Meet the Academy Staff

Gisèle Rucker Academy Director: Gisèle Rucker believes art education powers child development and engenders a habit of creativity where we continue to participate in art activities. This habit of creativity sustains and renews our human energy. Gisèle was a principal with the Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation for over 16 years; her last title was Executive Director. At the Foundation, she developed and directed community development programs in community arts, heritage and environmental conservation and economic development, like the Urban Issues Program which supported 60 community development projects in low-income urban neighbourhoods across Canada. Under her stewardship, the Foundation supported McGill University’s National Arts and Youth Demonstration Program, a 3-year research study, whose findings showed conclusive evidence that children who participate in arts activities gained greater self-awareness, abilities in problem solving and achieved better life chances. Gisele is a dedicated troupe member of the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre which she joined in 1985, when she was a Director of Administration at the Saidye Bronfman Centre.

The instructors at The Academy are professionals in their fields, hand-picked from among the best performers, educators and artists in Montreal and internationally.

Program Directors

Bryna Wasserman Director, Theatre Perfrormance: Bryna Wasserman is Artistic and Executive Director of the Segal Centre for Performing Arts and of The Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre. She graduated with Bachelor and Masters degrees in theatre direction from The Tisch School of Fine Arts, New York University. Her career in the performing arts includes work at the American Place Theatre, The Vivian Beaumont Theatre at Lincoln Centre, the Mercer Street Theatre, the Vancouver Opera Company and four seasons at the Folksbiene Playhouse. Among her New York credits are: Arrabal’s The Architect And The Emperor of Assyria, Wojzeck, The House of Bernarda Alba, Bernstein On Broadway and On 2nd Avenue. Bryna is the recipient of the Montreal English Critics Circle Award (MECCA) of Distinction for her contribution to the development of the Montreal theatre scene.

George Doxas Director, Music Education: For the last four decades George Doxas has taught instrumental, choral and big band jazz at university and high school levels, including twenty-three years as chair of the nationally acclaimed Lindsay Place High School music department. He owns and operates a prominent Montreal recording studio and has written music for feature films such as Barnum, Varian’s War and The Audrey Hepburn Story, for which he was nominated for a Golden Reel Award. In 2000, George was named Personality of the Year by Cité Nouvelles.

Yves Neveu Director, Circus Arts: Yves Neveu is a veteran of the circus arts, performance art and street performance, with over twenty years as a director, producer and artistic director. He developed the program in continuing education at the Centre National des Arts due Cirque, in France and both established and directed the Creation Studio at the Cirque du Soleil. While continuing to pursue his own independent performance creations, Yves is also the director of the renowned École de Cirque de Quebec and president of the National Circus Arts Association.

Harlie Dover Director, MediaWorkshop: Harlie’s passion for media arts education began while completing her B.A. in Communication Studies at Concordia University. She subsequently worked as a production assistant and coordinator for independent documentary filmmakers in Montreal and New York as well as in film programming for the Tribeca Film Festival, Brooklyn Underground, Brooklyn International and the Hamptons International Film Festival. Harlie is a member and volunteer with the Montreal Film Group; a member of the Montreal Media Collective and sits on the advisory board for Project Media, a community youth media program in NDG. She holds an M.A. in Cinema Studies from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Program Instructors

PAUL AFLALO: Filmmaker, photographer, producer, radio show host, event coordinator, web designer, teacher, and life long student are all roles that Paul Aflalo has pursued. His most recent film, Surfing the Waste: a Musical Documentary about Dumpster Diving, was an official selection at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. His short fiction film, Condemned (2008) was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival 2008. Currently Paul is producing two animation based music videos, is in pre-production for his next documentary, and teaching media workshops to both high school students and adults alike. You can check out all his happenings at www.paulogic.com.

LIANE ALITOWSKI: A native New Yorker, Liane (Doctor of Musical Arts, SUNY Stony Brook) has performed throughout the Americas, the UK, Israel and Japan. After earning her degrees, she became the first resident pianist with Michael Tilson Thomas's New World Symphony. She has taught at Queens College, the University of Notre Dame, Paideia: The Institute for Jewish Studies in Stockholm and Tel Aviv University. Recordings include performances of Haydn, Chopin & Ravel (1997) and Beethoven, Debussy&Messiaen (2004).

TARA ARNST: Over the past five years, Tara has produced and directed several documentary films including the award-winning documentary short Coma la Vida Misma (007), which explored the impact of cinema on revolutionary Cuba. She has travelled to Bangladesh, India and Cuba in the pursuit of her subjects, which range from issues on globalization to human rights and cultural identity. Tara’s films have screened at several festivals in Canada, the United States, Europe, Africa and South East Asia.

FRAN AVNI: Singer-songwriter, recording artist and producer Fran Avni has been creating original music for over three decades. An internationally- acclaimed performer, she engages her audiences in dynamic interactive concerts, workshops and artist residencies. Fran Avni's varied career covers everything from research-based early childhood literacy songs to traditional and contemporary Hebrew melodies fusing her love of language with her gift of rhythm and harmony.

EVAN BELOFF: Evan has spent the last thirteen years writing, producing, and directing critically-acclaimed documentaries, TV series and music videos. In 1998 he co-founded Diversus Productions, building up credits which include an award-winning music video for Jean Leloup, the Gemini nominated documentary, Too Colorful for the League: A History of Blacks in Hockey and the festival hit mockumentary, Schmelvis: Searching for the King's Jewish Roots. In 2005 he established Ontic Media, and has continued his successful work in documentary film and television.

ETHEL BRUNEAU: Ethel Mae Waterman Bruneau, Harlem-born professional dancer and instructor, graduated from the New York City High School of the Performing Arts. She arrived here in 1953 as part of the Cab Calloway Revue. That Montreal engagement was supposed to last three weeks, but Ethel never left. She went on to earn a Diploma in Early Childhood Studies from McGill University and became a nursery school teacher. Ethel popularized Black Rhythm Tap, known as hoofin', in the city. She has preserved this hand-me-down dance form and is one of only two people now teaching it in Canada. She danced with Bill "Mr. Bojangles," the god- father of tap, and was among the first Black children to perform at Carnegie Hall and on the Ed Sullivan Show. This year, BTW honoured Mrs. Ethel Bruneau with the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Junior Award. Mrs. Bruneau is a legendary dancer and teacher in Montreal for more than 40 years.

STACEY CHRISTODOULOU: Stacey Christodoulou is the founder and Artistic Director of The Other Theatre (www.othertheatre.com), whose work has included multilingual adaptations, deconstructions and collectively written material. Her theatre and installation pieces have taken place in theatres, warehouses, a moving elevator, and a mall window. She has directed work by Heiner Müller, Peter Handke, R.W. Fassbinder, Kurt Vonnegut and Wallace Shawn, among others. She is currently developing an installation series where the audience participates as performers by listening to instructions through i-pods. As well, she will be directing a Creole version of Macbeth for the Segal Centre Studio in April 2010.

EVA CVIJANOVIC: Eva Cvijanovic was born in Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, but moved to Canada in the ‘90s. She developed a love for cinema, music and drawing at a very young age and pursued those passions through animation at oncordia University. Eva explored many animation techniques and also worked on documentary and experimental films. In the future, she hopes to find a way to bridge the gap between the art world and everyday life, to reach and inspire worldwide communities through animation and film.

NICK BURGESS: Nick Burgess is a graduate of McGill University and England’s Royal College of Music. Credits as musical director include Sweet Charity, Les Miserables, West Side Story, The Last Five Years, Guys and Dolls, and Copacabana. He is presently working on Annie Get Your Gun with Bialik High School.

JIM DOXAS: Jim Doxas is an award-winning drummer, percussionist and composer. A graduate of McGill University, he has been a featured artist at Carnegie Hall, performed on Broadway, in jazz festivals worldwide and with the Denny Christianson Big Band, Altsys Jazz Orchestra and well known jazz artists such as Tim Hagans, Hugh Fraser and Don Thompson, Dave Douglas, Joe Lovano, Ben Monder, Donny McCaslin, Pat Labarbera, Ranee Lee, Oliver Jones and Ben Charest. Jim’s work can be heard on well over 60 albums and soundtracks.

CHET DOXAS: Chet Doxas is a renowned saxophonist, composer and arranger. He has appeared at Carnegie Hall, received the Rico Golden Reed Award at Music Fest Canada and was honoured as Jazz Report Magazine’s “Best Secondary Jazz Musician in Canada.” Chet’s work can be heard on over 80 CD’s with various North American talents. He has also recorded and composed for numerous film soundtracks, most notably the Academy and Grammy Award nominated soundtrack of “Les Triplettes de Belleville.”

PIERRE DUHAIME: A master juggler, Pierre Duhaime toured with Cirque du Soleil in 1985. He has performed on Celebrity Cruises; Costa Crociere and Festival Cruises. He also works as artistic coordinator and stage-manager on the Cirque Éos show d’Imaginaire. He trained and choreographed Cirque Éloize artists on the show Nomade. Pierre also works as trainer and juggling instructor at the TOHU as well as in many elementary and high schools. Together with gym teachers all over Canada, Pierre is dedicated to the improvement and understanding of circus arts.

JOHN GILBERT: John Gilbert was born and raised in Montreal, and studied classical piano at Ecole Vincent D’Indy and McGill University. A specialist in American popular songs of the 30’s and 40’s, Mr. Gilbert performs regularly in Canada, the US, and Europe. Musical direction credits include Kander and Ebb’s And the World Goes Around; Peter Pringle’s Noël Coward: A Portrait and new works such as Aah-Pootee! by Mae Cutler and Andrew Svoboda; and Autoportrait, a musical based on the life of Tamara de Lempika. He is also an arranger, vocal coach and album producer.

RACHELLE GLAIT: A former Director of the Geordie Theatre School, Rachelle Glait worked as a drama therapist at the Vantage Institute and has taught theatre at Royal Vale, Selwyn House, JPPS, Nazareth and St. Monika’s. She is currently the drama instructor at Villa Maria High School and creator of its new drama curriculum. She is also an accomplished actor who has worked on stage and screen in Canada, the U.S. and Israel. She has had roles in such television series as Are You Afraid of the Dark?, My Hometown and Prank Patrol. Rachelle is Casting Director for The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts.

JASON GONDZIOLA: Jason is a multi-talented artist who has worked as a programmer, journalist and filmmaker over the past 15 years. His computational artworks have been shown at La Societé des arts technologiques (SAT), while his films have been shown in festivals and on television. His latest works include the documentary From Homeless to Home, which premiered at the 2009 National Homelessness Conference, and Process, which he both wrote and directed.

MICHELLE HEISLER: Michelle has worked across Canada, the United States and Europe, on stage and on the big and small screens, in English, French and Yiddish. Memorable roles include the title role of Evita Katherine in Henry V, Desiree in A Little Night Music, Tzeitl in Fiddler on the Roof and Jenny in Company. She’s also voiced characters in such cartoons as Caillou, Mona the Vampire, Arthur and Miss Mallard Mysteries. She is currently working on an upcoming new musical review with Just Friends Productions.

PHILIP KALIN: Screenwriter Philip Kalin brings a wealth of knowledge from the film industry. His writing has been produced for Showtime and YTV and he currently has three theatrical feature films that have been optioned and are in active development. He has received numerous writing grants from Telefilm Canada and SODEC and was a winner of the 2008 NSI Totally Television Program for the top TV scripts in Canada. Philip is Director of Development at Couzin Films where he associate produced Adam's Wall and Birthday Girl. He has worked in numerous positions for over a decade in the film industry, including assistant director, producer, director of sales at a distribution company, assistant editor and was head of development at Wishmaker Films. Philip is a graduate of Concordia University's Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema.

DALE KING: Dale King has over 25 years of experience in teaching for T.V., stage, and movie choreography. She is the co-founder of Soul Impact Studios. She has also helped to change the face of aerobics in Montreal and other parts of Canada. Dayle’s most recent projects include choreographing Vanessa Williams and Chili from the Group TLC in the made-for-TV. movie Christmas Diva. Dale has also choreographed the back-up singers for Lara Fabian European Tour.

COIRE LANGHAM: Coire has been in the ring from an early age. As a member of the founding family of the Green Light Circus, Alaska’s only indigenous circus, he has been performing with his parents, brothers and sister since the age of 8. As a teenager, he joined the New Old Time Chautauqua, juggling alongside the Flying Karamazov brothers. He gratuated from Dell'Arte international school of physical theatre in 2005 and now makes his work performing in festivals and theatres in the U.S, Mexico, Canada, Chile, Alaska, France, and Italy.

BARBARA LEWIS: Barbara Lewis is a singer/songwriter and voice teacher. For 8 years, Lewis taught singing at Montreal's Concordia University where she worked with singers who were interested in jazz, classical, song writing, music theatre, pop&rock styles of music. In 1998 Lewis left the University to live in New York City where she wrote music, recorded, and gave talks about the music business. She now lives in Montreal where she teaches vocalists of all styles of singing. Her approach to teaching is personal, creative&practical. View her 2 websites here: www.singing-tips-with-barbara-lewis.com and www.barbaralewis.com.

PHYLLIS LEWIS: Phyllis Lewis is a freelance video artist and educator. She is the program coordinator and video facilitator for Next-Gen NDG, a youth media project with Head and Hands. Phyllis is a digital editing specialist with over 12 years in the post-production department at the National Film Board of Canada. She has credits on fiction, documentary and animation projects. One of her editing credits is for the Oscar-winning short film, The Danish Poet by Torill Kove.

MARC MATATYA: A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who has travelled the world researching music, Marc enjoys transmitting his love of music to children. He has studied classical piano, throat-singing and Central-Asian instruments. Marc firmly believes exposing children to different instruments and styles of music can have a significant impact of children’s awareness of themselves and of the outside world.

TALIESIN MCENANEY: Originally from a theatre background, Taliesin McEnaney received her B.A from McGill University in drama in 2003. In Montreal her work has been shown at Studio 303’s Edgy Women festival as well as internationally in various festivals in the U.S and Italy. Her interest in character-driven dynamic physicality eventually brought her into the world of the clown and circus. In 2005 she graduated from the Dell’Arte School of Physical Theatre and has been performing and teaching circus in both the U.S and Canada ever since.

MORGAN MOORE: Morgan Moore is a young bass player who has been active on the Montreal music scene for the last years. His versatility has given him the opportunity to play regularly with Oliver Jones, James Gelfand, Ranee Lee, Kevin Dean, Greg Clayton, Nancy Martinez, Dawn Taylor Watson, Steve Amirault, Coral Eagen, Jim and Chet Doxas, Thuryn Von Pranke, John Labelle, Johnny Scott, Geoff Lapp, Dave Laing, André White, Joel Miller, Remi Bolduc, and many others.

PAUL NEUDORF: Paul Neudorf has directed documentaries, fiction and music videos and dance films - incorporating animation, new music and contemporary dance. A graduate of Concordia University in 005, he continues to be involved with Concordia’s televsion station (CUTV). His credits also include traveling to Bosnia to learn about de-mining and landmine survivors and educating youth upon his return about the effects of war and landmines.

ELSA PEREZ: Elsa earned her MFA in Acting from the Chicago College of Performing Arts, where she worked and studied with professionals from some of the city’s most prestigious theatres. She also spent time in Paris where she studied clown and physical theatre before returning to her native Montreal in 2006. Elsa is the founder and co-artistic director of Théâtre bilingue de Montréal and works regularly as an actor and storyteller with companies such as Théâtre de la Source and Arbraconte. Elsa has been part of the Artists in Schools program since 2008 and teaches theatre workshops in elementary and high schools across the city and beyond.

MAJIZA PHILIP: Twenty year old Montreal native Majiza Philip has been dancing since the age of three. Coming from an artistic background (Granddaughter of Montreal Tap Legend Ethel Bruneau), Majiza has had the privilege to train in Tap, Jazz and Hip hop at the Ethel Bruneau Dance Studio. This has allowed her to begin dancing professionally since the age of nine. Appearances include TVA’s Decibal with Natalie Simard, The Montreal Jazz Festival (1998), The Governor General Awards with Gregory Charles (1998), and American film “Waking the Dead”(1997).Throughout Majiza’s seventeen years of dance, she has also competed in several dance competitions across North American winning top awards.

MATTHEW SANTORO: Matthew Santoro is a Montreal-based film and video artist, producer and journalist. Matthew has worked in Media Literacy for the last four years. Last summer, during his studies at Concordia in Communication, Matthew worked with Brooklyn-based Witness as an intern and mentor. Matthew is an active contributor on several websites as a video journalist. He is currently producing a short animation about water rights with documentary filmmaker Elizabeth Miller.

PAUL SHORE: A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Paul Shore is a documentary director, media consultant and social entrepreneur. He directed IBM and The Holocaust and has also worked in the newsrooms of CNN and Fox News. He has also produced and directed for MTV, PBS, Bravo and CBC, amongst others. A recipient of the Jeanne Sauvé Scholarship, Paul is also the creator of The Shadow Reports, a series of socio-political mini-documentaries for CBC News, and is producing a show for The Real News.

KIM SIMARD: Kim Simard is at once a filmmaker, teacher, artist and community activist. With a Master's degree in Film Production from Concordia University, Kim has worked and volunteered all over the world and is committed to using video as a tool for community development and empowerment. Her films have been screened internationally and she is currently working on various video projects in the Montreal area.

GREG WEBBER: A Mcgill Bachelor of Music/Education student who brings his variety of musical and educational background into the classroom, Greg has toured North America as a guitarist, worked in live theater, technical production and film composition and teaching. He believes that supporting a child’s creativity at a young age will help them in all areas of learning.

JEAN-SÉBASTIEN WILLIAMS: Although mainly a jazz guitarist, Jean-Sébastien has made a name for himself in many different genres including World Beat, Pop and R&B. A graduate of Concordia University, he has appeared in jazz festivals worldwide and performed with many international artists such as Zale Seck, Jodie Resther, Jim Kregan (Barenaked Ladies) and Stephane Morailles (Bran Van 000). Jean-Sébastien can be heard on over 0 albums and has written music for film and television, including the pilot Montréal ma Ville.

MOIRA WYLIE: Moira Wylie trained for the theatre in England. Among her many credits, both as actor and director, are Henry IV-Part I, Macbeth, The Crucible and Hedda Gabler. She has acted at the Guthrie Theatre, the San Diego Shakespeare Festival, Bard on the Beach (Vancouver), the Shaw Festival and at the Centaur Theatre and Segal Theatre, in Montreal. With her husband, Douglas Campbell, she ran a season at The Piggery Theatre in North Hatley. Moira has also taught at George Brown College, in Toronto.