Dennis Gupa and Gossip with Whales get Green Award

Dennis Gupa and Gossip with Whales get Green Award

Dennis Gupa in February 2021.
(Photo: John Threlfall)

National Pilipino and Canadian Cultural Centre (NPC3)

Dennis Gupa and his unique collaboration “Gossip with Whales: Exploring Ocean Science through Applied Theatre” are honoured by The Professional Association of Canadian Theatres (PACT) Inaugural Green Award this year as the Individual Artist Runner-Up.

Dennis Gupa is now Assistant Professor at the University of Winnipeg, Theatre and Film Department. While working with Gossip with Whales, he was then a PhD student at the University of Victoria’s Theatre Department  and the artist-in-residence with Ocean Networks Canada (ONC). For Dennis Gupa, this residency fitted in with his doctoral focus on Indigenous sea rituals, climate change, and sustainable ecology. Dennis Gupa presented Gossip with Whales in its world premiere,  with the performances of four new choral compositions, musical performances with artists from the Philippines, and a panel of artists, performers, and scientists.  This feast of music and celebration of the ocean we all share was presented at the launch of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030.

Poster of the event (Photo: NPC3)

Dennis Gupa beautifully uses the collaboration of ocean science and the arts and draws upon the Filipino tanaga and mangyan lyrical art forms to produce four original and beautiful choral compositions: Corals Crawl, To the Pacific, Gossip with Whales and Bamboo Stilts.

“By looking at the experience and knowledge of local people—who have been experiencing these climatic events for so many years, but are not really given a lot of opportunities to tell their stories—we can learn from their knowledge and wisdom,” said Gupa at the panel interview during the world premier. “Our poetries and songs renew our kinship with the ocean.”

The Inaugural PACT Green Award is initiated by PACT, a “leader in the national performing arts community and a devoted advocate for the value of live performance”. The Green Award goes to one winning project along with two runner-up projects, one for a company and one for an individual artist. On Feb 23 EST/12pm EST, the winner and runners-up will present on their projects and share their experiences with the community.

The Winner of The Inaugural Green Award goes to The Only Animal Theatre Company for its Project, THE ARTIST BRIGADE. The Individual Artist Runner Up is awarded to Dr. Dennis Gupa for the project GOSSIP WITH WHALES. The Company Runner Up is awarded to Soulpepper Theatre, for the project THE GREEN SESSIONS.

(PRESS RELEASE)