In a Word...Tina Rasmussen

One Show: The Process of There to Here
Finding and bringing the "agressively contemporary"

During the past 15 years, Tina Rasmussen has been engaged in a variety of capacities including Artistic Director, Manager, Administrator and Artistic Producer in organizations specializing in both multi-disciplinary contemporary and classical works.  She has also acted on a wide range of independent international projects as artistic producer, writer, performer, director, adjudicator and dramaturg. Eight years ago, Ms Rasmussen was appointed Director of Performing Arts at Harbourfront Centre, assuming responsibility for all performing arts at Canada’s most prestigious contemporary cultural institution.  This position has included a variety of Artistic Directorships, including that of the prestigious World Stage International Theatre Festival. Ms Rasmussen also oversees the Harbourfront Centre’s dedicated family programme HarbourKIDS, as well as HATCH: emerging performance projects, The Music Garden, and NextSteps Dance Season to name a few. Ms Rasmussen graduated with distinction from the University of Calgary’s Theatre programme, where she also was awarded the prestigious Faculty of Fine Arts Gold Medal. She began her professional career in Edmonton at The Citadel with Robin Phillips. Her desire to contribute to Canada’s performing arts scene led her to move to Toronto, where she assisted Albert Schultz in the founding of Soulpepper Theatre Company. In addition to her role at Harbourfront Centre, Ms Rasmussen runs a small independent artist development and special projects atelier called Culture Shark. She continues to sit on many national and international performing arts panels and juries including Made in Scotland at the Edinburgh Festival, Total Theatre Awards, Irish Theatre Institute and many others. She remains dedicated to programming diverse genres of international theatre, and continues to develop new community-based initiatives to attract new viewers to the theatre arts. 

CHARPO: We'd like to know about the process of acquiring one show. Let's take She She Pop and Their Fathers: Testament. What has to be done in order to get the show from there to here?

RASMUSSEN: The process is a long one, but it’s quite meaningful because of how our relationship with a company flourishes over time. In the case of Germany’s She She Pop, I first saw their production Testament at the Dublin Theatre Festival in 2011. A significant aspect of my job as Artistic Director of World Stage is travelling across the globe to see aggressively contemporary work, and though each trip is always packed to the brim, each production facilitates its own individual experience and Testament was no exception.