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CHRISTMAS IN JUNE WITH STRICTLY BUSINESS

CHRISTMAS IN JUNE WITH STRICTLY BUSINESS

Dynamic cabaret duo will get you in the holiday spirit

By Jessica Ryan

Attendees at the Jeanne and Peter Lougheed Performing Arts Centre launch will not only be the first to find out what exciting events are coming to Camrose next season, but will also be treated to a free performance by Edmonton-based Strictly Business Theatre, the cabaret pairing of musical theatre adepts Kelsey Visscher and Kayla Nickel.

Visscher took some time to describe what Strictly Business is all about and hint at what is in store for theatregoers on June 20 (answers have been edited for length):

What does a Strictly Business performance entail?

For us, cabaret is a series of songs, sometimes some dancing, and we tie it together with stories, jokes and fun facts about us. We like to share as much as we can with the audience about us as people and performers. It’s a fun, casual night. We really like to get people out who don’t usually go to live performances.

How did it all come about?

(Five or six years ago) we had just graduated from Grant MacEwan university’s theatre arts program, and we wanted to further our studies in New York. So we decided, since New York is so stinking expensive, that we should put on a cabaret as a fundraiser. People kept asking when our next one was, so we decided to do some more, and here we are!

Are there things you learned while studying in New York that you incorporate into your shows?

For sure. General acting tips, our different voice teachers would help us with performing different styles and people there recommended songs that made it into shows. Seeing different shows definitely inspired us to do a few different little bits or different songs. We did get the chance to see a more cabaret-style show at a really famous cabaret venue there, so that was cool, just to see how that happens in a big city like New York and how we can bring that back here.

What do you hope your audiences experience at your shows?

We hope they get to know us a little bit. And a lot of times theatre is seen as a very hoity-toity type thing, so we want to make it more casual again, make it fun. If we can make them feel things — whether it be happy, sad, make them maybe learn something new about a situation — and just have a good time, go home and enjoy the people they were with, enjoy what they saw, enjoy what they drank and ate, then we’re happy.

What do you have planned for the performance in Camrose?

We’re hoping to make people laugh. A really big thing we have learned at our Christmas shows is people tell us that’s what gets them in the Christmas spirit, so I think that’s definitely started to inform the songs we choose to do and how we decide to do them. I guess our No. 1 goal is to entertain people, No. 2: get people in the Christmas spirit and just have a good time.

What are some of your all-time favourite songs to sing?

We always, at Christmas, like to do an Elvis tribute. We have a couple classic Christmas songs; The Christmas Song is one of our favourites. We’re really big fans of the Andrews Sisters and that era, so we have a couple of those that are some of our favourites to perform. They’re hard work, but they’re so worth it once you get them.

See Strictly Business showcase their cabaret at the Lougheed Centre’s Season Launch on Thursday, June 20th. This is a free event and no tickets are needed to attend. Come early (6pm) if you would like a facility tour. For more information, call the box office at 780.608.2922

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CAPACOA Update: Tourism Strategy and the Performing Arts

The federal government unveiled a comprehensive tourism strategy last week. Taking a whole-of-government approach, the strategy acknowledges the contribution of festivals and performing arts organizations in realizing Canada’s full tourism potential.

Arts presentation and creative export acknowledged in the tourism strategy

As requested in CAPACOA’s brief on tourism, the strategy identifies the Canada Arts Presentation Fund and Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage as key programs in the strategy. Both programs are listed in the “empowering Canadian communities to develop tourism experience” section of the strategy and the investments of the 2019 federal budget are explicitly mentioned as allocations supporting the strategy. As a reminder, the 2019 federal budget committed $16 million over two years to the Canada Arts Presentation Fund and $24 million over two years to the Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage Program and the Celebration and Commemoration Program.

The Creative Export Strategy is also identified as a contributor to the tourism strategy, under “Supporting Businesses and Empowering the Tourism Workforce”.

  • The fact that these time-limited investments in arts presentation and export (all are set to expire at the end of the 2020-2021 fiscal year) are mentioned in a longer-term tourism strategy is very meaningful. It creates a strong rationale for extending these investments after the federal election.  Please, take a moment to tell your Member of Parliament that you appreciate the tourism strategy and that you want the government to follow through on it after the federal election.

A new Canadian Experiences Fund

One of the key elements of the strategy is the new Canadian Experiences Fund (CEF), a $58.5 million investment over two years. The CEF will enhance Canada’s tourism products and experiences across five focus areas:

  • winter and shoulder-season tourism;
  • Indigenous tourism;
  • inclusiveness, especially for the LGBTQ2 community;
  • rural and remote communities; and
  • farm-to-table, also known as culinary tourism.

The CEF will be delivered through Canada’s Regional Development Agencies. Not-for-profit organizations will be eligible. Eligible projects will support the growth and diversification of the tourism sector. These activities may include:

  • Planning and development of tourism products and services: improving or designing new tourism services and products such as tours, special events and festivals
  • Market readiness training: working with tourism associations to provide training to businesses to market their products, adopt foreign payment systems, manage cultural differences, etc.; and
  • Creating or improving tourism facilities: physical assets used by tourists such as trails, campgrounds, and shelters.

Any arts organization who fits with any of the Fund’s five focus areas should connect with local or regional tourism partners and explore options for a joint or solo application.

Other non-updates

There are still no news on how the new CAPF funding or the expanded Student Work Placement Program will be administered.  We are in touch with Canadian Heritage and we will share information as it becomes available.

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Arts Presenting Impacts Both Creators and Communities

Arts Presenting Impacts Both Creators and Communities

The report on the Vitality and Impact of Arts Presenting has been released! This report casts light on a broad range of presenting practices and clearly reveals the positive impacts that presenters have on both the Canadian arts ecology and on communities across the country.

Among key findings are clear trends towards increased community engagement and greater efforts to build positive relationships with Indigenous artists and communities.

We invite you to join your colleagues from across Canada for a web conference on March 14th to further discuss the highlights of the report.

Sign up here

This initiative was led by CAPACOA and Hill Strategies, with the support of numerous presenting networks and associations, and the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Read the report here

Register for the webinar here

 

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Another Step Towards an Increase to the CAPF

CAPACOA – Arts Promotion News

December 10, 2018 – After the resounding success of Arts Day on Parliament Hill, support for an increase to the Canada Arts Presentation Fund is now coming from the Standing Committee on Finance.

The Standing Committee on Finance tabled its pre-budget report, entitled “Cultivating Competitiveness: Helping Canadians Succeed“. As requested by the Canadian Arts Coalition and its allies, the report recommends that Budget 2019 “Increase funding for the Canada Arts Presentation Fund for performing arts presenters and festivals over a three-year period in order to foster a strong domestic market that will serve as a launch pad for Canadian performing arts productions on international markets.”

Thank you to all advocates who submitted briefs, met with Committee members, spoke at open mic sessions or appeared before the committee to echo the Coalition’s message: Sue Urquhart, Randy Joynt, Association franco-yukonnaise, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Festivals and Major Events, Fédération culturelle canadienne-francaise, Citadel Theatre, Canadian Dance Assembly, Music Canada Live and all others who have echoed the Coalition messages in one way or another.

This report from the Standing Committee on Finance is an important step in the preparation of the federal budget. It comes in after a series of critical meetings with the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Canadian Heritage. In addition, since Arts Day, nine Members of Parliament have expressed their support in letters to both ministers. More letters are anticipated soon.

Read the original article here:
https://capacoa.ca/en/services/arts-promotion/news/1706-another-step-capf

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CAPACOA: Presenters’ Vitality and Impact Survey

Want to know the economic impact of your work?

Want to gauge where your presenting practice stands compared to your peers?

Want to make a case for more public support of presenting?

Canadian presenting networks are partnering to conduct a pan-Canadian survey of presenters that will set new benchmarks for performance measurement and for case-making. This will be the biggest survey of this kind since The Value of Presenting.

More from the CAPACOA Website: 
http://capacoa.ca/en/services/research-and-development/vitality-and-impact-survey

Vitality and Impact Survey

The Presenters’ Vitality and Impact Survey is a pan-Canadian survey of performing arts presenters and festivals led collaboratively by presenting networks. It will gather information about the scope, vitality, economic impact, and practices in the presenting sector. This initiative will contribute to performance measurement in the sector, to strategic watch over the health of the sector, and to advocacy.

Hill Strategies Research was hired to conduct the survey, which will be fielded in September and October. If you have any question about this initiative or if you wish to join the advisory committee, please contact Frédéric Julien, Director of Research and Development at CAPACOA.

The survey will launch September 5th. Look out for the survey invitation in your inbox: we need your input.

Advisory Committee

  • Sylvain Aumont, Réseau des grands espaces
  • Rebecca Ballarin, Supporting Performing Arts in Rural Communities
  • Kerry Clarke, Calgary Folk Festival
  • Natalie Dewan, Ontario Presents
  • Jane Gabriels, Made in BC – Dance on tour
  • Ellen Hamilton, Qaggiavuut
  • Pam Patil, The MT Space and IMPACT
  • Julie-Anne Richard, RIDEAU
  • Bill Usher, Kicking Horse Culture

Participating networks and associations

  • Arts Touring Alliance of Alberta
  • Atlantic Presenters Association
  • British Columbia Touring Council
  • CAPACOA
  • Folk Music Ontario
  • Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance
  • Jazz Festivals Canada
  • Made in BC – Dance on tour
  • Manitoba Arts Network
  • Music Canada Live
  • N3
  • Ontario Presents
  • Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Council
  • RADARTS
  • Réseau des grands espaces
  • Réseau Ontario
  • RIDEAU
  • Supporting Performing Arts in Rural Communities
  • The CanDance Network
  • Western Roots Artistic Directors
  • World Routes Network

Acknowledgement

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, which last year invested $153 million to bring the arts to Canadians throughout the country.