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12 events found.

IICSI events

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  • October 2024

  • Fri 25
    Thinking Spaces graphic for Melissa Noventa "Movement Across Borders." Friday, October 25, 11 AM, ImprovLab. An image of Melissa leading a dance class is placed inside a blue polka dot. The green poster is highlighted with playful images of dots and squiggles.

    Thinking Spaces: Melissa Noventa, “Movement Across Borders: Improvisation, Diplomacy, and Transcultural Dialogues”

    October 25, 2024 @ 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

    In a world with ever increasing migration and cultural exchange, dance holds a unique power to facilitate dialogue across cultural and political boundaries. Combining an informal talk with an interactive movement session, we’ll dive into how movement can act as a tool for diplomacy, offering new ways to engage with people from different backgrounds and experiences. Participants will be encouraged to engage with the nuances of improvisation as both a personal and collective practice, experiencing how movement can communicate across borders. Whether you are a seasoned dancer, or someone just curious about how the body communicates, come ready to move, experiment and reflect. No prior experience is required—just a willingness to move and explore new ideas!

    Free
  • November 2024

  • Wed 13
    Graphic for "On Cuddling: Loved to Death in the Racial Embrace," Reading & Conversation with Phanuel Antwi. Nov. 13, 1–2: 15, MCKN 108 (ImprovLab). The poster features a cover of Antwi's new book, and an image of the author sitting in a chair, and speaking into a microphone.

    On Cuddling: Loved to Death in the Racial Embrace—Reading and Conversation with Dr. Phanuel Antwi (UBC)

    November 13, 2024 @ 1:00 pm - 2:15 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Ranging from the terrifying embrace of the slave ship's hold to the racist encoding of 'cuddly' toys, On Cuddling is a unique combination of essay and poetry that contends with the way racial violence is enacted through intimacy. Informed by Black feminist and queer poetics, Antwi focuses his lens on the suffering of Black people at the hands of state violence and racial capitalism. As radical movements grow to advance Black liberation, so too must our ways of understanding how racial capitalism embraces us all. Antwi turns to cuddling, an act we imagine as devoid of violence, and explores it as a tense transfer point of power.

    Free
  • Fri 15
    Thinking Spaces graphic fo Phil Mullen: "Ways into Improvisation." Friday, November 15, 12 PM, ImprovLab. Colourful text is set on a green backgrond. An image of Phil is spotlighted—surrounded by squiggly lines and polka dots.

    Thinking Spaces: Phil Mullen, “Ways Into Improvisation”

    November 15, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    *** Rescheduled to 12:00 PM (ET) ***

    In this participatory workshop, Dr Mullen will look at three approaches to group improvising—1) improvising with pulse and rhythm, 2) using stimuli such as text, visuals and thematic starting points, and 3) the Search and Reflect methodology as pioneered by Phil's mentor John Stevens, a key figure in European Free Group Improvisation. Please bring an instrument if possible.

    Free
  • Fri 22
    Thinking Spaces graphic for Priya Zalis, "Clinical Improvisation in Music Psychotherapy." Friday, Nove,ber 22, 12PM (ImprovLab).

    Thinking Spaces: Priya Zalis, “Clinical Improvisation in Music Psychotherapy”

    November 22, 2024 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    *** Rescheduled to 12:00 PM (ET) ***

    In this workshop, Priya will introduce her approach to music psychotherapy in the context of adult mental health, inviting attendees to participate in exploring the role that clinical improvisation can play in accessing and processing emotions, building social connection, and developing personal insights and growth. 

    Free
  • December 2024

  • Thu 5

    [Postponed until Spring 2025] Thinking Spaces: Eric Fillion, Sean Mills, and Désirée Rochat, “Statesman of the Piano: A Conversation on the Politics of Archiving, Curating, and Music Making”

    December 5, 2024 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    *Postponed until Spring 2025* Please join co-editors Eric Fillion, Sean Mills, and Désirée Rochat for a conversation around and about Statesman of the Piano: Jazz, Race, and History in the Life of Lou Hooper (MQUP, 2023). The book “sparks new conversations about Hooper's legacy while shedding light on the cross-border travels and wartime experiences of Black musicians, the politics of archiving and curating, and the connections between race and music in the twentieth century.”

    Free
  • January 2025

  • Tue 21
    Thinking Spaces graphic for Justine Woods, "Re-stitching as Methodology: Garment-making as a Transformative Practice in Research Creation." Tuesday, January 21, ImprovLab, 12:00 PM–1:30 PM. Free. A black and white image of Justine is backgrounded with colourful design elements such as squiggles, swirls, and dotted lines.

    Thinking Spaces: Justine Woods, “Re-stitching as Methodology: Garment-making as a Transformative Practice in Research-creation”

    January 21, 2025 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    In this combined presentation and workshop, Justine Woods will discuss garment-making as research-creation with particular focus on the role garments play in resisting settler colonial displacement of Indigenous ontologies and bodies to place. Informed by her PhD dissertation research, Justine will expand upon the concept of ‘re-stitching’ as both a theoretical framework and embodied practice in exploring how the act of garment-making done by the Indigenous body can regenerate Indigenous ontology and re-stitch new worlds and futurities.

    Free
  • February 2025

  • Tue 11
    Thinking Spaces graphic for, Andrew Goldman "The Cognition of Musical Improvisation: Theories and Experiments." February 11, 12:00 PM–1:30 PM, ImprovLab, Free. A black and whote image of Goldman is punctuated with colourful dots and squiggles.

    Thinking Spaces: Andrew Goldman, “The Cognition of Musical Improvisation: Theories and Experiments”

    February 11, 2025 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Improvisation is a challenging topic to study using the theories and methods of cognitive science owing to the difficulty of defining it, and the diversity of improvisatory practices. I share my theoretical frameworks for engaging this challenge as well as the results from some behavioral and neuroscientific studies. Ultimately, I draw upon improvisation as a case study for exploring the difficulties of using science to understand music more generally.

    Free
  • March 2025

  • Tue 4
    Thinking Spaces graphic for Fron Reilly "Acoustic Innovation: Is there anything left to invent?" Tuesday, March 4, 12:00PM–1:30 PM, ImprovLab, Free.

    Thinking Spaces: Fron Reilly, “Acoustic Innovation: Is There Anything Left to Invent?”

    March 4, 2025 @ 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    This talk will tell the story of four innovative acoustic musical instruments that Fron have created over the past few years. It will focus on the creative process in which he accesses his lifelong fascination with sound and delve into his background in physics to invent new ways of connecting the vibrations of strings to the human ear and brain.”

    Free
  • April 2025

  • Thu 3
    Improvisation, Pedagogy, and Cocreative Worldmaking: IICSI Journée d'étude. April 3, 2025. 9 AM–5:30 PM. ImprovLab, University of Guelph, MacKinnon Room 108. FREE

    Journée d’étude: Improvisation, Pedagogy, and Cocreative Worldmaking

    April 3, 2025 @ 9:00 am - 5:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    —"An adept improviser can find ways forward amid impasse, agency amid oppression, and community amid division." – The Improviser's Classroom Join us on April 3, 2025 at ImprovLab for a…

  • Thu 24

    Why Arts Matter Research Speaker Series: Technology

    April 24, 2025 @ 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    This panel will explore the transformative impact of technology on culture, the arts, and our understanding of the world. Featuring Dr. Peter Kuling, Dr. Susan Brown, Dr. Rozita Dara, and Dr. Donald Bruce, this discussion will examine how digital performance, virtual reality, and artificial intelligence are reshaping cultural engagement and artistic expression. The panelists will delve into the ethical implications of emerging technologies, the role of digital humanities in fostering collaboration, diversity, and inclusivity, and the ways science and technology are portrayed in media.

    Free
  • June 2025

  • Tue 10
    A close-up portrait of a person smiling at the camera.

    Improvnetics: Post-anthropocentric performance and improvisational modes for human-AI play, or: What we talk about when we talk about Intersentient empathy. | IMPR Colloquium by Michael Bergmann

    June 10, 2025 @ 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
    ImprovLab MacKinnon Room 108, 87 Trent Lane, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Please join us on Zoom or in the ImprovLab for a hybrid presentation of an IMPR Student Colloquium by Michael Bergmann! Michael Bergmann is a Canadian artist and scholar. He…

    Free
  • Tue 24
    A poster featuring a blue filtered black and white image of a trumpet player and a guitarist performing together on stage. The poster also includes the cover of Eric Fillion's new book and text which is replicated in the event description.

    SOUNDTRACK TO THE REVOLUTION Book Launch (+ Film Screening)

    June 24, 2025 @ 6:30 pm
    The Bookshelf Cinema 41 Quebec Street, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

    Mark the date! You are invited to The Bookshelf Cinema on June 24th for the launch of Soundtrack to the Revolution by Eric Fillion. This scintillating book tells the story…

    Free
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