Spirituality In Health-Care Network Event 

You Are Invited To A Meeting of The

SPIRITUALITY IN HEALTH CARE NETWORK
Integrating Spirituality and Health Care

Monday March 30th, 2015   7:00pm to 9:30pm
Suggested Contribution $10.00
Friends House    60 Lowther Avenue    Toronto
(2 blocks north from the Bedford exit of the St George Subway Station)

Approaching the Self - how performance & story-telling can ignite radical embodiment

"The only thing a work of art can do is awaken a longing for a different state of being. And this longing is revolutionary." Heiner Muller

"Isn't that why they are called actors? They act for you. You sacrifice them to action. And this sacrifice is a mode of deepest intimacy of you with your own life. Within it you watch yourself act out the present or possible organization of your nature. The actor, by reiterating you, sacrifices a moment of her own life in order to give you a story of yours." Anne Carson

We are all actors within our own stories. What can the actor's journey teach us about preparation for present being? How can a seeming departure from Self transform into an arrival within our Self? From the teachings of contemporary theatre practitioners, Shakespeare and Jung this is an examined look at how the search for embodiment through performance offers us a new toolkit for bringing active empathy and inquisitive compassion into our own individual and collective healing process. Theatre is the one art form that unites all other art forms; sound, image, movement, story and environment into conversation with one another.

In this way, theatre is like life, a space in which a landscape is peopled and their stories intersect and unfold in a continual encounter between the Self, the Other and the World. Yet, the theatre, a tradition born of ritual, is an invented reality, an imagined space made possible by an agreement between story-teller and witness to travel to this new reality. The reality of theatre is the domain of symbols. The language of the theatre is metaphor, and thus theatre is an arena for the Soul. The act of performing and witnessing theatre can unlock profound and spontaneous healing within ourselves by requiring us to engage with the resonant and transformative power of symbols. 

Training for performance has one aim in mind; embodiment. The actor trains body, breath, mind, and soul in preparation for participation in the story, their task is to enter the playing space and be present. In learning to embody someone else, the actor must confront and investigate the secrets and complexities of their own Self. The actor's training seeks to undo the damage caused by the Mind-Body schism that has plagued modernity and invite the impulse of the Soul and knowledge of the Body back into the present moment.

Presenter:  Susanna Fournier

Susanna Fournier is a Toronto based theatre maker. She is an award-winning playwright, actor, producer, dramaturg, and educator. Her company, Paradigm Productions, launched her first play Stencilboy and Other Portraits, at the Next Stage Festival at Factory Theatre in January 2014. Paradigm's mandate is to create and develop new Canadian performance texts that challenge the dominant narratives of our times and bring artists into inter-generational conversations and collaborations. She is a graduate of The National Theatre School of Canada and has performed on stages across Toronto, Montreal and in Dublin, Ireland.  www.susannafournier.com

AGENDA

6:45 - 7:10    Registration
7:10 - 7:15    Opening Remarks
7:15 - 7:30    Opening Sacred Ritual
7:30 - 8:30    Presentation:  Approaching the Self - how performance & story-telling can ignite radical embodiment   
8:30 - 8:35    Announcements
8:35 - 8:50    Break
8:50 - 9:15    Group Sharing/Questions
9:15 - 9:30    Closing Sacred Ritual

SHCN Chair: Jeannette McCullough RN 

SHCN Steering Committee: John Thornton MD, Larry Nusbaum MD, Heloisa Porto, Brandon L.D. Klayman

Parking: There are a few spots behind the building, North of Lowther Ave. and West off Bedford Rd.