BALLET BC AND THE SIMON FRASER SCHOOL FOR CONTEMPORARY ARTS
PRODUCTION AND STAGE MANANGEMENT INTERNSHIP
Overview:
Ballet BC in partnership with Simon Fraser University, will commit to engage in a an internship
program, where the Company provides a placement position with the Company’s Production
Department, for students enrolled in the SFU SCA in association with the SFU Career services.
This position would be open to students pursuing or considering pursuing a career path in Arts
Production and or Stage Management. Ballet BC had three productions this season that are taking
place at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Company Intent:
This program is born form an initiative to include an educational component to our productions.
Ballet BC has as a part of our mandate, a requirement to foster the dance community, through
outreach, relationship building, audience and community development including initiatives to
promote and advance the professional dance community in Vancouver. This component of Ballet
BC’s goals has been clarified and been made actionable through the Companies new Strategic Plan
which commits Ballet BC to develop the company’s outreach and community potential. This
proposal is in part, the production department’s commitment to these ideals.
Selection Process:
Program Students interested in a position will be interviewed for the positions available with Ballet
BC. The criteria for the selection of the students will be based on interest in a production career in
the arts. Dance production interest will be considered during the interview process, but will not be
weighted as to not unfairly prejudice a candidate with career aspirations, which do not include dance.
The student will be selected based on the interview, and recommendations from a SFU
Contemporary Arts program supervisor, with regards to the student’s workload and availability during
the semester, for the specified production periods.
Prior to the interview, the students interested in the internship are required to prepare a short letter
of introduction, which includes a brief summary of the students academic and if available,
professional achievements. A description of what they hope to learn from the experience, and what
if any exposure they have had to dance in the past, in any capacity, from audience to crew, to
participating in productions.
Schedule:
The schedule and time commitment for each production period will be distributed as follows:
Week 1 – 10 hours production preparation
Week 2 – 10 hours production preparation
Week 3 – 10 hours production preparation
Week 4 – 20 hours in studio rehearsal and production preparation
Week 5 – 60 hours in production
Week 6 – 8 hours post mortem and production archive
See schedule “A” for the exact dates of the three production periods.
The student’s educational responsibilities will be taken into account, and the scheduling will be done
with the inclusion of the Professional Development Advisor, with the exception of the production
week, which will be a required full week at the theatre.
This model will provide a manageable, focused amount of work, as we would plan to include them
into our production plan much the same way we engage our professional contractors.
The work outlined is designed to meet the minimum required 120 hours for the credit course load at
SFU.
Scope and expectation:
•
The student would work with both the production manager and stage manager, with
emphasis on both of these disciplines
•
The student would be encouraged to attend production meetings and selected studio runs
during the residency period
•
•
Time spent in the production office will be spent assisting with production preparation
Each student will be given a project for each production period, related to the production
preparation of the show or related production projects
•
The production week (show week) is a 6-day period, where the student would reasonably be
expected to attend tech and dress rehearsals for all the pieces, and be available for show
calls. This would require a daily commitment in the afternoons and evenings, from the
Tuesday of the production week through to the Saturday.
•
Whenever possible the student will be given an opportunity to be part of the production staff
for the show, integrating the student into the production with a supervised position, and
when applicable that position will have a component of responsibility, such as an ASM.
•
Reasonable assistance with documentation or course required materials are agreeable
where needed.
As this is a program with the Ballet, we would request feedback from the students and Professional
Development Advisor to improve the value to the student’s experience.
In Summary:
Ballet BC is very committed to continue to provide this opportunity for the SFU SCA students that
are interested in this career path. We as always interested in improving this experience for the
students, and we are willing and capable to adjust the scope and expectations to improve the
student experience, in accordance with what we can reasonably provide.
Derek Mack I Director of Production
Ballet BC I 677 Davie Street I Vancouver I BC I V6B 2G6
Please apply through SFU Symplicity by March 15.
SCHEDULE “A”
2015-2016 production periods
PROG 3
Week 1 – April 11-15
Week 2 – April 18-22
Week 3 – April 25-29
Week 4 – May 2-6
Week 5 – May 9-14
Week 6 – May 16-20
- 10 hours production preparation
- 10 hours production preparation
- 10 hours production preparation
- 20 hours in studio rehearsal and production preparation
- 60 hours in production
- 8 hours post mortem and production archive