Kathryn Ricketts 1636 W. 7th Avenue, Vancouver. V6J 1S5 604 788 4800 http://kathrynricketts.blogspot.com/
January 20, 2013 To whom it may concern I am very excited to submit this proposal for nightswimming’s Pure Research, 2013 with Ellen Moffat my collaborator. Ellen and I have been working together for several years slowly and diligently circling in on each other’s work, first by exchanging our writing and then attending each other’s shows. These exchanges were always peppered with robust conversations around our common and yet distinct theories and methods of practice. When it came to our first experimentation together we felt we had honored this period of understanding the foundations of each other’s practice. This seems a rarity in the fast paced production oriented contexts of most of our creative periods and we continue to savor this lingering and leaning into the process. nightswimming would allow us to continue to honor the ‘slow cooking’ nature of this ongoing research, giving us an opportunity to target a particular aspect of our work with the benefit of informed and critical feedback. We are both very excited about the idea of being in the studio again with a structured framework that will still allow room for serendipity. Both Ellen and I have been grateful for the residencies we have had together and have a strong vision of how we could further this work over time. We feel that Pure Research would serve as an important and critical experience in this continuum with strong potential for our future projects. Our proposal includes a two page description of the project and concise version of my C.V. (an extended version is available on request) and a few pages from the Gertrude Stein text that we intend to use. Our estimated budget is attached. Ellen’s contact information is: moffat.e@sasktel.net; www.ellenmoffat.ca. Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to hearing from you! Sincerely, Dr. Kathryn Ricketts
book/table/chair Kathryn Ricketts (collaboration with media artist Ellen Moffat)
Proposal for nightswimming: Pure Research, 2013 1. Question / Inquiry: We are exploring notions of storying using dance/movement, interactive physical interfaces, digital sound and experimentation. Our research inquiry is the interface between object, actor/dance and sound as an excited system the augmentation or multiplication of energy (sound, movement) from source materials. We are interested in the act of generating stories by defining kinaesthetic and sound making structures which provoke states of immediacy and readiness to respond. These states are both visceral and singularly focused; chronology and logic are permitted to recede creating the conditions for poetic interplay. Habituated techniques and implicit traditions within our disciplines are abandoned. Instead we are inviting an entirely new set of causal relations and systematic parameters as interdisciplinary research and discovery. Within this playful process we are continuously honoring the integrity of the interconnected language of the body, text, sound and artifact such as furniture or objects. Within and through these components we remain attentive to the surprising possibilities that emerge and shape our research. Our goal is to develop and workshop a series of vignettes as a foundation for a future phase with other actors and dancers. 2. How we intend to conduct experiment We begin with three characters: two performers (actor/dancer/sound artists) and one instrument (an assemblage of physical objects – a book, a table, a chair – equipped with contact mics as sensors that amplify action and movement on or of the objects, and trigger recorded spoken word in real time). The actress dancer will interact with this sonic system both by provoking and responding to the created sound. We are intentionally and coincidentally releasing text/story as a sonic and human character. In this way we are exploring the notion of personifying the object(s) and dismantling traditional notions of character and prop. We are potentially interested in involving other actors or dancers (alumni or graduate students) to allow the collaborators to pullout of the action to gain critical distance for assessment. However at this point we are looking at a concise, contained arena of exploration that would involve only Ellen and myself. This work will culminate in a series of small vignettes to be presented for consultation and critical feedback. With this focus we would like to privilege how the text can be accessed, surrendered, released through our actions and manipulation of the set and object instrument. We want to explore the relationship between our actions, the sound / text and our response to the dynamics of the situation. We need to understand how to “perform” the instrument as a system, the causal (or non causal) results of triggering sound files, amplification, and the chance play of text. We are therefore less interested in the strategies to generate, provoke, and summon personal narrative. We are more interested in the text in relation to the object and the activity as a formal, physical, technical and sonic exploration. Because of this we have chosen a text of Gertrude Stein (excerpts from Tender Buttons). The recursive nature of Stein will already allow for abstract playfulness in the relation to performer(s) and text. As a note: the sound will be recorded in advance of the workshop session. Sound will be run through a real time audio software which can be easily fine tuned in performance.
3. What we want to learn from it: We want to learn more about the interplay between and the synthesis of the object or set as an instrument, the body in movement and action and the text We want to learn how to create excited systems that will inform us as to repeatable processes to generate sound through actions and chance We want to understand more clearly how live sound can be developed by a performer through actions and interactions with physical objects We want to understand how theatre, dance and sonic integration can be authored by the actor/performer without the intervention of sound technicians. We are asking how a stage set and the players are both the material and agents for theatrical production. We aim to understand the potential of the instrument as a tool and sound device. We want to develop and understand the instrument as a third character. 2
Our work together is questioning issues of causality in form and content between text, object and dancer/actor. When working with immediacy and authenticity of creative impulse we are asking when are we the provocateur and when do we surrender to the unexpected conditions and properties of our medium. We see this research as a means to develop a language and we both understand the importance of a focused lab where this language can evolve in grammar, syntax and application out of trial and error accompanied with thoughtful reflection and externalized feedback 4. Practical Details: Time, People, Equipment Time: we need ½ a day to set up; 3 days for workshop. People: The project may involve 2 student performer/actors for one or 2 days. They could be students from SFU. Equipment: The equipment can be theatre props; we also require some sound equipment. Table or desk Chair Desklamp Optional: riser: 16’ x 16’ with smooth surface (linoleum) Sound Equipment: Moffat will bring select mobile audio equipment. In addition, the following audio equipment will be required. 2 (minimum) to 4 powered monitors (or speakers) + audio cables speaker stands mixing board Several long extension cords and power bars 5. Relevant Support Material: The text is the 3 poems from Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons: A Chair (p 29 30); A Table (p 37); Book (p 39 40). The text will be recorded in advance of the workshop.
6. What we know, what we don’t know; what we want; what we’d like to achieve We have been experimenting with a variety of workshops both with each other and with professional artists in Banff and through the Roundhouse with a year long project with a community group. In both cases we worked with personal memory narratives that were reconfigured through a variety of interactive systems and then overlapped creating a bricolage of narratives heightened by rich fusions as well as dramatic and kinesthetic vignettes that responded to these texts. We discovered that the content of this work and the process whereby the content was mined and re shaped created a rich and fertile ground for community development. We felt that the next stage in this exploration needed to focus on understanding the interplay between and the synthesis of the object or set as an instrument, the body in movement and action and the text. Our goal is to achieve a deeper understanding of an experimental method and technique for storying with diverse applications for future projects. ESTIMATED BUDGET for nightswimming 2013 EQUIPMENT / MATERIALS Supplied by Moffat Computer, sound card
in kind
Supplied by SFU / Nightswimming Table, Chair
in kind
Risers
in kind
Audio monitors/speakers (powered), cables
$100 or in kind
Extension cords and power bars
in kind
ARTIST FEES Lead Researcher
$500
Artist fee for Ellen Moffat
$500
TRAVEL Saskatoon to Vancouver
artist expense 3
Education
Kathryn Ricketts, PhD – krickett@sfu.ca
Post Doctoral Research, 2011
University of British Columbia, Faculty of Education, Curriculum and Pedagogy
PhD, 2011
Simon Fraser University, Arts Education
MA, 2007
University of British Columbia, Arts Education, Centre for Cross Faculty Inquiry
BA, 1985
Simon Fraser University, School for the Contemporary Arts
Scholarships and Awards Dean of Graduate Studies, Convocation Medal (2011), President’s Research Scholarship (2010), Graduate Scholarship (2009), Graduate Scholarship (2008)
Current and Recent Employment Educational Consultant for the Faculty of Communication, Arts and Technology The Teaching and Learning Centre, Simon Fraser University I am currently the Educational Consultant for the Faculty of Communication, Interactive Arts, and Contemporary Arts. This entails working on all three campuses in consultation with faculty providing resources, facilitating seminars and symposiums and designing on line resources to support their teaching practices.. I am also an associate member of the Faculty of Education, SFU
On going post secondary teaching Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Art Institute, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Douglas College This Post secondary teaching included Dance Technique, Dance Improvisation and Dance Composition, Academic Writing and Critical Thinking
Friends of Simon (award winning literacy program) Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University I am the training coordinator of Friends of Simon, an afterschool literacy program for immigrant youth. My responsibilities are to design, develop and implement the curriculum for a group of undergraduate students who will be working in a variety of sites in the lower mainland as tutors for immigrant children. The training follows my theories and methods of embodied, imaginative play as a means to inspire towards enhanced literacy.
Learning Coordinator, Student Learning Commons W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University As a Learning Coordinator were to design and implement learning workshops and hand outs, coordinate all workshops and consultations for the Vancouver Campus, consult with graduate and undergraduate students and to design learning plans for Back on Track students (a program to recover students who are failing).
Field Programs: Dance Diploma for in service teachers/ PDP program Teaching from the Heart Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC & University of British Columbia I have been teaching as a sessional instructor in the Education Departments both at UBC and SFU. Within these two programs I am instructing both pre service and in service teachers in methods and theories addressing literacy challenges in a diverse classroom. These classes are interactive involving animated dance exercises as well as written assignments.
Vancouver Art Institute Department of Digital Arts and Design, Burnaby, BC I have been teaching professional writing in the Vancouver Art Institute's Digital Technology department for the past year. It has my objective to cultivate first an ease then an interest in writing and finally to address the various forms of writing these student with need to engage in with their professional practice. I do this through a variety of animated theoretical and embodied exercises as well as creative digital explorations, which lead back to writing assignments and revisions of these pieces.
Vancouver School District, Vancouver Parks Board and Vancouver Art Gallery, ArtStarts Public programming and professional development departments of these institutions In the last 13 years I have conducted a multitude of workshops and residencies that primarily animate visual exhibitions or targeted themes. This has also taken the form of professional development workshops providing skills to animate and inspire a broad scope of target groups within the context of oral and written literacy.
MainDance – The Bridging Program Accredited post secondary conservatory dance education. Artistic Director and Full Time Teacher Vancouver, BC
2013
1997 2012
2007
2008 2011
2005 2010
2008 2010
1996
1996 2008
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I expanded the already existing school program from two to three years, acquired accreditation and moved it from a questionable area in Vancouver to the downtown core and as a result, doubled its enrollment. I was responsible for design, development and delivery of the curriculum, directing a substantial administrative and teaching staff as well as liaising with public funders and similar conservatory education programs across Canada. I taught in dance technique, composition, improvisation and community engagement the upper and lower levels.
ricketts dance co. Artistic Director, Choreographer and Dancer I was the Artistic Director of a dance company in Copenhagen, Denmark for 10 years building it from a project to project status to a full fledged company with operating funds and full time dancers. The company continues to operate as a regional institution under the name Åben Dans I was responsible for managing an administrative staff, designing, developing and implementing our annual season consisting of creation, touring and education. I was also the executive director of Åbent Hus Studio, which housed the company and hosted ongoing classes and events for the Copenhagen dance community. For a period of 3 years within this decade I was also the head of the dance department for Højsklolen i Svendborg.
Arts Umbrella, Harbour Dance and a variety of private dance studios I taught Dance Technique, Improvisation, Choreography as well as created on a variety of students from junior through to professional level.
Teaching Experience – Post Secondary Research Experience
1986 1996
1997 2005 2007 2012 2007
In Faculties of Education, Simon Fraser University (SFU) & University of British Columbia, (UBC), I have been and continue to be engaged in a multitude of research projects with faculty from both Simon Fraser University and University of British Columbia. The projects are generously funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and explore a breadth of areas in Dance and Education including Embodied Graphing for high school students, the impact of performed personal narratives as a community building tool and imaginative and embodied arts as a curriculum tool.
Teaching Experience – Elementary and High School
2007
ArtStarts, Vancouver School Board, Roundhouse Community Arts Centre
Publications
1997 2012
18 publications in peer reviewed journals
Performances and Exhibitions
2006 – 2012
Countless professional performances in both conventional and unconventional sites in Canada, Europe, Egypt and south America
Work with Museums and Galleries
2006 2012
ArtStarts Gallery – Workshop leader, consultant Port Moody art Gallery & Heritage Woods School – residency and exhibition Workshop leader FUSE, Vancouver Art Gallery – Performance art – Choreographer & Solo Performer Super Sundays, Vancouver Art Gallery animating exhibitions, training other animators Workshop leader Elliot Lewis Gallery – animating the art Choreographer & Solo Performer Museum of Vancouver – animating the art – Workshop Leader Norman Rothstein Gallery – animating the art Workshop Leader
Affiliations/Memberships
2010 2012
President of the Visual and Performing Arts Special Interest Group of American Education Research Association President of the Arts Special Interest Group of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education
Selected Conference Presentations
2007 2013
Approximately 50 conference presentations in Canada, USA, UK, Australia and Europe centred on my research with Embodiment, Literacy, Narratives and Technology
Facilitation of Public Dialogues
2010 2012
Mobile Dialogue, Learning, Leading Change @ SFU, Teaching and Learning Symposium, Mobile Dialogue, Learning Specialists Association of BC, Vancouver, Seminar Series Imagination Education Research Group, Simon Fraser University
Adjudication, Peer Review and Professional Consultation
2006 2012
Advisory Committee for ArtStarts Member of Arts Jury, Vancouver City Council Peer review for Canadian Society for the Study of Education, EnVision, SFU, Vancouver Jury Member for Provincial Grants, Manitoba Arts Council, SFU’s Institute for Humanities’ Digital Literacies Project City of Vancouver, Are We Family? Conference, Vancouver Victoria Dance Festival
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A widow in a wise veil and more garments shows that shadows are even. It addresses no more, it shadows the stage and learning. A regular arrangement, the severest and the most preserved is that which has the arrangement not more than always authorised. A suitable establishment, well housed, practical, patient and staring, a suitable bedding, very suitable and not. more particularly than complaining, anything suitable is so necessary. A fact is that when the direction is just like that, no more, longer, sudden and at the same time not any sofa, the main action is that without a blaming there is no custody. Practice measurement, practice the sign that means that really means a necessary betrayal, in showing that there is wearing. Hope, what is a spectacle, a spectacle is the resemblance between the circular side place and nothing else, nothing else. To choose it is ended, it is actual and more than that it has it certainly has the same treat, and a seat all that is practiced and more easily much more easily ordinarily. Pick a bam, a whole bam, and bend more slender accents than have ever been necessary, shine in the darkness necessarily. Actually not aching, actually not aching, a stubborn bloom is so artificial and
A CHAIR.
29
What was the use of not leaving it there where it would hang what was the use if there was no chance of ever seeing it come there and show that it was handsome and right in the way it showed it. The lesson is to learn that it does show it, that it shows it and that nothing, that there is nothing, that there is no more to do about it and just so much more is there plenty of reason for making an exchange.
A MOUNTED UMBRELLA.
A purse was not green, it was not straw color, it was hardly seen and it had a use a long use and the chain, the chain was never missing, it was not misplaced, it showed that it was open, that is all that it showed.
A PURSE.
A bag which was left and not only taken but turned away was not found. The place was shown to be very like the last time. A piece was not exchanged, not a bit of it, a piece was left over. The. rest was mismanaged.
A FRIGHTFUL RELEASE.
even more than that, it is a spectacle, it is a binding路 accident, it is animosity and accentuation. If the chance to dirty diminishing is necessary, if it is why is there no complexion, why is there no rubbing, why is there no special protection.
30
To be a wall with a damper a stream of pounding way and nearly enough choice makes a steady midnight. It is pus. A shallow hole rose on red, a shallow hole in and in this makes ale less. It shows shine.
SHOES.
A table means does it not my dear it means a whole steadiness. Is it likely that a change. A table means more than a glass even a looking glass is tall. A table 路means necessary places and a revision a revision of a little thing it means it does mean that there has been a stand, a stand where it did shake.
A TABLE.
Elephant beaten with candy and little pops and chews all bolts and reckless reckless rats, this is this.
A SOUND.
Nearer in fairy sea, nearer and farther, show white has lime in sight, show a stitch of ten. Count, count more so that thicker and thicker is leaning. I hope she has her cow. Bidding a wedding, widening received treading, little leading mention nothing. Cough out cough out in the leather and really feather it is not for. Please could, please could, jam it not plus more sit in when.
37
t
Book was there, it was there. Book was there. Stop it, stop it, it was a cleaner, a wet cleaner and it was not where it was wet, it was not high, it was directly placed back, not back again, back it was returned, it was needless, it put a bank, a bank when, a bank care. Suppose a man a realistic expression of resolute reliability suggests pleasing itself white all white and no head does that mean soap. It does not so. It means kind wavers and little chance to beside beside rest. A plain. Suppose ear rings, that is one way to breed, breed that. Oh chance to say, oh nice old pole. Next best and nearest a pillar. Chest not valuable, be papered.
BOOK.
A shawl is a hat and hurt and a red balloon and an under coat and a sizer a sizer of talks. A shawl is a wedding, a piece of wax a little build. A shawl. Pick a ticket, pick it in strange steps and with hollows. There is hollow hollow belt, a belt is a shawl. 路 A plate that has a little bobble, all of them, any so. I Please a round it is ticket. It was a mistake to state that a laugh and a lip and a laid climb and a depot and a cultivator and little choosing is a point it.
A SHAWL.
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Aider, why aider why whow, whow stop touch, aider whow, aider stop the muncher, muncher munchers. A jack in kill her, a jack in, makes a meadowed king, makes a to let.
THIS IS THE DRESS, AIDER.
Black ink best wheel bale brown. Excellent not a hull house, not a pea soup, no bill no care, no precise no past pearl pearl goat.
IT WAS BLACK, BLACK TOOK.
Rub her coke.
PEELED PENCIL, CHOKE.
Cover up cover up the two with a little piece of string and hope rose and green, green. Please a plate, put a match to the seam and really then really then, really then it is a remark that joins many many lead games. It is a sister and sister and a flower and a flower and a dog and a colored sky a sky colored grey and nearly that nearly that let.
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