FINAL REPORT

Cultural Pluralism in the Performing Arts Movement Ontario: Report on Town Hall on Creating Homes for Culturally Diverse Performances in the Kitchener Community October 29, 2011

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Introduction:

Cultural Pluralism in the Arts Movement Ontario (CPAMO, formerly CPPAMO) has been working with Community Cultural Impresarios (CCI) to provide opportunities for CCI to develop its resources and capacities to support pluralism in the arts through its member services. One of the key components of this working relationships is the convening of Town Halls on Pluralism in Performing Arts in various areas across Ontario. To date, CPAMO has convened such events in Scarborough, Ottawa and in cooperation with local artists in Kitchener-Waterloo. To this end, CPAMO received a grant of $10,000.00 from the Ontario Arts Council Multi-Arts Program to support a showcase of performing arts by Aboriginal and ethno-racial performers and to build relationships between ethno-racial and Aboriginal performing artists and those responsible for performance venues.

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Town Hall on Pluralism in Performing Arts:

This Town Hall was convened in three separate occasions: 1) as part of Magnetic North in June, 2010. 2) as part of Culture Days in September 2010; and 3) as part of the IMPACT Festival in September 2011 The activity was coordinated in this way so as to work with and support local initiatives within the Kitchener community that were already in place and focusing on pluralism in the arts. The focus for the Town Hall was to engage performers, presenters, booking agents and others involved in performing arts in creative brain-storming on what needs to be done to create a sense of home for performances and artists from culturally diverse communities, i.e., ethno-racial and Aboriginal artists and arts organizations. MAGNETIC NORTH: On Tuesday, June 15, 2010, in collaboration with the Collective of Performing Artists (COPA) of KitchenerWaterloo CPPAMO held its second Town Hall as a key part of Magnetic Norths Industry Series. Involving over 100 representatives at Mag-North, this session discussed how the Canadian cultural community has spent years talking about diversity and the importance of addressing it presentation practices, e.g., casting shows and filling performance spaces. Building on the foundations laid in K-W at The MT Spaces IMPACT 09 conference, this session addressed how to make concrete plans and implement them. One of the topics for this session were focused on the notion of Presenting Paradigms in Globalized Canada. As Canadas population grows and changes, and with respect to Aboriginal peoples and their lands, this component of the afternoon addressed programming strategies to better reflect who really lives here. The session aimed to facilitate learning and relationship building between creation-based culturally specific performing artists and presenters, and focused on creating homes and audiences for performance both within and without the conventional presenting networks and festival circuits, for artists from Canada and beyond our borders. The panelists for this session were: Majdi Bou-Matar (The MT Space/IMPACT, KitchenerWaterloo), Shivani Lakhanpal (Toronto International Film Festival), Eric Lariviere (Markham Theatre for Performing Arts), ahdri zhina mandiela (b current, Toronto) and Helen Yung (Culture Days, Montreal).

The session was facilitated by charles c. smith (CCPAMO, Toronto) and provided an announcement by Martin DeGroot of COPA regarding its collaborative work with CPPAMO for the summer and fall of this year. This will involve establishing a community of practice in the K-W region for performing artists and presenters interested in deepening their work on pluralism in performing arts. Ideas into Action: a Workshop for Presenters Building on the above-noted plenary session, a hands-on workshop offered ways to renew presenting practices and attract new audiences. While it is crucial to bring in work that appeals to the cultural communities in our neighbourhoods, a key focus of this workshop was the importance of not making curatorial assumptions that create ghettos for intercultural art. This session provided real strategies for serving and challenging audiences while promoting pluralism, with excellence, relevance and the bottom line in mind. Shivani Lakhanpal (Toronto International Film Festival), Eric Lariviere (Markham Theatre for Performing Arts), Helen Yung (Culture Days, Montreal) charles c. smith (CCPAMO, Toronto). Presenting Art Like the Art You Make The second workshop focused on teaching an audience what to expect from artist presenters and how they search out the work of others. This session was led by Majdi Bou-Matar (The MT Space, KW), Brenda Leadley (Presentation House, North Vancouver), ahdri zhina mandiela (b current, Toronto), Janet Munsil (Intrepid Theatre, Victoria) and Marcus Youssef (neworld theatre, Vancouver). CULTURE DAYS: COPA & CPPAMO present Round:About as part of Culture Days -- Kitchener Event featuring 10 local multiethnic artists as forum for local talent Round:About/Pluralism in Performance brought together 10 local acts featuring musicians and performance artists from different cultural backgrounds for an evening of intimate reflection and storytelling. Round:About / Pluralism in Performance took place at The Conrad Centre for the Performing Arts and was presented by COPA, (The Coalition of Performing Artists of Waterloo Region) and CPPAMO (Cultural Pluralism in the Performing Arts Movement of Ontario). COPA has been taking shape as an organization since early 2009. Many organizations involved in the development of COPA were involved in the inaugural year of the IMPACT festival in September of 2009. COPAs primary goal is to work together to enrich the performing arts in Waterloo Region by utilizing the strengths and collective experience of the membership. The majority of programming for Round:About was by local companies, including The MT Space, Neruda Productions and members of COPA. As with other Culture Days Events, Round:About was free to the public. Round:About was part of a larger joint project of COPA and CPPAMO currently being funded by the Ontario Arts Council, the Ontario Ministry of Culture, the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Canada Council for the Arts.

IMPACT 2011:
The MT Space, as part of the activities of its international intercultural theatre festival IMPACT 11 in partnership with PCC, (Performance Creation Canada), CCI, and CPAMO presented: Staging Displacement: Producing and Presenting Difference from September 22nd 25th, 2011. The focus for this event was to address the following issue: The First People were displaced first, but we are all negotiating footing in a new place. How do we claim territory on stage? The conference examined the notion of displacement as a common ground for Aboriginal and immigrant theatre practitioners in Canada, and for art presenters who are seeking work that speaks to their communities. Displacement was defined as a concept and living experience that shapes the way we create, produce, and present theatre, and inspires the stories we want to tell. In this context, IMPACT 11 featured four days of panel presentations, discussions, and networking events with artists, producers and presenters from across Canada. The Conference schedule is below followed by a brief description of the CPAMO showcases. Conference Schedule Wednesday, September 21st | Opening Ceremony 7:00pm | Opening Ceremony @ THEMUSEUM The Opening Ceremony was followed by IMPACT 11s opening performance of La Razn de las Ofelias by Danza Lexplose Contemporanea from Colombia at The Conrad Centre for the Performing Artsincluded in your Conference Pass. Thursday, September 22nd | The Art of Displacement This days sessions were chaired by Guillermo Verdecchia Playwright/Director/ Dramaturge. 10:00 12:00 | Session 1: Staging The Art of Displacement @ Blair Rehearsal Hall. The First People were displaced first, but we are all displaced from our own land. We are all negotiating footing in a new place. How do we claim territory on the stage? Panelists: Nina Lee Aquino Artistic Director / Cahoots Theatre Company | Falen Johnson Playwright / Actor | Mumbi Tindyebwa Artistic Director / ift theatre 1:00 | Showcase #1 @ Blair Rehearsal Hall Hosted by CPAMO: Vanguardia by Olga Barrios and Kashedance by Kevin Ormsby 2:00 4:00 | Session 2: Presenting The Art of Displacement/Replacement @ Blair Rehearsal Hall Presenters are often faced with the challenge of seeking work that speaks to their communities. How can we take work that is created by/for a specific community and present it to different audiences? Panelists: Franco Boni Artistic Director / The Theatre Centre | Michael Green Co-Artistic Director/ One Yellow Rabbit | Margo Kane Artistic Director / Full Circle: First Nations Performance Friday, September 23rd | Building Alliances. Hosted by CAPACOA, with financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Government of Ontario. These sessions were chaired by Inga Petri President / Strategic Moves.

10:00 12:00 | Session 3: Building Alliances @ WLU School of Social Work With resources so limited, many groups are building alliances with organizations that may be bigger, have different values, and want different outcomes. What are the pitfalls? The benefits? Panelists: Tara Beagan Artistic Director / Native Earth Performing Arts | Naomi Campbell Cultural Producer / Consultant | Brenda Leadlay Artistic Director / Magnetic North Theatre Festival 1:00 | Showcase #2 @ Blair Rehearsal Hall. Hosted by CPAMO: Lee Pui Ming and Sedina Fiati 2:00 4:00 | Session 4: Building Alliances II - Colonizing the Web @ WLU School of Social Work New media and communication technology present a new space for building alliances between artists, presenters and audiences. How might this enable the creation and dissemination of work by culturally diverse artists? Panelists: Jed DeCory Owner / Currents Group Inc. | Archer Pechawis Performance and New Media Artist Saturday, September 24th | Interwoven This days sessions were chaired by ahdri zhina mandiela Artistic Director / b current. 10:00 12:00 | Session 5: Interwoven I Interculture/Interdiscipline @ WLU School of Social Work More and more artists are rejecting the label of theatre, creating across disciplines. As creators from various cultural communities take the stage, they often find like-minded colleagues from other communities, creating across culture. How do we create and present the interwoven? Panelists: Nisha Ahuja Playwright / Actor | Cathy Gordon Co-Artistic Director/Hub 14|Lee Su Feh Artistic Director / battery opera 1:00 | Showcase #3 * @ Kaufmann Arts Studio. Hosted by The MT Space (a collaboration between immigrant and Aboriginal artists) This is My Drum This Is My Drum is the culmination of a personal journey taken through the female experience of blood and spirit. It confronts a deeply contradictory encounter with identity while breathing through this moment in time called Canada. A one-woman show full of song, spirit and voice co-developed by Pat the Dog Playwright Centre. 2:00 4:00 | Session 6: Interwoven II Intergeneration, Blood Quantum, and Language @ Kaufmann Arts Studio First Nations and culturally diverse artists are presenting intergenerational dialogue on stage, incorporating languages other than English and exploring the legacy of mixed blood heritage. Why would you bring your mother into it? Panelists: Jay Hirabayashi Co-Artistic Director / Kokoro Dance | Monique Mojica Playwright / Actor

| Bea Pizano Artistic Director / Aluna Theatre Sunday, September 25th | Decolonizing Structures and Imaging Territory This days sessions were chaired by Yvette Nolan Playwright/Director/Dramaturge. 10:00 12:00 | Session 7: Decolonizing the Structure @ WLU School of Social Work Producing and presenting theatre organizations are most commonly modeled on European corporate structures and hierarchies. How can First Nations and culturally diverse organizations work with or against such structures and the ideologies that they inscribe? Panelists: Pat Bradley Theatre Officer / Ontario Arts Council | Marrie Mumford - Producer/Director/ Actor | Angela Rebeiro Former Publisher / Playwrights Canada Press 1:00 | Showcase #4 @ Registry Theatre. Produced by Puente Theatre, Victoria (a collaboration between immigrant and Aboriginal artists) Emergence This play was produced by PUENTE theatre as part of the Meli (four one-woman shows by women of color) Festival in 2007, performed in Victoria, BC. Since then, Emergence has been presented frequently and acclaimed as a unique, meaningful and surprising piece of theatre. Emergence is the journey of Kwakwakawakw poet Krystal Cook. She uses movement, mask, sound and spoken word to explore and celebrate the emergence of voice. She reflects and shares poignant experiences that have shaped and influenced her worldview. 2:00 4:00 | Session 8: Concluding Panel @ Registry Theatre The concluding panel was made up of the facilitators of the earlier panels, and provided opportunities to summarize the conference proceedings and to imagining a road from displacement to the claiming of territory. Panelists: Majdi Bou-Matar Artistic Director / MT Space | Inga Petri President/Strategic Moves| Guillermo Verdecchia Playwright / Director / Dramaturge CPAMO SHOWCASES Behind Windows Created in 2009 by choreographer Olga Barrios, this work has been presented at Festival Impulsos Bogot 2011. Centre for Diaspora and Transnational Studies Graduate Student Conference, University of Toronto 2011. Festival Women on Stage for Peace Bogota- Colombia 2010. Bogot Dance Festival 2010. Mohawk College Hamilton 2009, and York University 2009. A solo dance piece inspired on the dehumanization of violence through acts of war. This piece is part of the series Sangre (in Spanish blood). This work is framed within a multidisciplinary approach, in which the staging of dance is supported by elements of theatre, video and music.

In this piece I recount stories of women and men from Colombia, my country of origin. Though these are not events from my own personal history, I feel they are part of my story: there is fear in the atmosphere of a silent war. Olga Choreographer and performer: Olga Barrios Lighting designer and video artist: Trevor Schwellnus Sound editor: Diego Marulanda Costume: Ruth Gutierrez Music: Excerpt of Kentucky Fried Medulla by Mecca Bodega, Excerpt of la guagua- Colombian Launge by Senen Palacio, Excerpt of Mi verso y yo El Cholo. Lonely Women Created in 2010 with the wind in the leaves collective, this work has been presented at the University of Toronto Scarborough, Arraymusic and Shift: Dialogues of Migration in Contemporary Art. Based on the poetry of charles c. smith from his work travelogue of the bereaved, this is a piece featuring four women who portray the experiences of women of African descent in Canada and other women who have been confined in one form or another to loneliness through isolation, violence and other forms of oppression. Choreography: wind in the leaves collective Performers: Miranda Liverpool, Melissa Noventa, Amanda Paixao and Olga Barrios Music: Ornette Coleman Lonely Woman Poetry: charles c. smith death by thirty, across centuries (for chloe cooley), maryann shadd, viola desmond in doubt, diaspora Vanguardia Dance Projects is a collective committed to support contemporary dance artists' professional development. We intend to promote an ongoing exchange and collaboration with international dance organizations and artists. We are also interested in the dissemination of contemporary artistic practice of dance artists of Latin American background in Canada, in conversation with the rest of the country, and with the world. Kevin A. Ormsby, Artistic Director KasheDance, performed an extended solo work Ke-ashe (Interludes within) which he had previously performed at the Dancing on the Edge Festival, July 7-16, 2011 in Vancouver, BC. Originally choreographed as a five minute solo, this piece received honourable mention from renowned dance critic, Paula Citron. Ke-ashe (Interludes within) explores the inner personal rhythms denied while accentuating the rhythmic vitality in musicianship of the African and dance of the Diaspora is syncretically, intricately and humanistically intertwined with modern dance sweetened with introspective sensibilities. Physical rhythms are lost when we clothe ourselves, when we sacrifice bodily expression to adapt and to learn. The Interludes within often beat at our skin asking for the moments of expression, of freedom, of release. Kevins impetus for creation came out of the visual stimulus of seeing business workers on their way to work every day and his own personal inquiry into his life. He wondered how that compared to an artists idea of work. What were the inner interludes or rhythms of persuasion that we follow in both cases? Those rhythms, lost, gained, affirmed as interludes with self. Its about choices made, the human form and its manipulation gained, bodies in motion and rhythmic structure. In short a personal reflection of the some choices made in Mr. Ormsbys own life after leaving a formal education to pursue his inner rhythms, his interludes within for dance. Kevin also performed Conversation, a piece he choreographed for the wind in the leaves collective. Based on the poetry of charles c. smith and the music of William Parker and Peter Kowold, Kevin was joined by Mikhail Morris, Miranda Liverpool and Melissa Noventa.

Sedina Fiati presented an excerpt from a one-women show she has created. The story is about Sienna who is as 25 years old and her romantic resume reads like a what not to do list. In an attempt to reconcile and understand why she can't find love, she analyzes her love life from elementary school to the present. With dance, pop music and absolute (ish) truth, Last Dance is a conversational, confessional cabaret. Lee Pui Ming is a practitioner of Improvisation - the art of birthing form in the moment. Her practice comes from deep listening of all presences and responding with her body through sounding, moving and playing. She is a pianist / composer and a biodynamic craniosacral therapist. Her sixth recording, "she comes to shore", has just been released on Innova Recordings. Pui Ming performed solo piano with voice and movement. Funding for this Town Hall was received from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Equity Office of the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council and the Ontario Ministry of Culture. Notice of funding received was acknowledged in all program and promotional materials.