In Circles and Squares – Creative Opportunities

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Outline of Creative and Administrative Opportunities

Each phase of this project presents a variety of creative and administrative opportunities. I will outline each of these opportunities.

Phase 1.0

This phase begins with a casting call of one month to survey available talent, cast a primary ensemble know as Group “A” and rehearse the production with that group.1.1 General Casting Call

The casting call itself will be staffed by a “Crestive Team” comprised of five paid personnel, including:

1.1.1     Director

1.1.2     3 Choreographers

1.1.3     Stage Manager

The casting call process will involve three parts. An interview, followed by a presentation of work to a maximum of five minutes, possibly three, and a general workshop attended in groups of 12. All events are to be videotaped and added to an archive attached to the artist CV and casting team assessment.

Members of the creative team will be in attendance for all auditions. From this process eight artists will be selected for professional engagement as “Group A, The Business” and retained on a CAEA contract of 8 weeks, including performance.

Rehearsals in phase 1 will take place for eight weeks beginning May 1st and end on Canada day, with a performance at the Roundhouse. It is hoped that we can set up other performances, in other locations,on Canada day for a maximum of three shows. Potential venues include Canada Place, and Granville Island.

1.2 Training and Rehearsal Process Group ‘A’
The rehearsal process will be broken down as follows;

1.2.1 Introduction to plastiques and “8 ThingsTM” as an advanced teaching method.

1.2.2 Existing choreography for “The Business”
1.2.3 Development and rehearsal of new scenes and segments
1.2.4 Preview performances and test audience presentations.

Scenes from the script will be allocated to members of the creative team for development and overseen by the director for integration. The members of the creative team will work together to finalize the scenes that are to be developed, should there be any difficulty in achieving consensus as to the content of the program, the Director shall be empowered to make the final decision regarding content induced.

It is the objective of this phase to create the foundation scenes for the final production which will be realized 12 months later. Scenes not included in Phase 2 presentations will be revisited for consideration in Phase 4 presentations.

Phase 2.0

This phase begins on July 2 and continues until September 30. It is comprised of shows that can be organized around the city of Vancouver and surrounding environs. Performances shall be a presentation of the “Compact Version” of the show which will exist in 2 parts;

2.1     Theatre of Chase
2.2    Main stage Presentation

The show’s cast will range in size from 5 to 9 persons depending upon the venue and the budget. Phase 1.0 will deliver 60 minutes of performance ready material that can be presented on short “stand alone” segments of 3, 5, 10 minutes, 15 and so on to a tonal of 60 minutes.

In keeping with the objectives of the grant, the community involvement portion will be presented as interactive components in the show. During the “Theatre of Chase” section wherein members of the general public will be encouraged to “lead” the ensemble in various semi improvised movement scenarios as rehearsed. This segment, while choreographed, will provide the community involvement required to satisfy the project’s community engagement mandate.

Phase 3.0

This phase begins on September 1 and ends on July 1, 2018.

3.1 Extended Community Engagement Project

During this phase the members of the creative team and the newly trained members of the Group A ensemble will embark upon a community engagement project.

This project, presented in concert with the Round House Arts Centre, will give  access to five community centres with eight students each for a total of 40 students. The students will be instructed in the choreography necessary to realize an expanded Canada day performance in 2018. All community participants will receive an honorarium of an as yet unfixed amount.

188 hours of instruction will be provided over 24 weeks in five locations by 4 to 6 instructors who will be paid to complete this workshop series according to published professional rates in concert with lesser paid training and assistant positions.

3.2 Ensemble Expansion

After a second casting session of 4 weeks, similar in format to the first round of casting, a second team of artists will be selected to make up group B “The Forces” and signed to CAEA agreements.

3.3 Scene Development- Groups A and B

Rehearsals will take place with all 16 professional artists between May and June 2018. They shall be defined as groups A and B. The schedule provides for a total of 8 full time rehearsal weeks.

3.4 Unit Assignments

The creation team will share in the tasks of choreographing specific units, scenes, rehearsing existing work and refining completion of composed segments that shall be overseen and integrated by the director.

Assignment of scenes will be dependent upon the central skill set of members of the creative team. These skills should involve the following:

3.4.1 Circus and acrobatics
3.4.2 Acro balance
3.4.3 Modern dance
3.4.4 Busby Berkeley Styled Dance Assemblies

3.4.5 Physical Theatre and Mime

3.4.6 Flag Waving/Puppetry 3.4.7 Interactivity
3.4.8 Improvisation/Invention

The phase will end with performances on Canada Day, preferably in the same locations as in 2017

In keeping with the objectives of the grant, the community involvement portion will be presented as interactive components in the show using member of the general public and community members trained through the extended workshop program. Similar in format to Phase 2, the “Theatre of Chase” section will again involve members of the general public “leading” the ensemble in various semi improvised movement scenarios as rehearsed. This segment, while choreographed, will provide the community involvement required to satisfy the project’s community engagement mandate and be expanded upon the previous years foundations to include a new range of public interaction scenarios.

The main stage presentation will involve a total of 64 cast members comprised of 24 professional artists and 40 community workshop members from 5 community centres around the Vancouver area.

Phase 4

Similar to the format of Phase 2. This phase begins on July 2 and continues until September 30. It is comprised of shows that can be organized around the city of Vancouver and surrounding environs.

Touring will also occur nationally and, if possible, with one international engagement organized with Circus Paletti at their venue in Mannheim, Germany. Company size will be dependant upon budget, distances to be travelled and logistical simplicity.

Project ends on August 31, 2018.