UNews - Mia van Leeuwen

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumni at heart of 2024/25 Mainstage Alumni Season lineup

trevor.kenney — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 17:02:54 +0000

With stories ranging from adaptations of classic tales to intense encounters, social satire and a cabaret, the 2024/25 Department of Drama alumni season promises an exciting lineup of mainstage theatre with extensive involvement from many ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumni. The alumni season is organized around a celebration of Faculty of Fine Arts alumni, bringing playwrights, designers, directors, performers and more back to the ULethbridge campus.

Kicking off the 2024/25 Mainstage Alumni Season in October 2024 will be alterNatives, a hilarious and provocative social satire penned by Indigenous playwright and author Drew Hayden Taylor. Stepping back into the director’s role is Na'tayao'tako (Holy Walking Around the Encampment), Marshall Vielle (BFA - Dramatic Arts ’17), who co-wrote and co-directed the historic production of Yisstsiiyi as part of last year’s mainstage season.

Marshall Vielle (BFA - Dramatic Arts ’17) will return to direct alterNatives.

“It's a gift to be included as a director in the alumni season,” says Vielle. “If I've learned anything about directing, it's that being the primary interpreter of the text at hand is equally terrifying, as it is thrilling. Moreover, I'm really excited to see more Indigenous stories being shared at ULethbridge and I hope these kinds of plays continue to be invested in.”

alterNatives centres around three couples gathered for a dinner party at a contemporary upscale apartment in Toronto, where cultural differences are explored over a menu of moose roast and vegetarian lasagna. Drama instructor Dave Smith is slated to design the set and lights, while Jolane Houle (BFA - Dramatic Arts '12) is returning to design costumes, after designing for the 2023 production of Yisstsiiyi.

The second show in the Alumni Season will be In Tongues, written by James Odin Wade (BFA - Multidisciplinary ’11). Originally slated to be performed in March 2020, the play is brought back to ULethbridge following its cancellation due to the pandemic. Directed by Anastasia Siceac (BFA - Dramatic Arts ’20) and featuring alumni designing costumes (Amanda Epp, BFA - Multidisciplinary ’20) and sound (Kelly Roberts, BFA - Drama Performance '91), In Tongues is set in a remote cabin in British Columbia and showcases an intense encounter with the mind of a serial killer.

James Odin Wade (BFA - Multidisciplinary ’11) wrote the production of In Tongues.

“I'm delighted to have In Tongues as part of the 2024/25 season,” says Odin Wade of the play that will run in November 2024. “ULethbridge is where I first encountered some of my favourite plays, discovered a love of playwriting and even workshopped the initial drafts of this play with the students of the New Play Workshop in 2018. Bringing this play to this stage is a remarkable full-circle moment for me.”

In the new year, the Department of Drama will present Paradise Lost by Erin Shields, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award. A contemporary feminist adaptation of the classic English poem by John Milton from 1667, the show will be directed by Jamie Dunsdon (BFA - Dramatic Arts ’06) and will feature costumes by Emmy-nominated designer Rebecca Toon (BFA - Dramatic Arts ’06). This production, premiering in February 2025, will feature a large cast of actors, with lighting and set design guided by MFA student Lucy Du and drama faculty member Julia Wasilewski (BA '05, BFA - Multidisciplinary '07).

Jamie Dunsdon (BFA - Dramatic Arts ’06) will return to campus to direct Paradise Lost.

“I'm so excited to be returning to my old stomping grounds to direct Paradise Lost this coming season alongside fellow alumna Rebecca Toon (who will be designing the costumes for this gorgeous piece),” says Dunsdon. “ULethbridge is where I found my passion and where I began to build my skills as a director, so it will be a genuine delight to return a couple decades later to bring this piece to life with the next generation of artists. I owe so much to the professors and staff at ULethbridge, and I hope I can pay it forward to the students who will build Paradise Lost with me."

The alumni season will conclude in March 2025 with a cabaret curated by faculty member Mia van Leeuwen. This production, taking place in the David Spinks Theatre, will feature a variety of performances by current students, guest appearances by drama alumni and design support from student designers and drama instructors Dave Smith and Lee Burckes.

Chair of the drama department, Deric Olsen (BFA - Multimedia ’03), says this unique slate of productions will showcase the diverse talents of drama graduates and highlight the variety of skills and talents that can be gained from the dramatic arts degree program.

“This is an exciting opportunity for our students to connect with and learn from some of the incredible alumni from the Department of Drama,” says Olsen. “I see this season as a celebration of our alumni and as a valuable way for a new generation of students to work side-by-side with truly excellent theatre professionals and, through those experiences, be inspired and be better able to imagine those opportunities and career trajectories for themselves.”

In addition to featuring Faculty of Fine Arts alumni, the 2024/25 Mainstage Alumni Season will result in many experiential learning opportunities for current students, including roles for stage managers, sound designers and assistant designers, as drama graduates will share their experience and expertise through the creative process.

The Faculty of Fine Arts is pleased to announce Chancellor Terry Whitehead (BA ’94) as the Season Patron of the 2024/25 Mainstage Alumni Season and thanks him for his generous support of theatre at ULethbridge. Tickets for mainstage productions will go on sale in September 2024.

Women scholars to explore issues related to death in four-part virtual series

trevor.kenney — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 15:42:36 +0000

The Women Scholars’ Speaker Series (WSSS) will tackle an especially prominent, albeit difficult, theme in 2021-2022, examining issues related to death throughout a four-part virtual series.

The series of online panels and presentations will engage participants with the latest research around pressing and multifaceted topics including discrimination, equity, death and labour.

The opening event is Tuesday, October 19, 2021, when a panel presents, Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying & Grief, inviting researchers, artists and educators to discuss various topics including memorialization, the materiality of death, ecological approaches to death and dying, death in popular culture and performance.

“Bringing together a multitude of insights and perspectives on death, dying and grief feels all the more urgent in this time of COVID-19,” says Mia van Leeuwen (Faculty of Fine Arts, drama), WSSS co-Chair and one the presenters, along with Rebecca Many Grey Horses (Educator, MA in Jurisprudence in Indian Law) and Dr. Jennifer Otto (Department of Religious Studies).

In November, Dr. Tara Mehrabi of Karlstad ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Sweden, will present Queer Ecologies of Death in the Lab.

Two more talks follow in the new year, including a January presentation, Death in the Age of Rationality: Playing with Death in Popular Amusement, and a concluding talk in March, Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying and Grief: Closing Panel.

The Women Scholars’ Speaker Series was initiated in 2002 and is dedicated to engaging the community with female scholars and their exceptional contributions to academic research.

For more about the Women Scholars’ Speaker Series, visit the web page.

Women Scholars’ Speaker Series Event Lineup 2021-2022

Tuesday October 19, 2021
7 to 8:30 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/j/92722112562

Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying & Grief: Opening Panel
Rebecca Many Grey Horses
Dr. Jennifer Otto
Mia van Leeuwen

Tuesday, November 16, 2021
12:15 to 1:15 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/j/91338149041

Queer Ecologies of Death in the Lab
Dr. Tara Mehrabi, Karlstad ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, Sweden

Tuesday, January 25, 2022
6 to 7:30 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/j/97307656022

Death in the Age of Rationality: Playing with Death in Popular Amusement
Joanna Ebenstein, Creative Director of Morbid Anatomy

Tuesday, March 29, 2022
6 to 7:30 p.m. (via Zoom)
https://uleth.zoom.us/s/95751335357

Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Death, Dying and Grief: Closing Panel
Barbara J. King
AGLENNCO, MFA

Department of Drama presenting 4.48 Psychosis to remote audiences

trevor.kenney — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 15:55:30 +0000

For many, the past year has been a contemplative time to reflect on our place in the world. In that respect, there is no better opportunity to present a theatrical production that offers a deeply personal journey through the mind.

A collaborative, open and organic work, 4.48 Psychosis by Sarah Kane is presented online to remote audiences, March 17–20 at 7:30 p.m. nightly, via Zoom.

Co-directors and drama department faculty, Mia van Leeuwen and Jay Whitehead, have worked collaboratively with their students to devise a piece that is deeply creative and introspective but also responsible and adhering to all guidelines and protocols to keep cast and crew safe during the pandemic.

“The work is very abstract in form and style,” says van Leeuwen. “We were able to keep the cast separated physically, ensuring we were following all restrictions and protocols, but not sacrificing the artistic or creative process.”

Relevant and timely, 4.48 Psychosis weaves a narrative running through the main character’s head at 4:48 in the morning.

“The play was written over 20 years ago, but the themes are very applicable to what we’ve experienced throughout the pandemic,” says Whitehead. “It is a very dark piece; a reflection of mental health and self-harm, but it is not without hope.”

“Morning does come,” says van Leeuwen. “This play has been described as a work that roars at life as it gazes with death, and in that sense, both the story and the themes are very alive!”

Producing a play during a global pandemic poses ongoing challenges, but van Leeuwen and Whitehead are thrilled to present this production, albeit to remote audiences via Zoom. With set, costumes and sound designed by David Smith, and lighting by Lee Burckes, 4.48 Psychosis proves to be a visual spectacle not to be missed.

Tickets are $10 per pass and available through ulethbridge.ca/tickets. Inquiries can be emailed to boxoffice@uleth.ca, Monday–Friday, 12:30–3:30 p.m.

Women scholars in the spotlight as popular speaker series goes virtual

trevor.kenney — Tue, 06 Oct 2020 15:38:33 +0000

The Women Scholars’ Speaker Series (WSSS) will open its 19th season in the virtual space this week, continuing to give a voice to outstanding women researchers and the ground-breaking work they are doing in the research community.

Drs. Amandine Pras and Athena Elafros, along with PhD student Grace Brooks (McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ) and undergraduate student Monica Lockett (U of L) are examining gendered experiences of discrimination and microaggression in the recording studio.

“We are very excited to present the Women Scholars’ Speaker Series: Virtual Edition. Through a series of online panels and presentations, we invite everyone to engage with the latest research around pressing and multifaceted topics including discrimination, equity, death and labour,” says Mia van Leeuwen, a professor in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Fine Arts and a WSSS organizer. “We may be at home, but we can still stay connected through our shared interest in engaging with ideas.”

The first session of the new season is titled, Gendered experiences of discrimination and microaggression in the recording studio, and will be presented Wednesday, October 7 at 1 p.m. Drs. Amandine Pras and Athena Elafros, along with PhD student Grace Brooks (McGill ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ) and undergraduate student Monica Lockett (U of L), will discuss results from an international online survey of recording engineers, producers, and studio assistants' experiences of discrimination and microaggressions within the recording studio. They will explore their findings and how they highlight significant and systemic gender inequalities within the recording field.

The WSSS was launched in Fall 2002 by Dr. Shelly Wismath, dean of the School of Liberal
Education. Its focus is to highlight local, national and international cutting-edge scholarship by researchers who identify as women, and provide a venue for under-represented voices in academic research.

Dr. Julie Young, Tier II Canada Research Chair in Critical Border Studies and assistant professor in geography and environment is also organizing this year’s WSSS sessions. She says the series continues to have a dedicated following and by moving online could attract an even broader audience.

“Over the course of the last 19 years, the WSSS has been a great platform for researchers to present their work and stimulate conversations about some very important issues,” she says. “Not only is the series valuable for faculty members by giving them an opportunity to speak about their work, it allows the community to engage with that work and gain an understanding of the activities ongoing here at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ and throughout post-secondary.”

The second session of the WSSS, ‘The Letters’: EDI (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) and Tracing Work in the Academe, is scheduled for November 5, 2020 at 7 p.m.

This seminar is organized by the Support Network for Academics of Colour Plus (SNAC+), funded and co-sponsored by the WSSS and the Alberta Human Rights Commission's Human Rights Education and Multiculturalism Fund.

To learn more, visit the Women Scholars’ Speaker Series web page.

Crossing Boundaries Symposium now in its fourth year

trevor.kenney — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 20:49:41 +0000

The fourth annual Crossing Boundaries Symposium, presented by the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge’s Faculty of Fine Arts, brings together interdisciplinary members of the community, faculty, students and alumni to engage in a full day of presentations, discussions, displays and performances.

Brad Parker listens to the Aeolian Harp he built with music student Jess Tollestrup.

“Crossing Boundaries invites our community to experience the collaborations, creative activities and research across multiple disciplines,” says Dr. Mary Ingraham, Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts of the Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019 event. “It is about discovering and celebrating those cross-collaborative intersections and synergies and finding inspiration to explore new areas of thought and research in the fine arts and across the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ.”

The theme for Crossing Boundaries 2019, Languages | Landscapes | Algorithms, is established with the keynote presentation by Leanne Elias (new media) entitled, Visualizing Agriculture, at 9 a.m. in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Recital Hall. Elias’s talk includes the premiere of the documentary of the same name, co-directed by Bryn Hewko (MFA '16) and his company Output Media, which revolves around the creative works and artist exhibition derived from agricultural data developed by Dr. Jaime Larson and Dr. Andre Laroche of the Lethbridge Research and Development Centre: Agriculture and Agri-food Canada. Visualizing Agriculture considers the counterpoints of art meeting science and investigates the effect of intensive collaboration. Discover how artists can use the scientific process to guide their art, and how scientists can use artistic ways of knowing to approach their data in new ways.

Jess Tollestrup works on the Aeolian Harp, on display at Crossing Boundaries.

Following Elias’s keynote presentation, MFA candidate Michelle Sylvestre will speak on her research, Physicalizing Control, Disruption and the Body, which examines the parallels and differences in contemporary pharma and contemporary technology in relation to control of the body. PhD candidate Migueltzinta Solis will then present on LandMarks: Site-Based Arts Pedagogy in Treaty 7 Territory. At 10:40 a.m., Department of Psychology faculty member, Dr. Javid Sadr, and Department of Drama faculty members, Dr. Aaron Taylor and Douglas MacArthur cap off the morning programme, discussing projects developing from the Screen Acting and Embodied Recognition Research Group.

Registrants are invited to observe and interact with student research displays and installations from 11:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., located in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Atrium and ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Art Gallery, Hess Gallery.

This year’s Crossing Boundaries Symposium is scheduled during the U of L Open House, which welcomes prospective students and their families to campus.

“Coordinating the symposium during this event gives future students the opportunity to see a sampling of the fascinating research opportunities and collaborative activities on our campus,” says Ingraham. “It allows these students to experience the types of work and study they will engage in and provides great interaction with many of the faculty who will also be in attendance at the symposium.”

Afternoon sessions include Dr. Amandine Pras’s (music) presentation focussing on compositional and improvisational tools used by studio technicians as part of her research in the recording studios in war-torn Bamako, Mali. Continuing on the theme of sound, language and landscape, a talk by MA candidate Tyler Stewart examines the role sound has played as a political instrument to silence dissenting groups and individuals, and in turn, how language and sound is used to resist and rise against such powers.

A panel discussion, Objects Dream comprised of Fine Arts faculty members, Dr. Dana Cooley (new media), Denton Fredrickson (art), Mia van Leeuwen (drama), and Dr. D. Andrew Stewart (music), rounds out the afternoon’s sessions. This discussion explores the relationships and interactions of material objects, and their associations as a link across artistic disciplines.

This year’s Crossing Boundaries Symposium showcases an evening finale of works by Dr. Arlan Schultz (music), Dr. Daniela Sirbu (new media) and a collaborative presentation by Bryn Hewko (new media), Dr. D. Andrew Stewart (music) and Jordan Berg. Schultz’s live demonstration highlights how new algorithms for real-time immersive audio can be used to enhance and augment real-time acoustic performances. Sirbu’s presentation incorporates algorithmic animation demonstrated through samples of live animation developed in interaction with an artificial life system. Hewko, Stewart and Berg’s collaborative performance, Crawlspace, combines film with live digital coding. Audience members are invited to use their own personal tablets to create their own viewing experience, with one lucky audience member outfitted with the Oculus Rift for a full virtual reality experience. This showcase begins at 5 p.m. in W420 (Centre for the Arts), preceded by a reception and cash bar at 4:30 p.m.

Registration for Crossing Boundaries is open to all, with early bird pricing active until October 20, 2019.

Visit the Crossing Boundaries webpage for the schedule of events and updated information as it arises.

UNews - Mia van Leeuwen

��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge alumni at heart of 2024/25 Mainstage Alumni Season lineup

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