Stage Door News
Stage Door News
January 14, 2016, TORONTO – SummerWorks Performance Festival General Manager Nick Hutcheson and the Board of Directors announce today that Michael Rubenfeld is moving on as Artistic Producer after eight successful years. Rubenfeld will continue his role as a SummerWorks curator at the 2016 Festival and is remaining with the Festival until a replacement is found.
Since joining the Festival in 2008, Rubenfeld has used his diverse experience as a cultural producer to lead SummerWorks through a major transformation, becoming an essential platform for groundbreaking new performance in Canada. During his eight-year tenure, SummerWorks transitioned from a theatre to a multi-arts format, emerging as a home for all forms of contemporary performance, boundary-bending pieces and challenging works. Beginning with starting the Music Series, Rubenfeld also established the Live Art Series, Dance Series, Performance Gallery, Performance Bar, SummerWalks and co-created the SummerWorks Leadership Intensive Program (S.L.I.P.) with Jordi Mand, creating a home for emerging arts practitioners to delve into the business of the arts.
Rubenfeld’s time at SummerWorks has been characterized by dedication to building community and creating an inclusive home for diverse and ground-breaking contemporary performance. It has emerged as a bold, adventurous and culturally diverse space for Canadian artists to exhibit new work, challenging audiences and pushing boundaries, many going on to tour the country and the world. Rubenfeld helped present and produce over 500 productions at SummerWorks, including some of Canada’s most successful recent shows, such as Ride the Cyclone by Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell, If We Were Birds by Erin Shields (Governor General Award), Huff by Cliff Cardinal, and The God That Comes by Christian Barry and Hawksley Workman.
In 2015, Rubenfeld established Progress: An International Festival of Performance and Ideas in partnership with The Theatre Centre. The Festival brings together some of the most exciting performance companies in Toronto, who curate local and international works, to collectively produce and curate a world-class Festival. In its first year Progress offered work from seven different countries in six languages to Toronto’s audiences and played to almost 90% capacity.
Reflecting on his time with the Festival, Rubenfeld says, “I love SummerWorks. Having been associated with the Festival first as an artist and then as its Artistic Producer, I’ve literally grown up here. I’m extremely proud of my accomplishments and deeply grateful to all the artists and staff I have worked with over the years. While sad to be departing, I’m happy to be leaving the Festival in a vibrant place with a strong infrastructure. I’m excited to see what the next Artistic Producer brings to our community.”
“Michael leaves SummerWorks after making profound and lasting contributions artistically and as an organizational team member. He has helped establish the Festival as one of the most important spaces for presenting new work in the country. Michael leaves the Festival in a strong financial position and we look forward to a seamless transition with a new Artistic Producer who will lead us in new directions,” notes Vanessa Grant, the Chair of the Board of Directors.
SummerWorks’ Board of Directors and management team have launched a national search for a new Artistic Producer, to be hired to produce the 2016 SummerWorks Performance Festival in August, 2016. A position description and application instructions can be found on SummerWorks’ website at summerworks.ca.
About SummerWorks
Founded in 1991, SummerWorks is Canada’s largest curated performance festival of theatre, dance, music, and live art. Widely recognized as one of the most important platforms for launching new Canadian work in the country, SummerWorks annually features over 60 performance projects during its 11-day Festival in August. In 2015, SummerWorks celebrated its 25th anniversary and also inaugurated Progress, an international festival of performance and ideas.
About Progress
Progress is an international festival of performance and ideas presented by SummerWorks in partnership with The Theatre Centre. It operates under a shared producing model inviting participation to a new group of Toronto-based companies each year. The 2016 Progress curators are Aluna Theatre, Dancemakers, FADO Performance Art Centre, SummerWorks Performance Festival, The Theatre Centre, and Volcano Theatre.
Photo: Michael Rubenfeld. ©2014.
2016-01-14
Toronto: Michael Rubenfeld will move on from role of Artistic Producer of SummerWorks after 2016