of Dramatic Arts in the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University invites applications for a tenure-track appointment in Drama in Education/Applied Theatre and Performance at the rank of Assistant Professor starting July 1st, 2014. The position is subject to final budgetary approval.

    Qualifications

    The successful candidate must hold a PhD with an emphasis on process drama/participatory theatre and exhibit exemplary practice in the profession. Teaching experience in elementary/secondary schools is an asset. Applicants should be able to teach courses with mixed studio/lecture components as well as larger-scale survey courses and studio performance intensives.

    The successful candidate will teach a range of courses in drama in education, applied theatre, performance, movement, and praxis. The preferred individual will bring knowledge of a spectrum of teaching methodologies in diverse pedagogical situations and critical performance theory, as well as expertise in synthesizing these modes of knowledge. The individual will engage energetically with departmental production activity, specifically the conceptualization and realization of departmental main-stage events and/or outreach educational outcomes. Skills in a secondary area featuring interdisciplinary research and practice may also be of value. Administrative skills are a definite asset.

    The salary is competitive and commensurate with qualifications.

    Notes

    The Department of Dramatic Arts offers a BA Honours in Dramatic Arts. For Honours students, Concentrations are available in Drama in Education/Applied Theatre, Performance, Production and Design, and Theatre Praxis. The Department also offers a four-year (20 credit) BA with Major Dramatic Arts degree and a three-year BA Pass degree, as well as two concurrent BA (Honours)/BEd programs over five years. For more information, see  www.brocku.ca/dramatic_arts/

    Located at the center of Canada’s beautiful Niagara peninsula in St. Catharines, Ontario, we are a community of learners and researchers with a strong and expanding regional base, with excellent resources in cultural, social, and athletic enrichment. Canadian and American metropolitan centres are within easy distance.

    In the summer of 2015 the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, including the Department of Dramatic Arts, will move to its new comprehensive facility in downtown St. Catharines, adjacent to a new regional performing arts centre built by the City of St. Catharines.

    Applications will include a brief covering letter, a letter of intent (1200 words max.) and a current curriculum vitae including a teaching dossier and/or artistic/academic portfolio in a theatrical field (mask, movement, directing, publications etc.). A five-year research plan should indicate directions for the future. In addition, candidates will provide the names of three referees who will be contacted in the event of a short listing. Please address applications to:

    Professor David Vivian
    Chair, Department of Dramatic Arts
    Brock University
    St. Catharines ON L2S 3A1
    dvivian@brocku.ca

    The application deadline is December 10th, 2013. This position is subject to budgetary approval. More information on Brock University may be found on the University’s website: brocku.ca. Brock University is actively committed to diversity and the principles of Employment Equity and invites applications from all qualified candidates. Women, Aboriginal peoples, members of visible minorities, and people with disabilities are especially encouraged to apply and to voluntarily self identify as a member of a designated group as part of their application. Candidates who wish to have their application considered as a member of one or more designated groups should fill out the Self-Identification Form available at https://brocku.ca/hr-ehs/career-opportunities-2 and include the completed form with their application. All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority.

    This posting can be found at
    www.brocku.ca/hr/careers/position_detail.php?id=1370

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    Categories: Department/Centre News, Faculty & Instructors, News

  • A major step towards the opening of the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre

    Friday, September 27, 2013 | By

    Algoma Central Corporation presenting the $250,000 donation

    Algoma Central Corporation presenting the $250,000 donation

    The construction of the St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre took a new step towards completion on August 15, 2013. The first crane was erected over the site at the same time the first corporate gift was unveiled. The $250,000 donation from Algoma Central Corporation will secure the name for the lobby of the new facility. This space will be the most central area of the $60.7-million building, $18 million of which was donated by the Government of Canada and $18 million of which was donated by the Government of Ontario.

    City officials see this donation and the erection of the first crane as major steps towards making the dream of the revitilization of the area into reality.

    The St. Catharines Performing Arts Centre will include four performance spaces: a 775-seat concert hall, 300-seat recital hall, 187-seat film theatre and a 210-seat theatre/dance venue.

    When the facility is opened in the fall of 2015, it is expected to host 600 events every year and see 125,000 visitors annually.

    A webcam focused upon the progress of the construction of the Performing Arts Centre can be seen here. The progress of the Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts facility can be seen in the upper right corner of the video feed. The school is anticipated to welcome over 600 students, staff and faculty in the fall of 2015.

    The St. Catharines Standard did a full article on the event.

     

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    Categories: News

  • The Walker Cultural Leader Series 2013- 14

    Thursday, August 08, 2013 | By

    wcls-2013-14webbanner2

    The Walker Cultural Leader series brings leading artists, performers, practitioners and academics to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts at Brock University. Engaging, lively and erudite, these sessions celebrate professional achievement, artistic endeavour and the indelible role of culture in our society. Please join us.

    This educational program is generously funded by Marilyn I. Walker.

     

     

    david-jalbert-wcls-music-220x220

    David Jalbert

    Pianist David Jalbert performs regularly as a soloist and recitalist across North America and Europe.

    Jalbert will present a recital of Bach’s masterpiece, The Goldberg Variations, as well as conduct a masterclass for Brock piano students.

     

    Sept. 20

    • Public Performance: J.S. Bach’s The Goldberg Variations at 7:30 pm, Sean O’Sullivan Theatre (free to MIWSFPA students; adults $15.04; seniors and students $10; eyeGo high school program $5)

    Tickets available at the Centre for the Arts Box Office 905.688.5550905.688.5550 x3257 or visit Arts.BrockU.ca (Prices do not include HST)

    Sept. 21

    • Piano Masterclass: Music students at 10 am-12 noon, Sean O’Sullivan Theatre (closed session); MIWSPFA students are invited to attend as audience members.

    CONTACT: Prof. Matthew Royal, Music, mroyal@brocku.ca

    David Jalbert has recorded CDs of solo piano music by John Corigliano and Frederic Rzewski, Gabriel Fauré, Dmitri Shostakovich, as well as his most recent release, the work featured in the Walker School concert, Bach’s Goldberg Variations. He is also an accomplished chamber musician, being a member of the piano trio Triple Forte, and has accompanied cellist Denise Djokic, French hornist Louis-Philippe Marsolais, and the wind quintet Pentaèdre, among others. Jalbert has won two Opus Awards (from the Conseil Québécois de la Musique) and was the 2007 laureate of the prestigious Virginia Parker Prize of the Canada Council for the Arts. He studied at the Juilliard School, the Glenn Gould School, the Université de Montréal, and the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec, and is now a professor of piano at the University of Ottawa.

     

     

    patrice-baldwin_dart-image-220x220Patrice Baldwin

    Patrice Baldwin is a world leader in Drama, Education and the Arts in learning, and their connections to the latest developments in Neuroscience.

    Baldwin will spend eight days teaching, speaking, and giving demonstration classes at Brock and throughout the Niagara peninsula.

     

    Oct. 3 & 8

    • Teaching/Demonstrations: DART 1F95, 2P01, 3P03, 3F92 students, scheduled class times (closed session)

    Oct. 5

    • Drama in Education Intensive Workshop: 9:30 am – 5:30 pm,Centre Stage Theatre School and Productions, 3505 Mainway, Burlington, ON (free for DART students; all others $20 to cover costs for refreshments and venue). Limited registration.

    Oct. 7

    • Teaching/Demonstration Classes: FOE pre-service and DART students and alumni, 8 am – 2 pm, Faculty of Education (FOE), Hamilton Campus, 1842 King St. East, Hamilton, ON (closed session)

    Oct. 9

    • Teaching/Demonstrations in Niagara Schools: FOE pre-service students, DART students and alumni, and Niagara teachers (closed session)
    • Public Lecture: “Neuroscience, Creativity, and Learning: Recent Research and Connections to Drama in Education and Arts-Based Learning,” 7:30 – 8:30 pm, Pond Inlet (free community event)

    CONTACT: Georgann Watson, Dramatic Arts, dramatic@brocku.ca

    Patrice Baldwin is president of the International Drama, Theatre and Education Association (IDEA), and Chair of National Drama (the UK’s leading professional association for drama teachers and theatre educators), and is also an Executive Forum member of the World Alliance for Arts Education. A renowned advocate for the Arts and Drama Education, she is a prolific and respected author, with a particular interest in: Drama as a way of teaching literacy and as a way of learning across the curriculum; Drama and Arts-based creativity; and Drama and Neuroscience. Baldwin, a visiting lecturer at the University of Warwick, is known for her lectures, keynote addresses, and workshops at international conferences.

     

     

    davidwaldenphoto-cstac-220x220David Walden

    A long-time senior manager in the Canadian cultural sector, David Walden recently retired as Secretary-General, Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

    Walden will present two public talks: one on the role of culture in international development, and the other on Canadian cultural property legislation.

     

    Oct. 21

    • Seminar: STAC 4P68 students, 1 pm, Rm. PL 311 (closed session)

    Oct. 22

    • Class: STAC 4F40 students, 3 pm, Rm. PL 408 (closed session)

    Oct. 23

    • Public Lecture: “Culture and Development -The Missing Link,” 7:30 pm, Sankey Chambers (free community event)

    Oct. 24

    • Public Lecture: “Art, Taxes, and the Public Good – how Canadian cultural property rules help artists, collectors,
      museums, and the public,” 7 pm, Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Cres., St. Catharines, ON (free community event)

    Oct. 28

    • Seminar: STAC 4P68 students, 1 pm, Rm. PL 311 (closed session)

    CONTACT: Prof. Sharilyn Ingram, STAC, singram@brocku.ca

    From 1984 to 1999, David Walden held the positions of Secretary to the Canadian Cultural Property Export Review Board and Director of the Movable Cultural Property Program in the Department of Canadian Heritage. His numerous international involvements include chairing the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for Promoting the Return of Cultural Property to its Countries of Origin or its Restitution in Case of Illicit Appropriation; the International Network on Cultural Policy; and the UN Economic Commission for Europe Meeting on Sustainable Development.

    A member of the Executive Management Committee of the Canada Council for the Arts from 1999 through 2013, Walden currently works as a consultant in international organizations and governance. He was recently named an Honourary Lifetime Member of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO.

     

     

    altheaheadshot11-2-220x220Althea Thauberger

    Althea Thauberger is an artist based in Vancouver, BC. She was a 2011 finalist for the Grange Prize and her work is represented by Susan Hobbs Gallery, Toronto.

    Visual Arts students will have the opportunity to collaborate with Thauberger to produce an experimental documentary video on the future move of the Walker School to downtown St. Catharines, ending with a public screening and discussion.

     

    Oct. 28

    • Artist’s Talk: 7 – 10 pm, Pond Inlet (free community event)

    Oct. 29 – 31

    • Student Seminar Series: Brock campus and Fourgrounds Media, 31 James St., St. Catharines, ON (closed session)

    Nov. 1

    • Public Panel Discussion: 7 pm, Rodman Hall Art Centre, 109 St. Paul Cres., St. Catharines, ON (free community event)

    Nov. 2 – 7

    • Workshop: Video Production for participating students Brock campus and Fourgrounds Media, 31 James St., St. Catharines, ON (closed session)

    Nov. 8

    • Public Screening and Discussion: 7 – 10 pm, Rm. AS 215 (free community event)

    CONTACT: Prof. Donna Szoke, Visual Arts, dszoke@brocku.ca

    Driven by her interest in collaboration, Althea Thauberger’s internationally produced and exhibited work involves interactions with well-defined groups of people and communities. While Thauberger’s practice defies strict definition by medium, she has produced remarkable films, videos, photographs, and performances over the course of her decade-long career. Her unique facility for collaboration is the thread that connects her projects as well as her thoughtful engagement with groups of people as her subjects. She works with these communities to develop performances that offer the participants opportunities for self-exploration and self-definition. Whether videos or photographs, the final works Thauberger produces are always striking documents that entice, engage and surprise her viewers. Her work has been presented recently at the Liverpool Biennial (2012); 17th Biennale of Sydney (2010); National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (2009); and The Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh (2009).

     

     

    Jill Dolan

    Jill Dolan is the Annan Professor of English and Professor of Theater at Princeton University, where she also directs the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies.

    Dolan will give a masterclass in online arts criticism, as well as a public lecture on “Moving the Body Politic: How Feminism and Theatre Inspire Social Re-imaginings.” She will participate in a colloquium and open roundtable on the changing face of arts criticism in the digital age.

     

    Feb. 20

    • Masterclass in Online Arts Criticism: DART 3P95/96 students 2 – 5 pm, Rm. TH 257 (closed session)

    Feb. 21

    • Public Lecture: “Moving the Body Politic: How Feminism and Theatre Inspire Social Re-imaginings” 10 am, Sankey Chambers (free community event). Presented in association with the Department of Dramatic Arts and the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies
    • Colloquium: “The changing face of arts criticism in the digital age,”     2 – 6 pm, Sankey Chambers Keynote and presentations. (free community event)

    2:00 pm – 2:30 pm

    • WELCOME AND PRESENTATION by students in DART 3P96: Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    2:30 pm – 4:00 pm

    • PANEL DISCUSSION: Critics and the arts in Niagara
    • Chair: David Fancy, associate professor of Dramatic Arts, Brock University, co-artistic director, neXt Company Theatre.
    • Participants: Monica Dufault, artistic director, Essential Collective Theatre; John Law, arts and entertainment writer, Sun Media; Sara Palmieri, co-founder, In the Soil Festival; Stephen Remus, minister of energy, minds, and resources, Niagara Arts Centre; Steve Solski, director, St. Catharines Centre for the Performing Arts; Candice Turner-Smith, managing director, Niagara Symphony Orchestra
    • Respondent: Jill Dolan

    4:15 pm – 5:45 pm

    • PANEL DISCUSSION: Embedded criticism: a new way forward, or criticism-as-PR?
    • Chair: Lawrence Switzky, assistant professor of Drama, University of Toronto at Mississauga
    • Participants: Maddy Costa, critic and blogger, London, UK; Karen Fricker, assistant professor of Dramatic Arts, Brock University; Andy Horwitz, founder, Culturebot.org, New York; Jackie Maxwell, artistic director, Shaw Festival
    • Respondent: Jacob Gallagher-Ross, assistant professor of Theatre, State University of New York at Buffalo

    Feb. 22

    • Colloquium cont’d.: “The changing face of arts criticism in the digital age,” 10 am – 1 pm, Sankey Chambers. There will be a roundtable component (free community event)

    10:00 am – 10:30 am

    • WELCOME AND PRESENTATION by students in DART 3P96: Studies in Praxis – Theatre Criticism

    10:30 am – 12:00 pm

    • PANEL DISCUSSION: Bloggers, critics, and cultural legitimation
    • Chair: Karen Fricker
    • Participants: Jill Dolan; J. Kelly Nestruck, lead theatre critic, The Globe and Mail; Richard Ouzonian, lead theatre critic, Toronto Star; Holger Syme, Chair, Department of English, University of Toronto at Mississauga, and blogger; Odette Yazbeck, director of public relations, Shaw Festival
    • Respondent: Andy Horwitz

    12:15 pm – 1:00 pm

    • COLLOQUIUM WRAP-UP
    • Chair: Karen Fricker
    • Participants: Maddy Costa; Jill Dolan; Rosemary Drage Hale, Director of the Centre for Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Brock University; Andy Horwitz

    CONTACT: Prof. Karen Fricker, Dramatic Arts, kfricker@brocku.ca

    Jill Dolan is the author of The Feminist Spectator as Critic (1989, 2012); Utopia in Performance: Finding Hope at the Theatre (2005); Theatre & Sexuality (2010); and many other books and essays. She won the 2011 Outstanding Teacher Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education and a lifetime achievement award from the Women and Theatre Program (2011). She writes The Feminist Spectator blog at TheFeministSpectator.com, for which she won the 2010-11 George Jean Nathan Award for dramatic criticism. A book of her selected blog posts and new essays, The Feminist Spectator in Action: Feminist Criticism for Stage and Screen, was published by Palgrave Macmillan in July 2013. Her full bio can be found at princeton.edu/arts/arts_at_princeton/theater/professor_bios/dolan/

     

     

    wcls-ensemble-vivant-1-220x220Ensemble Vivant

    Ensemble Vivant have recorded for such labels as Fanfare, Pro Arte, Doremi, SPY and Opening Day/Universal and Opening Day Entertainment Group, and their recordings are heard on classical radio around the world.

    Ensemble Vivant, under the direction of Catherine Wilson, will present a concert with commentary on The Fugue, as well as give a masterclass on small ensemble playing for Brock music students.

     

    Mar. 28

    • Public Performance: The Fugue, 7:30 pm, Sean O’Sullivan Theatre (free to MIWSFPA students; adults $15.04; seniors and students $10; eyeGo high school program $5)

    Tickets available at the Centre for the Arts Box Office 905.688.5550905.688.5550 x3257 or visit Arts.BrockU.ca (Prices do not include HST)

    Mar. 29

    • Masterclass: Music students, 10 am – 12:30 pm Sean O’Sullivan Theatre; MIWSPFA students are invited to attend as
      audience members. (closed session)

    CONTACT: Prof. Matthew Royal, Music, mroyal@brocku.ca

    Ensemble Vivant consists of pianist, founder and artistic director, Catherine Wilson, as well as Sybil Shanahan (cello), Don Thompson (acoustic bass, vibraphone), Erica Beston (violin) and Norman Hathaway (violin, viola). Championing a unique genre-diverse repertoire in their concerts and recordings since the group first came on the scene in the late 1980s, Ensemble Vivant has received critical acclaim for its work in the classical piano-trio literature, as well as for its forays into the worlds of ragtime, jazz and tango. Hailed as “Canada’s Chamber Music treasure.” –  Toronto Star

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    Categories: Events, Walker Cultural Leader Series

  • Technical Theatre Job Opportunity in the Department of Dramatic Arts

    Monday, July 15, 2013 | By

    miwsfpa-icon-220IATSE 01/2013 Theatre Technical Production Assistant, Department of Dramatic Arts (DART), Faculty of Humanities 

    (closes Friday, July 19, 2013)

    Reporting to the Production Manager and/or Technical Director, the Theatre Technical Production Assistant is responsible for providing the technical elements for departmental production and teaching, supporting teaching of technical production by instruction or lab demonstration, supervising and maintaining DART spaces, technical inventory and equipment, and coordinating and supervising students and hired technicians.

    for more information and to apply please please see this page for the posting

    download the posting in a PDF file

    Inquiries about the job opportunity may be sent to the Production Manager, Brian Cumberland bcumberland@brocku.ca

    Inquiries about the Department and its programs may be sent to the Chair, Professor David Vivian dvivian@brocku.ca

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    Categories: Department/Centre News, News

  • Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts is breaking new ground

    Thursday, June 13, 2013 | By

    miw-celebration-3

    From left: Douglas Kneale, Dean, Faculty of Humanities; John Suk, Vice-Chair, Brock Board of Trustees; Jack Lightstone, Brock University President and Vice-Chancellor; Jim Bradley, MPP, St. Catharines; Marilyn I. Walker; Mark Elliott, councilor, City of St. Catharines; Joe Robertson, Chair, Brock Board of Trustees; Derek Knight, director, Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts.

    Faculty, students, senior administration and local politicians gathered on Friday May 31st to celebrate the ground-breaking ceremony for the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts. With a budget of $39.6 million, the project will transform the former Canada Haircloth textile mill into an educational, creative and presentation complex of some 600 students, faculty and staff. Following the move to full construction mode in January 2012 the faculty, staff and students will begin their work in the innovative facility at 198 St. Paul in September 2015.

    Noting that the new facility will be “an economic hub for arts and digital media” and fuel the revitalization of downtown St. Catharines, Jack Lightstone, President and Vice-Chancellor of Brock University, remarked told the gathering that the new Walker School “is a tribute to the concept of community partnership. This is much more than a building. It is a statement about what can happen when many hands work together to build a better future.”

    Douglas Kneale, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, described the new facility for the school as a “living, breathing furnace of innovation” where artists of all disciplines “collide creatively …like sparks off a flint.” He continued:
    “In return, the community of St. Catharines will catch fire and experience in new ways the transcendence, the ache, the wow that only the arts can give us.”

    The facility project includes the renovation of existing buildings, some of which date to the mid-19th century, and the construction of new purpose-built facilities. In order to preserve the visual appeal of the historic architecture much of the retrofitting and renovation will take place indoors. The landmark’s exterior will be refurbished with new windows and restored brickwork.

    The project received $26.2 million from the Ontario government and is also being supported by generous partners from across the community. Marilyn I. Walker’s gift of $15 million was the remarkable catalyst for the creation of this much-anticipated complex that will serve the teaching, learning, and creative research in the fine and performing arts at Brock University.

    As well as shared spaces such as the new MIWSFPA learning commons, digital media lab, and praxis lecture hall, the department of Dramatic Arts will enjoy four performance studios (two of which can be used for public presentation), a carpentry and woodworking shop, costume shop and storage facility, design studio, and a new flexible studio theatre for teaching and presentation twelve months of the year.  The Department of Visual Arts will also be programming a new Visual Arts Exhibition Gallery, adjacent.

    Students of the School will also be using the film/video theatre and music recital hall built by the City of St. Catharines in the adjacent Performing Arts Center also scheduled to open in 2015.

    You can follow the construction of the Performing Arts Centre and the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (top of screen) at the Performing Arts Centre Construction Cam.

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    Categories: News

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