LRP in 2018!

Another solid year of art/community-making that LRP had the privilege of capturing - THANK YOU to our amazing team - Jenny Chu, Jacob Marks, Rachel Marks and Rebecca Chun - for helping make this happen!

EchoTheaterSuitcase

LRP had the privilege of working with artist and director Krista DeNio to produce a short film about her project EchoTheaterSuitcase (formerly the CONTACT project) which brings together mixed ensembles of veterans of war and military service with non-veteran civilians in various communities/cities, to co-create audience-interactive performance installations.

This film captures what the project is about and the positive impact it has had on veterans and non-veterans involved in the project alike. As Krista herself says at the end of the film,

"rather than being passive as we often are in feeling like the war is over there [somewhere else] - the military is not part of us (if we're not participating in it directly) - that actually we DO have a responsibility, we ARE directly involved. And what IS our responsibility in the process in healing our society?"

Very powerful and important work - please have a look and share!

DeNio and her collaborators are continuing to refine the project working model, with contributions from each community/ensemble. They will continue serving multiple communities, nationally. For more information: kristadenio.com/echotheatersuitcase/

Venue and Event Production Credits:

Canal Gallery, Holyoke Massachusets

CounterPulse as part of the ARC Program

Deirdre Visser / Arts @ CIIS

Department of Theater and Dance, UC Davis

foolsFURY on diaspora

Deborah Eliezer wrote and performed (dis)Place[d] as a reflection about the complexities of identity as a creation of foolsFURY Theater Company. Here's a snipped of her words to contextualize this video: Who has the right to tell stories? In 2008, my father was invited to give his oral history to the National Holocaust Organization. There are two hours of video of my father’s story, one he never spoke about with us kids. It took me 8 years to finally sit down and watch it, because some part of me understood that once I heard the stories, I would be responsible for asking more questions. (dis)Place[d] is my way of grappling with those questions about my own identity through an artistic conversation with my (recently deceased) father.

I grew up thinking I would never be allowed to visit the place my father’s birthplace. Aba never taught me Arabic, and we didn’t speak Hebrew together until I went to live in Israel during college. When he finally sent me a letter while I was on kibbutz in answer to some questions about his kibbutz life, he wrote it in Hebrew which my Hebrew teacher translated for me.

What is the price of forgetting? The Jewish people and the land of Iraq no longer exist, save in the hearts of the diaspora. What was once a thriving culture within a culture is now no longer. We can say that of many peoples. When you displace a people from a place, the voices vanish, too. Iraqi Jews spoke their own Arabic dialect that included Iraqi Arabic, Hebrew, Aramaic, Persian, and Turkish words. They had their own style of liturgical chanting—a beautiful, soulful style which was passed on from one generation to another.

Today, one language dies every 14 days. By the next century nearly half of the roughly 7,000 languages spoken on Earth will likely disappear. Yet many peoples continue to survive without living on the land that binds their identity. The diasporic heart is united by memory, ideas, food, stories and history, the aspirations of our ancestors. The present, while recognized or not, is moving forward only in reference to it. And the land keeps calling.

Iraq was home to the largest and oldest Jewish diaspora, dating back 2500 years. Jews were highly educated, and integrated in Iraqi society. In the early 20th century, 130,000 Jews lived in Iraq, 50% of them in Baghdad. Most left for Israel in a mass exodus forced by the Iraqi government and largely motivated by growing growing anti-semitism in WWII, and the mounting support for the creation of the state of Israel, which came into being in 1948. My father fled Baghdad in 1949, was caught on the Iran-Iraq border and lived in a concentration camp for 2 years, before finally reaching Israel. Today there are fewer than 10 Jews that now live in Iraq.

What are the politics of language and place? A Jew is a Jew is a Jew, right? The predominant perception of Jews in America is that they are from Eastern Europe however there are actually 3 major diasporas (or “dispersions”) of Jews that left ancient Israel based on their migratory tie to the land: Ashkenazis in Eastern Europe who speak a mix of Hebrew and German called Yiddish, Sephardis in Spain and North Africa who speak a mix of Hebrew and Spanish called Ladino, and Mizrahi (or Middle Eastern,) who speak Hebrew, Arabic, Farsi and many other Jewish dialects specific to each country. Iraqi Jews spoke a dialect that was written in Hebrew but spoken Arabic.

What do I claim? This play is a reflection of the complexity of identity in today’s world. It is a journey of map-finding, heart searching and claiming both the light and shadow of who I am.

It is my hope that this play will spark conversations and inspire others to share their stories. I welcome hearing about what you received from the piece and what it sparked in you.

written and performed by Deborah Eliezer

directed by Ben Yalom

camera: Rachel Marks and Jacob Marks

"Ancient Children" for justice and healing

We are so excited to share this promo video we shot and edited for long time client, Embodiment Project. EP's latest work, "Ancient Children", is inspired by  Shakti Butler's film "Healing Justice" about how restorative justice can disrupt the school to prison pipeline. Artistic Director, Nicole Klaymoon, and her dancer collaborators talk about how they brought forth their own stories and also embody those of others to make this powerful piece. "Ancient Children" previews throughout the west coast in the upcoming months and premieres at ODC in June 2018.

Music: Tama Waipara - Pacifika (Cecil Beatdown)

Camera: Jenny Chu

Dancing and Perceiving with Cunningham and Curtis

Leading UK disabled artist Claire Cunningham and international choreographer and performer Jess Curtis' "The Way You Look (At Me) Tonight" grapples with questions of how we perceive each other and the world around us. With dancing, singing, story telling, music, and video, this work is a living, philosophical and sensorial audience-engaged experience. Performed at CounterPulse. Here's an example of how we used a full show 2-camera edit to make both a quick sizzle reel and also a more in depth 5min. highlight edit for promotional and portfolio purposes:

Philosophical consultation by Alva Noe

Video by Yoann Trellu

Music by Mathias Herrmann

Texts by Claire Cunningham, Jess Curtis, and Alva Noe

Faith Material Activism

FAITH MATERIAL: ACTIVISM performed at CounterPulse, is a body- and object-bed performance about the urgent importance of believing in things that cannot be proven. The work utilizes physical practices of mediumship, ontological re-animation of objects, and full expression of faith to present a number of intimate domestic scenes of queer solitude-turned-futurism. Jesse Hewit's work is clearly influenced by Haraway’s “new materialism” politics, by the queer re-imagining/survival project of Pee Wee’s Playhouse, and by the creative faith-practices of artist/priest Amara Tabor-­Smith, poet/theologian Marvin K. White, and artist/healer Sara Shelton Mann.

Concept, Choreography, Text, Scenography, Performance: Jesse Hewit

Choreography, Text, Performance: Keyon Gaskin

Choreography, Text: Abby Crain

Light: Zoe Klein

Sound: Robbie Beahrs

Cameras: Jacob Marks, Rachel Marks

LRP clients shining a light through 2016

Each year we make a video of the year in review. Here's a collage of the luminous, forthright, and expertly crafted performance we had the privilege to document in 2016. Have a watch; you'll feel so proud of your fellow artists! And get in our calendar for 2017. The world needs your diverse voices and perspectives. Happy New Year!

Cameras by: Jenny Chu, Laura Lukitsch, Jacob Marks, Rachel Marks, Loren R. Robertson

The Yoga of Sound

In Vak Song of Becoming, Ann Dyer employs mantra to cultivate performative, sonic, and embodied healing. With a handful of professional singers and a lion's share of amateurs, they plumb the depths of the ancient use of song to connect to one another and to humanity. Happy to finally be sharing this one and the simple power of our voices!

Conceived, written, directed by Anne Dyer

Co-composed by Anne Dyer and Tim Volpicella

Choreography: Erika Shuch

Camera: Eric Koziol & Nicole Fuentes

Private Life Variations

Deborah Slater's work Private Life Variations explores the inner-landscapes of veterans after returning home from duty. The stunning composition was featured in both the SF Dance Film Festival in 2015 and the Tiny Dance Film Festival in 2016. It's a quick watch, but the ruminant images will stay with you.

producer/choreographer: Deborah Slater

performers: Private Freeman, Derek Harris, Kerry Mehling, Andrew Merrell

music: Bruno Louchouarn

cinematography: Lindsay Gauthier

edit: Loren Robertson

 

Homo File

We’ve watched Seth Eisen’s Homo File: Chronicling the life of Samuel Steward develop over the years. Steward, a 20th century college professor, author, tattoo artist, and sexual rebel, laid early tracks for LGBTQ activism. And what a fascinating life he led! Have a looksee!

Written, designed, and directed by Seth Eisen

CounterPULSE through the years

I LOVE CounterPULSE!!!  This is a special spot in San Francisco.  It's where I landed when I arrived in 2007.  Having spent many hours there both as former staff, in various rehearsals and shows as a performer, and documenting many performances throughout the year, it's been such a home for me and I know for many Bay Area artists as well! We've collaborated on many videos, my favorite being the year-end films.  It's been amazing to watch how the organization has grown. Here's a peak into the land of CP 2009-2012!

2012:

2011:

2010:

2009:

can't wait for what's to come in 2013!!!