Workshop: June Intensive 2012, Puppetmongers

A TWO WEEK IMMERSIVE PUPPETRY EXPERIENCE

EXPLORING MULTIPLE FACETS OF PUPPETRY:

HISTORY & TRADITION, CONSTRUCTION, STORY DEVELOPMENT & PERFORMANCE.

Under the expert guidance of master puppeteers Ann Powell and David Powell and a trio of Guest Specialists, students will be led on an exploration of the principles and practicalities of puppetry and new work development.

Week  One   –   June 11 to 15

Week 1 explores basic skills and a variety of puppet techniques, traditions and construction options, such as mechanics, storyboarding and design, plus introduces the basics of marionettes, rod & shadow puppets, table top puppets, object theatre and more. Workshops on additional key performance elements will be led by Guest Specialist Instructors.

Week Two   –   June 18 to 22

Week 2 focuses on process & story development and culminates in an informal performance of a short project devised by the participants. Working closely with Mark Cassidy and the Puppetmongers, participants will use source material as a jumping off point for collaboratively creating a dramatic narrative which effectively exploits the advantages offered by puppetry.

2012 GUEST SPECIALISTS

STORY DEVELOPMENT & DIRECTION:  Mark Cassidy is a respected director and the co-founder of Threshold Theatre, known for its dynamic and unpredictable brand of theatre that blends the verbal and visual, personal and political, social and poetic.  With the aim of forging distinctive theatrical forms for each new work inspired by its content, Threshold Theatre creates works which explore human needs, conflicts and aspirations with immediacy and imagination.  Inventive adaptations, exciting site-specific works and/or premieres of scripts have included: Swan Song of Maria: A Tragic Fairy Tale, Kafka and Son, The Girl in the Picture Tries to Hang up the Phone, Forms of Devotion, Terror, That Time, Howl, The Hairy Ape, In the Language of Love, As I Lay Dying, Beautiful Losers and White Buildings.

VOICE:  Karin Randoja is an actor, singer, teacher and director. She has worked in devised theatre for 20 years, including as a co-founder of Primus Theatre and the Independent Aunties. Her work has taken her throughout Canada, the United States, Europe and Africa. She works at Humber College

HAND & ROD PUPPETRY:  Johan van der Gun is one of the founders and artistic director of Lampoon Puppettheatre.  During its 40 years Lampoon Puppettheatre has toured across Canada and also has represented Canadian puppetry at several international festivals.  The company is best known for its excellent manipulation with hand-puppets and rod-puppets and for this has received several awards.  Because the puppets use a mime technique and music to express themselves, much attention is given to detailed movement.  The company has also expanded into other forms of puppetry, such as marionettes and shadow-puppets, while preserving the same attention to detail, and is warmly remembered by adult and children’s audiences around the world.

Join Ann and David in their cozy studio at Suite 219 –   401 Logan Avenue (at Dundas).  Each week’s programming runs Monday to Friday, from 10 AM to 5 PM with a one hour break for lunch.  Class size is EXTREMELY limited to ensure a rich experience for all participants.

You may register for each week separately ($450 per week), or save $100 and register for both weeks together ($800)

PLEASE NOTE:  Registration to Week One or the whole 2 week program is open to all.  Registrants for Week Two only should have some prior puppetry experience.  Please contact the office at info@puppetmongers.com to discuss your eligibility.

REGISTER ONLINE AT http://puppetmongersschool.eventbrite.ca/

Ann and David Powell (aka Puppetmongers) are internationally recognized as leaders and innovators in the field of puppetry. Since 1974 they have developed a dozen new plays for both young and general audiences which have earned a combined total of 11 Dora Award nominations. They have been short-listed twice for the Chalmers New Canadian Play Award for Theatre for Young Audiences and received 5 Citations of Excellence from l’Union Internationale de la Marionnette (US). They have also received the Award for Artistic Excellence from the Puppeteers of America for “contributions of a body of work to the art of puppetry” as well as the President’s Award, a medal which has also been awarded to Jim Henson (Muppets), Julie Taymor (Lion King), and fellow Canadian puppeteers Ronnie Burkett and Coad Canada. The Toronto School of Puppetry was founded in 1996 to share their creation methodology and provide a collaborative learning space for the puppetry community, as well as for multi-disciplinary artists interested in expanding their creative arsenal.

Announcement: LESLIE LESTER Honoured with Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award

The Leonard McHardy and John Harvey Award (LMJH Award) was inaugurated in 2008 and recognizes the important work of theatre, dance and opera administrators. Recipients of the LMJH Award have at least 10 years of demonstrated commitment to the performing arts, in addition to having made an impact on the industry in Toronto. The award is named after Leonard McHardy and John Harvey, the celebrated owners of Toronto’s Theatrebooks, which they co-founded in 1975, and now stands as one of the longest surviving independent bookstores in the country.

This year’s recipient is Leslie Lester, a deeply committed and extraordinary administrator and producer who has had a profound impact on Toronto’s performing arts community. For more than two decades, Leslie Lester’s rare combination of artistic sensibility and show-business savvy has enhanced the work of hundreds of theatre artists and many companies – from novices to our greatest stars, from the newest plays to the classics. She has supported the work of artists with both passion and joy, and has been a willing and active mentor to many, perhaps her greatest legacy. She brings confidence and passion to each theatrical enterprise, inspiring and nurturing the same in her colleagues.

Her tenure with Michael Hollingsworth and Deanne Taylor’s VideoCabaret from 1991 to 1998, first as Stage Manager and soon after as Contract Producer, saw her pour her creative energy, humour, fine aesthetics and natural leadership into the daunting logistics of the company’s multi-character and multi-media productions, helping to produce twelve new plays, two remounts and, as a peerless volunteer, organize major annual fundraising events. During her time there, VideoCabaret won 12 Dora Awards, with a further 20 Dora nominations.

As Producer for Nightwood Theatre (1994-2001), she guided the creation, with Artistic Director Alisa Palmer, of over a dozen productions including the world premieres of Anything That Moves by Ann-Marie MacDonald (Dora Award for Outstanding Production), Harlem Duet by Djanet Sears (Dora Award for Outstanding Production) and Random Acts by Diane Flacks.

Lester first joined Soulpepper Theatre Company in 2001 as Producer, was named Executive Producer in 2004, and has been in her current position as Executive Director since 2006. That same year, she also took on her concurrent and ongoing role as Managing Director of the Young Centre for the Performing Arts. Not only has she helped create a new theatre company and a training ground for younger artists with Artistic Director Albert Schultz, she headed the design and building process for the Young Centre handling architects, engineers, consultants, construction budgets, timelines, and the thousand details that constitute the creation of a 50,000 square foot multi-venue arts complex, proving she can work on any scale.

Using her experience and expertise in the building of the Young Centre, Lester was able to play an invaluable role on the Community Advisory Committee (2009-2011) for the Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre, due to open Fall 2012.

The previous winners of the LMJH Award are Jim Lefrancois, Naomi Campbell, Natasha Parsons and Ghislain Caron. The LMJH Award is administered by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). Candidates for the LMJH Award are nominated by TAPA members and then reviewed by a committee. Chaired by Sandy Tulloch, the LMJH Selection Committee is Derrick Chua, Leonard McHardy, John Harvey and Jacoba Knaapen. The award winner receives a plaque and a cheque for $1,000 through the generous sponsorship of Elizabeth Comper.

The Dora Mavor Moore Awards is a program of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA).TAPA represents nearly 200 professional theatre, dance and opera companies in Toronto. In addition to the Doras, other programs and services provided by TAPA include: T.O. TIX – Toronto’s Official One Stop Ticket Shop at Yonge-Dundas Square and online at http://www.totix.ca; Toronto’s official Theatre Guide; hipTIX, offering $5 tickets to students between the ages of 15 and 29; citySPECIAL; the Commercial Theatre Development Fund; and the Travel Retreat Initiatives Program. For more information visit www.tapa.ca and www.totix.ca.

Announcement: Nominations Announced for the 33rd DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts

Nominations Announced for the 33rd DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS

At a press conference held June 5 at the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA) announced 169 nominations for 212 eligible productions that opened between June 1, 2011 and May 22, 2012 for the 33rd annual Dora Mavor Moore Awards which honour excellence in the performing arts in Toronto.

For the 2011-2012 season, 116 producing companies registered eligible productions. A total of 35 Dora Awards plus the Silver Ticket Award, the Pauline McGibbon Award and the Audience Choice Award will be given out in a glittering ceremony hosted by Thom Allison on Monday, June 25 at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in the Bluma Appel Theatre.

In the General Theatre Production Division, Tarragon Theatre and Theatre Passe Muraille tie for the overall lead with 8 nods each. Passe Muraille’s Crash and Nightwood Theatre’s The Penelopiad tie for top production with 6 nominations each, followed by 4 each for The Golden Dragon (Tarragon), Topdog Underdog (Obsidian Theatre Company in association with the Shaw Festival) and WAR HORSE (Bob Boyett, Tim Levy, National Theatre of Great Britain, David Mirvish).

In the Independent Theatre Production Division, three companies tie for the lead as Ahuri Theatre’s A Fool’s Life, Theatre Columbus’ The Story and Theatre Smash’s The Ugly One each earn 6 nominations. His Greatness (independent Artists Repertory Theatre) and The Life and Times of Mackenzie King (VideoCabaret) follow closely with 5 nods each.

In the Musical Theatre Division, Acting Up Stage Company (in association with Obsidian Theatre Company) leads overall with 10 nods for Caroline, or Change (and with 1 nod in the General Theatre Division for Ride the Cyclone, it brings Acting Up Stage to 11 nods overall). Young People’s Theatre’s Seussical is next with 6 nods.

In the Opera Division, 7 out of 9 nominations go to Canadian Opera Company (COC) productions as well as another 7 in the General Division, making a total of 14 nods. COC’s A Florentine Tragedy / Gianni Schicchi and Rigoletto (a new co-production of Canadian Opera Company and English National Opera each earn 5 nods as does Queen of Puddings Music Theatre’s SVADBA – Wedding.

In the Dance Division, Gadfly’s Klorofyl earns top spot with 3 nods.
The Theatre for Young Audiences Division sees Roseneath Theatre take the lead with 4 nods, 2 for The Neverending

Story and 2 for Tough Case.

As well, in a special gift from the Bluma Appel Community Trust, a $5,000 prize will be awarded to the winning playwright of Outstanding New Play in the General Theatre Production Division for the sixth year in a row, in addition to the continuation of Bluma’s Indies comprised of a cash prize of $1,000 per winning category in the Independent Theatre Production Division.

See attached complete list of nominees each Division. The full list is also available online www.tapa.ca/doras/nominees

AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARD:
TAPA’s Audience Choice Award is co-sponsored once again this year by NOW Magazine and Yonge-Dundas Square. The public is invited to choose a winner from the list of nominees for Outstanding Production in the General Theatre Production, Independent Theatre Production, Opera, Musical Theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences and Dance Divisions. Theatre, dance and opera fans can cast their votes online at http://www.nowtoronto.com from Thursday, June 7, 2012 until 12:00 midnight, Wednesday June 20, 2012. The winner will be announced at the Dora Awards show ceremony and will receive a special plaque from NOW Magazine.

The Dora Mavor Moore Awards is a program of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). TAPA is an arts service organization that represents nearly 200 professional theatre, dance and opera companies in Toronto. In addition to the Doras, other programs and services provided by TAPA include: T.O. TIX – Toronto’s Official One Stop Ticket Shop at Yonge-Dundas Square and online at http://www.totix.ca; Toronto’s official Theatre Guide; hipTIX, offering $5 tickets to students; citySPECIAL; the Commercial Theatre Development Fund; and the Travel Retreat Initiatives Program. For more information visit www.tapa.ca and www.totix.ca.

33rd ANNUAL DORA MAVOR MOORE AWARDS
Toronto’s Theatre, Dance and Opera Awards
Monday June 25, 2012

Hosted by Thom Allison Directed by Sandra Lefrançois Written by Chris Earle Musical Director: Glenn Morley Lighting Design: Andrea Lundy Producer: Jacoba Knaapen

6:30-7:30pm Pre-Show VIP Reception at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 1 Front St. East 8pm Dora Mavor Moore Awards Show at the Bluma Appel Theatre
in the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. East

10:30pm After Party under the Stars outside the St. Lawrence Centre on Front Street East.

Award Show Ceremony limited tickets available after June 19 (Dora Award Show & After-Party): $65 After Party tickets: $15
St. Lawrence Centre Box Office 416-366-7723

VIP Tickets (pre-show VIP Star Patrons Reception at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, priority seating, After-Party and charitable tax receipt for $100): $165 – email sandral@tapa.ca

For information visit www.tapa.ca

Announcement: RICHARD ROSE Honoured as this year’s Recipient of The Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts

The Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award was inaugurated in 1996 and is given to a Canadian artist who demonstrates excellence in the performing arts and is dedicated to advocating and being an ambassador for the arts in Canada. The Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award is sponsored by the City of Toronto, and the recipient is awarded with a scroll and a cheque for $1,000 from the City.

The Award was established to recognize Barbara Hamilton’s illustrious career and her remarkable canon of work. A list of previous winners reads as a who’s who of legendary Canadian performers: Don Harron, George Luscombe, John Neville, Douglas Campbell, Mervyn Blake, Charmion King, Maureen Forrester, Eric Peterson, William Hutt, Martha Burns, Albert Schultz, Karen Kain, Fiona Reid, Colin Mochrie, R.H. Thomson and David Ferry.

The winner of this year’s Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award is Richard Rose, an award-winning and celebrated director, artistic director and dramaturge. Known for bringing new and innovative works to the stage, he founded the groundbreaking Necessary Angel Theatre Company in 1978 and remained as Artistic Director until 2002 when he was appointed to his current position as Artistic Director of Tarragon Theatre. At the Stratford Festival, where he directed for 10 seasons, he was Associate Director in 1991 and Director of the Stratford Festival Young Company as well as the John Sullivan Hayes Training Program, which he founded, from 1994-96. He was also Associate Director at Canadian Stage from 1996 to 1997.

For Necessary Angel, Richard Rose directed over 30 plays including the internationally renowned Tamara, co-conceived with writer John Krizanc (produced around the world in a variety of languages, Dora Award and a Drama Critics Award for direction in Los Angeles where the production ran for 10 years), David Young’s Inexpressible Island (which opened in London’s West End as Antarctica, the first Canadian drama to do so in many decades), adaptations of Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter and Timothy Findley’s Not Wanted on the Voyage, as well as plays by other important playwrights such as Jason Sherman, Colleen Murphy and Colleen Wagner. Rose also brought a range of challenging international theatre to notice, such as the work of Milan Kundera and introduced the astonishing work of British playwright Howard Barker to Toronto audiences in the 1980s, including The Castle, The Possibilities, the North American premiere of Seven Lears and the world premiere of The Europeans.

During his tenure as Artistic Director of Tarragon, he continues to create new Canadian work, providing long-term dramaturgy through various play development programs and working with young artists – instilling in them a life-long commitment to the arts – while presenting new plays from all parts of the country as well as contemporary and classical work from around the world. Under his direction, the theatre nurtures the next generation of Canadian playwrights such as Hannah Moscovitch, Brendan Gall and Rosa Laborde among others, alongside supporting the work of senior artists such as Daniel MacIvor, Joan MacLeod, John Mighton, Morris Panych, Wajdi Mouawad and continues the theatre’s legacy of presenting the work of Michel Tremblay.

Throughout his distinguished career, Rose has directed at theatres throughout Canada including at Toronto’s Canadian Stage, Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, Blyth Festival, Theatre Calgary, the Charlottetown Festival and Manitoba Theatre Centre, among others. Rose has also directed productions for seven opera companies and taught at a number of universities and schools including York University, where he is Adjunct Professor in the York Theatre Program since 2001.

Noted for the high artistry and the technical quality of its productions, last year Tarragon was listed on the shortlist of five arts organizations for the Premier’s Award for the Arts. Nationally, Tarragon is recognized by colleagues and audiences alike as one of the most vibrant and prolific theatre companies in the country, and a long-standing champion of new Canadian plays. In 2011, Richard Rose was awarded the Canada Council’s Walter Carsen Prize for Excellence in Performing Arts.

This prestigious prize recognizes the highest level of artistic excellence and career achievements by Canadian artists working in the disciplines of dance, theatre or music. The Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award is administered by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). The Barbara Hamilton Memorial Award selection committee is chaired by Jim Roe and comprised of Martha Burns, Jacoba Knaapen and Eric Peterson.

The Dora Mavor Moore Awards is a program of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA).TAPA is an arts service organization that represents nearly 200 professional theatre, dance and opera companies in Toronto. In addition to the Doras, other programs and services provided by TAPA include: T.O. TIX – Toronto’s Official One Stop Ticket Shop at Yonge-Dundas Square and online at http://www.totix.ca; Toronto’s official Theatre Guide; hipTIX, offering $5 tickets to students; citySPECIAL; the Commercial Theatre Development Fund; and the Travel Retreat Initiatives Program. For more information visit www.tapa.ca and www.totix.ca

Announcement: Ruth Howard Honoured as this year’s Recipient of The George Luscombe Award for Mentorship, Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts

Ruth Howard Honoured as this year’s Recipient of The George Luscombe Award for Mentorship

The George Luscombe Award was inaugurated in 1999 and recognizes an individual for mentorship in theatre. Revolutionary theatre founder and artistic director George Luscombe founded Toronto Workshop Productions in 1959, marking the beginnings of Toronto’s alternative theatre movement. His 27 years at TWP is the longest tenure of any artistic director in Canada.

This year’s recipient is Ruth Howard, currently the founding Artistic Director of Jumblies Theatre. Since 2001, Ms. Howard and Jumblies have been working on large-scale projects in different communities, mentoring both professionals and non-professionals alike. Ms. Howard’s inclusive style creates equal opportunity – regardless of physical, economic, social or cultural challenges. Jumblies’ visually-based and socially-engaged performances often involve hundreds of people from the communities in which they are working in. Jumblies is increasingly cited as a pioneering and inspirational example of art that embraces and intertwines aesthetics and social engagement.

In 2006, Jumblies initiated a more intentional focus on learning and mentorship: the Jumblies Studio, a flexible, integrated, itinerant and interdisciplinary program for learning, mentorship and exploration in arts that engage with and create community. Ms. Howard’s commitment and mentoring of these communities is illustrated in her dedicated outreach: it is not unusual for her to spend three years in a community creating connections, offering accessible creative opportunities, partnering with local agencies, associations and groups, and producing a culminating performance at the end of the term created and performed by community members with the support of professional artists.

She has strengthened the theatre ecology of Toronto and the artists who work in it. Ruth Howard has a gift of bringing diverse communities, organizations and artists together to create cutting-edge work and meaningful encounters. Mentorship and professional development have always been integral to Jumblies’ work, producing original theatre events including Like an Old Tale (2011), Bridge of One Hair (2007) in Central Etobicoke, Once A Shoreline at Davenport Perth Neighbourhood Centre (2004), South Riverdale’s Twisted Metal and Mermaids Tears (2000), and other projects that combine visual imagery, performance, music, movement, story gathering and telling.

Ms. Howard has helped to create three offshoots of Jumblies operating in Toronto: ARTS4All in Davenport West, Mabelle Arts in Etobicoke and the Arts Guild in Scarborough East. All three are incorporated entities run by artists and staff who have participated in Jumblies activities and internship programs, and continue to be an important part of their respective communities. The scope of her work is growing exponentially and Jumblies Theatre is currently looking outside Toronto to create connections with other community arts organizations across Ontario. She has given many presentations and workshops in Canada, the U.K. and the U.S. and has won several awards for her work, including a 2005 Toronto Community Foundation Vital People Award.

A graduate of Eastbourne College of Art and Design, the National Theatre School of Canada and the University of Toronto, Ms. Howard also has extensive professional experience across Canada and in England as a set and costume designer, with teaching credentials at many universities, colleges and schools.

Previous winners of The George Luscombe Award are Yvette Nolan, Leah Cherniak & Martha Ross, Iris Turcott, Andy McKim, ahdri zhina mandiela, Layne Coleman, Alison Sealy-Smith, Winston Morgan, Maja Ardal, Urjo Kareda, Ken Gass and Jenny Phipps.

The George Luscombe Committee members are: Chair – Maja Ardal, Steven Bush, Ravi Jain and Anusree Roy. The George Luscombe Award comes with original artwork by Theo Dimson.

The Dora Mavor Moore Awards is a program of the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA). TAPA is an arts service organization that represents nearly 200 professional theatre, dance and opera companies in Toronto. In addition to the Doras, other programs and services provided by TAPA include: T.O. TIX – Toronto’s Official One Stop Ticket Shop at Yonge-Dundas Square and online at http://www.totix.ca; Toronto’s official Theatre Guide; hipTIX, offering $5 tickets to students; citySPECIAL; the Commercial Theatre Development Fund; and the Travel Retreat Initiatives Program. For more information visit www.tapa.ca and www.totix.ca.