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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 20, 2011, St. John’s - The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC) has awarded $110,000 in grants to eight projects through the School Touring Program for the 2011-2012 school year.
The School Touring Program (STP) awards grants to professional artists, artistic groups, and not-for-profit arts organizations working in a variety of artistic disciplines. They tour to schools across the province bringing Newfoundland and Labrador culture to life through high-quality artistic presentations and performances that enhance or support aspects of the school curriculum. In addition to the performances or presentations, they also offer workshops and other enrichment activities that give students hands-on experience exploring the arts.
“The School Touring Program helps students connect with artists in a very engaging and meaningful way,” says Reg Winsor, executive director of the NLAC. “Students across the province will have the opportunity to explore our culture and work with some of our most accomplished artists, such as Andy Jones, Fergus O’Byrne and Jim Payne.”
The School Touring Program is administered by the Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council (NLAC) and is funded through the provincial government’s Cultural Connections Strategy. Cultural Connections is a unique partnership between the Department of Education and the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation which seeks to increase the presence of cultural content in the school curriculum and foster links between the arts and school communities. Tours will take place between October 2011 – June 2012.
For a complete list of grant recipients and project descriptions, please see below.
Media Contact:
Janet McDonald
Communications Officer
Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council
726-2212 or toll-free 1 (866) 726-2212
jmcdonald@nlac.ca
The NLAC is a non-profit Crown agency created in 1980 by The Arts Council Act. Its mission is to foster and promote the creation and enjoyment of the arts for the benefit of all Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. The Council is governed by a volunteer board of 13 appointed by government, reflecting regional representation of the province. This includes 10 professional artists who provide sectoral representation of the arts community; one community representative (with an interest in the arts); one business representative (with an interest in the arts); and one representative of the Department of Tourism, Culture and Recreation (non-voting). The NLAC receives an annual grant of $2.1 million from the Province to support a variety of granting programs, program delivery, office administration, and communications. It also seeks support from the public and private sector. It supports the following artistic disciplines: dance, film, multidiscipline, music, theatre, visual art, and writing.
School Touring Program
Grant Recipients – Fall 2011
Tours to take place: October 2011 – June 2012
Total number of grants: 8
Total amount awarded: $110,000
Jacinda Beals
Happy Valley-Goose Bay
$11,533
October 2011 and May 2012Taking Poetry to Rural Newfoundland
The Labrador to the Core Tour
The Jacinda Beals Band will present to schools in Labrador highlighting their original music and music from the area. The focus of the tour is to instill pride in students for Labrador and offer them an opportunity to learn more about the musical history of Labrador. Students will explore writing their own songs, and will add their own verse to the Jacinda Beals original song “Labrador to the Core”. The Jacinda Beals Band will tour to schools in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, North West River, Sheshatshui, Nain, Makkovik and L’anse au Loup.
Andy Jones, Mary Lynn Bernard, and Monique Tobin
St. John’s
$16,200
October 3-14, 2011
The Queen of Paradise’s Garden
The storytelling puppet theatre piece The Queen of Paradise’s Garden is based on a traditional fairy tale told to Andy Jones by Albert Heber-Keeping of Grand Bank. This intimately-scaled show is presented in the tradition of Newfoundland storytelling in the kitchen or parlour. Following the performance, the artists will conduct puppetry and storytelling workshops that gave students the opportunity to express their own stories with a focus on nuance, character, gesture, and the need to pay close attention to the details of a story. The Queen of Paradise’s Garden will tour to schools in St. Brendan’s, Glovertown, Gambo, Hare Bay, Greenspond, Wesleyville, Lumsden, Musgrave Harbour, Carmanville, and Ladle Cove.
Tammy MacLeod
St. John's
$16,200
November 7-11, 2011 and February 20-29, 2012
Idealicious
Dancers Tammy MacLeod, Andrea Tucker, and Calla Lachance will offer a 45-minute dynamic contemporary dance performance that will introduce students in grades K-9 and their teachers to creative movement that links literacy and dance. Created with choreographer Eryn Dace Trudell, this piece uses techniques of contemporary dance to offer a playful and accessible performance that mixes spoken-word with movement to explore fun extrapolations on the letters of the alphabet. The choreography includes solo, duo, and trio pieces and moves quickly through each segment of the dance to create a comprehensive emotional feel. The dancers will also offer interactive workshops to students in which they will use the same techniques used in the performance to create their own movement. Students will create a movement collage, express words and letters through movement in a call-and-response session, and challenge their creativity as they search for words that cannot be expressed in movement. Idealicious will tour to schools in Deer Lake, Pasadena, Corner Brook, Benoit’s Cove, Cow Head, St. John’s, Portugal Cove, Bay Roberts and Paradise.
Tara Manuel
Corner Brook
$5,727
October 17-21 and November 7-11, 2011
St. George and the Dragon
St. George and the Dragon is an original shadow puppet play that combines puppetry with digital projection and stop-motion animation. The play, based on the myth of St. George, explores themes of self confidence, how one person can make a difference, and self sacrifice. After the performance, Tara will present a shadow puppetry workshop in which students will create and perform their own short shadow puppet play. St. George and the Dragon will tour to schools in Port aux Port, Lourdes, Cape St. George, St. George’s, MacKays, Port aux Basques, Isles-aux-Morts, and Burnt Islands
Nickel Independent Film Festival
St. John's
$11,043
November 14-26, 2011
2011 Nickel Festival/ Reel Youth Rural High School Film Tour
The Nickel Film Festival will present the 40-minute screening Reel Youth, a program of international short films made by filmmakers under 19 years of age. It will include two films by local filmmakers. The films were selected for the tour by a jury of young people. The screenings will be followed by a discussion about the films. Staff from the Nickel will also conduct a two-hour hands-on workshop on the basics of filmmaking for a group of students in each school. Using a digital video camera and a laptop with editing software, students will be led through the filmmaking process from writing a short scene, to video production, to final editing. The 2011 Nickel Festival/ Reel Youth screenings will tour to high schools and junior high schools in Deer Lake, Corner Brook, Stephenville, Benoit’s Cove, Lark Harbour, Pollard’s Point, Rocky Harbour, Trout River, and Woody Point.
Fergus O’Byrne and Jim Payne
St. John’s
$13,545
October and November 2011
A Celebration of Newfoundland and Labrador: A Cultural Experience with Jim Payne and Fergus O’Byrne
Fergus O’Byrne and Jim Payne will present an hour-long concert of Newfoundland and Labrador songs, stories, and dance tunes with discussion of their relevance to our culture and history. The presentation will be interactive, questioning students on aspects of their culture and how our history is told through songs and music. Students will also take part in workshops where they will learn songs and tunes specific to their area. They will discuss traditional work, our relationship with our environment, and the role of traditional culture in our communities. This presentation will tour schools in Milltown, Harbour Breton, Rencontre East, McCallum, English Harbour West, Hermitage, and Gaultois.
Opera Roadshow
St. John's
$17,772
May 7- June 8, 2012
New Opera Tour: Le Nez de la Sorcière/The Witch’s Nose
The Opera Roadshow has commissioned a new opera for young audiences to be performed in provincial schools. Le Nez de la Sorcière/The Witch’s Nose is a new opera for young audiences adapted from a French Western Newfoundland folktale. It is composed by Newfoundland and Labrador native Dean Burry with a libretto by Acadian playwright Mélanie Léger. In addition to the opera performance, students will also have an opportunity to work with the cast in workshops exploring vocal technique and vocal improvisation. This production will tour to schools in St. John’s, Paradise, Topsail, Kelligrews, Goulds, Corner Brook, Cape St. George, Mainland, Goose Bay, Labrador City, Holyrood, Whitbourne, Burin, Fortune, Marystown, and St. Lawrence.
Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation Inc.
Ladle Cove
$17,980
April 1-13, 2012
Traditional Music and Dance Tour 2012
Instructors from the Soundbone Traditional Arts Foundation, will offer an hour-long presentation for the entire school. This will include traditional tunes, set dances, and highlights of the various instruments the students will explore later in the day. The artists will then offer two hours of workshops including instruction in fiddle, guitar, accordion, tin whistle, harp, and traditional set dances. After lunch students will rehearse set pieces they wish to perform for the finale concert at the end of the day. This project will offer two week-long tours to schools. The first with musicians Jean Hewson, Christina Smith, Dave Panting and Gerry Strong will tour to schools in Little Heart’s Ease, Port Rexton, Bonavista, King’s Cove, and Musgravetown. The second tour with artists Daniel Payne, Eric West, Gayle Tapper and Jane Rutherford will tour to schools in Glenwood, Point Leamington, Lewisporte, Campbellton, Twillingate, and Fogo.
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