Ryerson School of Performance
345 Yonge St M5M 3G5 Toronto, ON, Canada

Last week, students, staff and faculty at the School of Performance welcomed three alumni for a virtual panel discussion called "A Time to Listen", a conversation about equity, diversity, inclusion, relevance and renewal. The Panel was moderated by Nicole Hamilton, and featured Acting alum Thom Allison, Dance alum Rodney Diverlus, and Production + Design alum Rachel Forbes. The conversation centered around ways in which the School of Performance prepared these three artists f...or their careers, and other ways in which the school let them down, or missed opportunities to help them grow and flourish as Black artists and performers. All three panelists agreed that the school prepared them in the technical skills of their respective crafts, but can no longer implicitly expect students to "leave their Black-ness at the door". "In our quest to be more diverse, we need to invite people to bring all parts of themselves" Rodney shared, highlighting that people of all varieties and intersections of diversity often come with the trauma of discrimination and oppression in their pasts. Rachel, who is now a contract lecturer at the school, says "I teach the things I wish I had been exposed to." Rachel remembers graduating from the Production program and realizing that few to none of the plays she studied or worked on had been written by People of Colour, or by women. She continued "I understand that we are preparing students to go into this world, but how are we preparing them to change it?" Read more about the conversation and learn about the panelists and moderator here: http://ow.ly/4zAe50CbO0m Image Description: 1) The image reads "A Time to Listen. A conversation with alumni Thom Allison, Rodney Diverlus and Rachel Forbes..." Headshots of the three panelists are in the middle of the photo. 2) The image reads "A Time to Listen. Moderated by Nicole Hamilton". Nicole's headshot is in the middle of the photo.

We're very excited to see our main-stage home featured in Fall for Dance North Festival's virtual exhibition "Toronto Stages: Dancing Through Time". The exhibit was curated by our very own dance history teacher, Amy Bowring. Here's the excerpt about Ryerson Theatre: "Ryerson Theatre encompasses the northwest corner of a four-building complex called Kerr Hall at the centre of the Ryerson University campus. Opened in 1964, the theatre’s original purpose was to provide a space f...or convocation ceremonies at what was then Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. In 1971, Ryerson opened new programs for theatre administration, acting, dance, and technical production under the banner of the Ryerson Theatre School. The school’s dance section focussed on teacher training and had incorporated the Canadian College of Dance, founded in Montreal by Maisie McPhee and Sonia Chamberlain, to train teachers in the methods of the Royal Academy of Dance and Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing. Under the leadership of Nadia Potts, the school evolved to focus on performance and choreographic training for dancers who receive full-scale production experience performing at the Ryerson Theatre and working with guest choreographers. The school also prepares the next generation of production staff with many graduates focusing on design and administration for dance." View the full exhibit here https://www.ffdnorth.com/program/toronto-stages Image description: 1. Heading reads "Ryerson Theatre", under which there is an image of the entrance to the theatre, a nondescript grey building with an arch and subtle marquee. Below, in stylized text, read "43 Gerrard St. East". The image is on a grey background depicting a map. 2. Faded grey-scale photos of dancers with arms extended. Overlay text read "Toronto Stages: Dancing Through Time"

FCAD Family Night is next Tuesday, Oct 27! We're inviting students in grades 9-12 and their parents, teachers, and guidance counselors to learn more about Acting, Dance and Production + Design at Ryerson School of Performance (and learn about all the other amazing schools at FCAD - Faculty of Communication & Design - Ryerson University too!). Sign up here https://bit.ly/famnight-social *We'de like to humbly recognize that not all families look like this photo. Some families ...look more like the 2nd image.... or the 3rd (is that an explosion???).... Images from "You Can't Take it With You" performed by the graduating actors of 2016. This performance was directed by Blair Williams, set design by Pavlo Bosyy, costume design by Deann Gao, lighting design by Matthieu Arsenault, and sound design by James Butler. Image Descriptions: 1. A family sits around a dinner table, holding hands with bowed heads. The grandfather stands. Text on the image reads "Virtual Family Night at FCAD. Oct 27, 7:00-8:30pm 2. A more chaotic scene of the same family home. A woman is passed out on the couch, a dance instructor teaches a ballerina, a woman paints a man in a toga, others appear to be draped in a table cloth. 3. Even more chaos! There are people running through the house, making out on the couch, standing on furniture and yelling, a man in a trench coat brings an ominous presence to the scene, and something is smoking in the corner.

Congratulations to 4th year dancer, Maria Riano, who has won the prestigious Hnatyshyn Foundation - Fondation Hnatyshyn Developing Artist Grant for Contemporary Dance! Maria is one of seven winners across Canada, each receiving $10,000 for continued study in their artistic fields. Maria is the only recipient in dance. Read more here: ryerson.ca//2020/10/maria-riano-wins-hnatyshyn-foundation-. Photo credits: Camila Riano and Maxim Luca Bortnowski. Image description:... 1. Maria's headshot. She wears a black shirt, and stands in front of a brick wall. 2. Maria wears a bodysuit, and stands in profile on one leg, the other raised and bent behind her. She stands on large rocks, in front of a body of water." See more