The new Canadian Arts Coalition website has now been launched. Visit the new Action Centre to find resources designed to help artists, arts organizations and the community at large make our case to decision makers.
Monthly Archives: August 2010
Event: Planning for the Day on the Hill, November 4, 2010, Canadian Arts Coalition
Canadian Arts Coalition
1. Pre-Budget Brief to the federal Standing Committee on Finance
2. Planning for the Day on the Hill, November 4, 2010
3. Coalition Finances
1. Pre-Budget Brief to the federal Standing Committee on Finance
Canadian Arts Coalition co-chair Éric Dubeau took a lead role in crafting a pre-budget brief to the Standing Committee on Finance – and you can read it on our website.
The brief presents arguments in support of the Coalition’s two recommendations to the Federal Government, which are
Recommendation 1: That the Government of Canada invest in Canadian creativity and Canadian communities by increasing the base budget of the Canada Council for the Arts by an additional $30 million per year in each of the next four years, bringing the Council’s funding base to $300 million per annum by 2015.
Recommendation 2: That the Government of Canada acknowledge the role that arts and culture plays in enhancing Canada’s reputation internationally and put Canadian artists on the world stage by investing $25 million in strategic international market access and development initiatives.
Thanks to some behind-the-scenes work by Coalition steering committee members, these recommendations were echoed in a number of other submissions from the cultural sector. We will be following up with the Clerk of the Committee to request an opportunity to present to the Committee during its pre-budget consultation tour this fall.
2. Planning for the Day on the Hill, November 4, 2010
Will there be an election this fall? Will Parliament face its third prorogation in as many years? Or will we be able to proceed with our planned Day on the Hill on November 4, 2010?
Well, we don’t know either! But we do know that if we don’t move ahead with planning for the Day on the Hill now, we’ll have lost valuable time. So here’s what’s up – and here’s where we need your help.
A. A small group from the Performing Arts Alliance organizations (Professional Association of Canadian Theatres, Orchestras Canada, Opera.ca, Canadian Dance Assembly and CAPACOA) has agreed to volunteer time and organizational resources to send out meeting request letters to MPs and other Ottawa officials. They will also be making follow-up
phone calls and scheduling meetings. We are in serious need of at least two more people to make follow-up calls to MPs’ offices, and we’re particularly in need of a caller who is fluent in French. If you, or someone known to you, might have daytime hours available September 27 onwards to contact MPs by phone to set up meetings, please contact Katherine Carleton by email: Katherine@oc.ca. We’ll provide a script and training on the Coalition database; you’ll need to provide a phone and computer.
B. At the same time, we would like to get a sense of just who is able to take part in the Day on the Hill this year. We need artists, board members of arts organizations and arts managers to meet with MPs on November 4. We are looking for people who believe in the Coalition’s recommendations and can speak convincingly about the value that the arts bring to Canadian communities. We are looking to maintain a strictly non-partisan approach: we need to win supporters from all political parties for the recommendations we are making. Ideally, we can demonstrate strong national support by having spokespeople from all regions of the country and a diversity of language and artistic practice.
Participants will be responsible for their own travel, accommodation and per diems. We recognize that this may present a challenge to some of you: however, the Coalition’s resources are modest, and we cannot subsidize travel. At the same time, we note that the Canada Council is hosting its NASO meeting on November 1, the Canadian Conference of the Arts’ national policy conference runs November 1-3, the Performing Arts Alliance boards are holding a joint meeting November 3, and the
CAPACOA conference starts November 5. So – a significant number of interested Canadians will already be in the nation’s capital that week, and we hope that many of you will be able to take part in the Day on the Hill on November 4, too.
NOTE: the Canadian Conference of the Arts has confirmed that the Chateau Laurier is making its $119/night rate available for room nights between October 30 and November 7.
The Coalition steering committee will organize the confirmed participants into teams, and will provide a thorough briefing to the teams (along with a delicious breakfast!) from 7:30-9 a.m. on Thursday, November 4. Each team will then be provided with a meeting schedule for the day, an adequate supply of leave behind materials, and a number to call if things change. We are also investigating the feasibility of co-hosting a 5 à 7 on the Hill with the new Parliamentary Arts Caucus, to put a cap on the day.
Please let Katherine Carleton know by September 15 if you – or representatives from your organization – are interested in taking part in the Day on the Hill 2010. You can reach her by email at Katherine@oc.ca
3. Coalition Finances
Since we began our drive to reanimate the Coalition last November, the Canadian Arts Coalition has collected a total of $13,400 in revenue from members and supporters. We also collected $1727.69 from another project. Thank you, one and all!
Since November, we’ve disbursed a total of $5816 and here’s the breakdown:
- Teleconferences: $155
- Translation of documents: $545
- Website development: $3700
- Database software: $1416
In the coming weeks, in addition to setting up meetings with MPs, we hope to
- engage a government relations firm to further develop our message;
- develop, design and print briefing and leave-behind materials for the meetings with MPs;
- make catering and technical arrangements with the hotel where our briefing session will take place on November 4
- confirm the location and hospitality arrangements for an event on Parliament Hill for artists, arts organizations and MPs
Clearly, we do not have the resources to fully cover these costs;
while we are working very hard to maximize the impact of what we do have through volunteer and pro bono services, we will need to raise additional funds to ensure that the Day on the Hill is successful.
Please consider making a contribution to the Coalition’s campaign; at the same time, we’ll be working to bring more members into the fold.
Membership fees or contributions to the Coalition are payable to Magazines Canada by cheque only (with “Canadian Arts Coalition” clearly identified in the detail line), and sent/delivered to
Mark Jamison
Magazines Canada
425 Adelaide Street West, Suite 700
Toronto, Canada M5V 3C1
Call for Submissions: Musicians, Dancers and More Invited to Help Create Large-Scale Installation Piece for Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010 in The Distillery Historic District, Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010
The Distillery Historic District presents THE RIVER PEACE by Thomas + Guinevere
Call for Artistic Collaborators: Musicians, dancers and more invited to help create large-scale installation piece for Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010 in The Distillery Historic District.
Volunteers are needed in September to help bring to life The River Peace, a large-scale public participatory performance art installation created by Thomas + Guinevere and sponsored by The Distillery Historic District. It will premiere at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010 on October 2 from 6:57pm to Sunrise.
Inspired by Mahatma Ghandi’s concept and scope of Satyagraha, or non-violent resistance, The River Peace is a giant metaphoric river where the content is not water, but a mass human expression of peace.
A large-scale sculptural movement and sound performance installation, The River Peace will take the form of a 2,000-foot long luminescent sculpture, stretching around and through the historic laneways in Toronto’s Distillery Historic District, which members of the public are invited to move through in their own meditative expression as musicians, dancers and creative collaborators create the illusion of a river in constant flow – with everyone’s cell phones providing the installation’s luminosity.
An aerial perspective of The River Peace will also be captured on video in The Distillery Historic District and projected onto the walls of Mill Street so the public can witness the real-time media artwork resulting from everyone’s participation.
To help create the sound, flow and form of The River Peace, Thomas + Guinevere is making a Call for Public Participation, inviting volunteer collaborators to participate prior to and on the night of Nuit Blanche. Volunteer participants are needed in the following categories:
- Mass participatory orchestra (Sound Streams): Placed at special sound stations along the river, musical contributors (instrumentalists and vocalists from all musical styles welcomed) will create a large-scale site-specific orchestral soundscape. Musicians will collaborate with noted composer John McDowell who created the soundtrack for the Academy Award-winning documentary Born into Brothels.
- Movement meditations (Beacons & Currents): Dancers from all styles and disciplines will act as beacons of peace. Beacons positioned throughout The River Peace’s course will be the home to dancers engaged in a durational movement meditation while River Currents will lead members of the public through the installation in a slow meditative choreography that can be done by everyone.
- Sculptural form set-up, movement and strike (Helmsmen): The sculptural form of The River Peace will be assembled, carried and steered by Helmsmen. Two hundred participants are required at any given time to mobilize the 2,000-foot long mobile sculpture made-up of lightweight telescopic poles connected by reflective banners.
- General volunteers (The Crew): Numerous tasks during the rehearsal and presentation of The River Peace will need to be assigned to volunteers who want to participate outside the artwork’s creation and production, from ushering on the night of Nuit Blanche to instructing cell phone use for creating the light, etc.
Interested volunteers should contact TheRiverPeace@gmail.com or visit www.thomasandguinevere.com.
THE RIVER PEACE by Thomas + Guinevere
At Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 2010
Sponsored by The Distillery Historic District, and in partnership with Scotiabank Nuit Blanche and Le Labo
October 2, 2010 – 6:57pm to Sunrise
Visit www.thomasandguinevere.com for more info
ABOUT THE ARTISTS – Thomas + Guinevere
Thom Sokoloski and Jenny Anne McCowan have built a partnership around developing site-specific public participatory art installations. With their common interest in site-specific work, the interrelationships between art and public and their extensive experience in creating innovative multi-disciplinary performance and image-based work, they began Thomas + Guinevere.
What distinguishes their work from most conceptual and relational art practices is their insistence on the primacy of the visual and aesthetic impact of the work. Socially and historically relevant, interactive, and truly public through participation, they create a sculptural landscape by conducting an optical experiment on a grand scale that can be experienced from multiple perspectives. From afar, their work creates a temporal sculptural form, while up close the work offers accessibility into an experiential and visceral intimacy with the content. To this end, they rely on an interdisciplinary mix of creative collaborators from the community who step forward to participate in the artwork’s process and construction.
In 2006, they were commissioned to create a large-scale public performance art work The Royal Flush, integrating the indoor and outdoor spaces of the Fallsview Casino that was presented all summer long. They were then commissioned by Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 06 to create Confinement of the Intellect, a metaphorical archaeological dig into the memory and history of mental health on Queen St. West. It then went to New York City in 2007 and was presented on the South Point of Roosevelt Island where it was renamed The Encampment and focused on the island’s history as a centre of quarantine until 1975. In 2008, it was then presented in Ottawa’s Major’s Hill Park with a focus on Canada’s history of intellectual disability. Upcoming works include The Ghost Net Project, The Hope Tower and a new version of The Encampment for the War of 1812 Bicentennial.
Thom Sokoloski was co-founder of The Theatre Centre and Autumn Leaf Performance. Some of his signature work includes directing R. Murray Schafer’s RA throughout the Science Centre and at the Holland Festival and Hermes Trismegistos inside Union Station for World Stage and Festival of Liege, his own Kafka in Love inside the Hart House swimming pool for World Stage and producing an international tour of Claude Vivier’s Kopernikus, Michael Nyman, Master Musicians of Jajouka and the Sonic Boom series of new opera and music. He has curated for the McLuhan Festival 04, Toronto International Art Fair 05, Contact 07 and Scotiabank Nuit Blanche 09.
Jenny Anne McCowan has an extensive background as a dancer and choreographer in creating and performing mass routines in rhythmic gymnastics in Canada and abroad, a developed working philosophy and practice of ‘public momentum’ drawn from her master’s thesis on Rave Culture and a body of work that has been performed in New York City, London, Miami, Lyon and Berlin. Her dance/circus spectacle Raise, a fundraiser for a paralysed circus artist, created a mass following and collaboration between 100-plus performers and the public. She is now developing a series of solo works inspired by female artists and composers.
John McDowell achieved worldwide recognition with his soundtrack to the Academy Award winning documentary Born into Brothels. The score blends Western and Indian music in a mesmerizing mix and features the seductive vocals of Brazilian Girls vocalist Sabina Sciubba. He was also the composer for the documentary Stolen, which premiered at TIFF in September, 2009. From the NYC area, John has worked with the likes of Sting, Santana, R. Murray Schafer and Donna Karan. In 2007, he orchestrated the soundscape for Thomas + Guinevere’s The Encampment in NYC on Roosevelt Island.
Call for Submissions: 3-Day Residency Workshop, Red Sky Performance
Premiere Native American conceptual artist James Luna (USA) and performance artist Guillermo Gómez-Peña (Mexico) present a 3 – day residency workshop in Toronto October 19, 20 & 21, 2010.
Red Sky Performance and Toronto Free Gallery are pleased to present a 3-day residency and workshop led by Luna and Gómez-Peña. The workshop will have a focus on performance art and the human body as a site for creation, reinvention, memory and activism. Daily exercises will be borrowed from multiple traditions including performance art, experimental theatre and dance. There are only 10 spots available. Please send letter of interest and cv to: info@redskyperformance.com Deadline September 25th, 2010
Following the workshop will be the Canadian Premiere of La Nostalgia Remix, the artist’s ongoing performance collaboration which will be held on Saturday, October 23rd at 8pm. This performance is presented in association with 7a*11d International Performance Festival, Native Women in the Arts and imagineNATIVE. Film & Media Arts Festival.
About La Nostalgia Remix:
Since the early 90′s, performance artist/writer Guillermo Gómez-Peña and Native American conceptual artist James Luna have worked on an ongoing project titled The Shame-man meets El Mexican’t in which they challenge assumptions and lazy thinking about race and culture in our society with a strong dose of melancholic humor and sharp-edged conceptualism. By using performance, writing, photography, and video, the artists have remained flexible and relevant to our shifting culture. La Nostalgia Remix, is the last project in The Shame-man…series, which was launched in 2007 and uses nostalgia as style, a form of resistance, and reinvention. Remix is a series of live performances that explore the cultural, symbolic, and iconographic dimensions of nostalgia both on the Native American “rez” and in the Chicano “barrio.”
About Guillermo Gómez-Peña:
Guillermo Gómez-Peña, performance artist and Artistic Director of La Pocha Nostra Performance artist/writer Guillermo Gómez-Peña resides in San Francisco where is he artistic director of La Pocha Nostra, a “trans-disciplinary arts organization that provides a base for a loose network and forum of rebel artists from various disciplines, generations and ethnic backgrounds”. Raised in Mexico City, he came to the US in 1978 to study in California. He is a regular contributor to National Public Radio, a writer for newspapers and magazines in the US, Mexico and Europe , and a contributing editor to The Drama Review (NYU-MIT).
His artistic project is to interrogate the idea of the ‘marginal’ and ‘exotic’ by destabilizing audience expectations as to what is mainstream and what is alternative. His work is intercultural in that he brings Latin-American and Native American perspectives, references, and styles into his work. In both his person (a Mexican immigrant to the US) and his work, he directly challenges narrow definitions of national identity, an area that is hugely topical both in the US today. His work consistently addresses the social and cultural effects of globalization, and patterns of ethnic and community affiliation beyond the national.
About James Luna:
James Luna is a Puyukitchum/ Luiseno Indian and is an enrolled member of and resides on the La Jolla Indian Reservation in North County San Diego, California. Luna’s exhibition and performance experience spans thirty years. Luna believes that installation and performance art, in which he employs a variety of media such as objects, audio and video, offers an opportunity like no other for Native people to express themselves without compromise in the Native traditional forms of ceremony, dance, and oral traditions.
His installations have been described as transforming gallery spaces into battlefields, where the audience is confronted with the nature of cultural identity, the tensions generated by cultural isolation, and the dangers of cultural misinterpretations, all from a Native perspective. Luna creates environments in galleries and on stage that function as both aesthetic and political statements. As a “Rez” resident, he draws from personal experience and probes emotions surrounding the way people are perceived within and outside of their cultures. Luna’s performances often deal with difficult issues affecting Indian communities, including socio-economic problems, substance abuse and cultural conflict. He confronts these issues head on, often using humor and satire as both counterbalance and salve, to take what he describes as “the first step in recovery”. Luna has affected audiences from across the US, Canada, Japan, Brazil, the UK and Europe, notably at the Venice Biennale 2005, in which he was commissioned by the Smithsonian Institution to represent the newly opened National Museum of the American Indian.
La Nostalgia Remix is supported by the James Irvine Foundation, the MAP Fund, the National Endowment for the Arts, the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Native American Arts & Cultural Traditions Initiative, the Zellerbach Family Foundation, and William & Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Red Sky Performance is supported by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and the Toronto Arts Council.
Toronto Free Gallery is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Toronto Arts Council.
Workshop: Managing Stress for Health and Wellness Increasing creative energy for artistic practice with Dr. Anita Shack, Artists’ Health Centre
Monday September 20, 2010
Artists’ Health Centre Foundation
250 The Esplanade, Suite 500
This clinic will help you manage stress and increase your daily energy and vitality. Participants will explore low impact movements and deep-breathing exercises to help strengthen and rejuvenate the creative process and enhance general health. Special emphasis will be placed on stress management involving:
- the mind, body, spirit connection
- how posture and optimal alignment are related to health
- how to perform a “personal health inventory” to decrease negative effects of stress and increase energy
Dr. Anita Shack B.F.A., D.C., F.A.T.A. uses an integrated approach in her work at the Artists’ Health Centre. She combines chiropractic, craniosacral therapy, and acupuncture, customizing care to the individual artist’s needs and goals. Fascinated with the body/mind/spirit connection, she is concerned not only with the relief of symptoms, but also with getting at the cause to facilitate change and healing. She was an original representative of the Health Care Practitioners meetings at the inception of the Artists’ Health Centre and was founding director of Health Focus, an integrated multidisciplinary alternative health care center in downtown Toronto from 1992-2005.
Dr. Shack performed as an independent modern dancer/choreographer from 1974-1986 in Canada and the United States and was a member of the Dance Music Orchestra. She has experience with Yoga, Pilates, Karate, Tai Chi, Feldenkrais Method, Alexander Technique, writing, photography, and music which serve to inform her work. She has extensive experience working with artists from many disciplines, including: dance, theatre, film, visual arts, music, and writing. Over the last 22 years she has seen how different modalities enhance each other, maximizing the benefits of care and the achievement of wellness.
Clinic: 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Clinic fee: $15
20% Discount for TAPA Members
Pre-registration is required, as space is limited.
To register please contact us at:
Phone: 416.351.0239 | Email: info@ahcf.ca | Fax: 416.595.0009
Or visit our website to print off and mail in a registration form.
For your comfort, this is a scent-free workshop. Please refrain from wearing any perfume, cologne, aftershave or scented products. Thank you.
The Artists’ Health Centre Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Workshop: Vocal Fitness for Actors and Singers-Preparing the Voice for Performance with Lori Holmes Speech-Language Pathologist and Voice Coach, Artists’ Health Centre
Saturday September 18, 2010
Al & Malka Green Artists’ Health Centre
Toronto Western Hospital (3rd floor, West Wing)
399 Bathurst Street
This full-day workshop will focus on ways to prevent vocal injury and assure longevity by teaching the performer how to protect and prepare the voice. Emphasis will be placed on:
- Reviewing basic anatomy of voice production
- Behavioral & environmental influences on the voice
- Identifying healthy voice strategies
- Understand the essential elements of an individual warm up
Lori Holmes, M. Sc. is a highly respected speech-language pathologist with over 20 years of experience, integrating a solid background in science with practical experience in training the voice. Since 2001 she has had the joy of combining her love of theatre with her love of voice at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and has since become an integral part of the coaching team. In London, her private practice, WellSpoken, provides expertise in communication and speaking skill enhancement, accent reduction and rehabilitation for injured voices. A dynamic speaker, she provides workshops in voice care and training for various professionals throughout Ontario.
Lori currently teaches the graduate course in Voice and Voice Disorders to speech-language pathology students at The University of Western Ontario. She regularly lectures to the otolaryngology residents at the Shulich School of Medicine and is the speech-language pathologist at The Vocal Function Clinic, London Health Sciences Centre. She is a guest presenter with the Artist’s Health Centre Foundation in Toronto providing workshops and lectures to professional artists and students in training.
Workshop: 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Workshop fee: $40
20% Discount for TAPA Members
To register please contact us at:
Phone: 416.351.0239 | Email: info@ahcf.ca | Fax: 416.595.0009
Or visit our website to print off and mail in a registration form
Pre-registration is required, as space is limited.
For your comfort, this is a scent-free workshop. Please refrain from wearing any perfume, cologne, aftershave or scented products. Thank you.
The Artists’ Health Centre Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario.
Internship: Education and Audience Development Intern, Canadian Stage
Canadian Stage is now accepting applications for the (volunteer) position of EDUCATION AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT INTERN.
Led by Artistic & General Director Matthew Jocelyn, Canadian Stage produces and showcases innovative theatre work from Canada and around the world, allowing its audience to encounter daring work guided by a strong directorial vision and a 21st-century aesthetic.
Reporting to the Education Manager and the Audience Development Manager, this Intern position offers an opportunity to gain knowledge about developing and leading the education, audience development and outreach programs associated with Canadian Stage’s 10.11 season. The successful candidate will develop experience in areas of administration, marketing and communications, program planning and implementation.
Responsibilities will include:
- Assisting with the administration and execution of Education initiatives, including Educator Preview Nights and the annual promotional School Tour
- Assisting with the promotion and administration of Audience Development initiatives including C-Stage, Youth Nights and talkbacks
- Compiling copy for and distributing various communication pieces
- Research for and creation and maintenance of company contact lists and databases
Start Date: September 7 – End Date: December 18, 2010
The Education and Audience Development Intern must commit to 12 – 16 hours work per week. Schedule can be flexible. Candidates must be available for occasional evening and weekend work.
Ideal personal qualities:
- Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills
- Interest in youth arts and educational programming, communications and outreach
- Experience in leadership roles and a desire to improve leadership skills
- Ability to work well individually and as part of a team
- Previous office administration experience and previous creation experience are an asset
- A background in education is an asset but is not required
- Self-starter. Full training will be provided but in some cases the successful candidate will be asked to work independently on assigned projects
- Computer proficiency (MS Word & Excel experience preferred, e-mail and internet)
- Being enrolled in a course of study that involves interning at an arts organization is considered an asset, but is not required
The Education and Audience Development Intern will have a chance to participate in information sessions with Canadian Stage staff members of their choice. The intern will also receive free tickets to Canadian Stage productions and will be invited to readings, workshops and other artistic development initiatives. We strive to make our intern positions as valuable an experience as possible.
Please submit a cover letter, résumé and 3 (phone) references by September 2, 2010 by email only, (attach documents in Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat)
Attention: EDUCATION AND AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT INTERN
Canadian Stage
e-mail: jcloutier@canadianstage.com
Interviews will be held on Friday, September 3.
Please note in your cover letter where you saw this intern posting. We thank everyone who applies for their interest, but only candidates selected for an interview are contacted. No telephone inquiries please. All applications are considered confidential.
Canadian Stage is an equal opportunity employer.
Auditions: Hedda Gabler, Alumnae Theatre Company
By Henrik Ibsen, translated & adapted by Judith Thompson
Directed by Jane Carnwath
PERFORMANCE DATES: November 12 to 27, 2010
Ibsen’s classic drama of a desperate woman driven to destruction, ground-breaking in its day, is given a sharply contemporary perspective in Judith Thompson’s boundary-pushing adaptation. Characters teeming with rich, contradictory life fight their wars of deception and manipulation in a battlefield of physical and emotional extremes. An actor’s play if there ever was one.
ROLES
- Hedda Gabler F, Late 20s, early 30s. Wife of George Tesman
- George Tesman M, Mid to late 30s. Academic.
- Thea Elvsted F, Late 20s. Country mouse.
- Eilert Lovborg M, Mid-30s to mid-40s. Intellectual.
- Judge Brack M, Mid to late 40s. Sophisticate.
- Aunt Juliana F, 60s. Aunt to Tesman.
- Berthe F, 60s. Longtime servant, opinionated and observant.
AUDITIONS
- Wed. Sept. 8: 6 – 10 pm
- Thu. Sept. 9: 6 – 10 pm
- Sat. Sept. 11: 10 – 6 pm
Auditions will be held at the Alumnae Theatre, 70 Berkeley Street (on the south west corner of Berkeley and Adelaide). Please prepare a short monologue and be prepared to do a cold reading.
Please bring an acting résumé and a hard copy of a current photo (headshot) that we may keep.
It’s strongly advised that you make every effort to read Judith Thompson’s script. Unpublished, but reading copies are available at Theatre Ontario and the 5th floor Performing Arts desk of the Reference Library.
Please be available for call backs on Thursday September 16, 6 – 10 pm
To book your audition, please email hgauditions@gmail.com or leave a message at 416-364-4170 x 3
ALUMNAE THEATRE COMPANY
70 Berkeley Street, Toronto, ON M5A 2W6. 416-364-4170 www.alumnaetheatre.com
~ Alumnae Theatre is a non-union, non-professional theatre company ~
PLAY LIKE GIRLS
Event: 2010 Reading Series, Foundry Theatre Company Inc.
Monday, September 27, 2010: Spadina Monologues, by Christine Estima
King is African; Queen is Portuguese/ Lebanese. Their first date is on the Spadina Streetcar. Told through random anecdotes, monologues, experiences and observations, their date plays out like a consumer contemplating a new car.
Christine Estima is a playwright, novelist and arts journalist. Her writing has appeared in many local and online publications such as Now Magazine, Exclaim!, TorontoPlus.ca, and The Canadian Theatre Review.
Monday, October 25, 2010: Nobody’s Angel, by Douglas Beattie
Set in an out-of-the-way restaurant not far from Rome during the dark days of the German occupation, love blossoms uncertainly amongst the soldiers and bystanders caught up in the terrifying machinery of war.
Douglas Beattie is best known as the producer and director of the Wingfield Plays by Dan Needles. His first professionally produced play, Blessings in Disguise, was premiered by the Manitoba Theatre Centre, and later produced by Thousand Islands Playhouse and Touchmark Theatre in Guelph.
Monday, November 29, 2010: The Heretic, by Lea Daniel
Religious extremism rules in the Middle Ages, and Béatrice and her lover struggle to live as they choose. Betrayed confidantes, and with the Bishops men circling closer, they must decide where their loyalties lie.
Lea Daniel is a founding member of Pat the Dog Playwright Centre and Theatre & Company’s Writers Bloc. She was a resident artist at Theatre & Company from 2005 – 2007, and has written an illustrated award-winning material for children.
Monday, January 31, 2010: Little Crickets, by Douglas Campbell
Set one night in 1990, a year after the Romanian revolution, two teenage sisters, Cristina and Rodica arrive in Paris where they are picked up by Mr. Smith, a middle-aged Canadian expat. This quirky tale spirals into an eccentric examination of sisterhood and strangers.
Douglas Campbell is a playwright and software developer in Waterloo, Ontario. His first full-length play, Yes or No!, was produced by MT Space Theatre in 2006.
Monday, February 28, 2010: Unstuck, by Evan Tsitsias
They have become stuck. In an effort to reignite the spark, Matt & Tim invite Jared into their relationship for one night. The impact of this action resonates far deeper than expected.
His critically acclaimed play, Aftershock, was hailed in the 2010 SummerWorks festival. Evan Tsitsias works as a performer, director, producer and writer. Successes include direction for Talk Thirty to Me, which had a sold-out run during the Fringe Festival in 2007. He has co-created two new musicals, Fear Knot and A Voice in the Dark.
Monday, March 28, 2010: The Hours that Remain, by Keith Barker
Haunted by the disappearance of her Métis sister five years ago, Denise desperately seeks answers where she can. Appearing in a series of visions, her sister causes her to question her sanity, while Denise’s husband hides a secret.
Keith Barker is a Métis artist from North Ontario and a graduate from the George Brown Theatre program, and was recently seen onstage in the controversial play, Homegrown, at this year’s SummerWorks festival. He is a former Artistic Associate at Native Earth Performing Arts. He has worked for Dufflebag Theatre, Convergence Theatre, and Native Earth Performing Arts, among many others.
Monday, April 25, 2010: Heather’s String Theory, by Barry “Jack” Jenkins
Using the language of the string theory in particle physics, Leonard Johnson, a 17 year old high school student, expresses his thoughts and feelings as he transitions to female. Along the way, Leonard/ Heather meets and falls in love with Freddy, the friend of a homophobic classmate. Their relationship deepens as warning signs appear.
Barry “Jack” Jenkins grew up in Labrador City, and has lived in the GTA, Newfoundland, and is currently in Whitehorse, Yukon. His play won the 2005 Nakai Theatre 24 Hour Playwriting Contest and had a staged reading (with North Country Girl) at the 2006 HomeGrown Festival in Whitehorse.
Monday, May 30, 2010: Pullyupullus, by Tololwa M. Mollel
Inspired by the characters in African/ Tanzanian folktales, an unlikely friendship is struck between the trickster hare, a land creature, and the dupe hippopotamus, a water creature. Together, they cleverly get rid of their respective rulers and work to resolve the differences of the land and water creatures to live in harmony. This is the first time a children’s play has been featured by Foundry Theatre Company.
Tololwa Mollel is a storyteller, actor, dramatist, and award-winning author of over fifteen children’s books, including The Orphan Boy, Big Boy, and My Rolls and Piles of Coins. He has worked in theatre as an artist in both Tanzania and Canada.
Job Posting: Sales and Accounting Assistant, Prologue to the Performing Arts
Full-time/Permanent
Reporting to the Executive Director, the Sales and Accounting Assistant works closely with Customer Service and Sales Representatives and is responsible for assisting with French and English sales and scheduling of performances. He/she also assists the Accountant with specific duties as needed.
Sales and Scheduling Duties
- Confirm performance bookings and booking changes with artists and buyers
- Assist clients and artists with booking information
- Assist in the maintenance of ACCESS database
- Updating of website content
- Prepare distribution of brochures to schools across the province
- Preparation for trade shows, showcases and conferences, as required
- Participation in staff and sales meetings
- Provide general support to the sales staff
- Create and distribute weekly artists’ schedules ensuring accuracy of date, time, location
- Assist in the distribution of study guide and promotional materials to buyers
- Create segmented sales reports as needed
- Other duties as required
Accounting Duties
- Generating Account Receivables aging reports
- Systematically following up on outstanding invoices and deposits
- Responding to enquiries from clients regarding their accounts
- Creating account statements as required by clients
- Producing sales receipts as required
- Processing payments received from clients
- Preparing bank deposits
- Filing of invoices, returned contracts and cheque stubs
- Preparing tax receipts and letters for distribution
- Maintaining record of tax receipts
- Assist with preparation for audit
Data Processing
- Checking booking forms and recording in master excel spreadsheet
- Recording confirmation of adjustments to accounting records
- Entering sales invoices in QuickBooks
Requirements
This position requires excellent communication, organization and time management skills as well as the ability to pay strict attention to details. Proficiency in oral and written English required; proficiency in oral and written French an asset. Must have experience with Microsoft Programs and comfort with learning new programs as necessary. An interest in and enthusiasm for the performing arts is essential. Must be willing and able to work as part of a team in a small office environment.
Start Date: September 20, 2010
Salary: $34,000 plus benefits (following probationary period)
Application Deadline: Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Please forward cover letter and resume to:
Patty Jarvis, Executive Director
Fax: 416-591-2023
55 Mill St. Case Goods Building #74, Suite 201
Toronto, ON
M5A 3C4
