Korean percussionist Dong-Won Kim at a ground-turning ceremony for U of G’s MacKinnon Building renovation and its new ImprovLab.
By Sydney Pearce and Cate Willis
Dr. Ajay Heble, School of English and Theatre Studies, founded the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI). This partnered research institute looks into how artistic improvisation can be a model for social change, and how improvisatory practices can benefit community health and technological communication through engagement and collaboration.
“It’s exciting to see how members of the IICSI research team are engaged in the creation and development of digital tools and interactive technologies,” says Heble. “Through projects such as the adaptive use of digital interfaces for people with physical disabilities, our team members are having a vital impact on how research is done, and how its results get implemented and disseminated.”
Online Festival Helps Artists Perform during Pandemic
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the IICSI brought international artists together with a virtual festival.
Heble launched the Improvisation Festival (IF) in August 2020. The free, live-streamed event featured 150 artists from more than 20 different countries. It included audio and video content pre-recorded during the pandemic with some element of improvisation, including music, theatre, film and spoken word.
More than 5,000 people attended the virtual festival from more than 50 countries. The event was live-streamed for 24 hours because Heble wanted it to be a “live performance.”
IF 2021, another 24-hour-long virtual event with more than 150 artists from more than 20 countries, was held in August 2021. IF 2022 was held last August and used a hybrid format. It featured a 24-hour online stream of filmed improvisational performances and an in-person performance by Toronto-based Japanese drum ensemble Nagata Shachu at Branion Plaza that was also live-streamed.
The festival was run through U of G’s International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI), founded by Heble.