The trip, which began Jan. 1, continues until Jan. 18.聽A team of senior academic and administrative staff will visit Chennai, Bangalore, New Delhi and Mumbai, with stops at notable universities, fine arts training centres and cultural institutions.

鈥淲e already have a well-established program of international participation, but we鈥檙e always looking to expand our outreach and involvement,鈥� said Barbara Sellers-Young (left), dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, who is leading the delegation.

Studio and theory courses with a South Asian focus are a standard part of the curriculum in 91亚色鈥檚 Departments of Dance, Film, Music and Visual Arts. Special projects in recent years include Theatre @ 91亚色鈥檚 premiere of a modern adaptation of Kalidasa鈥檚 Shakuntala written and directed by then graduate student Charles Roy, who took the play on to its first Canadian professional production and to the Cultural Olympics at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. The Faculty of Fine Arts has several times hosted DanceIntense Canada, in partnership with Sampradaya Dance Creations, headed by alumna Lata Pada (MA 鈥�96), a recipient of the Order of Canada and India鈥檚 Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award.

A number of distinguished artist-scholars of Indian heritage hold professorships in 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts. They include internationally acclaimed master percussionist , who co-founded 91亚色鈥檚 groundbreaking South Indian music studies program 40 years ago; jazz musician, composer, recording and touring artist ; award-winning documentary filmmaker ; and adjunct professor, choreographer and dancer , who is credited with bringing classical Indian dance 聽into the cultural mainstream in Canada.

Underpinning these artistic and academic connections are both longstanding and recent linkages between 91亚色 and educational institutions in India.

91亚色 has agreements in place with the University of Madras and Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and the team from the Faculty of Fine Arts will be visiting both institutions to explore opportunities to build on these relationships. 91亚色鈥檚 Schulich School of Business maintains a Satellite Centre partnered with the Indian Institute of Management Ahmadabad, IIM Bangalore and the Indian School of Business. It also runs the Schulich MBA in India program in partnership with the Mumbai-based SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, and is opening its own campus in Hyderabad in 2013. The renowned A.J.K. Mass Communications Research Centre at New Delhi鈥檚 Jamia Millia Islamia University was originally set up in collaboration with 91亚色, and Faculty of Fine Arts film professors were among the first generation of teachers there.

This solid foundation of existing connections makes India a natural choice for a concerted exploratory visit by 91亚色鈥檚 Faculty of Fine Arts.

鈥淥ur main objective is to promote research collaboration and expand student learning opportunities, with a focus on exchange opportunities for international scholars and students to mutually enhance the academic and research culture in each organization,鈥� said Sellers-Young.

She is joined on the trip by Sheila Embleton, distinguished research professor of linguistics, a lead architect of 91亚色鈥檚 India Strategy who has served as 91亚色鈥檚 representative at the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute for the past decade; Design Professor Michael Longford, associate dean of Graduate Studies聽& Research in the Faculty of Fine Arts; Film Professor Ali Kazimi; and Ina Agastra, international relations and development officer in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Click to view a trip itinerary and biographies of the 91亚色 delegation.聽聽

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Director Vikki Anderson (left),聽of Toronto鈥檚 DVxT Theatre Company, commissioned playwright and actor Rick Roberts to rework this tragicomic roller coaster ride on the subject of relationships. Witness the rich behaving badly Nov. 6 to 12 in the Joseph G. Green Studio Theatre in the Centre for Film & Theatre at 91亚色.

Lady Brute, the titular wife, is trapped in a loveless marriage with a beastly, gambling, drunken oaf. Should she leave? Should she take a lover? The sharp wit and farcical situations notwithstanding, the play asks a serious question: What to do about an unsuccessful marriage in a society where divorce is impossible.

Keeping the original 17th-century setting and the language of the day, the adaptation reorganizes some of the play鈥檚 structure and adds depth to a number of the characters.

Right: John Vanbrugh

"I chose The Provok鈥檇 Wife for the intelligence of Vanbrugh鈥檚 writing, his contemporary ideas about marriage and his wonderful parts for women," says Anderson. "Rick Roberts was a natural to approach for this project, as he showed an amazing facility with the language and style of the period in DVxT workshops leading up to this creation.

"Restoration comedies are plays about young people and their problems with love and money as they make their way in the world," she says. "So Theatre @ 91亚色 is a perfect fit, giving rising young performers the opportunity to bring their energy, vitality and passion to these characters."

An award-winning theatre director, designer and producer, Anderson is the founding artistic director of DVxT Theatre Company. To date, her company has earned 12 Dora Awards and 19 nominations. Anderson鈥檚 work for DVxT includes the multi-award-winning production of Ibsen鈥檚聽A Doll's House, adapted by John Murrell, the acclaimed Soulpepper production of Happy Days starring Martha Burns, and most recently, a site-specific production of The Turn of the Screw at the Campbell House Museum. She is the associate director of The Misanthrope at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival this season.

Anderson directs a lively young cast drawn from the Undergraduate Acting Conservatory in 91亚色鈥檚 Department of Theatre. A talented creative team of undergraduates is handling all aspects of the production design and execution.

Each year, Theatre @ 91亚色 mounts a challenging and entertaining slate of plays, featuring some of Canada's most promising performance and production talent. Established in the Department of Theatre at 91亚色 in 1969, it has been a springboard for a generation of outstanding Canadian theatre artists. Theatre @ 91亚色 alumni include stage and screen actors Rachel McAdams, Thom Marriott, Tamara Bernier, Patrick Galligan, Melody Johnson, Deborah Hay, Maurice Dean Wint and Christine Horne; playwrights Djanet Sears and Diane Flacks; and directors Richard Rose and Jillian Keiley.

The play previews Nov. 6 and 7 at 7:30pm, opens Nov. 8 and runs until Nov. 12. Performances are 7:30pm nightly, plus matinees Nov. 9 and 11 at 1pm. Tickets are $17, students and seniors $12. Preview tickets are $5.

For tickets, contact the Box Office at 416-736-5888.

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