surprise performance

Utopia interview (via Studio 303)

2011-11-22T05:47:00.000-08:00

Utopia interview with Laura Beeston

UTOPIA POSSIBLE : a chat with Chad Dembki
by Laura Beeston

How timely that the surprise creation Utopia : est-ce Possible? falls on the heels of the Occupy Wall Street clean-up worldwide. As we look around at tents being pitched and pummeled, it seems opportune to ask ourselves: in one night, what can be made? Destroyed? Re-created?

Interested in how cults and movements begin, communes are born and how, exactly, counter-cultural fascinations inspire, collective leader Chad Dembski explores utopic spaces, feelings and forms in this multi-disciplinary manifesto, running at Studio 303 Dec. 10 and 11.

“[We worked] from discussions of attainable utopias, Dembski said, “but not in the typical grand scales—not all of a city, or all of a society. It’s nice to use a microcosm, specifically the potential of a live show, [to explore] the impossibility of creating utopia, mirrored with some of the possibility of creating it in performance.”

Starting from a narrative that Montreal is ‘the best city to live in Canada’ for many Anglo-, Franco- and Allophones (before they actually live through a bitter winter, or realize the “negative things, too”), Dembski and his team attempted to attain what he called the ‘realistic impossible.’

Requiring a degree of compromise, it searches to strike a balance to sustain perfection or, at the very least, a realistic goal, explained Dembski.

In an age of boundless information where we are hardly given solutions to the issues in the world-at-large, Dembski explained the realistic impossible keeps the desire, dynamic opportunity and sacrifice alive.

“Vague, spirited manifesto’s are inspiring, but do they have any practical organization?” he asked. “Realistic impossible is this nice little in-between. The attainable.”

Launching from this idea, Utopia combines video, song and dance generated from a personal process developed within the collective, which is rounded out by artists Dana Michel, Jacqueline van de Geer, Jonathan Fournier, Simon Portigal and Chrystie Reid.

“What’s the point of writing fake stories about fake people, and then have actors fake it out while trying to create an emotional response?” challenged Dembski, when speaking to the multi-personal approach he took to create the Utopic narrative. “There’s an easier route to that: tell a real story.”

Allowing the collective to self-generate, regardless of the “incredible success or incredible failure” that may come of it, the narrative builds from the members making their own choices.

“The energy is different; its liveliness in the live theatre. It accentuates the experience of performance,” he said. “To build something yourself, without a pre-determined idea of what it will be or what to expect, creates a curiosity that people [connect with].”

Avoiding the more conservative traditions of performance art by “obeying the director, wearing the clothes and playing in the set of someone else’s design,” Dembski said the collective didn’t limit themselves to allow the project to evolve. And neither should a quest for ‘the perfect world.’

“The show changed a lot,” he admitted. “At a certain point, I wasn’t even interested in the pre-recorded theatre and video I thought I was.”

Finding a commitment in the autonomy of artists’ making their own choices, Dembski gave his group leeway to fully explore what a working utopia could be. Pushing those boundaries, borrowing from elements of manifesto and motion, and flirting away from tradition, Utopia: Est-Ce Possible challenges us to view an impossible world realistically, but with fundamental fuel of hope in new creation.

Farewell Halifax/Cardiff/Montreal - support material

2011-11-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Photographes

Photo's #1 - #4 all of Chad Dembski (surprise performance) and Dustin Harvey (secret theatre), taken during initial workshop of "FAREWELL, HALIFAX!" in Halifax, NS at Neptune Theatre rehearsal studio's.
Photo #1 - Chad Dembski in costume during question session #3
Photo #2 - Chad Dembski playing music at the beginning of performance
Photo #3 - Chad Dembski and Dustin Harvey on live video feed (at remote location)
Photo #4 - Full space shot, with Chad Dembski on live video feed

Video (with Audio)
Farewell Halifax Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lED8xUHPdIU
Total Time: 2:31
A collection of the outside remote live feed video moments from the presentation of FAREWELL, HALIFAX!, June 2011. Site specific location, downtown Halifax.

Original Song by Chad Dembski, written for performance

Video #2
FAREWELL CARDIFF (Full Version) - http://www.culturecolony.com/videos?id=7255
Total Time: 46:36
Note: Performance begins at 6:15, but beginning of video shows interactive element and starts from the moment the audience enters the space. Once video is loaded can be skipped ahead easily if chosen.

Farewell Halifax! (public presentation)

2011-10-29T19:23:00.000-07:00

On an ordinary night, in a place you might pass by everyday, two
performers make an attempt to say goodbye to all the past and future
people to leave Halifax. There are reoccurring comedic/ tragic
episodes in which there are people singing farewell ballads, reading
messages, and waving goodbye. There are also stories about community,
about what it means to live in a community, and the ways that choice
greatly impacts who we are. They also imagine the place if everyone
that left had stayed.

'FAREWELL, HALIFAX!' is secret theatre's newest collaboration project.

Created and performed by dustin harvey, and chad dembski (surprise
performance, montreal)

NOVEMBER 3, 4, 5TH...
DOORS OPEN AT 7.30PM
PERFORMED AT A SECRET LOCATION

We are excited to share it with you. We hope you can make it.

If you want to attend, drop me an email to this address (secrettheatre@gmail.com) with the date.
We will send you back a note confirming your place and the details
about the location!

Admission is FREE!
This performance is supported by the HRM Open Projects Initiative

trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lED8xUHPdIU

Farewell Cardiff - CHAPTER Arts Centre

2011-10-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

Dustin Harvey & I will be in Cardiff next week - performing Thursday October 13th at 7:30 p.m. @ CHAPTER Arts Centre as part of Experimentica 1.1

http://www.chapter.org/24366.html

relay - Agora de al danse

2011-09-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

This piece originated in Toronto, ON and has toured to Paris, France, Ottawa (Canada Dance Festival), Edmonton (Brian Webb Dance/University of Alberta) and Vancouver (The Cultch). It is being presented this week at Agora de la danse from Wednesday - Saturday (8:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. on Saturday).

http://www.agoradanse.com/fr/spectacles/2011/relay

Cheap(er) tickets here - http://www.lavitrine.com/activity/RELAY

Utopia est-ce possible? - Influences + Inspirations (as of September 2011)

2011-09-09T05:37:00.000-07:00

1. Paradise Now (1968/1969) - Living Theatre - U.S.A.

Nudity, tons of screaming and yelling, pot smoking, strange Grotowski-esque physical theatre that at times seems brilliant and at times completely insane, a supposed mystery play based on both the Kabballah and I-Ching. One of the first and most complete hippie commune theatre communities ever. Inspiring for their fearlessness, their ability to inspire an audience to both participate and also be completely baffled.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF7_BdHi_NA

2. Alphaville (1965) - Jean Luc Goddard - France

When researching Utopia's you can't help but look at the other side as well, the dystopic. One of the early Goddard films that is beautiful, a glimpse into the near future (for 1965), and a bizarre lo fi science fiction film all rolled into one. Of course there's a healthy dose of french philosophy sprinkled through as well including the very appropriate lines "It's always like that. You never understand anything".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF7_BdHi_NA

3. Day is Done (2005/2006) - Mike Kelley - U.S.A

Take a pile of black and white photographs from Detroit and put them into a massive and sprawling installation. Then turn that installation into a 3 hour film that is experimental, funny, touching, bizarre, confusing, touching, and epic in all the right ways. Has helped me fall in love with the amateur performer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjINHhbfqMI&feature=related

4. Flaming Creatures (1962/1963) - Jack Smith - U.S.A.

Banned for many years but so so thankful to incredible people at ubu.com for posting this film. I To me it is like watching Utopia on film, both in the actual making of it and the themes presented. At times the easiest film to watch and at others the hardest.

http://www.ubu.com/film/smith-jack_flaming.html

Utopia est-ce possible?

2011-09-02T13:02:00.000-07:00

UTOPIA – IS IT POSSIBLE? – CHAD DEMBSKI (SURPRISE PERFORMANCE)

DECEMBER 10th at 6 pm + DECEMBER 11th 2011 at 4 pm @ Studio 303 (inter)
$15 reg. ($20 fair-trade/$12 pre-sale, RQD, RAIQ, students)
An explosion of honesty, révélation, desire, with a glimpse of what is possible. A multi-disciplinary collective creation based on the idea of building a utopian community in one night. A performance that incorporates performance, video, manifesto, song, a parade and dance that is generated from the artists in the project. These éléments are brought together to présent a vision of Montreal in a collision of documentary, the « realistic impossible » and fantasy.

ARTISTS’ BIOGRAPHIES

Surprise performance is a contemporary performance company that créâtes inter-disciplary original collective créations. Lead by project leader Chad Dembski the company has explored deconstructing Hamlet and mixing it with the Jonestown massacare in Hamletown that was presented first at HATCH performance projects at the Harbourfront Centre in March 2008 and then re-written, re-staged and cast locally for a présentation at the CHAPTER Arts Centre in Cardiff, Wales. This version was co-written and co-directed by Bryn Jennings. The company then collided Midsummers Night Dream with the backstage of a pornographic film and Freud psychoanalyis in Wet Dream, which was presented at the 2009 Rhubarb! Festival in Toronto. The company is now based in Montreal and looking to continue it’s investigation into a world between théâtre, dance, performance art, live art, music, stand up comedy and vidéo and film. A company dedicated to training and empowering it’s collaborators in the Tools of inter-disciplinary work.

Photo : Steven Horwood

http://www.studio303.ca/en/events/utopia/

Perhaps in a Hundred Years

2011-08-04T08:01:00.000-07:00

I'm performing in a re-visit to a show I co-created with Ame Henderson and Jacob Zimmer in 2005. Details below.

Perhaps in a Hundred Years

Company: Small Wooden Shoe
Conceived by Jacob Zimmer, Ame Henderson, Chad Dembski and Kilby Smith-McGregor
Dramaturge: Kilby Smith-McGregor.

A tender science fiction about three friends, stuck in outer space, waiting for the future to arrive. They tell stories, sing songs, pass notes, and try to answer some questions. Dancing, lip syncs and quiet beauty fill the space as our heroes pass some time in the company of an audience.

Thursday August 4th	7:00 PM
Friday August 5th	9:00 PM
Saturday August 6th	5:00 PM
Sunday August 7th	5:00 PM
Monday August 8th	7:00 PM
Wednesday August 10th	7:00 PM
Thursday August 11th	9:00 PM
Friday August 12th	7:00 PM
Saturday August 13th	7:00 PM
Sunday August 14th	3:00 PM

Workshop/Audtion - Montreal - Studio 303 - August 15th - 19th 2011

2011-07-29T12:07:00.000-07:00

Open workshop/Auditions

Looking for participants for an open collective creation workshop. Looking for performers male or female with a preference for people of diverse backgrounds. Auditions for a new performance piece to be debuted at Studio 303 in December of 2011 with future performance dates in Spring of 2012.

Led by Chad Dembski (Artistic Director of surprise performance) who recently taught a professional workshop in collective and original creation through the QDF in February of 2011. Has previously worked in Toronto (Small Wooden Shoe "Dedicated to the Revolutions", Public Recordings "relay" and "/Dance/Songs/, Bluemouth Inc.), Halifax (Dustin Harvey (secret theatre), Cardiff (in residence at Chapter Arts Centre), and toured to Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, St.John's, Ottawa, Italy (Es Terni), Paris (rencontres Choregraphiques Internationales), and New York City (HERE Arts Space). Has worked in original and collective creation work since 1997 and was previously Co-Artistic Director of The OOmph! Group from 1997-2005.

Location: Studio 303 - 372 St.Catherine Ouest 3rd Floor

Time: Monday August 15th - Friday August 19th - 12:00 - 3:45 p.m. You may come to more then one day if space is available.

Please indicate what day or days you are able to attend.

Submit: A photo (informal is preferred over "actor" shot) and resume

Submit to: surpriseperformance@googlemail.com

Deadline: Friday August 12th 2011

All applicants will hear back if they are chosen for the workshop and for which day. Those not chosen will also hear back as soon as possible.

Please submit any questions to surpriseperformance@googlemail.com

www.surpriseperformance@blogspot.com

Farewell Halifax (photo + video)

2011-07-22T05:30:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lED8xUHPdIU&feature=feedf

The edited video of Farewell Halifax - first workshop performance - June 2011

Neptune Theatre Studio w/Dustin Harvey (secret theatre)

Old Utopia's

2011-06-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

1.

Many think of Utopia's as the future, the ideal place, the neutral no place that can be built with no interference, no government, complete equality. There are a couple of old Utopia's that have caught my eye in my research the past while.

1. Utopia (Abandoned amusement park) - near Beppu, Japan

This is the link I found this astounding former amusement park that was completely abandoned and left with a full hotel, prizes, half working rides and seeming like everyone just left instantly from this place.

http://blog.tylerbell.net/2007/12/10/utopia-abandoned-amusement-park/

Thanks to these guys for going off the beaten path and finding this place.

Top Photo

An old spring bath called Utopia

Farewell Halifax

2011-06-23T05:09:00.000-07:00

The old Queen Elizabeth School (currently being destroyed)

Images of Halifax (2011)

Second week of development for Farewell Halifax with Dustin Harvey (secret theatre). Working out of the studio theatre at Neptune theatre and looking at community, performance, why people move away, wondering if they had stayed, and the possibility of utopia in contemporary capitalist society.

Halifax

2011-06-20T06:45:00.000-07:00

This city is special, not sure how exactly but I have enjoyed much of my time here and am happy that I have one week left here to explore, relax, work, walk around and investigate why people leave this place.

Photo by: Chad Dembski (Public wall - Halifax)

Another Image

2011-06-15T01:39:00.001-07:00

I also love this image as a possible postcard/poster image (any comments?)

Photograph and design by Steven Horwood (whose blog is below)

announcement (with image)

2011-06-15T01:29:00.000-07:00

Utopia - est-ce possible?

Is going to be a part of Studio 303's 2011/2012 season in December 2011. I feel blessed and honoured to be a part of this extremely exciting series of co-presentations. More details and information to follow in the coming months.

Photo by Chad Dembski

Public art in Halifax, Nova Scotia

everything on fire

2011-06-05T09:47:00.000-07:00

Jan Verwoert

2011-05-27T07:20:00.000-07:00

"In artistic practice this dedication to imagining other ways to enjoy consumption means claiming the imagination and the aesthetic experience as a field of collective agency where workable forms of resistance can be devised." - Jan Verwoert from the essay "Exhaustion and Exuberance - Ways to Defy the Pressure to Perform

iamamiwhoami

2011-05-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/user/iamamiwhoami#p/a/u/0/TLPxTKR7A70

in two books

2011-05-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

Book 1 - recording of an informal conversation

Book 2 - a talk improvised on the spur of the moment

Alike

2011-05-08T16:16:00.000-07:00

"All artists are alike They dream of doing something that's more social, more collaborative, and more real then art." - Dan Graham

Big Utopia, Little Utopia's

2011-05-04T11:01:00.000-07:00

program notes from the live documentary Utopia in Four Movements (U.S.A/2010/Sam Green and Dave Cerf) by Rebecca Solnit

The word utopia means, literally, no place and this is a movie that unlike almost all other movies can only be in one place at a time, this place you’re in now with its filmmaker Sam Green and musician Dave Cerf. This is a film that’s both about utopia and an attempt to embody it by weaving together images and ideas and spoken words that will never be replicated exactly, a movie being born as you see and hear it, as alive as music.

Utopia always meant people together. The utopian impulse of a century ago was gregarious and altruistic; the hopeful and the radical didn’t want to just solve their own problems or save their own lives; they wanted to do it for all of us, everyone, everywhere, and all those in the eras yet to come. From the early days of the Russian Revolution to the late phases of the Black Panthers, they dared to dream big dreams, dreams that everything could be different, that human nature could be all but reinvented and suffering and injustice all but eliminated. They might have been amazingly wrongheaded about both means and ends, and most of us would disagree with their vision of paradise, but the hope and bravado are still inspiring. Few among us now are so confident that the world could be changed. These big utopias were never realized, though the world has changed in countless ways since, for the worse and for the better, partly by hopes and dreams acted upon.

Maybe little utopias are realized all the time, the utopias of people together in spirit and in body for a dance or a protest and everything inbetween. And sometimes we only realize their sweetness as they recede. A lot of us now look back at the golden age of cinema as a bygone paradise, a minor but sublime coexistence of strangers in the dark drawn together to see a flicker of projected light come to life onscreen. Television chopped up movies with commercials and put them in the middle of domestic distraction, but that was nothing compared to this moment when films are on your iPhone and your laptop and in fuzzy tiny windows on YouTube. The worst thing about these new modes of viewing isn’t that they diminish cinema as visual and imaginative spectacle. The worst thing is that they’re watched furtively and alone. Cinema, which was once a great banquet in a dream palace is now often a snack devoured absentmindedly in isolation. And only in society, only together, do we have the power to live out those old dreams, or new ones.

Utopia is sociable, and Green and Cerf’s Utopia in Four Movements gives you back the sociability of a movie, the way it was always about coexisting, by making it as live as a silent movie with an orchestra, a nineteenth-century chautaqua lecture, a sermon or a party. Take it as an invitation to think about utopia, not only the old ones that might have failed, but whatever faint aroma of paradise might arise in a room where you hope and think and breathe with others.

– Rebecca Solnit

Five questions about Utopia

2011-05-02T15:21:00.001-07:00

1. Have you ever experienced a Utopia?

2. Have you ever seen or heard about something that seemed like a Utopia?

3. Describe your own Utopia, who is there? What does it look like? What is there? Where is it?

4. What is the most essential element of a Utopia?

5. Do you think a Utopia is possible in the future?

Anxious Moments

2011-04-29T07:48:00.000-07:00

Trash Humpers by Harmony Korine. A mildly insane journey through a city at night by a bunch of adults looking for trouble and finding it everywhere. Almost funny, mostly disturbing.

excited for the upcoming election on Monday. This is the first time I have been excited about an election in a long long long long long time. No idea what is motivating people to come out and vote this time but it's happening, advance polls are up 34%, which is astounding considering most people didn't even seem to want this election in the first place.

Applied for two major positions this week, no idea if I should be hopeful, excited, pessimistic, or confident about either of them. Still makes me wonder about a "regular" full time job and what effect that would have had on, or could have on my life. Been feeling jealous the past few weeks of people who have a steady job to go to and know what's ahead, at least for the most part.

Utopia Station

2011-04-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

In 2003 at Venice Biennel a large group project was organized and presented by curators Molly Nesbit, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Rirkrit Travanija entitled Utopia Station. It was a spralling installation, performance space, thinking room, discussion platform, dance party and just about everything else you can think of. I did not see it but love the following quote very much;

"It is simple. We use utopia as a catalyst, a concept most useful as fuel. We leave the complete definition of utopia to others. We meet to pool our efforts, motivated by a need to change the landscape outside and inside, a need to think, a need to integrate the work of the artist, the intellectual and manual labourers that we are into a larger kind of community, another kind of economy, a bigger conversation, another state of being. You could call this need a hunger."

-Molly Nesbit, Hans Ulrich Obrist and Rirkrit Travanija

Artist Photo: Gabriel Kuri

Courage

2011-04-18T19:42:00.000-07:00

Artists who I think have courage (just the ones I can think of right now); List INCOMPLETE (please feel free to add to)

Sharon Hayes
Franko B.
Sparticus Cheywynd
Rebecca Belmore
Daniel Barrow
Ann Liv Young
Nic Green
Ulysses Castellanos

Courage to help others, courage to disliked, courage to believe in their idea's when some (or many don't). Thinking about how many people lack hero's or people to look up to, hope I'm wrong.

Photo is of Ulysses Castellanos (on December 1st 2007)

Openness

2011-04-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Curious how to approach new work with a full imagination of what it could be, of the full possibility instead of resorting to reality instantly. Not as an attempt at failure but source the inspiration and not get bogged down in realities too early.

new idea's

2011-04-07T17:35:00.000-07:00

Thinking of possibility, the luck of idea's popping into our heads, being able to make these idea's come to life in our own way.
Working again with Stephen Horwood on "Megantic', always a fun time.

the kids

2011-04-06T15:00:00.000-07:00

Photo by Matija Ferlin

Spoke to two classes yesterday at Lauren Hill Academy here in Montreal.
They asked me questions about creating new work, where I've toured, what my favorite role to perform was, the show I enjoyed making the most and how have I created new works.

It was inspiring at times (I'll be honest some of the kids looked dead bored) to see the glimmer of possibility in there eyes, a thought that this "easy" course could actually lead to something.

The classroom is grim, hard broken floors, harsh lights (some of which are broken), crappy desks, and no real place to work. Probably the worst classroom for drama I have ever seen but probably not the worst in the world by a long stretch.

They played LCD Soundsystem in the hallways during lunch; that was pretty great.

done and done

2011-04-01T14:25:00.000-07:00

3 grants one week; relief, regret and hope

peace in chaos

2011-03-31T11:54:00.000-07:00

Manuel for Incidence - Darling Foundry - 2006 - Public Recordings

reminders to find peace and calm with deadlines looming

DAILY UTOPIA'S

2011-03-30T06:32:00.000-07:00

My vegan birthday cake made by my wife Bryn. The photo is from my perspective.

A promise to post a daily Utopia (micro or macro) upon this page from now on. This Utopia may be a photo, a quote, an idea or an experience. It may come from myself or it may come from you or from someone I asked.

The cats remind me to relax

2011-03-06T12:08:00.001-08:00

The Daydream Revolution

2011-02-22T11:53:00.000-08:00

"Such a programme proposes to people no reason to live other then their own construction of their own lives...That they refuse all of forms of behaviors dictated by other and continually reinvent their own unique fulfilment's ; and that they no longer consider life to be the mere maintaining of a certain stability but that they aspire to the unlimited enrichment of their lives."

Guy Debord (1960)

2011-02-15T08:30:00.000-08:00

2008 - Hamletown installation - Rhubarb! Festival - Buddies in Bad Times

Best of 2010

2010-12-31T14:19:00.001-08:00

1. Getting Married – Getting married in July was amazing, super fast and more emotional then I could have ever imagined. An outdoor setting, rain that disappeared minutes before the ceremony, so many friends, most of the families and great wedding parties really made this once in a lifetime event so special.
2. Do Animals Cry – Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods – Usine C – February 2010 - An astounding dance show clocking in at 2 hours that had all the elements of engaging and dynamic dance/theatre work. I had wanted to see Meg Stuart’s work for many years and her brave decisions, great design team and incredible performers did not disappoint in the least.
3. Het Verdwalen in Kart – Lotte van den Berg/OMSK – KVS – Kunstenfestivaldesarts – May 2010 – Brussels, Belgium – As astounding community based project in Dordrecht that was then transplanted to Brussels for this incredible festival. A total of 72 different community members ranging from 3 years old to 90 something set up an installation of music, art, photography, video and food that presented their town in beautiful and moving way. This gave way to a very simple performance that moved me in a way that went beyond all of my preconceived notions of what a performance can be. Simply astounding and changed the way I look at creation.
4. Oshega 2010 – Montreal, Quebec – Parc Drapeau – July 2010 – One of best one day concerts I have ever been to in my life. A intensely sunny day started with Owen Pallett who is as moody as ever and ended a little early, then a surprising fantastic set from Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zero’s who were a huge highlight, to The Stars who always show up ready to perform and be more then just an indie band, then Beach House who look wonderful and sound great. The whole evening capped by Arcade Fire who blew me away with an almost perfect show of stadium rock and visual tricks to go with it.
5. Hamletown – Cardiff, Wales, U.K – CHAPTER Arts Centre – May 2010 – Delayed by the infamous ash storm from Iceland and Bryn & I’s first residency was fantastic. We made it through a shortened rehearsal and development period to two public showings that went quite well. More surprising is how close to the cast and designers we got over the two and a half weeks we worked and partied together.
6. Dancing Dreams & Wasteland - [Germany/2010/ ] + [U.S.A./2010/Lucy Walker] – Two documentaries; one set in Germany at Pina Bausch’s home studio and one in a Rio de Janeiro but both about introducing contemporary art or dance into people’s lives. Both had stunning transformations of teenagers to aging adults who are given a chance to prove themselves outside of their regular lives.
7. Relay - [Canada/2010/Public Recordings/Ame Henderson] – World Stage 2010 – Harbourfront Centre – Recontres Festival Choreographics – Paris, France – Canada Dance Festival 2010 – Ottawa, Ontario – After more then two years of development, a group of eight dancers from Croatia, Montreal and Toronto grouped together with two musicians, a design team, a dramaturge to attempt something maybe impossible. Always a thrill to work on, sometimes very difficult, this show reminded me of why I am in this business; to take risks, to try something very few others are willing to do and to attempt to have fun doing it.
8. The Toronto Argonaughts – 2010 Season – After seasons of 4-14 and 3-15 it seemed like a miracle to get a team like this; full of surprises and gutsy performances. A new coach and a new philosophy helped the team get to the play-offs for the first time since 2007 and win a road play-off game for the first time since 1960.
9. Brussels, Belgium - May 2010 – A total impulse trip out of Paris was expensive and needed at the time but also a total trip highlight (that included London, Berlin, Venice (for Bryn), and Paris) that took Bryn & I by surprise. A hotel room deluxe upgrade, the Kunsten Arts Festival, a strange parade, an incredible main square, great transportation, friendly people, great buildings. Was expecting nothing (from everything I had heard) and found it to be totally amazing or at east the right place at the right time.
10. “Runaway” by Kanye West/Girl Talk “All Day” – The single of the year by Kanye West stunned me mostly by being so emotional and honest in a pop world overflowing with bullshit. Girl Talk offers his latest album for free on his website and I’m there the first day attempting many times to get at it and thankful every moment since, nobody makes party music like him.

Utopia - images

2010-12-12T06:19:00.000-08:00

as I prepare for more work on this project in 2011 - here are some images that keep me going

Dancing Dreams

2010-10-25T06:06:00.000-07:00

Amazing new German documentary about a group of teenagers who re-stage one of Pina Bausch's most famous works. Beautiful to look at and full of funny and inspiring stories.

out of context

2010-09-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

les ballets c de la b.

Out of Context (for Pina)

Seeing this October 5th 2010 - Ottawa - National Arts Centre

Francis Alys

2010-09-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

Francis Alys - When Faith Moves Mountains - Peru - 2002

http://www.francisalys.com/public.html

Patience

2010-09-16T07:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes waiting is better

a live situation

2010-09-08T05:58:00.001-07:00

Pierre Huyghe - a live situation
Photo: Ola Rindal

a performance in an empty building

bucky

2010-08-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Photo: "Manuel for Incidence" - Public Recordings - 2005 - Montreal, QC - Choreographer: Ame Henderson

"I learned very early and painfully that you have to decide at the outset whether you are trying to make money or make sense."
Buckminster Fuller

Hamletown [Chaper Arts Centre - Cardiff] - May 2010 - Part 2

2010-08-25T08:44:00.000-07:00

1. John Norton as The King

2. Michael Aubin as Hamlet

3. Aimee Corbett as The Queen and John Norton as The King

4. Full Company - The Dinner Scene

All Photo's by Bethany Seddon

Hamletown [Chaper Arts Centre - Cardiff, Wales] - May 2010

2010-08-24T06:19:00.000-07:00

1. John Norton as The King

2. Catherine Capelin as Opheila and Aleks Wojtulewicz as Laetres

3. Set up for final Act

4. Catherine Capelin as Ophelia and Aleks Wojtulewicz as Laetres

ALL PHOTO"S BY BETHANY SEDDON

Michael Clark - Tate Modern - Turbine Hall

2010-08-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

an amazing residency at the Tate Modern!

August 2010

Quotes

2010-08-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

"Competitive individualism militates against the experience of community, and that lack of community is a centrally important factor in contemporary anxiety." - Rollo May

Better late then never

2010-08-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a couple of pics from the Chapter Arts Centre presentation of Hamletown in early May.

Hamletown

written by Chad Dembski and Bryn Jennings
directed by Bryn Jennings and Chad Dembski

performers
Michael Aubin
Catherine Capelin
Aimee Corbett
Aleks Wojulewicz
John Norton
Brent Morgan
Helena Harrison

Costumes by Bethany Seddon

May 7th and 8th - Chapter Arts Centre - Cardiff, Wales, U.K.

Hamletown - Cardiff - Chapter Arts Centre - May 8th + 9th 2010

2010-04-27T00:36:00.001-07:00

we are here

rehearsal photo's coming soon

relay

2010-04-03T04:32:00.000-07:00

rehearsals

show April 7th - 10th - Enwave Theatre - Harbourfront Centre

a Ame Henderson/Public Recordings production

Do Animals Cry

2010-03-03T08:58:00.000-08:00

Finally (after years) was able to see a Meg Stuart/Damaged Goods performance. At Usine C here in Montreal Bryn and I saw "Do Animals Cry", her latest piece of dance/theatre. I was blown away by practically the entire show; from the first subtle moments to the crashing ending moments. I know it is playing in Toronto this week (March 3rd - 6th) at the Harbourfront Centre, please see it if you can. It is one of the best shows I have ever seen.

all for nothing

2010-01-23T13:16:00.000-08:00

All For Nothing

Chapter Arts Centre

November 2009

Video Link: (cut and paste) www.culturecolony.com/videos?id=1114

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Hamletown - in development residencies - 2010/2011

2010-01-04T05:52:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!

1. Kitchener, ON - MT Space

www.mtspace.ca

Looking at a Fall 2010 residency in Kitchener where I will work with local performers to re-create a new version of Hamletown. Kitchener-Waterloo is my place of birth and also where I grew up until I was 19 years old. MT Space is an ambitious theatre company lead by Majdi Bou-Matar who moved to Kitchener-Waterloo six years ago and has done an amazing amount of work in that time. He has established MT Space as a major multi-cultural creation company and produced the Impact festival in September of 2009. All my meetings with him have been inspiring, supportive and exciting. Looking forward to being there for a couple of weeks and to work with a combination of high school, university and emerging performers, designers and actors.

2. Calgary, AB - Theatre Junction

www.theatrejunction.com

Projected Time: Fall 2010

Artistic Director Mark Lawes is both a presenter of contemporary performance, dance and theatre and also a creator himself. He has converted a pre-WW1 theatre into a contemporary art space and since 2006 presented both national, international and his own companies work. Going to have further meetings with him in a few weeks when I am in Calgary for the first time with Small Wooden Shoe at High Performance Rodeo.

3. Halifax, NS - Bus Stop Theatre

Projected Time: Fall 2010

Dustin Harvey and Secret theatre are helping me to bring Hamletown to Halifax, NS which has one of the strongest artistic communities I have ever seen. Though a small city with limited means, groups and individuals there do incredible work and audiences there are fantastic. Looking at the intimate Bus Stop Theatre as a possible venue and looking at working with mostly University or College performers from local schools as potential performers.

These are all still in development and there are more to come as well.

Waste not, want not

2009-12-26T08:26:00.001-08:00

tis the season to be jolly. Tis also the season to waste tons of paper, food and tree's. Feeling more and more that my work needs to have a consciousness about the resources it uses when it is being created. Hearing about the piles of garbage that thrown out on t.v. and film sets, and seeing first hand the amount of garbage generated by a single theatre production is depressing and astounding. Sadly most of the materials thrown away in these art forms are re-useable such as wood, paper, clothing and props. But due to laziness, past experience and ignorance very little is done to curb these habits.
Not this is a news flash, in fact everybody knows these facts but it is often shrugged off as "part of the business". Have very little control over other people's actions and organizations but at least in my own shows I am going to strive for more environmentally aware design and construction.

All For Nothing

2009-12-14T04:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.culturecolony.com/videos?id=1114

A performance with Bryn Jennings and I in Cardiff, Wales; presented as part of the Experimentica Festival at Chapter Arts Centre.
November 2009.

2009-12-11T01:05:00.000-08:00

Day 1

So no sleep for the inspired. 4:07 a.m. seemed like an excellent time to start a blog/page for my company.
More soon.