Agile Futures: Approaching Improvisation

Description:

In collaboration with the International Institute for Critical Studies in Improvisation (IICSI) at the University of British Columbia and Coastal Jazz, Western Front co-presented Agile Futures: Approaching Improvisation, the eleventh annual IICSI colloquium. 

The colloquium took place over two days at Western Front during the opening weekend of the 2019 TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival and featured keynote addresses and artist talks by world-renowned improvisers. Presentations were informed by questions: In a world marked by social and cultural exhaustion, what can the improvising arts and activism contribute to the realization of hopeful futures? How do theatrical, musical, and artistic practices of improvisation offer new and alternative forms of creative knowledge? How does improvisation enable responsive and responsible agility? What are the intersections of improvisation with speculative fiction, Afrofuturism, or experimental forms? How can improvisation enliven or challenge various forms of composition and performance, and contribute to an enhanced sense of awareness? Can improvising help us engage with nascent communities or public initiatives or counter-publics? How can improvisers push back at injustice or advocate for human rights? How can better, transformative, and diverse futures be imagined from our immediate unruly present?


Program:

Jun 22, 2019

Agilities, panel with Jay Hammond, Michael Wallace, Tom Scholte, 10:00 a.m.

Futurities, panel with Catherine Lee, Sara Ramshaw, Kristen Lewis, 11:00 a.m.

Talk by Meredith Bates, 1:00 p.m

Talk by Mats Gustafsson, 2:00 p.m.

Talk by Jing Xia, 3:00 p.m.


Jun 23, 2021

Approaches, talk by Beau Stocker and Eunhye Jeong, 10:00 a.m.

Convergences, talk by Patrick O’Reilly and Stacey Bliss, 11:00 a.m.

Screening of The Invaders (2019) with artist keynote by John B. Smith and Arish Khan, 1:00 p.m.

Talk by Darius Jones, 3:00 p.m.

Presented with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Government of Canada, the British Columbia Arts Council, the Province of British Columbia, the City of Vancouver, and SOCAN Foundation.