read the 15th annual idea swap program book
TRANSCRIPT
mechanics hall | worcester, ma
We support what matters to you.Because you matter to us.
Eastern Bank is a proud sponsor of the New England Foundation for the Arts.
easternbank.com
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The Idea Swap is an annual event for New England-based organizations that present artists to network and share project ideas that may qualify for funding from NEFA’s Expeditions grant program.
Expeditions grants support New England nonprofit organizations to plan and implement tours of high-quality arts projects involving New England, national, and international artists.
This booklet includes projects submitted as of October 12, 2016, which have the potential to tour New England. These and other projects submitted after press time can be found on nefa.org/2016-Idea-Swap-Project-Ideas.
ta b l e o f c o n t e n t s
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scheduleproject presentations: part 1project presentations: part 2more project ideas funders
Cover image by Abigail Maulion
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s c h e d u l e
9:00 am–10:00 am
registration opens & choice of:
» Light Breakfast & Networking (Washburn Hall)
» New to NEFA or the Idea Swap? (Board Room) Receive an overview of NEFA and New England Presenting & Touring programs. Meet NEFA staff and learn how to make the most of the Idea Swap.
10:00 am–11:15 am
overview of expeditions & what happens beyond idea swap
An overview of the Expeditions program and application process. A panel of presenter membership organizations from New England Presenters (NEP) and Arts Presenters of Northern New England (APNNE) and artists talk about networking and what happens outside of Idea Swap. Learn about presenter consortia membership, resources, and events to network with presenting organizations and performing artists.
11:15 am–12:15 pm
project presentations: part 1
1. the evolution of bruno littlemore Working Group Theatre | Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College
2. vertical influences Le Patin Libre | The Yard
3. zafir: musical winds from north africa to andalucíaSimon Shaheen | Wellesley College Concert Series
4. demolishing everything with amazing speed Dan Hurlin | Institute of Contemporary Art
5. the end of men; an ode to oceanVanessa Anspaugh Dance
6. the end of tv Manual Cinema | International Festival of Arts & Ideas
7. the missing generationSean Dorsey Dance | Flynn Center for the Performing Arts
8. el gato con botas (puss in boots)OperaHub
9. in spite of wishing and wantingUltima Vez | Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield
10. served—a dance for college campus employees Forklift Danceworks | Williams College
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Visit our table to connect with New England artists and presenters!
project presentations: part 2
Participants break out into small groups to informally share project ideas in quick, two to three-minute succession. Groups are divided by the disciplines of music, dance, and theater. Sign up at the registration table to present at a mini swap.
Sign up throughout the day to share your idea with all participants in three minutes or less.
1:30 pm– 2:15 pm
12:15 pm– 1:15 pm
2:15 pm– 3:00 pm
1:15 pm– 1:30 pm
mini swaps
lunch & networking
open mic presentations
dessert & networking reception3:00 pm– 4:00 pm
11. tense vagina: an actual diagnosis Sara Juli
12. en masse Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) | Portland Ovations
13. from vermont westerns to nantucket noir: imagining place through jay craven’s new england indie films Jay Craven
14. qyrq qyz (40 girls) Qyrq Qyz | Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College
15. running in stillnessMarsha Parilla/Danza Orgánica
16. virago man dem Cynthia Oliver/COCo Dance | Vermont Performance Lab
17. rite of spring and folding Shen Wei Dance Arts | Asian Arts & Culture Program, UMass Amherst
Celebrate 15 years of Idea Swap and NEFA’s grant recipients.
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p r o j e c t p r e s e n tat i o n s : pa r t 1
1. THE EVOLUTION OF BRUNO LITTLEMORE
ARTIST Working Group Theatre | workinggrouptheatre.org
Working Group Theatre’s The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore is an adaptation by Sean Lewis of Benjamin Hale’s debut novel. The dance theater piece tells the story of Bruno Littlemore, a preternaturally intelligent chimpanzee who develops the gifts of language, art, and philosophy. The work is a meditation on love, identity, oppression, and colonialism, addressing the question of what is human and who decides. There are engagement opportunities that are STEAM based, involving the sciences and the arts.
SUBMITTED BY Shannon Mayers | [email protected] Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College | Keene, NH
2. VERTICAL INFLUENCES
ARTIST Le Patin Libre | lepatinlibre.com
The Yard presented Le Patin Libre (LPL) in their American debut (April 2015), launching a multi-year Yard commitment to the Québecois ensemble of pioneering skaters. “This is something extraordinary: a new and exhilarating avenue of skate artistry, light years from competition judging and Disney dancing cartoons. Rather than double axels and triple toe loops, the philosophical center of the ensemble’s research is the ‘glide.’ It provides the key to LPL’s driving question: What is skating?” - David White, Artistic Director, The Yard.
SUBMITTED BY Chloe Jones | [email protected] The Yard | Chilmark, MA
3. ZAFIR: MUSICAL WINDS FROM NORTH AFRICA TO ANDALUCÍA
ARTIST Simon Shaheen | almaartistbooking.com/simonshaheen/
Simon Shaheen, one of the most significant Arab musicians, performers, and composers of his generation, brings to life the Arab music of Al-Andalus and blends it with the ubiquitous art of flamenco in Zafir (wind), a program of instrumental and vocal music and dance. The project explores the aim of both Arab classical music and flamenco - to achieve a heightened state of emotion, a feeling of ecstasy, known to Arab musicians as tarab and by flamenco performers and enthusiasts as duende.
SUBMITTED BY Isabel Fine | [email protected] Wellesley College Concert Series | Wellesley, MA
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4. DEMOLISHING EVERYTHING WITH AMAZING SPEED
ARTIST Dan Hurlin | danhurlin.com
Demolishing Everything with Amazing Speed is Dan Hurlin’s latest puppet theater work, based on four wordless and never before performed plays, written by Italian Futurist Fortunato Depero in 1917. Hallucinogenic, fast-paced, and shot through with dark humor, these astonishing plays celebrate the energy and possibility of technology, while revealing the chilling parallels between their time and ours.
SUBMITTED BY John Andress | [email protected] Institute of Contemporary Art | Boston, MA
5. THE END OF MEN; AN ODE TO OCEAN
ARTIST Vanessa Anspaugh Dance | vanessaanspaugh.com
Pregnant lesbian Vanessa Anspaugh got into the studio with an all-male cast to explore how power lives in and between all participating bodies. The End of Men; An Ode to Ocean premiered June 8-11, 2016, with The Joyce Theater in New York. This highly spirited work of moving dance-theater, interweaves demanding physicality with spoken dialogue, sonic religiosity, and sublime virtuosity. The work investigates masculine vulnerability, taking on men, maleness, and dynamics of cultural domination.
SUBMITTED BY Vanessa Anspaugh | [email protected] Vanessa Anspaugh Dance | Northampton, MA
6. THE END OF TV
ARTIST Manual Cinema | manualcinema.com
Performed using live actors on a set, actors in silhouette, cinematic shadow puppetry made with hundreds of paper puppets on vintage overhead projectors, hand-made miniatures, vivid and impactful 5.1 surround sound, and a live chamber orchestra performing an original score. All of these various media will be captured live by onstage cameras and projected to one screen, creating a dramaturgically resonant simultaneity, a ‘live TV production,’ and a piece of live theater with TV as its subject.
SUBMITTED BY Chad Herzog | [email protected] International Festival of Arts & Ideas | New Haven, CT
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7. THE MISSING GENERATION
ARTIST Sean Dorsey Dance | seandorseydance.com
The Missing Generation is an award-winning dance-theater production that gives voice to longtime survivors of the early AIDS epidemic. Sean Dorsey, the first acclaimed transgender contemporary dance choreographer in the U.S., created the work by traveling the U.S. to record oral history interviews with transgender and LGBT longtime survivors of the early epidemic. These survivors’ voices and stories are featured in a lush, multi-layered sound score along with original music and Dorsey’s narration.
SUBMITTED BY Steve MacQueen | [email protected] Flynn Center for the Performing Arts | Burlington, VT
8. EL GATO CON BOTAS (PUSS IN BOOTS)
ARTIST OperaHub | operahub.org
In this family-friendly one-act fairy tale adventure, Gato is a scruffy pet cat who teaches his poor master to believe in the impossible. When he puts on boots and gets dressed for success, he leads us on an outrageous rags-to-riches adventure. Along the way, we meet a beautiful and savvy princess, a nasty ogre, and a parade of magical shoes brought to life as animals. Featuring tuneful music and fantastical puppetry; sung in Spanish with English supertitles.
SUBMITTED BY Christie Lee Gibson | [email protected] OperaHub | Boston, MA
9. IN SPITE OF WISHING AND WANTING
ARTIST Ultima Vez | ultimavez.com/en
In 1999, In Spite of Wishing and Wanting caused a huge stir. For the first time, Wim Vandekeybus created a performance not about the chemistry between men and women, but a primal desire in a world of men alone – fierce, wild, naive, and playful. Spellbinding footage and dance sequences, supported by David Byrne’s sensual soundtrack, flow into monologues about fear, a desire for security, and the magic of sleep. In 2016, a completely new cast takes on the challenge of this world hit.
SUBMITTED BY Peter Van Heerden | [email protected] Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University | Fairfield, CT
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p r o j e c t p r e s e n tat i o n s : pa r t 2
10. SERVED—A DANCE FOR COLLEGE CAMPUS EMPLOYEES ARTIST Forklift Danceworks | forkliftdanceworks.org
Served is a campus-based residency to engage students/faculty/staff in a community-based art making process creating a powerful bridge between two communities. The project aims to broaden awareness of the valuable and critical contributions of campus workers. Using the performance as a foundation through this two-year residency, Forklift Danceworks and Williams will create a toolkit to guide other campus communities and presenters to create artist-led community engagement projects such as Served.
SUBMITTED BY Randall Fippinger | [email protected] ‘62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College | Williamstown, MA
11. TENSE VAGINA: AN ACTUAL DIAGNOSIS ARTIST Sara Juli | sarajuli.com
Tense Vagina is about motherhood - its beauty, challenges, isolation, comedy, and influence on the human experience. This evening-length solo performance uses humor, movement, sounds, songs, text, and audience participation to reveal “all that is awesome and all that sucks” when it comes to being a mother. It focuses on the seldom-discussed and taboo aspects of motherhood, such as loss of bladder control, libido, tears, monotony, and dildos, with set by Pamela Moulton and cos-tumes by Carol Farrell.
SUBMITTED BY Sara Juli | [email protected] | Falmouth, ME
12. EN MASSEARTIST Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) | danielroumain.com
In spring 2018, Ovations hosts uniquely engaging musician/composer/activist Daniel Bernard Roumain for his community-wide music project, En Masse. Con-ceived to be performed with 5-500 musicians in spectacular abandon in large public spaces, En Masse can be tailored to the particulars of each community. DBR is an exceptional community connector who can also perform in concert and school matinee series within the context of impactful residencies.
SUBMITTED BY Aimée Petrin | [email protected] Portland Ovations | Portland, ME
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13. FROM VERMONT WESTERNS TO NANTUCKET NOIR: IMAGINING PLACE THROUGH JAY CRAVEN’S NEW ENGLAND INDIE FILMS
ARTIST Jay Craven | kingdomcounty.org
Presented as an interactive dialogue about the role of place in narrative films, writer/director Jay Craven will screen one or more of his award-winning New En-gland pictures. He will lead discussion of the work and engage audience members together and in small groups to brainstorm stories and characters rooted in their own place. In one or more sessions, we will explore how narrative film can express regional themes and connect to a community’s imagination of itself. Who knows where it might lead?
SUBMITTED BY Jay Craven | [email protected] Kingdom County Productions | Peacham, VT
14. QYRQ QYZ (40 GIRLS)ARTIST Qyrq Qyz | akdn.org/akmi
Qyrq Qyz (40 Girls) is a live music/multimedia evening: a legendary Central Asian tale in which a girl gathers a group of 40 young female warriors to vanquish invaders, securing her clan’s freedom. Uzbek filmmaker and composer, featuring live Uzbek female epic reciters and instrumentalists and video projection. It is an ideal vehicle for educational residencies focusing on women’s musical traditions in the Muslim world/epic and oral poetry. Tour window: early March, then will go to BAM. 8-10 performers.
SUBMITTED BY Margaret Lawrence | [email protected] Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College | Hanover, NH
15. RUNNING IN STILLNESSARTIST Marsha Parrilla/Danza Orgánica | danzaorganica.org
Running in Stillness is a dance theater suite based on the impact of mass incarcer-ation on women and our community. Through a close collaboration with formerly incarcerated women and daughters of incarcerated parents, we are creating a project that sheds light on this often-ignored topic. Through this work, we investi-gate the impact that incarceration has on the bodies of incarcerated women, and how this phenomenon spills over through generations.
SUBMITTED BY Marsha Parrilla | [email protected] Danza Orgánica | Boston, MA
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16. VIRAGO MAN DEMARTIST Cynthia Oliver/COCo Dance | cynthiaoliver.com
VPL is seeking presenting partners to present Cynthia Oliver’s newest eve-ning-length dance theater worker, Virago Man Dem. Known for incorporating tex-tures of Caribbean performance with African and American aesthetic sensibilities, Oliver continues this thread and digs into the complexities of the representation of black masculinities through movement, spoken language, and visual design in this new work. Virago Man Dem features scenic design by Afrofuturist graphic novelist John Jennings.
SUBMITTED BY Sara Coffey | [email protected] Vermont Performance Lab | Guilford, VT
17. RITE OF SPRING AND FOLDINGARTIST Shen Wei Dance Arts | shenweidancearts.org
Folding combines traditional Buddhist Mahakala deity chants with ethereal melo-dies of John Tavener. In 2000, Guangdong Modern Dance Company invited Shen Wei to make Folding, his first work with the company since he left China in 1995. During this period he was strongly attached to the simple action of folding: of paper, fabric, flesh - anything.
SUBMITTED BY Ranjanaa Devi | [email protected] Asian Arts & Culture Program, UMass Amherst | Amherst, MA
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m o r e p r o j e c t i d e a s
19. 10 BLOCKS ON THE CAMINO REAL
ARTIST Abibigromma: The National Theatre Company of Ghana
Written in 1947, 10 Blocks relates, in songs, dialog, and dance, how the Ameri-can hero Kilroy enters the pantheon of heroes by losing his innocence. This new production, directed by TWPtown’s David Kaplan, was performed outdoors at marketplaces in Accra, Ghana, in April 2016, and continues to tour in Ghana. Per-formed in English, the production retains Williams’ text yet is specific to Ghanaian culture, and can be presented outdoors and in public spaces. Plans call for a fall 2017 New England tour.
SUBMITTED BY Michael Kellerman | [email protected] Tennessee Williams Theater Festival | Provincetown, MA
20. BEE WEEKS/TO BEE OR NOT TO BEEARTIST Piti Theatre Company | beeweek.org
Bee Weeks are a unique blend of pollinator-inspired arts, science, education and community-building originally launched in collaboration with Maine’s Mahoosuc Arts Council in 2012. Using Piti Theatre’s international touring performance for all ages To Bee or Not to Bee as a base, Bee Weeks use the arts to leverage community and school based activities that move towns toward sustainability and create new alliances between environmental stewards. To Bee or Not to Bee also tours as a stand-alone event.
SUBMITTED BY Jonathan Mirin | [email protected] Piti Theatre Company | Shelburne, MA
21. ENDGAMEARTIST Serious Play Theatre Ensemble | seriousplay.org
The work is the result of a two year examination of Beckett’s play combining puppets with actors. Research on the man and playwright led to dramaturgy that carried into rehearsals, helping us grasp and own the dialogue and imagery. We joined with Sandglass Theater to explore the fusion of acting and puppetry, creating Hamm’s parents in a specific puppet style. Beckett’s ability to mix vitality, imagination, and humor transform him from a generally depicted dispenser of gloom to a relevant dramatic poet.
SUBMITTED BY Sheryl Stoodley | [email protected] Serious Play Theatre Ensemble | Northampton, MA
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22. MYTH AND INFRASTRUCTURE
ARTIST Miwa Matreyek | semihemisphere.com
Miwa Matreyek is a solo artist based in Los Angeles who works in the interdis-ciplinary realm of live performance and media. Coming from a background in animation by way of collage, Miwa creates live, staged performances where her shadowed and statuesque silhouette interacts with her animations. The result is at once theatrical, dreamlike and illusionistic yet physical and tangible. Weaving surreal and poetic narratives of conflict between man and nature, her work makes invisible worlds visible.
SUBMITTED BY Aimée Petrin | [email protected] Portland Ovations | Portland, ME
23. A FAMILIAR SENSE OF SLIPARTIST Passive Aggressive Novelty Company | passiveaggressivenoveltycompany.com
A Familiar Sense of Slip is an interdisciplinary dance “duet” performed by Andy Russ and his video doppelgänger. Counterpointing movement, music, and text, this moving meditation challenges the audience to discover their own perceptual proclivities, asking: “What is more compelling: the media or the immediate?”
SUBMITTED BY Andy Russ | [email protected] Passive Aggressive Novelty Company | Providence, RI
24. A GIFT OF MADNESSARTIST Nancy Knowles | agiftofmadness.com
A Gift of Madness, written and performed by Nancy Knowles, is a solo play with masks and song about two artists, two traumas, and one family’s legacy of laugh-ter. After tragedy, if you dare hope, the rest is strategy. Knowles is a versatile artist who lights up the stage with her ease, presence, and humor. In this autobiograph-ical play she showcases all of her art forms — from playwriting and acting to singing and maskmaking — to transform the utterly personal into the undeniably universal.
SUBMITTED BY Nancy Knowles | [email protected] Gyre Arts | Antrim, NH
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25. AROUNDTOWNARTIST David Dorfman Dance | daviddorfmandance.org
AroundTown, David Dorfman Dance’s latest uplifting work, features their signature movement style, original live music, text, and animated visuals to evoke redemp-tion, joy, hope and our collective humanity. The company offers community out-reach activities and residency options for local dancers and dance departments to join the public performances. We are seeking additional presenting partners to join the Bates Dance Festival and Connecticut College.
SUBMITTED BY Laura Faure | [email protected] Bates Dance Festival | Lewiston, ME
26. AT HOME IN THE CLOUDS ARTIST DanceTheYard (DTY) | dancetheyard.org
At Home in the Clouds is a politically-charged collaborative work based on a non-fiction story written by Alison Weaver, Chief Editor of H.O.W Journal, with musical score by Vineyard composer, Phil Da Rosa. The piece explores themes of abortion, life, death, choice, and love. The dancers shift perspectives between the characters in the text: mother, babies, doctor, allowing the audience to be im-mersed in the many layers of the complex topic.
SUBMITTED BY Jesse Keller | [email protected] The Yard | Chilmark, MA
27. BILLOSOPHY: LIFE ~ CIRCUS ~ DEATHARTIST Bill Forchion | billforchion.com
A one man show involving life and death and circus suitable for all ages. 55 min-utes guaranteed to make you feel. Directed by Peter Gould and performed by Bill Forchion.
SUBMITTED BY Bill Forchion | [email protected] Entertainment | Brattleboro, VT
28. DICKINSON AFTER 2000ARTIST Sonja Tengblad, Eric Neuville, Michelle Schumann | moderndickinson.com
Through music written after 2000, these GRAMMY award-winning artists explore the poetry of Emily Dickinson with a modern lens. This 85-minute, non-stop program shatters the fourth wall and invites you right into Emily’s living room, into a theatrical conversation through her enlightened and fanatically truth-seeking
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words via highly provocative yet accessible music, readings, and improvisations.
SUBMITTED BY Sonja Tengblad | [email protected] After 2000 | Boston, MA
29. ENTANGLINGARTIST ANIKAYA | anikaya.org
Entangling is inspired by quantum entanglement, by which two atoms that are physically separated in space become, for all intents and purposes, one. As we travel, we find ourselves entangled with people around the world. We feel the tug-ging of these invisible connections at all times. This work is a visual embodiment of that feeling and an expression of our underlying reality – we are all inextricably connected to each other. Created by Wendy Jehlen (U.S.) and Lacina Coulibaly (Burkina Faso/U.S.).
SUBMITTED BY Wendy Jehlen | [email protected] ANIKAYA Dance Theater | Somerville, MA
30. FRANKENSTEINARTIST Hampstead Stage Company | hampsteadstage.org
Hampstead Stage Company’s original adaptation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein ex-plores Victor Frankenstein’s maddening journey of creation and failure, with just two actors playing multiple characters. This dark tale comes to life with a spark, revealing the truth behind Dr. Frankenstein’s creation and the irreversible horrors that unfold quickly after. This production of Frankenstein is “alive” and certain to leave you with chills, pondering the question: “Who really is the monster?” Grades 7+.
SUBMITTED BY Jay Pastucha | [email protected] Hampstead Stage Company | Center Barnstead, NH
31. GUMDROPS & THE FUNNY UNCLEARTIST Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion | publicdisplaysofmotion.com
Created as an alternative dance/theatre work about alternative families, Gumdrops first toured with Liz Lerman Dance Exchange. Each annual edition is tailored to host communities. The 2016 edition partners with The Theater Offensive to bring an intergenerational cast of LGTBQ community members performing alongside PDM company, featuring celebrations of being in and on the outside of family circles through stories, dance…and a little drag.
SUBMITTED BY Peter DiMuro | [email protected] Peter DiMuro/Public Displays of Motion | Boston, MA
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32. HOUSE WARMINGARTIST Jesse Hawley/James Stanley | ntusa.org
Staged as a housewarming party – with you as our guests - House Warming uses small talk, show and tell, parlor tricks, and song to explore themes of identity, isolation, and the psychic entropy that takes hold when we close our doors to the outside world. Employing the domestic parlor theatrics of Albee’s Whose Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with the surreal noir aesthetics of Daniel Clowes’ Eightball comics, we invite you to an intimate evening of pleasant conversation and deconstructed realities.
SUBMITTED BY James Stanley | [email protected] Jesse Hawley/James Stanley | Marion, MA
33. HOW THE BODY WORKSARTIST Marvelous Marvin | marvmarv.com
How the Body Works brings to life the wonders and fun of physiology. Included is a six-foot tall house that unfolds to 25 feet wide. Behind each panel is a surprise: human-cell micro-photographs, a giant brain, a chorus of skeletons, a ten-foot tall circulatory system, and an eight-foot blinking nerve cell. Discover the digestive tract! Hear the heart pump! Watch the blood flow! Performed for K-8th graders.
SUBMITTED BY Marvin Novogrodski | [email protected] Marvelous Marvin | East Providence, RI
34. INTERACTIONARTIST Thread Ensemble | threadensemble.com
Boston-based Thread Ensemble curates an interactive performance of music cre-ated on-the-spot, engaging audience members to incorporate their creativity and personal experiences. Audiences will get to taste the creative process and discover the connecting strands [threads] between improvised music and daily life. Thread Ensemble is Andria Nicodemou (vibraphone/percussion) with Rachel Panitch and Abigale Reisman (violins).
SUBMITTED BY Rachel Panitch | [email protected] Thread Ensemble | Jamaica Plain, MA
35. INVISIBLE: IMPRINTS OF RACISM
ARTIST Anna Myer and Dancers | beheard.world
Invisible: Imprints of Racism is a mixed genre performance that utilizes modern and hip hop dancers who combine with three poets to plumb the emotional issues of race in urban America. Under the directorial leadership of choreographer Anna
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Myer and playwright Jay Paris, the performance explores the difficult parameters of what divides us but also what is available beyond anger and victimization to what we share in common. The piece is followed by a facilitated discussion.
SUBMITTED BY Anna Myer | [email protected] Anna Myer and Dancers | Cambridge, MA
36. THE HISTORY OF YOUR (MILL) TOWNARTIST Piti Theatre Company | ptco.org/milltown
In response to a request for a new play with music about the history of Colrain, MA, Piti Theatre created a dramatic framework and original songs that can be adapted to any New England mill town. The new script, DVD of the performance, and town-specific songs become resources for local schools, historical societies and museums. This residency format is designed for a mixed ages cast drawn from the community and/or schools who perform with Piti’s two actors and musician.
SUBMITTED BY Jonathan Mirin | [email protected] Piti Theatre Company | Shelburne, MA
37. JAZZ SAMARITAN ALLIANCEARTIST Jazz Samaritan Alliance | resonantmotion.org
This collective, featuring respected New England jazz educators Jimmy Greene (Western Connecticut State University), Kris Allen (Williams College), and pianist Noah Baerman (Wesleyan University), was formed to create and present socially conscious original music. Their existing repertoire is augmented by event-specific works composed by the group’s members to address a social issue chosen in con-sort with the presenter, often collaborating with one or more relevant local charity.
SUBMITTED BY Noah Baerman | [email protected] Resonant Motion, Inc. | Middletown, CT
38. JAZZ UP CLOSEARTIST Noah Baerman Trio | noahjazz.com
Jazz Up Close is part concert, part interactive dialogue. The core belief is that audiences can absorb the soul and beauty of jazz even better when given a point of entry. The music is not watered down, but songs intersperse with discussions of process and questions from the audience. This can be in lieu of a more traditional concert or an “add-on,” and the Trio often serves as a “house band” for renowned guest artists who perform their original music and discuss their own unique pro-cesses.
SUBMITTED BY Noah Baerman | [email protected] Resonant Motion, Inc. | Middletown, CT
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39. JESSICA LANG DANCEARTIST Jessica Lang Dance | jessicalangdance.com
Bessie award-winner Jessica Lang is one of the day’s most important choreogra-phers. She is also one of the hardest working; she’s created more than 90 works on companies worldwide since 1999. Her work is lush, lyrical, and highly visual. In addition to technique masterclasses and creative workshops for non-dancers, her company can lead large-scale community residencies setting work on local dance students who then perform in the evening program.
SUBMITTED BY Aimée Petrin | [email protected] Portland Ovations | Portland, ME
40. JOYARTIST ANIKAYA/Multicorps | anikaya.org
Joy is a collaboration between choreographers/dancers Wendy Jehlen (U.S.) and Marcel Gbeffa (Benin). Joy is a carefully constructed ritual, drawing on practices from Benin, India, Turkey, Latvia, and others. The result is a pulsing, driving, mes-merizing hour-long journey. The performance is accompanied by workshops that introduce participants to the elements of the ritual, and prepare them to partici-pate in the cleansing of the space that begins each performance of the ritual.
SUBMITTED BY Wendy Jehlen | [email protected] Dance Theater | Somerville, MA
41. LUCIANA SOUZA TRIO IN CONCERTARTIST Luciana Souza Trio with guitarist Romero Lubambo and percussionist Cyro Baptista | http://www.unlimitedmyles.com/artist-luciana-souza
Renowned for her singular interpretations of the bossa nova repertoire and her intimate, effective vocals, Grammy Awardee Luciana Souza is one of jazz’s leading vocalists, transcending stylistic boundaries. In 2017-18, Luciana reassembles her acclaimed trio with Brazilian colleagues, guitarist Romero Lubambo and percus-sionist Cyro Baptista. With bossa nova classics alongside her original compo-sitions, the trio explores a wealth of repertoire from intimate pieces to electric, virtuosic displays.
SUBMITTED BY Isabel Fine | [email protected] College Concert Series | Wellesley, MA
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42. THE ODYSSEYARTIST Sonia Plumb Dance Company | soniaplumbdance.org
Homer’s ancient 24-hour oratory takes vivid form in this one-hour modern dance, multi-media concert featuring an original “rock ilk” score. Underwater film scenes transport us to an otherworld where the struggles and temptations of Odysseus lie. Dancers breathe life into dozens of mythological characters and creatures. This innovative retelling sparks the memory and the imagination. We explore how ancient struggles align with contemporary struggles. Pre-concert panelists and study guides available.
SUBMITTED BY Michelle Serra | [email protected] Plumb Dance Company | Hartford, CT
43. THE ONE-MAN CIRCUS IN-A-SUITCASEARTIST Circus Minimus | circusminimus.com/wp/
The One-Man Circus in-a-Suitcase gives everyone an opportunity to participate in an enthralling, whimsical celebration of the imagination. This show has been performed around the globe for family theater audiences and school assemblies alike. From Kevin O’Keefe’s suitcase an entire circus emerges. Each performance becomes a dialogue, a light-hearted collaboration, between the characters and the audience.
SUBMITTED BY Kevin O’Keefe | [email protected] Minimus | Brattleboro, VT
44. THE OPULENCE OF INTEGRITYARTIST Christal Brown/Inspirit | christalbrown.com
Opulence is Brown’s first work utilizing an all-male cast. This 55 minute work in-cludes choreography, a mixed sound score, projection, and text by Muhammad Ali. The work is an exploration of the homogeneous inner struggle for identity for men of color in the U.S. Using the life and legacy of Muhammad Ali as an archetype, it takes an intimate look at the trappings that continually prohibit freedom. We are looking for additional presenting partners for this timely work.
SUBMITTED BY Laura Faure | [email protected] Bates Dance Festival | Lewiston, ME
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45. PARtARTIST ali kenner brodsky | alikennerbrodsky.com
Choreographer Ali Kenner Brodsky and musician MorganEve Swain collaborate to present PARt, a multifaceted performance piece of dance, music, and art. PARt is reflecting on memories in and amongst movements, music, and visual landscapes. Swain and Kenner Brodsky both create raw, emotional material, pulled from experience in loss and growth. Music and dance flow alongside each other as two working parts of a larger machine. Also contributing to PARt is visual artist Cyrus Highsmith.
SUBMITTED BY Ali Kenner Brodsky | [email protected] ali kenner brodsky & co. | Dartmouth, MA
46. PRADHANICAARTIST Pradhanica | pradhanica.com
Dizzying spins, fast-paced footwork, immersive emotions, and dynamic drumming come together in this accessible presentation of the Indian classical dance form of Kathak. Named for “female head” in Pradhanica, choreographer, percussionist, and solo dancer Jin Won demonstrates her mastery over rhythm, leading an ensem-ble of world drums and sitar. She collaborates with Indian music maestro Pandit Divyang Vakil to explore the sonic and narrative possibilities of rhythm in emotions and movement.
SUBMITTED BY Heena Patel | [email protected] MELA Agency | Edison, NJ
47. RADICALS IN MINIATURE: LAST PEOPLE I KNOWARTIST Ain Gordon/Pick Up Performance Co(s) | pickupperformanceco.org
Radicals in Miniature: Last People I Know is an interdisciplinary performance that conjures many of the overlooked players whose vitality helped shape urban creativity in the ‘70’s and ‘80’s but who lost their toehold on immortality or were forgotten. Together onstage, Ain Gordon and Josh Quillen talk, sing, laugh, play music, show pictures, interrogate, and partner; pairing a gay and straight man of different generations to theatrically annotate our cultural record via alternative requiems.
SUBMITTED BY Sara Coffey | [email protected] Performance Lab | Guilford, VT
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48. RAINING ALUMINUMARTIST theatre KAPOW | tkapow.com
This brand new devised piece weaves together the parallel storylines of the 1917 explosion in Halifax Harbor (and the corresponding American relief efforts) and refugee stories from Operation Yellow Ribbon (the Canadian response to the terrorist attacks on 9/11). Raining Aluminum explores tremendous instances of gratitude and the resilience and fragility of human spirit. For this project, theatre KAPOW is collaborating with Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre and PEI fiddler Cynthia MacLeod.
SUBMITTED BY Peter Josephson | [email protected] theatre KAPOW | Manchester, NH
49. ROOMFUL OF TEETHARTIST Roomful of Teeth | roomfulofteeth.org
Ovations is in conversation with the award-winning vocal ensemble Roomful of Teeth to build a program that engages a local composer to create a new work for the ensemble and a local choir, specifically a Portland-based international youth ensemble. There is interest in building this into a regional project that connects choral groups, diverse communities, and New England-based composers. Excellent community outreach opportunities.
SUBMITTED BY Aimée Petrin | [email protected] Portland Ovations | Portland, ME
50. SNAKE AND LADDERARTIST Navarasa Dance Theater
Navarasa is a pioneering South Asian American Dance Theater. Snake and Ladder inspired by Bergman’s film The Seventh Seal, is created by Aparna Sindhoor, Anil Natyaveda, and S M Raju with composer Isaac Thomas and designer Miranda Giurelo. DEATH comes to take the lives of a prince and an artist. Prince plays with DEATH. Snake and Ladder is an ancient Indian game marking the journey of soul through good-evil into enlightenment. The show addresses issues of war and PTSD, but also about art and hope.
SUBMITTED BY Aparna Sindhoor | [email protected] Navarasa Dance Theater | Somerville, MA
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51. SPEAKARTIST SPEAK Dance | theleelainstitute.org/speak
SPEAK brings together Indian Kathak dance and American tap dance in a collab-oration that spotlights rhythm, storytelling, music, and dance. SPEAK features Kathak artists Rachna Nivas and Rina Mehta, tap artists Michelle Dorrance and Dormeshia Sumbry-Edwards, and music composition by Jayanta Banerjee and Allison Miller. It celebrates the legacies of these unique and contrasting forms of expression and forefronts the voices of prominent female artists, all active soloists in their own right.
SUBMITTED BY Shannon Mayers | [email protected] Redfern Arts Center at Keene State College | Keene, NH
52. STORIES FROM THE MAHABHARATAARTIST ShadowLight Productions | shadowlight.org
Wayang Kulit (Balinese shadow puppets) with live Indonesian gongs and drums will relate the stories from the epic Mahabharata. Larry Reed is the foremost pup-peteer today for his ingenious shadow casting method which integrates traditional shadow theater techniques with contemporary cinematic effects. Accompanying him will be two musicians from Indonesia.
SUBMITTED BY Ranjanaa Devi | [email protected] Asian Arts & Culture Program, UMass Amherst | Amherst, MA
53. YMUSICARTIST yMusic | ymusicensemble.com
Hailed by NPR as a group that has “helped to shape the future of classical mu-sic,” yMusic is an ensemble of six NYC musicians that seamlessly bridge indie, pop, and classical music. A unique configuration of string trio, flute, clarinet, and trumpet inspires an ever expanding repertoire created by today’s most noted com-posers. They’ve collaborated or have projects in the works with Ben Folds, Dirty Projectors, Nico Muhly, Bill T. Jones, Chris Thile. “Great technique MC” and “biz of music” workshops can accompany a performance(s).
SUBMITTED BY Aimée Petrin | [email protected] Portland Ovations | Portland, ME
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NEFA’s Expeditions program is made possible with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, with additional support from the six New England state arts agencies.
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Explore Graduate Study in Performance Curation at Wesleyan UniversityThe Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance (ICPP) is the first institute of its kind, a center for the academic study of the presentation and contextualization of contemporary performance. Distinct from graduate programs in Curatorial Studies, Arts Administration, Performance Studies, and the Humanities, ICPP offers its students a graduate-level education in curatorial approaches to developing and presenting contemporary dance, theater, and other time-based art.
The Master of Arts is a two-year, low residency program for emerging curators to enrich their understanding of intellectually rigorous, innovative and artist-centered curatorial models through substantive critical writing and field practicum projects. ICPP encourages curators, field professionals, and artists from all backgrounds to apply.
APPLYThe deadline for submitting all application materials is February 1, 2017. Applications and financial aid information are available online at www.wesleyan.edu/icpp/apply.html.
For further information, visit our website or email [email protected].
Image: Summer 2016 session with Faye Driscoll and current ICPP students (Photo: Brendan Plake)
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The New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA) invests in the arts to enrich communities in New England and beyond. NEFA accomplishes this by granting funds to artists and cultural organizations; connecting them to each other and their audiences; and analyzing their economic contributions. NEFA serves as a regional partner for the National Endowment for the Arts, New England’s state arts agencies, and private foundations.