Companies
Living Dance Studio
Beijing, China
Living Dance Studio (LDS) was founded in 1994 by choreographer Wen Hui and documentary maker Wu Wenguang. Before founding the company, both artists were well-known and respected for their achievements in their respective work fields. The Beijing based dance theatre company is one of the few independent art groups that receive no funding from, and are not facilitated by any means, by the Chinese Government. Their productions bring together dance, video, storytelling, visual effects and sets music to document routine and personal acts of life in modern China.
Compagnie Pál Frenák
Budapest, Hungary
In 1998 Pál Frenák Company - which had existed in France for a decade - became a joint Hungarian-French company, based both in Budapest and Paris. Comprising a variety of classical and modern techniques the company's profile stands for a unique style and dance language. One of its most important characteristics is the use of mimics, sign language and body movements that reflect on various genres (circus, theater, fashion shows).
Tarek Halaby
Palestine / Belgium / USA
Tarek Halaby is an American-Palestinian performer based in Brussels, Belgium. He is a graduate of the University of Iowa where he received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance. For three years he lived and worked in New York City dancing with various companies and independent choreographers. Tarek completed the two year Research Cycle at the P.A.R.T.S. program during which he danced, created his own work and collaborated with his colleagues on various projects. Tarek is also a certified instructor of the Pilates Method.
Modern Times Stage Company
Toronto, Canada
Modern Times Stage Company is an artistic collaborative devoted to offering culturally inclusive, alternative theatre experiences. The company reaches out to audiences with works that are beautiful in their simplicity and truthful in their exploration of the human spirit. Modern Times Stage Company produces adapted, translated and original works to stimulate surprise and engage audiences throughout Canada and the World.
Modern Times' unique theatrical aesthetic is informed by Artistic Director Soheil Parsa's initial explorations of Persian theatrical forms and investigations into the techniques of major European theatre artists. Layering these theatrical references, the company strives to transcend cultural and political borders; to tell stories of myth and archetype that move away from ideology towards a human vocabulary that speaks across civilizations.
The MT Space
Kitchener, Canada
The MT Space was founded by Majdi Bou-Matar in 2004. The name was inspired by the homophone of "Empty" and MT or "multicultural theatre". Primarily the name represents the need for a space for culturally diverse artists; a space that needs to be filled! Since its inception, the company has been creating, developing, producing and presenting theatre that speaks to, draws upon, and finally, constitutes Canadian contemporary community.
In five short years the MT Space has grown from a local grassroots organization to one that is gaining international attention. The MT Space has received the Ontario Trillium Foundation's Great Grant Award for the Arts and Culture Category in 2007, was short-listed for the Volunteer Impact Award 2007, and was nominated several times to the KW Arts Awards. The MT Space is an affiliate member of the Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT).
d'bi.young
anitAFRIKA! dubtheatre
Toronto, Canada
d'bi.young is an afrikan-jamaican-canadian visionary who has performed, published, and lectured internationally. an award-winning dubpoet, writer, and theatre practitioner, she has produced five dubpoetry albums, authored two dubpoetry collections and is the playwright/performer of the published double dora award-winning, one-person show blood.claat. d'bi.young recently launched the radical arts centre anitAFRIKA! dub theatre. she is presently completing her first non-fiction on dubpoetry and dubtheatre.
Andrew Houston and Lisa O'Connell
Waterloo, Canada
Andrew Houston is the Views & Reviews Editor of the Canadian Theatre Review. In 2002, he and scenographer Kathleen Irwin started Knowhere Productions, a performance company that had its debut with The Weyburn Project, a multi-disciplinary, site-specific performance in a disused wing of the Saskatchewan Mental Hospital at Weyburn. The company has since mounted several large-scale site-specific works. Andy is a faculty member of the Department of Drama, Speech Communication and Digital Arts at the University of Waterloo. He is a participating artist-researcher in Warmer, a multidisciplinary project examining the effects of global warming on various communities in southern Ontario.
Lisa O'Connell is a Waterloo-based dramaturge, playwright and arts administrator.
In 2005, Lisa founded Pat the Dog, a provincial playwright development organization that develops plays and playwrights from across Ontario. In 2008, Pat the Dog Playwright Development Centre became the tenth member of the national Playwrights Development Centre of Canada (PDCC). As a playwright, Lisa's work has earned critical praise. As a dramaturge, Lisa has worked on many new works for the Canadian theatre, most notably Vern Thiessen's Einstein's Gift, which won the Governor Generals Award for Drama (English) in 2003.
Flush Ink Productions
Kitchener, Canada
Flush Ink Productions' mission is to provide innovative and affordable theatre to the community. It engages in promoting the playwright's voice through workshops, education and readings, with the intention of fine-tuning them for future productions, with a specific commitment to celebrating women's voices in theatre through an annual staged reading to raise funds for both local and international women's causes. Flush Ink Productions is committed to creating positive working relationships with both the community and various artists, both local and international - through which exciting and imaginative productions ensue that heighten the profile of individual artists as well as the Region of Waterloo in the world of theatre. Flush Ink Productions' signature projects are: She Speaks, Asphalt Jungle Shorts and Unhinged, Kitchener's festival of site-specific theatre.
Magnetic North Theatre Festival
Canada
The Magnetic North Theatre Festival is the premiere festival of new Canadian theatre. Like the Magnetic North Pole itself, the festival moves around the country, treating Canadians to excellence in English theatre from across Canada. Magnetic North gives us the opportunity to share our stories, to interpret our history and our times, and to explore how we see the world.
K-W Youth Theatre
Kitchener, Canada
KW Youth Theatre is devoted to providing an opportunity for youth to learn theatre arts while having fun participating in high-quality Shakespearean drama. Its objectives in doing so are: to produce theatre focused on enhancing, promoting, celebrating, and showcasing the talent and diversity of our local artists; offer educational programs that fill the need for hands-on learning experiences in all aspects of theatre including workshops, seminars, and summer camps; strive for low-cost seating, making first-rate theatre available for everyone; support the programs of local youth service agencies; seek out corporate sponsors to provide tickets and scholarships for underprivileged children; and help build vitality and spirit in our community - "Theatre can speak to us all; it unites as it delights and educates as it entertains."
Lost&Found Theatre
Waterloo Region, Canada
Lost & Found Theatre is a collective of practicing theatre professionals. Affiliated artists share decades of theatrical experience in all aspects of production & education, most of them in the greater Waterloo region. Lost&Found ensemble encourages individual artistic expression & collaboration. The company values the importance of serving its community through theatre, conspiring in mystery & metaphor to engage & empower its audience members, students & artists. Lost&Found values integrity & understand that people are its greatest resource, recognizing that every voice at the table is a gift. The company believes that theatre with heart and soul must have a foundation of mutual respect, which in turn builds trust, allows for freedom & enables us to create imaginative, intimate, life-changing theatre experiences - together.
MASAHAT Contemporary Dance Network
Beirut / Damascus / Amman / Ramallah
MASAHAT Contemporary Dance Network was founded in 2006. MASAHAT (Landscapes) is a network of contemporary dance festivals in Beirut, Damascus, Amman and Ramallah: BIPOD-Beirut international Platform of Dance, RCDF-Ramallah Contemporary Dance Festival, DCDP- Damascus Contemporary Dance Platform and ACDF Amman Contemporary Dance Festival. The network's main focus is developing stronger relationships between individual artists, dance associations and companies, and the exchange and development of collaborative projects. Focusing on contemporary perception of the body, MASAHAT, in itself, could be a new body that aims at building capacities, developing public awareness, encouraging diversity and promoting social themes through organizing artistic events.
COPA
The Coalition of Performing Artists
Waterloo Region, Canada
COPA is a collective of grassroots arts organizations working together on the development of a local creative hub for our community. COPA has a vision for a downtown performing arts resource centre for dialogue, networking, mutual learning, collaboration and innovation. COPA's main focus is to encourage local arts organizations to work collectively to ensure the vibrancy and growth of our arts and culture community. COPA explores working models to exchange creative ideas, and share space, management, marketing and human resources.
Pat the Dog
Playwright Development Centre
Waterloo Region, Canada
Pat the Dog, founded in 2005, provides support for playwrights in Ontario through the operation of programs for emerging and established playwrights. It is dedicated to the development of both contemporary Canadian work and new writers for the stage. A member-based organization, its objective is to provide a critical and vibrant environment for the playwright to further their craft and prepare new scripts for production. Its work exists between the playwright's first idea for a script and the play's final production draft. Pat the Dog is a member of the Playwrights' Development Centres of Canada.
The Multicultural Cinema Club
Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada
The Multicultural Cinema Club, led by a professional director and producer Azam Fouk Aladeh, aims to create a culture of cinema club within our community by screening films, hosting discussions, creating artistic works, and encouraging community film-making in Kitchener-Waterloo. The Multicultural Cinema Club is not only for new Canadians. It is an open concept for anyone interested in artistic community projects.
Kitchener-Waterloo Multicultural Centre
Kitchener-Waterloo, Canada
The Multicultural Centre exists for the purpose of fostering the diversity which exists in this community and of facilitating the full participation of all residents in the life of the community. The KW Multicultural Centre has been serving the community for 40 years. We offer many services, programs and support to new Canadians. We offer assistance with job search, interpretation and translation services, assistance with settlement needs, and counseling.
Neruda Productions
Waterloo Region, Canada
Neruda Productions was founded by Isabel Cisterna as a coincidence, a work of fate and dreams combined. Isabel realized that there was a need for more diverse performances in the Waterloo region. From her own experience of coming from another country, Chile, and trying to be a part of the ever 'evolving' arts community here, she believed that there was an opportunity to raise awareness about how much we can all benefit from celebrating our diversity. Neruda Productions is now the product of that passion and the beginning of a great reality. Neruda's goal is to build bridges between the arts communities, and bring together existing and newly arrived talent coming here from all over the world to make Waterloo Region their home.