Tom Stroud
Title: Associate Professor (ret.)
Building: Asper Centre for Theatre and Film
Email: t.stroud@uwinnipeg.ca
Biography:
In 2005 Stroud joined the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Film at the University of Winnipeg where he teaches movement, and acting, as well as directing productions for the Department.
A graduate of the Simon Fraser University School for the Performing Arts, Tom danced with the Karen Jamieson Dance Company, T.I.D.E. (Toronto Independent Dance Enterprise), Le Groupe de la Place Royale, and Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault. He has been commissioned to create works for Le Groupe de la Place Royale, Montreal Danse, Dancemakers, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra's New Music Festival and the Canada Dance Festival.
In 1991 Tom was appointed as the Artistic Director of Winnipeg’s Contemporary Dancers (WCD). During his 14-year tenure Stroud’s works for the company included Songs (1992), Broken Symmetry (1993), Company (1994), The Last Sleep of the Virgin (1995), R & J... 21 scenes for Romeo and Juliet (1995), Shift (1995), The Raft (1997), Arrows (1998), The Garden (2001), El Rio, (2002), Vuelta (2002), Desdemona, (2004), and Othello (2005). In 2002, he received the prestigious Choo San Goh Award for choreography.
Stroud also spearheaded a number of highly successful and innovative projects. Among them: JOE, a co-production with the Fondation Jean-Pierre Perreault and Dancemakers which toured Canada and the U.S. (1994 – 1996); Shift, an interdisciplinary installation co-produced with the Winnipeg Art Gallery (1995); The Pan American New Creation Project, an international co-production with Mexican and American modern dance companies; El Río (2002), a co-production with the Winnipeg Singers; and Vuelta, a co-creation with Peter Bingham of Vancouver’s EDAM.
Stroud remains an active member of the professional community. His performing credits include David Mamet’s Duck Variation (2008) for the Manitoba Theatre Centre’s Directors Festival, and The God Box (2008) by Mia Van Leeuwen for Out Of Line Theatre. His directing credits include, Jealous/Pervert (2006), Out Of Line Theatre, Witches, (2007), Out Of Line Theatre, Obscene, (2008) Ian Mozdzen, and TheRite (2008), Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit (2014) and A Delicate Balance, EDAM (2016). As a dramaturge he has worked for TRIP Dance The Art of Displacement (2008), Susie Burpee, Fidelity’s Edge (2008) and for EDAM The Secret Life of Trees (2015).
In 2013 Tom assumed the role of Artistic Director of TRIP Dance Inc., renaming it Company Link, a company dedicated on supporting Experimental Theatre and Dance artists living and working in Winnipeg. The company hosted annual workshops with national and international artists including Alba Emoting (Laura Bond), Feldenkrais (Giselle St. Hilary) Grotowski/Viewpoints, (Raina von Waldenburg) Emotional Fluency for Actors (Bond/Stroud), the Expressive Actor (Michael Lugering) The Expressive Actor (Tom Soares), Improvisation (Tom Stroud), Contact Improvisation (Ali Robson). Company Link presentations included No Exit (Tom Stroud) and Much Too Much To Say (Zorya Arrow). In 2019 Ali Robson was named as the new Artistic Director of Company Link.
Stroud’s current research interests are focused on emotion in the acting process. He is a founding member of the Emotional Fluency Project which is an organization dedicated to promoting a safe and ethical practice for actors within the field of contemporary theatre. In 2018 Stroud received a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant for a two-year project titled Utilizing BOS Emotional Effector Patterns as a Mechanism for Emotion Control in Contemporary Acting. The project worked with professional actors from Vancouver, British Columbia, and Toronto, Ontario, to integrate the Emotional Effector Patterns into the acting process. The project formed the basis for Emotional Fluency Training for the Actor which is now being taught to actors and acting teachers nationally and internationally. Tom is currently certified as an Alba Emoting teacher and an Emotional Body Lead Instructor.