October 16, 2007

Intermission

As I prepare to fly off to Italy for a few weeks, a pause to reflect on Body and Soul's past and contemplate its future. 'Til November, then! Ciao!

Please listen to my audio message.

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October 12, 2007

Interview with Dalia Carella

Dalia Carella is one of those bold, glamorous, old-school entertainers clearly born to rule the stage. And she's a serious creative artist whose painstaking approach to the dances of diverse cultures has been shaped by mentors of notable integrity. Now she has joined the faculty of Dance New Amsterdam, where I spoke with her about her career and her pioneering involvement in DNA's Performance Project. She's introducing students to the rich music and dance traditions of the Near and Middle East and the Maghreb. Her four-week workshop will culminate in a new piece to be performed by her students along with works by other DNA faculty members, October 26-28. Get the details at DNA.

(The following audio interview was recorded live and on location at Dance New Amsterdam. In the process, we picked-up some of the sounds of the city including the sirens in the opening seconds.)

Listen to interview with Dalia Carella (MP3 - 38 minutes)

Dalia Carella Bio

Dalia Carella is a world-renowned Near/Middle Eastern Contemporary Dancer, Choreographer, Instructress and Global Fusion Artist. Audiences from around the world have applauded her mystical and innovative dances and choreographies that are taken from the tradition of the countries she is representing. Ms. Carella has delved deeply in the studies of dances from the Near and Middle East including Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, as well as North Africa including Morocco and Algeria. Her dances are both traditional and contemporary with a spiritual essence behind each and every movement that she creates. Some of Ms. Carella's new works represent both traditional and contemporary movement and range from sacred rituals to ethnic contemporary theater pieces and cabaret macabre inspired by the 1920s and '30s.

Her dance background also includes studies in Flamenco, Indian/Bollywood/Bhangra, African, Samba, Salsa, Bomba and Plena from Puerto Rico as well as jazz and ballet. Ms. Carella also created her signature dance form in 1985, "Dunyavi Gypsy (Roma) Dance," for which she is known throughout the world. The core of Dalia's Dunyavi work is extensive research of the Romany trail, focusing primarily on the Roma dances of Spain, India, Turkey and most recently, movements from North Africa. Dalia has also been performing and teaching a second style of Gypsy Rom dance, "El Mundo," that is evolving from her continuing studies of Middle Eastern, Andalusia and Latin dance influences. Continue reading...

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October 10, 2007

Interview with Jen Abrams

When my "half-hour" interview with dancer-choreographer Jen Abrams concluded, we were amused to see that it had actually lasted a full hour! But that's what it takes to tell even part of the story of her work with the WOW Cafe Theater collective, an historic and essential part of the still-hearty cultural abundance of Manhattan's rapidly-changing East Village. Listening to Jen talk about her background in contact improvisation, I discovered a fascinating connection between contact improvisation and the "open source," grassroots nature of WOW. Her intensity and strength as an artist working in dance, theater and poetry are more than matched by the tenacity of this theater collective and space that she so clearly loves.

Listen to audio interview with Jen Abrams (MP3 - 60 Minutes)

"Other Voices - Eva Yaa Asantewaa talks to lesbian choreographers Jen Abrams and Pat Catterson" in The Village Voice.

Jen Abrams' Bio

Jen Abrams' work has been presented at BAX, HERE, Dixon Place, the Nuyorican Poets Café, and the Bowery Poetry Club, as well as at WOW Café Theater, where she has been an active member for seven years. She has produced three full-length concerts of her own work at WOW: Itch (2000), Saturn Return (2001), and Surfacing (2002), as well as two shared bill evenings: As I Was Saying (2004, with Risa Jaroslow and Eva Lawrence) and Asunder (2006 with Clarinda Mac Low and Tara O'Con.). She was a 2005 BAX space grantee, and is co-curator and co-producer with Sally Silvers of TalkTalk WalkWalk, an annual poetry and dance festival. Her choreographic work has also been seen at WOW in the stage plays The Skriker by Caryl Churchill, All Eyes, All Sides - Beckett One Acts, Naomi Wallace's Slaughter City, and Moira Cutler's MetaMeshugenaMorphosis and Sonofabitch Stew, all with Dogsbody Theater. The Village Voice has called her work "quintessentially New York," and her performances "convincing no matter what [she chooses] to do." Continue reading...

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October 2, 2007

Interview with Fran Kirmser

When you need to look at the arts from a lot of different angles, it's helpful to have someone like the versatile Fran Kirmser in your corner. I spoke with Fran last Friday about the many roles she has played in her distinguished career as a performer, choreographer, theater producer, master fundraiser, a consultant to dance and theater companies, and a founder of Manhattan Theatre Source. This radiant, seemingly tireless advocate of dance and theater has a grand vision and the practical tools to back it up, and she'll be sharing her expertise with artists in a series of workshops this fall at The Field.

Listen to interview with Fran Kirmser (MP3 - 30 minutes)

Fran Kirmser Bio

Fran Kirmser has worked for over twelve years, producing, promoting and fundraising for dance and theater. Collectively she has raised millions of dollars in institutional funding and corporate sponsorships for hundreds of companies. She has held positions in Development, Public Relations, Management, or Booking and Representation with the following organizations: Lincoln Center Avery Fisher Hall, Doug Varone and Dancers, Sandra Cameron Dance Center, Pentacle. She is a founder of Manhattan Theatre Source where she served as Producing Artistic Director. Fran produced August Wilson's Radio Golf on Broadway, nominated for four Tony Awards. Recently she founded Made to Move, Inc.--a non-profit dedicated to the advancement of public knowledge of the art of dance and theater and co-created and produced the commercial musical SIDD based on the novel "Siddhartha" by Hermann Hesse. Additionally Fran has worked on the development of new theatrical works with Circle in the Square Repertory Theater and Musical Theatre Works among others. She is a graduate of Skidmore College with continuing education at NYU Tisch School of Dance and Columbia University.

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