Toronto, Ontario – May 17, 2011 – Humber College Theatre Performance Program Coordinator Diana Belshaw has been awarded the 2011 Maggie Bassett award by Theatre Ontario in recognition of her vision, passion, and natural fight for excellence in theatre in the province. The award will be presented on May 22nd in Richmond Hill at the awards brunch for the 2011 Theatre Ontario Festival.
The Maggie Bassett Award, named after Theatre Ontario’s first employee, is presented to an individual who, over a number of years, has made a sustained and significant contribution to the development of theatre in Ontario.
“This award is special to me for many reasons. I have been blessed by being able to work with artists, educators, administrators, people of all backgrounds and ages, throughout my career, and they continue to teach me how important the theatre is to all of us as a culture and as individuals,” said Belshaw. “The making of theatre embodies and illuminates the best in all of us. It teaches me humility and privilege daily—humility to serve an art form that gives voice to our common stories, and privilege to have been part of so many theatre communities for almost fifty years. Thank you, Theatre Ontario, for linking us together so resolutely for so many years.”
Humber’s Theatre Performance program is recognized for the quality of its graduates, its strong connections to the professional theatre sector and its artists, and its attention to developing students’ entrepreneurism, skills that are critically important to today’s professional artists.
“Diana strives to train actors, creators, and artists who have the tools to articulate, produce and promote their own artistic vision for the world,” says Paul de Jong, the program’s Head of Voice, and Belsaw’s long-time colleague.
Belshaw is a former Professional Theatre Coordinator at Theatre Ontario. She developed Showcase, the presentation of the graduates from post-secondary theatre programs before an invited audience of artistic directors, freelance directors, casting and talent agents. She also helped found the Acting and Modelling Information Service, an organization that was instrumental in developing the Entertainment Industry Coalition’s Code of Ethics for agents, to deal with the problems of unethical talent, modelling and background agencies.
As an actor and director for more than forty years, she has worked at theatres across Canada including Blyth Festival, the National Arts Centre, Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Necessary Angel, Centaur Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Persephone Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, and Vancouver Playhouse.
“The nominations for this year's Maggie Bassett Award were all of an exceptionally high calibre,” said Leonard McHardy, Chair of the Maggie Bassett Award Jury. “The unanimous choice of Diana Belshaw to receive the award recognizes her passionate vision which contributes to the creation of a vibrant and nurturing environment which connects both theatre and theatre artists to the community.”
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About Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning
Established in 1967, Humber is one of Canada’s leading postsecondary institutions. Committed to student success through excellence in teaching and learning, Humber serves more than 22,000 full-time students and 56,000 continuing education registrants. With an internationally recognized reputation for quality learning, Humber offers a wide-range of career-focused opportunities for students to personalize their educational path. Our 150 full-time programs include four-year bachelor’s degrees, two and three-year diplomas, one and two-year certificates, and apprenticeship training. As a founding member of Polytechnics Canada, Humber offers students the opportunity to participate in applied research projects that find solutions for issues confronting small and medium-sized enterprises. Humber is one of 12 Vanguard Learning Colleges as identified by the League for Innovation, and the League’s only Canadian board member. Humber finished first in its class in the highly regarded Community College Survey of Student Engagement in 2009 in each of four categories, including Active and Collaborative Learning, Student Effort, Academic Challenge and Student-Faculty Interaction. More than 85 per cent of Humber graduates are employed within six months of completing their studies. Visit humber.ca.
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For more information and to arrange interviews, please contact:
Andrew Leopold / Kevin Gonsalves
Humber Marketing and Communications
(o) 416.675.6622 ext. 4296 / 5778
(c) 416.518.8989
andrew.leopold@humber.ca / kevin.gonsalves@humber.ca
