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Thinking Spaces: The Guelph ICASP Reading Group and Speaker Series in New Downtown Partnerships

Posted: Friday, October 29, 2010

Thinking Spaces: The Guelph ICASP Reading Group and Speaker Series has started again for 2010-2011, and has forged new links with downtown venues and organizations. New in 2010, the group will be connecting with a number of downtown partners including the Guelph Public Library, 10 Carden Street and Ed Video in order to work more closely with the Guelph community. The group meets on alternate Fridays from 4-6pm to discuss improvisation and its social implications, and explores texts and performance documents concerning improvisation practice and theory, which are distributed in advance.

Call for Papers - Sounding the Body: Improvisation, Representation and Subjectivity

Posted: Friday, October 8, 2010

Sounding the Body: Improvisation, Representation and Subjectivity is one in a series of books on musical improvisation as a cultural practice to be published by Wesleyan University Press in 2012 as part of the Improvisation, Community and Social Practice research project. The editors invite contributions from scholars working on the relationships between improvisation and the body, and we especially welcome submissions that relate to the following themes:

Canadian Centre for Architecture Lecture Series

Posted: Thursday, September 30, 2010

On October 14th, 2010, ICASP and the Canadian Centre for Architecture will present the first lecture in a series on Improvisation and Architecture. Featuring Eric Lewis, Myra Melford, Stefan Smulovitz, Julie Trudeau and Lori Freedman: Discussion and Performance. Location: Paul Desmarais Theatre, Canadian Centre for Architecture - 1920, rue Baile, Montréal, Québec. More details and additional lectures in the series can be found here

Welcome to our new website!

Posted: Thursday, September 2, 2010

Welcome to the newly redesigned ICASP website! This website features a newly created, cutting-edge research collection, an online archive of research papers, film, performance footage and other contributions to the lively, emerging field of Improvisation Studies. The collection incorporates innovative search and navigability features and dynamic content to create an online hub for anyone – scholar, musician, music fan, interested community member – who would like to know more about improvised music and its relation to broader social and political life.

New Issue! "Lex Non Scripta, Ars Non Scripta: Law, Justice, and Improvisation"

Posted: Monday, July 12, 2010

Special Issue of Critical Studies in Improvisation / Etudes critiques en improvisation Improvisation is an important art form and an artistic and cultural phenomenon – a manner of speaking, a way of being, and a realm of experience. For theorists, improvisation as a practice and as an idea raises questions not just about how law comes to describe, judge, and regulate improvisation, but also about the converse – how improvisation might describe, judge, and regulate the law. What can law tell us about improvisation? What can improvisation tell us about law?

Guelph Jazz Festival wins prestigious Premier's Award

Posted: Monday, June 14, 2010

ICASP extends its hearty congratulations to the organizers, volunteers, and artists of the Guelph Jazz Festival, which has been awarded the 2010 Premier’s Award for Excellence in the Arts. Project Director Ajay Heble founded the festival in 1994 and has served as its Artistic Director ever since. ICASP’s work is enriched by our affiliation with the festival, and we are delighted to see its efforts recognized in this way. Please see the Guelph Jazz Festival's site for further details.

Sound Lines - Improvisation, Text and Media Conference

Posted: Monday, May 31, 2010

ICASP – in conjunction with Coastal Jazz and the University of British Columbia – presents Sound Lines, a conference on improvisation, text and media, which will take place June 24, 25 and 26, 2010, at UBC Robson Square and at the Tom Lee Music Hall, in downtown Vancouver, British Columbia, alongside the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival. The ongoing emergence of new media presents both challenges and opportunities for improvisers from around the world.

ICASP Spotlight: AIM Toronto

Posted: Friday, May 21, 2010

ICASP is delighted to present the first installment in our exciting new series, ICASP Spotlight. This rotating showcase will profile some of the many artists, events, and organizations whose work and creativity contribute to the growing and dynamic fields of improvised musical and artistic practice and improvisation studies. In the Spring and Summer of 2009, ICASP graduate student Research Assistant Martin Eckart and ICASP Postdoctoral Fellow Rob Wallace produced a short documentary film about the Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto. The film serves as an inaugural edition of the ICASP research website "Spotlight" series, showcasing artists and organizations involved in improvised music from around the world. "ICASP Spotlight: The Association of Improvising Musicians Toronto" features interviews and clips of live performances at Somewhere There, a venue in Toronto's Parkdale neighborhood that hosts many events involving AIMToronto members. The film can be viewed by following this link. Enjoy!

Call For Papers: Sound Lines - Improvisation, Text and Media Conference

Posted: Wednesday, March 3, 2010

The ongoing emergence of new media presents both challenges and opportunities for  improvisers from around the world. ICASP – in conjunction with Coastal Jazz and the  University of British Columbia – invites proposals for presentations at Sound Lines, a  conference  on  improvisation,  text  and  media  to  take  place  June  24  and  25,  2010,  in Vancouver, British Columbia, alongside the TD Canada Trust Vancouver International  Jazz Festival.  Proposals are due by April 7th.

Lecture: Deep Improvisation and Dramaturgy across Difference

Posted: Wednesday, February 17, 2010

On Wednesday February 24th from 5-7 pm, core ICASP researcher Professor Ric Knowles will be talking about his experience working as a dramaturge with improvising theatre performers in Toronto. Following his lecture, "Deep Improvisation & Dramaturgy across Difference: "Chocolate Woman Dreams the Milky Way," participants will have the opportunity to ask questions in a warm, informal setting. Wine and refreshments will be available. View the conference poster here.

There is a curious yet enormously fruitful duality in the way that improvisation plays on our expectations and perspectives.

– Tracey Nicholls