ART IS NOT A MIRROR WITH WHICH TO REFLECT
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Mat Fraser
Michelle Thrush
Kazumi Tsuruoka
Chandra Melting Tallow
Alan Shain
Zoltan the Adequate
Fleetwood Legay
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WELCOME TO STAGE LEFT
An Arts-based Social Justice Movement Stage Left Productions is a grassroots, Popular Theatre company of diverse artists and non-artists/ catalysts of change who create pathways to systemic equity – in and through the arts. Our teams promote equity & diversity, provide support services for still-excluded artists and community groups, and produce radical forms of Political Art: Radical: A socially-engaged way of living that... 1. Departs sharply from the usual or ordinary; 2. Attends to the root causes of systemic oppression; and 3. Relates to or affects the fundamental nature of something. Political Art: A socially-engaged form of art that... 1. Reveals deeper truths about social conditions; 2. Awakens personal and political sensitivities; and 3. Motivates passive spectators to become active spect-actors.* We're based out of Calgary but make regional, national and international impact, through diverse networks of artists, arts workers and activists, who unite in a solidarity of shared purpose: Using art to effect personal and social transformation. Over the past two decades, we've established ourselves as a significant contributor to Deaf, Disability & Mad Arts, a global Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed, daring innovators of non-normative aesthetics and potent systemic-change activists. OUR PROGRAMMING Professional Production (with artists) 1. Metaxis: An Arts in Indigenous Health Project on T&R Calls to Action 18 - 24 2. Closet Freaks: A highly original QueerCrip production 3. Step Right Up: A practice-focused Digital Showcase of non-normative aesthetics 4. Urban Interventions: Pop-up social justice encounters (anonymous Invisible Theatre disruptions) Arts Advocacy, Service & Networking (within the arts sector) 1. CCEDA: Regional advocacy for increased cultural & systemic equity in Calgary's arts sector 2. DDMAAC: National solidarity and support services, for artists who experience disablement 3. ARTiFactsYYC: Podcasts on early examples of diverse, counter-cultural production in Calgary's arts sector 4. The Potential People: Podcast with some of the e/Elders in the arts, who lift up the next generation... Social Justice Activity (with non-artists/ agents of change) 1. Full Spectrum: Arts equity training, with artists, arts advocates and arts investors 2. Creative Justice: Theatre of the Oppressed collaboration with diverse communities 3. Global Citizens: Theatre of the Oppressed training and networking with international artists 4. The Radical Love Coalition: Arts-based social justice organizing, with local community organizers High-Impact Activity (systemic change tactics) 1. Interrupting Toxic Stress: A Knowledge Exchange Platform for Indigenous Youth 2. The KIT Podcast: Indigenous Health & Wellness podcasts 3. The Art of Change: A Retrospective of our past 20-25 years of using art to affect systemic change * Our thanks to Augusto Boal, for this framing and for endorsing us as a global Centre for the Theatre of the Oppressed in 2005 (Theatre of the Oppressed contributes many potent genres to the Popular Theatre repertoire.) |
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
As a Calgary-based company, Stage Left respects the lands we operate on as the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (The Blackfoot Confederacy, which includes the Siksika, Piikani and Kainai Nations), Ĩyãħé Nakoda (Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley First Nations) and Tsuuti'na Nation. We also acknowledge Calgary as the home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III. This land, where the Bow River meets the Elbow River, has long been called Mohkinsstsis by the Blackfoot, Wîchîspa by the Nakoda, and Guts’ists’i by Tsuut’ina.
TRUTH & RECONCILIATION
Stage Left acknowledges that Canada's Treaty obligations have not been honoured and works daily to uphold good relations and advocate for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action.
ACCESS
We acknowledge that website accessibility requires a great deal of individualized accommodation, which we cannot satisfy. We regret that we lack the resources to provide website accessibility – especially as we are a company of artists who all live with some form of impairment. We apologize for not yet being able to secure the funding needed to bridge this digital divide.
SITE VIEWING
Stage Left's websites are built for desktop platforms, as a means of increasing accessibility for our collaborators with intellectual disabilities. Design glitches will show up when viewed on portable devices. If available on your device, "request desktop site" may make the site easier to access.
PHOTO CREDITS
All photos are used with permission, from the artists and community members we've collaborated with. Individual photo credits are available on request, with our apologies to artists and photographers for prioritizing increased accessibility for some members of the public over your right to proper public acknowledgement.
As a Calgary-based company, Stage Left respects the lands we operate on as the traditional territories of the Niitsitapi (The Blackfoot Confederacy, which includes the Siksika, Piikani and Kainai Nations), Ĩyãħé Nakoda (Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley First Nations) and Tsuuti'na Nation. We also acknowledge Calgary as the home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III. This land, where the Bow River meets the Elbow River, has long been called Mohkinsstsis by the Blackfoot, Wîchîspa by the Nakoda, and Guts’ists’i by Tsuut’ina.
TRUTH & RECONCILIATION
Stage Left acknowledges that Canada's Treaty obligations have not been honoured and works daily to uphold good relations and advocate for the Truth & Reconciliation Commission's 94 Calls to Action.
ACCESS
We acknowledge that website accessibility requires a great deal of individualized accommodation, which we cannot satisfy. We regret that we lack the resources to provide website accessibility – especially as we are a company of artists who all live with some form of impairment. We apologize for not yet being able to secure the funding needed to bridge this digital divide.
SITE VIEWING
Stage Left's websites are built for desktop platforms, as a means of increasing accessibility for our collaborators with intellectual disabilities. Design glitches will show up when viewed on portable devices. If available on your device, "request desktop site" may make the site easier to access.
PHOTO CREDITS
All photos are used with permission, from the artists and community members we've collaborated with. Individual photo credits are available on request, with our apologies to artists and photographers for prioritizing increased accessibility for some members of the public over your right to proper public acknowledgement.
