TORONTO, June 15, 2020 – The performing arts sector may never return to normal after the COVID-19 pandemic, and its future may rely on human performance supported by immersive technology, says theatre in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, 91��ɫ.

“My work has never seemed more relevant, as we’re continuing to work using immersive technology that allows us to bridge distance and time,” says Garrett, who teaches Ecological Design for Performance. “Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) bring us closer together for shared experiences, despite the physical distancing due to the pandemic.”

VR immerses users into interactive digital environments (such as 3D graphics and 360-degree videos) when using special headsets or glasses; AR combines simulated content with real world environments, as experienced in the popular videogame Pokémon Go that overlays a user’s avatar on a real-world map.

Garrett’s research is on mixed reality (MR), a newer form of immersive technology that blends aspects of both VR and AR. He has been awarded an Early Researcher Award from the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation for making MR performance possible in environmentally threatened landscapes.

With theatres and venues shuttered, Garrett says his work is no longer novel but has become essential to understand and redefine the sector. “First, we have to figure out what the future of arts events will look like. For example, travel restrictions and new regulations will continue to affect touring productions and festivals that depend on audience travel, long after the physical distancing is relaxed.”

He adds, “I imagine productions will be hybrids of live theatre with actors appearing via motion capture from the other side of the globe. And audience members can only get to the performance by watching it from a VR headset – even if it's using a google cardboard and their phone – from home.”

While acknowledging that watching art performances on screen doesn't replace the live experience, Garrett points out that there have been some great experiments with performance moving to communication platforms such as Zoom.

, is an example of optimizing immersive media in performing arts, as the performers apply the MR methods that are currently used in Canadian and American theatre.

The experimental work is a part of the two-year Mixed Reality Performance Atelier project, presented by the Canada Council for the Arts funded , which grew out of Garrett’s research.

Garrett and his collaborators from Dancing Earth Indigenous Creations, a dance company led by artistic director Rulan Tangen, have been under lockdown – via streaming tests.

Open to the public, the final presentation will be on June 18 at 9:30pm, ET. The performance will include artists from Brazil (currently located in Phoenix, AZ), Canada, New Zealand and the U.S, and incudes footage from NASA.

Garrett is available to discuss the upcoming performance, including the issues in real-time collaborations with global performers, time zones, technological capabilities, and audience interactions. He can also comment on the role of immersive technology in the performing arts currently and in the future, in post-pandemic times.

91��ɫ champions new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-disciplinary programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 25 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide. Located in Toronto, 91��ɫ is the third largest university in Canada, with a strong community of 53,000 students, 7,000 faculty and administrative staff, and more than 300,000 alumni.

91��ɫ U's fully bilingual Glendon Campus is home to Southern Ontario's Centre of Excellence for French Language and Bilingual Postsecondary Education.

Media Contact: Gloria Suhasini, 91��ɫ Media Relations, 647-463-4354, suhasini@yorku.ca

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“Your actions affect us all
Those here and those who come after”

TORONTO, March 8, 2016 – The Birds by First Nations playwright is a powerful adaptation of one of western theatre’s earliest comedies: the classical Greek play by Aristophanes. directs the combined creative talent from four departments in 91��ɫ’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design in a compelling production of Nolan’s work, leading 21st century audiences inside colonization from an Indigenous point of view.

Theatre @ 91��ɫ’s interdisciplinary production of The Birds, featuring new writing, choreography, music and interactive digital audio visuals, opens March 21 and runs to March 26 at the Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre on 91��ɫ’s Keele campus.

The Birds masks, designed by Mike Dangeli and created in collaboration with 91��ɫ students

Greyeyes, a 91��ɫ theatre professor and critically acclaimed artist, envisions The Birds as a story of women and transformation, and an opportunity to communicate the realities underlying Indigenous and settler relationships.

“Subjectivity is a gift we can give each other,” said Greyeyes. “Subjectivity allows you to step into someone else’s shoes. And as the saying goes, 'if you’ve walked a mile in another’s shoes, it’s impossible to see them with old eyes'. With our production of The Birds, we want to give our audience new eyes: the opportunity to see things from the perspective of the Aboriginal community.”

Nolan re-situates the play to Turtle Island (North America), recasting the two humans who visit the land of the birds as colonizers-come-lately, intent on remaking this Indigenous paradise in their own image. Interweaving the Roman poet Ovid’s tale of the abused princess Philomela and her sister Procne as the backstory to the Nightingale in the play, Nolan places a tragic past at the heart of this comic fable.

“...we cannot forget our history
It is a part of us”

The Birds is presented in two acts, linked with collectively devised original content. Independent dance artist , who teaches in the Department of Dance, choreographed an original concert work with the department’s resident company, the 91��ɫ Dance Ensemble, that anchors the first act and give shape to the historical backstory hinted at in Nolan’s text.

Serving as assistant directors, eight BFA and MFA students from the Department of Theatre augment further responses to the text with a series of interstitial performance and media works that connect Lee’s choreography with Greyeyes’ staging that is the focus of the production’s second act.

First Nations guest artist, master carver led workshops for students and members of the Indigenous community to create six original large-scale masks for the show. Set, costume, lighting, sound and projection design are by undergrad theatre students. Artists from the Digital Media Program and Department of Music round out the creative team. The cast features performers from the 4th Year Acting Conservatory.

“The structure for this collaborative production is modelled after Indigenous creation protocols and governance,” said Greyeyes. “In particular, we’re exploring the ‘one-eighths’ principle, which emphasizes consensus. The idea is that each person only knows one-eighth of the story, and needs seven others to get the full picture. Working together on The Birds as creators, designers, performers and producers, we’re weaving a story where everyone’s voice has similar weight. A woven story is stronger than a single strand.”

... it is possible to carry our past
And move forward – Transformed”

The Birds is the final main stage performance within Performing Indigeneity, the Department of Theatre’s 2015-16 thematic focus. 91��ɫ’s theatre program joins the national conversation being undertaken by the country’s most influential theatre organizations and leads the nation in addressing how post-secondary theatre training intersects with Canada’s Indigenous peoples and the diversity of their artistic practices.

_________________________________________

The School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, 91��ɫ, presents
The Birds
A Theatre @ 91��ɫ production
Written by Yvette Nolan and directed by Michael Greyeyes

The Birds website:  

When: March 20 to 26, opening Monday, March 21
Schedule: Previews March 20 at 7:30pm, opens March 21 and runs to March 24 at 7:30pm nightly, plus matinees March 23 at 1pm and March 26 at 2pm. *No show on March 25 (Good Friday)

Where: Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre, Accolade East Building, 91��ɫ, 4700 Keele St. Toronto

Admission: $20 | students & seniors $12 | preview $7
Group rate: $10 (for groups of 10 or more; not available through online purchase — please call the box office)
Box Office: or tel. 416-736-5888

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is known for championing new ways of thinking that drive teaching and research excellence. Our 52,000 students receive the education they need to create big ideas that make an impact on the world. Meaningful and sometimes unexpected careers result from cross-discipline programming, innovative course design and diverse experiential learning opportunities. 91��ɫ students and graduates push limits, achieve goals and find solutions to the world’s most pressing social challenges, empowered by a strong community that opens minds. 91��ɫ U is an internationally recognized research university – our 11 faculties and 24 research centres have partnerships with 200+ leading universities worldwide.

 Media Contact:
Amy Stewart  416-650-8469 | amy.stewart@yorku.ca

The post Performing Indigeneity: Michael Greyeyes directs interdisciplinary Theatre @ 91��ɫ production of THE BIRDS appeared first on News@91��ɫ.