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CALL FOR ARTISTS: Performing Arts Collaborative Creation Residency
Title: Performing Arts Collaborative Creation Residency
Organization:
Massey Theatre Society and Eighth & Eight Creative Spaces
Deadline: March 4, 2022
About us:
Massey Theatre Society is a catalyst for a vibrant, expressive community and a stage where any dream is possible. The Massey Theatre has recently expanded our arts and community spaces into the complex surrounding Massey Theatre (Eighth & Eight Creative Spaces: www.eighthandeight.com). Our focus at Eighth & Eight is on serving artists and our community by offering space as well as resources and support. Artists and communities that do not have a facility to work often face inequity in securing resources for their work. We are looking to change that with Eighth & Eight as we are now working with of over 35,000 square feet of dynamic and creative spaces including the Massey Theatre, Plaskett Gallery, four Multipurpose Studios including a performance studio, dance studio and digital labs. With an expanded facility we are creating new and inclusive opportunities for artistic creation, presentation, development, community engaged and wellness practices, and workshopping. As a part of this expansion, we are launching a new performance series for artists which will take place throughout 2022 and beyond.
Performing artists are often asked to collaborate or perform in mixed bills or showcases with other artists without the resources to contemplate how they might leverage those contexts and perhaps create more developed or expanded new works. For this project we will be choosing four emerging performing artists or small ensembles from a range of performing arts such as music, dance, theatre (including sketch comedy and spoken word) and other staged literary, audio, and visual forms. All performances will take place in our 60-seat performance studio with other studios and spaces to be used during the development phase.
Call for Submissions:
Each project would be asked to leverage their existing short works to create a one-hour performance in a double bill or collaboration with an artist working in a different art form, technique, or tradition. Artists are asked to challenge themselves to create something they might not otherwise without the resources available. This can be done by either by expanding an already existing work by adding design elements to it or with a new cross-disciplinary or cross-cultural work. (Please identify if you will use the funds to engage collaborators to enhance your own work in a double bill or for a new collaborative work).
In addition to fees paid to both artists, we would provide a minimum of two weeks of free studio space to develop and rehearse, access to digital and theatrical equipment as well as tech support and basic training on the equipment (if needed). We would also provide technical and front of house staff for the performance as well as promotional and administrative support. In addition, each artistic group will have access to mentorship from one, or more, of our Artistic Associates.
The Massey Theatre employs a team of Artistic Associates, each responsible for reflecting and advocating distinct yet intersectional programming and engagement lenses in service of relationships with seniors, LQBTQ2+ people, black community members, Indigenous people, and the immigrant diaspora residing in our community.
We welcome applications from all BC performing artists however priority will be given to emerging artists residing in New Westminster, the Tri-Cities, and communities East of Boundary Road as well as well as IBPOC and LGBTQ2+ candidates.
How to Apply:
Please submit a one-page description of your proposed project to fleur@masseytheatre.com. Please include your bio and any other pertinent information, including links to video reels, social media, resumes, and any questions. Please also indicate if you are an emerging or established artist. Please include a detailed timeline that corresponds to our timeline below, as well as ideas for collaborators and which of the Artistic Associate(s) (if any) you are interested in connecting with (see below for names and bios of our Artistic Associates).
All projects must also include some community engagement. Please detail all resources you can bring to the project to ensure a successful community engagement plan is achievable. Examples of community engagement might include open studio, public artist talks, workshops, digital engagement or recording untold stories in our digital hub.
Fees:
Each project will receive $2000 CAD for the creative development stage. Additionally, all projects will receive $1000 CAD if the project results in a performance at Eighth & Eight. An appropriate fee commitment to all collaborators is required. Please identify in your proposal the fees you will pay your collaborator(s).
In addition, we would provide the following:
- Minimum of two weeks free studio space
- Access to digital and theatrical equipment as well as tech support and basic training on the equipment (if needed).
- Technical and front of house staff for the performance
- Promotional and administrative support
- Mentorship from one, or more, of our Artistic Associates (see below for list of names and bios)
Timeline of activities:
- March 4, 2022: Submission deadline
- April 1, 2022: Artists begin creative development of projects including workshopping and mentoring with Artistic Associates
- April -June 2022: Performances at Eighth & Eight Creative Spaces
Contact Information:
Contact Name: Fleur Sweetman, Performing Arts Programming Director
Contact Email: fleur@masseytheatre.com
Contact Phone: 604-517-5900
Artistic Associates
The Massey Theatre employs a team of Artistic Associates, each responsible for reflecting and advocating distinct yet intersectional programming and engagement lenses in service of relationships with seniors, LQBTQ2+ people, black community members, Indigenous people, and the immigrant diaspora residing in our community.
The following Artistic Associates are available to provide mentorship:
Justine A. Chambers is a dance artist and educator living and working on the ancestral and traditional Coast Salish territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Musqueam and Tsleil-Waututh Nations. Her movement-based practice considers how choreography can be an empathic practice rooted in collaborative creation, close observation, and the body as a site of a cumulative embodied archive. Privileging what is felt over what is seen, she works with dances that are already there – the social choreographies present in the everyday. Her recent choreographic projects include Steady, Waking Hours, And then this also, One hundred more, tailfeather, for all of us, it could have been like this, ten thousand times and one hundred more, Family Dinner, Family Dinner: The Lexicon, and Semi-precious: the faceting of a gemstone only appears complete and critical. Chambers’ work has been hosted by Western Front, Sophiensaele (Berlin), Contemporary Art Gallery, Vancouver Art Gallery, Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, Agora de la Danse (Montreal), Cantor Fitzgerald Gallery (Haverford College), Canada Dance Festival (Ottawa), Nanaimo Art Gallery, Artspeak, Burrard Arts Foundation, Mile Zero Dance Society, Dance in Vancouver, Festival of New Dance (St. John’s) and Art Museum at University of Toronto. Chambers is the recipient of the Lola Dance Prize (2018) and was selected for the Visiting Dance Artist Program at the National Arts Centre (2018-2020), Artist in Residence at SFU’s Community Engaged Research Initiative (CERi). Chambers is currently a Term Lecturer at the School for Contemporary Arts at Simon Fraser University. She is Max Tyler-Hite’s mother.
Ryan Leslie Fisher is a graduate of the Theatre and Drama Studies program at the University of Toronto. He is best known for his comedy TikTok character Dandy (@dandyandfriends) and is fresh off a sold-out tour in TX, LA and NYC. He worked in the immersive theatre scene in Hollywood as the devilish MC in Crimson Cabaret (Unmarked Door) and starred in his award-winning LGBT Sketch Comedy Series Enemies of Dorothy (HereTV). He’s now based in Vancouver where he teaches acting at The Laura Mac Method and partners with The Massey Theatre. TV credits include The Mentalist (CBS), American Horror Story (FOX), and The Midnight Club (Netflix).”
Ronnie Dean Harris aka Ostwelve is a Sto:lo/St’at’imc/Nlaka’pamux multimedia artist based in New Westminster, BC. He began his artistic career in graphic design at age 14 and that same year, began co-hosting the “When Spirits Whisper” radio show alongside Gunargie O’Sulllivan on Co-Op Radio 100.5 FM.
Ronnie holds the position of Indigenous Cultural Development Director with Massey Theatre Society where he examines local cosmology and histories and forges pathways and relationships with the Indigenous diaspora to inform and engage the Society’s programs and activities.
His professional artistic pursuits cover a wide range including acting and hosting in films, television and digital media including roles on PBS series and specials. He has composed music for film, designed sound for the stage and performed as a musician. His art has been shown in exhibitions from Island Mountain Arts in Wells to the Vancouver Art Gallery and on the streets in the form of murals. He has produced cultural events and programming for festivals and gatherings.
He has facilitated forums, conferences, and workshops from Regina to Parksville and received awards and recognition for aboriginal leadership and podcasting. As an independent researcher, Ronnie has worked on various portfolios that include Indigenous cosmologies, ethnography, archival audio, historiographies, and actions.
Ronnie has a passion for creating and facilitating workshop programs for youth in media arts and hip-hop as well as an interest in environmental causes. Learn more about Ronnie Dean Harris and his work at www.ronniedeanharris.com
The globally renowned Cassius Khan is a Canadian musician who plays the Tabla and simultaneously sings classical Ghazal and Thumri (poetry in Urdu and Hindi) and is the only professional musician in the world who presents his art in this way. A recipient of the 2005 Salute to Excellence Award, a 2008 Juno Award nomination, a 2011 Western Canadian Music Award nomination and a 2019 Bernie Legge Artist of the Year Award recipient, Khan’s performance will showcase the difficulty of dividing his brain into two facets of his mastery- singing Ghazal in classical form and playing complex rhythmical patterns on his tabla. His trademark “Tarannum Ang Gayaki” style coupled with his Tabla have stupefied many Indian maestros and was recognized for this unique ability. Hailed as “Canada’s Multifaceted Musician” thanks to his ground-breaking collaborations with musicians of all genres around the planet, Khan takes his audience on a wonderful journey of melody through his pitch perfect rich voice, stupendous technique of rhythm through his talented hands and with his mastery of performance onstage and comical and good-natured personality he intricately weaves his performance with funny anecdotes. Khan is also a sought-after teacher and mentor and is both a private teacher and a visiting professor for Indian music at the international school Mulgrave. The Producer of the Mushtari Begum Festival of Indian Classical Music and Dance held at the Massey Theatre in New Westminster since 2012, Khan has presented over 20 artists to the Canadian audience and has performed for the Permanent India Mission to the UN and WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland in 2017/2018. Khan is also the Curator of the ‘Global Tea Series with Cassius Khan’ at the Massey Theatre and is endorsed by the Sangeet Natak Akademi award winning Tabla crafters Ustad Qasim Khan Niyazi & Sons as well as the Australian based ‘Lehra Studio’ Apps.
Allan Morgan has been a stage actor for more than thirty years. Some highlights include appearing in London, GB, Adelaide Australia, Wellington NZ and San Francisco, all with The Overcoat. He appeared for several seasons at Bard on the Beach, notably in The Tempest as Prospero, as well as King John, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Much Ado.
He has toured across Canada with the Electric Company in Studies in Motion. He has appeared at The Belfry, notably in The Drawer Boy, Dirty Blonde, and I am My Own Wife for which he received the Victoria Critic’s Award for best performance. Other favourites include Red, Thinking of Yu, and Abraham Lincoln Goes to the Theatre for ATP in Calgary.
Allan has two solo plays: I Walked the Line; and Pride: for the young gay, the ungay and the jaded queen in all of us.
Presented with the support of the City of New Westminster, Province of BC, BC Arts Council, Metro Vancouver and BC Touring Council.
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It’s time for a show of appreciation
These really are unprecedented times. Times of great loss and lack of connection with friends, loved ones and community.
It’s hard. For everyone. Some of life’s luster is definitely missing.
We’ve been witnessing the difficult work of healthcare and frontline workers (teachers, administrators and support staff, police officers, firefighters, retail workers, hospitality staff, delivery people, grocery clerks, and more), you know who you are!
For two years now they have given of themselves more than they knew they could. And it isn’t over yet. Our community members in the performing arts have lost work, motivation and wellbeing by not being able to practice, perform and bring art to everyday life.
To these amazing individuals, we offer a giant THANK YOU. We appreciate you and see you.
From Jan. 20 – February 3, we’re offering Healthcare and Frontline workers and Performing Arts Workers and Artists 50% off tickets to see The Arts Club Theatre Company’s Noises Off at Massey Theatre running from February 15-27.
It is a show filled with laughter, lightness and energy and is sure to bring a spark of joy and that feeling of celebration we need.
We all need connection. While we can’t gather in all the ways that we may want to, we can celebrate through the shared experience of the arts.
Frontline workers can get tickets for 50% off using the code FRONTLINE at point of purchase
Performing arts workers can get tickets for 50% off using the code PERFORMINGARTS at point of purchase
Spread the word. Share with your friends and loved ones in these industries. Perhaps buy them tickets so you can all go to the show. Together.
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Giving Tuesday 2021
Today is Giving Tuesday
GivingTuesday is a global generosity movement, taking place each year after Black Friday. The “Opening day of the giving season’ when charities, business and individuals come together to celebrate giving as a community
And community is who we are.
Having the audiences return over the past few months has been magical. We’ve safely held live performances, rehearsals, meetings and more in our space and launched our most ambitious presentation season ever including a full professional run of the Arts Club Theatre’s production of Noises Off. Moments of connection and joy for audiences and community members, and a return to creation and employment for artists and technicians.
We are proud to be playing such a huge part of the recovery of the arts in British Columbia.
In addition to welcoming back audiences and creators in our space, we moved into a new era for the Massey Theatre and ancillary spaces with the transfer of ownership of our building to the City of New Westminster. This has triggered an incredible partnership that promises to impact the community greatly over the coming years, and the expansion of the venue has created Eighth & Eight Creative Spaces. These spaces will make a significant contribution to arts in the region, providing a new home and infrastructure for the arts of the future. There is much work to be done, and this work requires funding.
Funding for renovations, artist fees, upgrades of equipment, new state of the art digital production equipment, training, programming, outreach and more.
Our goals are high, but necessary and ones that we’re committed to hitting.
As we kick off giving season and our donation drive, please consider supporting us this Giving Tuesday with a tax deductible donation. This Giving Tuesday, Canada Helps will be adding $2 to every donation over $20. If we recieve 100 donations over $20, that means an extra $200. $200 that could go to artist fees for programming to marginalized youth. $200 that can provide access to the arts for seniors. $200 towards the arts centre of our future.
Support us in our commitment to a vibrant future and consider giving a donation to the Massey Theatre Society from yourself, your business or in the name of a loved one.
Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the love and support you’ve given to Massey Theatre. We do this with you and for you, and if you have the means, we hope you’ll share with us, or share our message.
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New Programming Leadership Announced for Massey Theatre Society
The Massey Theatre Society has hired two acclaimed arts leaders to join the staff team for Massey Theatre, Anvil Centre Theatre and Eighth & Eight Creative Spaces. These new hires are filling the roles of Programming Director and Performing Arts Programming Coordinator.
Jillian Christmas will be the new Programming Director. Jillian is a queer, Afro-Caribbean writer who worked as long-time spoken word coordinator at the Vancouver International Writers Fest. She has built a vibrant legacy of arts-organizing and curation, including six fruitful seasons as former Artistic Director of Versəs Festival of Words, as well as serving as a founding member and People and Talent Coordinator for Bakau Consulting’s (formerly Cicely Blain Consulting) acclaimed Stratagem conferences. Her organizing work focuses on a desire and duty to uplift underrepresented voices and distribute resources into marginalized and underserved communities. These talents and abilities will be activated towards the expanded creative facilities, uplifting community through the arts.
The Performing Arts Programming Coordinator position will be filled by Fleur Sweetman. Fleur worked as long time General Manager for both Turning Point Ensemble and Vancouver Pro Musica. A trained oboist holding her Masters of Music Performance from UBC, Fleur has an intimate connection and knowledge of the classical and contemporary music communities which will allow her to build local capacity and develop new relationships in the performing arts. She’s also an experienced community programmer and activator having worked at Place Des Arts as Fine and Performing Arts Programmer.
‘We are truly proud to have attracted these two phenomenal individuals. The support of a Pivot Grant from BC Arts Council allowed us to work with programming consultant Gary Cristall to review our needs and support us in our search. These roles and the increased capacity they bring are vital as we expand the Massey Theatre, Anvil Centre Theatre and Eighth & Eight Creative Spaces programs and relationships,” said Jessica Schneider, Executive Director, Massey Theatre Society, “As our capacity grows, so does our ability to serve and inspire the community and provide a home for people to create, celebrate and connect.”
The pair join Schneider, Indigenous Cultural Development Director Ronnie Dean Harris and the Operational Leadership Team as key voices in resourcing and guiding the artistic, social and cultural contributions of the Society.
As the summer continues, activities will continue with the Open Space Saturday series and planning for reopening the facilities to audiences. Schneider promises further announcements about public and artistic programs, staffing and more.
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Open Space Saturdays
Summer is a time for relaxation and celebration. And often in New Westminster, a time filled with incredible community festivals. Many of these festivals won’t be able to happen this year.
We present Open Space Saturdays. An outdoor arts and community space activating the outdoor areas around Massey Theatre.
The program has been designed by our Indigenous Cultural Development Director Ronnie Dean Harris who, together with the whole Massey team and Community Partners, will develop a casual, eclectic program for all ages filled with arts, artisans, food and most of all fun.
Open Space Saturdays will run every summer Saturday from 11am to 10pm with programs for all ages starting July 10th.
On Site Activities may include:
- Indigenous and cultural arts and crafts
- Visual Arts and Video projections
- Literary Arts
- Dance, Music and Movement sessions
- Children’s Activities
- Outdoor Mainstage Performances
- Storytelling
- Arts and Artisan Market
- And more…
On Site Food and Beverage options may include:
- Rotating Food Trucks
- Community Food activations
Special pop-up events such as plant sales, seed exchange, positive advocacy, food, dialogue and other community priorities will be incorporated through partnerships with community organizations and groups.
Community groups are encouraged and welcomed to think about getting involved and thinking of good ways of being together in small groups and activities.
This is a time to heal and celebrate together safely and supportively. Open Space is the place to do it.
Interested in becoming involved or putting forward an actvity? Please contact Ronnie at ronnie@masseytheatre.com
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Massey Theatre 2021/2022 Season
We are more than excited. We are overjoyed to be able to announce that the theatre will be opening its doors this fall with a dynamic season! As the Province reopens in a safe and responsible way, audiences will be welcomed to the theatre to come and enjoy theatrical performances, as they are meant to be. Live and in person
The Massey Theatre season reflects the diverse lenses and interests of the community with a variety of exceptional performances. Included are iconic musical performers of contemporary Indigenous, pop, folk, rock and guitar jazz. The range of artists is incredible-from Martha Wainwright to Bill Henderson to International Guitar Night. Folk rock powerhouse band The Fugitives explore the realities and lore of Vimy Ridge in a multi-disciplinary concert with the dancers of Ballet BC and spoken word of Brendan McLeod. Musical artist and storyteller, iskwē, shares her impactful artistry with music, movement, images, poetry and prose.
The return season also promises to brighten our hearts with laughter. Comedy will take centre stage with the former “This Hour has 22 Minutes” star Shaun Majumder and his new show, The LOVE tour. A special two week run of Arts Club Theatre Company’s hit show Noises Off offers one of the largest and most fun productions we will see in the coming season. Massey Theatre has been working with Arts Club for over a year to bring back the 2020 hit to delight audiences in the way only live theatre can do.
Here is the list of the seasons’ performances:
Nov. 16, 2021
Martha Wainwright
Love Will Be Reborn
Martha Wainwright is beginning again. The beguiling performer and songwriter graces the Massey stage as part of the tour of her new album Love Will Be Reborn. Wainwright’s fifth studio album follows recent years of loneliness and clarity in search of optimism and joy. PRESALE for this show starts June 10, sale for general public on June 11
November 2021
Bill Henderson, Solo Tour
In his solo tour, Canadian Rock Icon Bill Henderson of Chilliwack takes the stage like the legend he is. Guitar at the ready. Iconic voice filling the theatre. For those of you who are ready to revisit Henderson’s distinct style of rock…the Massey is ready for you. Tickets on sale soon
January 28, 2022
International Guitar Night 2022
The always exceptional International Guitar Night returns to the Massey Theatre with a dynamic and eclectic lineup of international acoustic guitarists. The next tour features: Lulo Reinhardt, Germany’s Latin Swing master, contemporary classical guitarist Stephanie Jones from Australia, two-hand “tapper” Alexandr Misko from Russia, and Italian jazz guitarist and vocalist Eleanora “Lele” Strino. This show is a celebration of guitar music for new beginnings. Tickets on sale now.
Feb 3, 2022
Shaun Majumder The LOVE Tour
In 2019, beloved comedian and performer Shaun Majumder brought his complex tour de force HATE to Massey Theatre, much of it in response to living amid rampant Trumpism and the rise of hate he was witnessing in the US and Canada. Now, the new dad flips the narrative in with his new show LOVE. Majumder is an absolute comedy star, riveting and hilarious. This show is co-presented with Laughter Zone 101. Tickets on sale now.
February 15-27, 2022
Arts Club Theatre Company’s Noises Off by Michael Frayn
The pre-pandemic hit show is being remounted on the Massey Stage. Noises Off, hailed as the funniest farce ever written, treats audiences to a hilarious peek at a second-tier acting troupe performing a show. With egos, insecurities, and tempers flaring backstage—and forgotten lines, missed cues, and misplaced sardines onstage—this cast threatens to strike the old adage “the show must go on.” Michael Frayn’s dizzying play-within-a-play classic is sure to leave you doubled over with laughter. This is sure to be one of the largest and most fun productions to be staged in the coming season. Tickets on sale now.
March 12, 2022
iskwē
iskwē | ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ (short for waseskwan iskwew, meaning “blue sky woman”) is, among many other things, an artist – a creator and communicator of music and of movement, of pictures, poetry and prose. And through it all, she’s a teller of stories that have impacted our past and will inform our future. Her solo tour brings timely magic and light to the Massey. Tickets on sale now.
Spring 2022
Over The Ridge
Often called the “battle that made Canada,” Vimy Ridge resulted in over 10,000 Canadian casualties. Through direct storytelling, verbatim theatre, live music and dance, Brendan McLeod, folk rock powerhouse band The Fugitives, choreographer Jacob Williams and the dancers of Ballet BC examine misconceptions, personal accounts by the actual young soldiers from the battle. This multi-disciplinary concert is an emotional, powerful and evocative look at our Nation’s past. Tickets on sale soon
Fall 2022
Hot Brown Honey
Hot Brown Honey, the smash-hit, genre defying, firecracker of a show from Australia, that’s taken the world by storm is coming to the Massey Theatre.
Steeped in the Word of the Mother and packing a potent punch of Hip-Hop Politics, the show is equal parts theatrical masterpiece and social activism with a posse of phenomenal women who smash stereotypes in a celebration of our similarities and differences. From dance to spoken word, hip hop to performance art, Hot Brown Honey will make you laugh until you cry, clap until your hands bleed and shake every part of what your mama gave you. Tickets on sale soon
Ticket are on sale for some of these shows already, so don’t wait to be entertained. Not only will you be supporting the arts and artists, you will lift your spirits with the unique joy that only culture can provide.
All safety protocols will be in place and guidelines followed. Less than 50% of seats are being sold until reopening guidelines are in place for each date.
All shows are presented with support of the City of New Westminster and the Province of British Columbia. Additionally, iskwē and Hot Brown Honey are posted with the support of the Vancouver Foundation.
We can’t wait to welcome you back.
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Happy International Women’s Day 2021
Giving Tuesday
Today is Giving Tuesday
A day when community, business and more give back to not for profits and charities. This year, we’re asking for your support. We are fundraising for a bright Massey future. A future that is bright with more spaces to engage the community and the arts. Space to grow and learn. Space to heal.
A bit about us and Uptown Live
We were thrilled to be able to host Uptown Live 2020 back in August. Each of the full concert performances are available on their website if you are interested in checking them out.
Our Executive Director Jessica Schneider did a short video with the event producers that showcases our space, our incredible artists and partners and the Uptown New West neighbourhood that we are so proud to be part of.
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We want to hear from you!
We’re missing all the artists, community activators, producers and audience members that come through our doors every day, sharing experiences, thoughts and joy in our space. We know that we’ll all be able to be together again eventually, but we’re adapting so we can still engage our audiences and support the people who create and produce on our stage.
We’ve begun programming small activities in our spaces as well as working with local producers on the filming of events that will be live-streamed. However, we want to ensure that we are providing and supporting what the audience and community wants.
We’ve collaborated with the Greater Vancouver Professional Theatre Alliance on a short survey for our patrons, partners, artists and collaborators.
The purpose of this survey is to help us and other arts and cultural organizations plan for reopening and to understand your needs as we plan for the future. The survey focuses on your arts and cultural activities and how you feel about options for a safe return to these activities.
Your responses will be kept confidential and anonymous. You will not be asked for your name, contact details, or any other information that could identify you. Only aggregated data will be publicly disclosed.
Thank you for taking the time to let us know how you want to experience arts, events and programming at Massey Theatre. We look forward to welcoming you back very soon in an environment where we can collectively enjoy the magic of the performing arts and community.
To fill out the survey, click on this LINK
If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to email us at info@masseytheatre.com!
There is also a similar survey running for the Anvil Centre Theatre if you’d like to fill that out as well.
This is #JustAnIntermission
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