Commonwealth Speakers:Ideas on Stage
Dancer Lisa Kraus looks at how dance and choreography relate to the broader culture of today. Credit: Jacques-Jean Tiziou
In the Lineage: A Recent History of Dance
Veteran dancer Lisa Kraus has worked with teachers from the schools of legends Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham and with choreographers like Trisha Brown, who represent many of the most important ideas in dance today. With slides, demonstrations of dancing, and video clips, Kraus will examine the ideas developed by influential choreographers, how their ideas relate to the broader culture of their time, and how dancers take ideas from their mentors and develop new work. Requirements: CD/cassette player. Adjustable lighting and wireless microphone preferred.
Lisa Kraus, Dancer, Choreographer and Dance Critic, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore
Daring Young Women Playwrights
Many of today's female playwrights--of different backgrounds, races, nationalities--are daring, provocative, and unintimidated. Maria Irene Fornes attacks military brutality--in battle and at home. Paula Vogel explores incest, lesbianism, and prostitution. Suzan-Lori Parks implodes the legends of America, creating new myths and language as she re-fashions American history and fiction. Caryl Churchill dramatizes the everyday effects of cloning, and Heather Raffo portrays the impact of the Iraq war on women. Annette Shandler Levitt explores the forces that drive this confrontational work, and the effects of this work on audiences. Requirements: TV/VCR and podium with light. DVD player preferred.
Annette Shandler Levitt, Professor of English, Drexel University, Philadelphia
Finding Home
This workshop encourages participants to chart their experiences of isolation and to define moments when those experiences have become most poignant. Excerpts from a variety of writers on the subject will be discussed, and participants will develop short paragraphs of their own and develop movement pieces that describe one element of the experience of isolation. Through writing and dance, Tania Isaac will show participants the commonality of moments of transition, and help them learn to understand and express what most brings them contentment. Requirements: CD player, notebooks or paper, and writing implements for participants.
Tania B. Isaac, Dancer, Choreographer, Video Artist, Tania Isaac Dance, Philadelphia
Art Imitating Life
Almost everyone has an idea for a play or screenplay - but how do you judge it's potential? How do you develop it into a finished work? Carlyn Aquiline will discuss how dramatic writers are often inspired by the world around them. Using resources like autobiographical experiences and newspaper articles, participants will learn how to recognize an idea with theatrical potential and develop it into the basis for a play, transforming real life, current events, and contemporary culture into art.
Carlyn A. Aquiline, Literary Manager and Dramaturg, City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh
Shadow Puppetry: Ancient Art, Modern Fun
Puppeteer Charles Holden will present a history of shadow puppets and explore the mechanics and techniques of shadow puppetry through the performance of a short shadow play. Participants will learn how to craft simple shadow puppets and use them in skits of their own during the presentation. Requirements: Large display table, 12'x12'x8' performance area.
Charles Holden, Puppeteer-in-Residence at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, Pittsburgh
50 Moves
Through fifty favorite moves from dance history, Lisa Kraus will explore the principles of dance. Every dance move has a story behind it: a physical principle such as momentum or gravity, an aesthetic idea like pedestrian movement or balletic form, or a cultural debate, such as how much or little space we consume. Participants will learn simple dance actions and explore motion through improvisational movement games that can be done standing, sitting or otherwise. Requirements: LCD/cassette player. Adjustable lighting and wireless microphone preferred.
Lisa Kraus, Dancer, Choreographer and Dance Critic, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore
Caribbean Social Dances: Then and Now
In this dance workshop, participants will discuss the origins, the evolution, and the contemporary forms of Eastern Caribbean social dance and music. Tania Isaac gives a brief history of the Caribbean region and dances such as the Quadrille, Masquerade/Folk, Soca/Calypso, Zouk, and Reggae, placing each form in geographical, historical and social context as the audience learns examples of each dance. Requirements: CD player, TV/VCR, flip chart, and 20'x20' performance/workshop space.
Tania B. Isaac, Dancer, Choreographer, Video Artist, Tania Isaac Dance, Philadelphia
Punch Revealed: A Backstage Look at a Puppet Icon
The Punch and Judy show is one of the oldest puppet traditions in the world, but is little known outside its native England. This presentation will summarize the story of Mr. Punch, his wife Judy, and the rest of the cast, and will explain why the Punch and Judy shows are often considered controversial. A rowdy thirty-minute performance of a semi-traditional Punch and Judy show will follow, and puppeteer Charles Holden will literally bring down the curtain for a behind-the-scenes look at how it all works, including a lesson in puppet and prop construction. Requirements: 12'x12'x8' performance area.
Charles Holden, Puppeteer-in-Residence at the Pittsburgh Children's Museum, Pittsburgh
From Page to Stage
Of all forms of literature, drama may be the most involved with community life, transforming issues of social significance first expressed on the page into live, public performance. Carlyn Aquiline's presentation shows how a theatre company transforms a written text into what you see on stage, beginning with how to read a script and imagine it as a stage performance. She'll then explain the issues and timeline of the production process, from set design to casting and rehearsal. Requirements: CD/Cassette Player, screen, PowerPoint and LCD projector OR slide projector with remote.
Carlyn A. Aquiline, Literary Manager and Dramaturg, City Theatre Company, Pittsburgh
The Art of Flamenco: History and Origins
Arte de Flamenco: la Historia y los Orígenes
Camille Erice investigates history, culture, geography, and language through the art of Flamenco dance. The music of the Spanish Gypsies, the wailing sound and couplet verse of the cantes (songs), as well as their rhythmic execution in the bailes (dances) and toques (guitar) evolved over five centuries until the 1800s, when modern Flamenco emerged. Erice will lead audiences through the history of Flamenco and encourage them to explore the dance themselves.
This program is also available in Spanish. Requirements: TV, VCR, CD/cassette player, display table, microphone with stand, newsprint stand, 4'x8' wooden floor space for demonstration purposes. 8'x16' wooden floor space preferred.
Camille Erice, Artistic Director, Flamenco Tablao, Harrisburg