Reminder: Collective Beginnings, Alternative Creations Conference 2006

[Robin Whittaker]

This is to remind you that the Collective Beginnings, Alternative Creations 
Conference runs this Monday, March 6 - Wednesday, March 8 at Theatre Passe 
Muraille. The conference is dedicated to enabling practical and critical 
discourse pertaining to collective creation methods and their offshoots in 
Canadian contexts. The conference takes as its muse Theatre Passe Muraille’s 
collective- and documentary-style theatre productions of the 1970s; and it looks 
back to the free spirited and multidisciplinary experiment that was Rochdale 
College. Collective, collaborative, documentary, devised and site-specific 
theatre are among the performance forms offered for consideration in 
presentations, workshops and panel papers delivered by a wide range of Toronto 
and surrounding-area scholars, performers and activists.

I encourage you to register in advance for this important event. Registration is 
$10 and includes the Tuesday matinée performance of TPM's current offering, "The 
Rochdale Project" (and post-show Q&A). Paul Thompson will also be giving an 
auditable series of collective/historical workshops. The Conference Schedule and 
Press Release are copied below.

Sincerely,

Robin Whittaker, Co-Chair, Collective Beginnings, Alternative Creations 2006
PhD Candidate, Graduate Centre for Study of Drama, University of Toronto
Course Instructor, English, University of Toronto at Scarborough

http://www.passemuraille.on.ca

(Apologies for cross-postings.)

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monday march 6
10am	 gallery opens, registration and coffee
10:30am welcome and opening address: Jim Garrard
11:45am Paul Thompson workshop I
1:15pm	 lunch
2:00pm	 panel #1 – Hybrid Cultures, Hybrid Arts:
        Judith Rudakoff, Daryl Cloran, Fides Kruker
4:15pm	 presentation – Carlos Bulosan Theatre
5:00pm	 end of day please join us up at the bar for cocktails


tuesday march 7
10am	 gallery opens, registration and coffee
10:30am Paul Thompson workshop II
12:00pm lunch 
1:30pm	 Rochdale matinee and Q&A
4:15pm	 panel #2 – Problems in “Alternative” Space:
        Andy Houston, Bruce Barton, Ker Wells
6:15pm	 end of day

wednesday march 8
10am	 gallery opens, registration and coffee
10:30am Paul Thompson workshop III
12:00pm panel #3 – “Process-ing” the Alternative:
        Yvette Nolan, Ric Knowles, Alan Filewod
2:00pm	 lunch
2:45pm	 presentation – Dave Meslin: The Disappearance of Un-Branded Culture in 
Public Space
3:30pm	presentation – Maggie MacDonald: Body Music: The Importance of Public 
Performance
4:30pm	closing remarks: Layne Coleman
5:00pm	end of day

All events occur in TPM's mainspace and backspace at Theatre Passe Muraille.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 3, 2006
Media Contact:  Laura Bonfigli  416.504.7529 x2140
laurab at passemuraille.on.ca

Collective Beginnings, Alternative Creations

Toronto, Ontario


Theatre Passe Muraille is proud to present COLLECTIVE BEGINNINGS, ALTERNATIVE
CREATIONS, a conference dedicated to collective- and documentary-style theatre
practices in Canada.  This conference, running from March 6 through March 8,
2006, commemorates nearly 40 years of dedication to innovative theatre art and
artists in Canada.  Celebrating the freedom and idealism of Rochdale College,
papers, panels and workshops will concentrate primarily on collective creation
and its effect on theatre practice and presentation in Toronto, as well as the
rest of Canada.

The connection between the history of Theatre Passe Muraille and the development
of this alternative method of creation in Canada is an important part of
Canadian theatre history. The conference begins just after the opening of The
Rochdale Project, TPM’s newest collective and a show that has been in the making
for nearly 4 years.

*
In 1968 a group of under-thirties decided to try something out for themselves.
Unhappy with mainstream education and inspired by the change going on in the
world, they petitioned the federal government for funds to create a free
university which would set the form and content of their education.  Out of this
was born Rochdale College.

In 2002 a group of under-thirties decided to try something out for themselves.
After listening to stories of the Passe Muraille collectives, from The Farm Show
to1837: The Farmers’ Revolt, to I Love You, Baby Blue, they decided to explore
collective creation for themselves.  Out of this was born The Rochdale Project,
a two-act play exploring the lives that were shaped by the Rochdale experience.
*

Including a 3-day workshop on collective creation by the visionary Paul Thompson
and a matinee of The Rochdale Project, this conference will bring together
professional artists and accomplished scholars to discuss the past, present and
future of this dynamic and alternative method of creation, production and
performance.  The keynote address will be given by TPM’s founder, Jim Garrard.

Presenters include: Ric Knowles (University of Guelph), Alan Filewod (University
of Guelph), Judith Rudakoff (York University), Andy Houston (University of
Waterloo), Bruce Barton (University of Toronto), Daryl Cloran (Theatrefront),
Fides Krucker (The Urge Collective), and Ker Wells (Number Eleven Theatre).
Conference co-chairs are Robin Whittaker (Doctoral Candidate, University of
Toronto) and Laura Bonfigli (Theatre Passe Muraille).

General Information
•       Monday March 6 to Wednesday March 8, 2006 at Theatre Passe Muraille
•       10:00am to 5:00pm daily
•       $10 conference registration fee
•       Call Arts Box Office at 416.504.7529 to register, or register online at
www.artsboxoffice.ca