Daniel Mroz

Associate Professor, Department of Theatre

Member of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and thereby authorized to supervise theses.

Office: 304C
Telephone: 613-562-5800, ext. 1265
E-mail: dmroz@uOttawa.ca

Biography

Daniel Mroz is an associate professor in the Department of Theatre of the University of Ottawa, where he teaches graduate and undergraduate theatre courses in English and French. He holds a PhD in the practice of interdisciplinary arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal (2005).

Mroz apprenticed as a performer under Canadian director and acting teacher Richard Fowler and his company Primus Theatre from 1993 to 1997. In 2005 Mroz co-founded One Reed Theatre Ensemble, a Canadian company devoted to the creation of devised physical theatre that emerged from his work with four graduates of English Acting Program of The National Theatre School of Canada. Since the fall of 2009 he has been the artistic and pedagogical director of Les Ateliers du corps, a long-term practical research studio based in Ottawa/Gatineau and funded by a SSHRC Research/Creation Grant. The objectives of the studio are to innovate in the pedagogy of performer training, to create original performances and to facilitate the development of highly qualified people in the field of contemporary theatre.

A longtime student of Chinese martial arts, Mroz has combined his martial movement training with the embodied approach to acting he learned from Primus Theatre. The resulting approach is called The Dancing Word, an integrated system of performer preparation and original performance composition.

Daniel Mroz’ principal area of activity is in research/creation, focusing on devising original performances and innovating in the pedagogy of performer training.

University degrees

2005 – PhD in études et pratiques des arts, Université du Québec à Montréal
1996 – MA in arts dramatiques, Université du Québec à Montréal
1993 – BA in Drama and Theatre, McGill University

Specialist qualifications

Recognized teacher of the Devised Physical Theatre approach created by European theatre director Eugenio Barba, as taught by Canadian theatre director and acting teacher Richard Fowler.
Instructor level training in Nan Shaolin Cailifoquan, Wu Taijiquan and Zhi Neng Qigong (Chinese martial arts and movement health systems) under Master Sui Meing Wong, Montréal, 1993-2005.
Instructor level training in various systems of traditional Chinese martial arts and Daojiao Qigong (Daoist meditative practices) under Master Kenneth Cohen, Nederland, Colorado, 1997 to present.
Instructor level training in Chen Taiji Shiyong Quanfa (Chinese martial arts and movement health systems) under Master Chen Zhonghua, Ottawa, Edmonton and China, 2005 to present.

Fields of interest

Artistic practice:
- Acting and Performance (Movement, Voice, Composition and Interpretation)
- Directing (Devising original performance)
- Traditional Chinese Martial Arts and Physical Culture (wushu and qigong)
- World Music Singing and Contemporary Vocal Music
Theory:
- Theatre Anthropology, Performance Studies and Ethnoscenology
- Contemporary approaches to performance aesthetics and actor training

Publications and research

Upcoming research and professional projects:

June 2010, presentation of the practical performance work accomplished by Les Ateliers du corps at the Canada Dance Festival, Ottawa, Canada,
September 2009-September 2012, Les Ateliers du corps and The Dancing Word, an ongoing SSHRC-funded Research/Creation project focusing on the formation of performers and the creation of contemporary theatre based on sustained, ensemble training in Chinese martial arts,

Professional activities:

August 2009, research trip to Los Angeles, California for instruction in traditional Daoist ritual meditations with Dr. Michael Saso, professor emeritus of religion at the University of Hawaii and ordained Daoist Zhengyi Priest,
June 2009, research trip to Nederland, Colorado for a week of intensive training in various traditional systems of Qigong with Kenneth Cohen,
May 2009, research trip to Daqingshan Mountain in Shandong, China for a month of intensive training in Chen Taijiquan under Master Chen Zhonghua,
May 2009, participant in the Second Annual International Hunyuan Taiji Exchange Conference, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China,
April 2009, principal teacher of BodySchool 2009, a professional master-class on the creation of contemporary theatre in collaboration with the Magnetic North Theatre Festival,
June 2008, One Reed Theatre presents A Prayer for Every Hour at the Theatre Centre in Toronto,
May 2008, principal teacher of BodySchool 2008, a professional master-class on the creation of contemporary theatre in collaboration with the Magnetic North Theatre Festival,
February 2008, One Reed Theatre presents It’s Hard to Count to A Million at the Rhubarb Festival in Toronto,
June 2007, leader of The Dancing Word, a professional master-class on the creation of contemporary theatre in collaboration with the Magnetic North Theatre Festival,
May 2007, research trip to Daqingshan Mountain in Shandong, China for a month of intensive training in Chen Taijiquan under Master Chen Zhonghua,
April 2007 One Reed Theatre in residence at the Graduate Centre for the Study of Drama at the University of Toronto. The ensemble presented Nor the Cavaliers Who Come With Us, offering practical artistic workshops for graduate students and beginning work on the performance It’s Hard to Count to A Million.
2006 leader of La Parole qui danse, a professional training master-class for actors sponsored by Théâtre la Catapulte, Ottawa
2006-2008 Collaboration with Dr. Pippa Hall, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, developing interactive educational materials for Palliative Care and theatre/medicine interdisciplinary collaborations,
2005 director of One Reed Theatre Ensemble’s original performance Nor The Cavaliers Who Come With Us, a project sponsored by the National Theatre School of Canada’s Cultural and Artistic Leadership Program.
2002 director, author, choreographer and composer of Peau de lune, a French language dance/theatre performance, premiered at the Catskill Festival of New Theatre in New York State.
1996 -1999 co-founder, co-director and performer with La Compagnie du Pont-fleurs, an interdisciplinary performance laboratory based in Montréal, co-creator of the performances le Jardin des poiriers, le Sentier aux milles lanternes and la Croisée des magicians.
2000-2005 part-time teacher of acting, voice, movement and theory at l’Université du Québec à Montréal (M.A. level), McGill University (B.A. level) and Dawson College (D.E.C. level).
Practitioner, since 1993, of Chinese martial arts and physical culture with significant cross-training in traditional and contemporary martial arts and physical culture from around the world.
Practitioner, since 1993 of traditional and contemporary vocal music from around the world.

Publications:

(in press) The Dancing Word, a book on the use of Chinese martial arts in actor training and performance creation for Rodopi Press’ series Consciousness, Literature and the Arts.
From Movement to Action: Martial Arts in the Practice of Devised Physical Theatre, Studies in Theatre and Performance, Volume 29, No. 2.
Technique in Exile: The changing perception of taijiquan, from Ming dynasty military exercise to 20th century actor training protocol, Studies in Theatre and Performance, Volume 28, No. 2.
Speaking in a Visceral Language: From performer preparation to performance composition, Theatre Research in Canada, Volume 27, No. 1.

Awards and achievements

2009 Nominated for TV Ontario’s Big Ideas’ Best Lecturer Competition 2010.
2009 Recipient of the 2009 Alan Blizzard Teaching Award as part of Dr. Pippa Hall’s Inter-professional Palliative Care Education research project.
2009 Recipient of a three-year Research/Creation grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
2007 Nominated for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre (Directing), Canada’s major theatre arts award.
2006 Recipient, as director of One Reed Theatre Ensemble, of Now Magazine (Toronto)’s acclamation of One Reed Theatre Ensemble as Toronto’s Best Young Theatre Ensemble.
2006 Recipient, as director of One Reed Theatre Ensemble, of the Summerworks Festival 2006 Spotlight Award for the performance Nor The Cavaliers Who Come With Us.
2006 Recipient, as director of One Reed Theatre Ensemble of citations for Outstanding Direction, Outstanding Production and Outstanding Ensemble for the performance Nor The Cavaliers Who Come With Us from Toronto’s Now Magazine.