Benefit Party for American-Croatian exchange! Saturday May 31!
From: grodic@hotmail.com
To: letters@croatianworld.net
Benefit Party for American-Croatian exchange! Saturday May 31!
BrokenOpenHeart Productions is having a benefit party on Saturday May 31
hosted by Artistic Director gNatalie Rodic
in association with chashama
@ chashama Theatre
135 W.42nd Street (b/w Broadway and 6th Ave.) NYC
8pm -late nite $10 donation at the door
Free Snacks, Cheap Drinks, plenty of entertainment
Live Music! Bands including: Artanker's Convoy, Katie Down & Co. will play
songs from Croatia and other parts of Eastern Europe, and many more
Live Performances by: Timothy Speed Levitch, Khemali Murray, and Ambrose
Martos (Hopeful to have some live folk dance and music of Croatia. This is still
undetermined at the moment, this was the original concept of the party.)
This party is to raise funds for BrokenOpenHeart's latest project:
Building Bridges
Op-ed
Not confirmed, but Klapa Astoria might be performing. Call or email Nataliefor details.
NB
Current Project: Building Bridges
European Tour 2003 & Documentary Film
**Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, and Kosovo**
The purpose of this project is to shed light on the American predicament
while working with artists from the former Yugoslavia to make connections
based on their experiences of war, life, love, and the rebuilding process.
Workshop Goals:
Aid artists in building new works of theatre and dance by
presenting a construct and a floor plan in which to develop
Present a platform for their own creative uniqueness and draw
comparisons and likeness between different cultures
Expand theatre into public venues, creating site-specific and
spontaneous work
Encourage the involvement of the audience into the piece in order
to reveal each human’s creative potential
1. The workshops will focus on the theme of:
Exploring one’s identity in association with place: from our
birthplace to our current home. And furthermore, how we relate to our ancestry.
Exploring the concept of home and wanderlust.
Exploring our own personal history along with our collective
national history and how that contributes to how we identify ourselves in a
global sense.
2. In addition to the workshops, BOHP will be seeking venues for performing
a new theatre piece developed by and based on the same theme and technique
as the workshop. This show will be developed and performed by members of
BOHP, and will be open to evolve as
3. The workshops, travel adventures, and cultural reflections will culminate
into a professional high-quality documentary film aimed at wide audiences on
the festival circuit in America and Europe.
BROKEN OPEN HEART PRODUCTIONS
..........more about our company..............
As a fresh young artist’s collective based in New York City we are
seeking to create fresh new works of theatres, mixing media, and exploring
new avenues of creative expression. We know performance is a medium in
which evolution may occur, and understanding can spread like wildfire.
The basis of BrokenOpenHeart Production’s work is storytelling through
the physical life of the character. Character development is based on
pre-existing aspects of the performer, which are uncovered through breath
work, physical exploration, and various techniques based on play and
structured improvisation. For each performer to access his or her very own
unique virtuosity, to shed light on pertinent issues, and to expand the
boundaries and definition of experimental theatre is our goal for creating
new works of theatre and dance.
Deep-sea diving into our selves, we discover unique traits which we can lend
to a universal theme, inspiring others to create freely and spontaneously.
We transform the definition of audience from spectator to participant by
inviting them to join in the spontaneity of performance. Through this we
give everyone an opportunity to discover his or her own human potential.
Currently artists-in-residence at chashama, Inc., an experimental theatre in
Times Square, in the heart of New York City, we have produced various new
works of theatre, dance, and video projects.
If you are interested in the project, want to help, contribute, join our
network of artists striving for peace and cross-cultural understanding:
Please email: brokenopenheart@yahoo.com
CONTRIBUTING COMPANY MEMBERS BIOGRAPHIES:
gNatalieRodic (Artistic/ManagingDirector,BrokenOpenHeartProductions) bills herself as a Renaissance woman, spending her time as a producer/ arts administrator, actor, dancer, singer, clown, commedienne, writer, teacher, student, and director. She calls New York City and Croatia home at this point in her life. Born and raised in Texas and abroad, she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Texas st Austin in 1999. In Austin she performed in several regional theatres. She was a founding member of Shirk Workers Union, appearing bi-weekly from 1997-1999 in the Maple Surple Variety Show in bars, clubs, and various public venues and various non-conventional theatre spaces. She became renowned for her burlesque/ vaudeville numbers including The Butterfly Girls with Aimee McCormick. She produced, directed, wrote, and starred in various one-woman and ensemble shows, including Another Evening with Dottie P. which one Austin Chronicle’s Top 9 Shows of 1999. She also won Frontera Fest Best of the Fest 1998 for her one-woman show based on Henry Miller’s writings.
Since moving to New York in 2000, she has studied with and worked with the SITI Company and Ann Bogart at Skidmore College on The War of the Worlds. She has performed at Columbia University’s Miller Theatre & Horace Mann including Power of the Dog directed by Jay Scheib. She has collaborated with Barbara Vann (Founder of the Open Theatre and Medicine Show) on Shakespeare/ Porter in 2001. She is currently performing with Ms.Vann in The Devil with Boobs, a newly translated Dario Fo play.
gNatalie is AIR [Performing Artist in Residence] @ Chashama Theatre in NYC. She co-curated, assistant-produced and performed in the immense Oasis Festival on 42nd Street in 2002. BOHP in association with Chashama produced the Soapbox Syndrome in 2001, and In & Out in 2002. In & Out was performed in Belgium, Slovenia, and Croatia in Summer 2002. gNatalie has also appeared at Chashama main space with Happy Hour Productions’ smash hit: Shakespeare’s Macbeth as Clown/Witch #2. She has appeared @ Chashama (and in the DUMBO Dance Festival) as a company member of Robideaux/ Plessus Dnace Co.’s: I Forgot to Breathe.
gNatalie currently teaches Creative Movement to children, & Modern Dance, Acting and Clowning, and Hatha Yoga to adults.
KATIE DOWN, born in New York and raised in Berkeley, California, is a composer, performer, and sound artist who has created and performed numerous sound scores for theatre, dance, multi-media events and installations. Katie uses unusual and homemade instruments and found sounds she collects throughout her travels to create and compose original sound collages, sound scores and compositions. She is a multi-instrumentalist (flute, percussion, guitar, didgeridoo, recorder, pennywhistle, voice, and ukulele). She also works with children on improvisation and artistic exploration of body, voice and other instruments and has co-produced a CD with composer Dave Soldier of free improvisation with kids ages 2–9 titled “Aliens Took My Mom!” on Mulatta Records. Her work with children continues to influence her playing and composing.
(for A GIRL JOAN)
a cunning composer producing a remarkable array of sounds.”
-Back Stage.
“The impact of the words and deeds was heightened by a score by Katie Down.”
- NY Times.
(for VISION WHISPER)
“the degree to which the images and sounds mirrored each other and were integrated were equally remarkable – their collaboration succeeded splendidly, pointing the way for further explorations of the innate relationship between color and form, rhythm and sound”
– Gallery and Studio
Original music and sound for theatre, dance and installation includes: HENRY VI, pts. I,II,III (Judith Shakespeare Co. Jose Quintero Theatre); THE TROJAN WOMEN (Fordham, University); VISION WHISPER (chashama gallery, NY); THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE: (NYU Graduate Acting Program); WITHOUT SENTIENCE (commission - Kansas State Dept. of Dance); THE HOLY MOTHER OF HADLEY, NY (Ohio Theatre, NY); THE SECRET OF STEEP RAVINES (PS 122, Ohio Theatre, Clark Studio Theatre, Lincoln Center, NY); DUSK (HERE, NY); SHEVA B’RAHOT with Tap Fusion (Duke on 42nd, WAX, University Settlement, NY); THE HOUSE NOT TOUCHED (Ko Festival Works; Boston Center for the Arts); LYSISTRATA (Artist in Residence at Mt. Holyoke College, MA); THE TIBETAN BOOK OF THE DEAD by Jean-Claude van Itallie (Pilgrim Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts); CNTRL. ALT. DEL. (Joyce SoHo, NY); OUTSIDER (Danspace at St. Mark’s, NY); OASIS (chashama, NY); A GIRL JOAN (HERE, DTW, New York Theatre Workshop, Present Company Theatorium, Miranda Theatre, NY); LETTERS FROM SARAJEVO with Pilgrim Theatre (Boston Center for the Arts); THE MIRACLE WORKER (Chappaqua Playhouse); THE THREE SISTERS (Equity Library Theatre, NY); HEDDA GABLER (King's Head Theatre, London). Katie performs throughout the Northeast in a wide variety of musical genres including jazz, classical, Irish, Balkan, and Sephardic music and with “Liquid Ensemble”, a free improvisation quintet based in NYC. www.liquidensemble.com E-mail: glassmusic@erols.com
KIM JACKSON
Film and Professional Bio
Kim Jackson began her production career in 1988. From TV and film work in LA to web and corporate entertainment in Boston, Kim has brought her conceptual and producing talents to many projects. While at Disney, Kim worked on ABC’s "Once and Again", where she facilitated relationships and contracts with
nationally known talent. Her work with Comedy Central star Jonathan Katz began last year, producing a 1/2 - hour sitcom pilot and a feature film project for his production company Albion. Other producing work includes corporate stage shows for Emmy Award winning talent, and consulting and producing events ranging from golf tournaments to charitable functions and Independent Film premieres. Her recent film credits include Sidewalk, winner of the Avid Post-Production Award, currently considering it's distribution options and Black and Blue currently in post-production. She is the former Director Education at the Boston Film and Video Foundation and taught an undergraduate Film Industry course at Boston University this past
year. Kim is currently the Director of Programs for Writers Boot Camp in New York City. You can reach Kim via her website at, www.KimJackson.com.
Dance Biography
Kim has been studying dance and performing since the age of 5. Her training includes studying with Mary Lou Gramacke and Gary Weeks with whom she won several national awards in Modern, Jazz, Tap and Partner Dance. She's danced with several troupes in Chicago, studying with Bonnie Lindholm and Gus Girodano performing in several regional competitions. Kim's choreography work includes several performances and showcases in Chicago, Boston and LA.
Kim has studied and performed Butoh with Jennifer Hicks in Cambridge
Massachusetts and is currently pursuing a diverse repertoire of classes in New York. Kim has also been practicing and teaching Hatha yoga for 5 years, studying in LA and teaching in Boston at the Rhowes Wharf Health and Spa and YMCA.
Anita Durst is a founding member and President of Chashama, Inc., with whom she has produced, co-produced and presented over 20 productions since 1995. In 1988 she co-produced Krapp’s Last Tape and Crowbar with Anne Hamburger and En Garde Arts. She then assisted Peter Askin with the production of Mambo Mouth and the restoration of the West Side Theatre. She was a founding member of Reza Abdoh’s Dar A Luz company, with whom she co-produced Tight Right White and Law of Remains and acted in numerous plays. In 2000 Anita acted in and produced her first Off-Broadway show The Bitter Tears of Petra Van Kant at Henry Miller’s Theater. She received a Drama Desk nomination for her role in this show. Anita’s passion lies in teaching Children’s Theater. She has conducted workshops with Saint Mary’s After School Program and P.S. 211 as well as ones with at-risk youth groups at Spofford Juvenile Detention Center, Convent Family Living Center and Safe Space.
Rick Kariolic is originally from Chicago and is now working in New York City as a model, actor, clown, photographer and film-maker. He is an AIR @ Chashama Theatre and a co-founder of The Sillies.
**************************************************************************************
WORKSHOP OBJECTIVES
*To create an original piece of performance art based on the themes of community, identity and geography.
WORKSHOP OUTLINE (1 day)
*WARM UP-30 minutes Interactive Yoga designed and led by gNatalie Rodic (Certified Instructor)
*Center and relax the body
*Develop mind/body coordination
*Generate an awareness of breath
*Develop greater sensory and kinesthetic awareness
*Vocal Warm-up and improvisation led by Katie Down
BRAINSTORMING/ WRITING-60 minutes designed and led by Company
*Generate original written material thematically related to social identity, ethnicity, community and geography
*To distinguish which elements are unique to the
group from those that are universal
*Develop a storyboard
STORY PHYSICALIZATION- 150 minutes designed and led by Anita Durst, gNatalie Rodic, Rick Kariolic & Katie Down (music)
*Physical Theatre games, improvisation sessions, & Viewpointing sessions along w/music
*Introduce and teach the principals of ensemble through contact
*Integrate the principals of ensemble with the storyboard generated through the brainstorming/writing session
*Divide students into groups
*Aid and encourage students to choose one or several forms or mediums for performance, or to create their own, based on various structures & rules
*Direct and aid in the dramatization of the written material to produce an original piece
PERFORMANCE & DISCUSSION- 60 minutes
*Students perform their three to seven minute work (each day, adding on, including music)
*Group discussion of work and showing
*VIDEOTAPING & DOCUMENTING
Workshop sessions, travel experiences, and individual artist interviews to culminate into a professional, high-quality document
