Live in Nairobi
Join action-based dance artist Stefanie Weber (USA) with collaborative dancer/choreographers Adam Chienjo (NRB) and Sara Kwala Opondo (NRB) and special guests from VOCAL, Shangilia, Ghetto Exposed and more for a showcase of performance work featuring the fusion, growth and development of the American vernacular art form of Tap Dance in Nairobi with Kenyan-based musicians, dancers and image-makers.
Photographer Monika Pizzichemi (USA) partners with guest photographers from Nairobi to project images throughout the event that investigate the theme:
The Space To Transport Time
Nafasi Ya Kusafirisha Mda
Ukumbi Mdogo
Old Concert Hall
Kenya National Theater
300Ksh
Reserve tickets in advance:
CALL 0737466971
Sponsored by
THEY DANCE FOR RAIN
They Dance For Rain: Slideshow 12/15
The Whitney Center for the Arts, 46 Wendell Ave, Pittsfield MA announces the presentation of They Dance For Rain: A Slideshow on Sunday December 15th 2013 at 5:30p. The event is open to all ages and there is a suggested donation of $10 which goes directly to the continuation of the project in view.
They Dance For Rain is a dance-making project that works with arts-for-social-change organizations in Nairobi, Kenya. It is created and directed by action-based dance artist and Pittsfield native Stefanie Weber in collaboration with fine art photographer and Pittsfield’s Empty Set Project Space co-owner Monika Pizzichemi. The slideshow coincides with a photo exhibit up until December 21st at The Lichtenstein Center For The Arts at 28 Renne Ave in Pittsfield.
Since January of 2012, They Dance For Rain has brought Tap shoes and the art form of Tap Dance to people with an interest and need for this unique kind of artistic self-expression. They also bring hoops to dance with and teach others the skills of making long-lasting dance hoops. They bring visibility to an otherwise unrepresented population of slum and ghetto dancers and dwellers through photography and film. In this area of the world, Tap Dance is still quite young and the eagerness to learn it is immense. Through this continuing global exchange of artistic dialogue They Dance For Rain inspires a new generation of Tap Dancers. These dancers will innovate the form through use of their own culturally distinctive ideas and styles.
The slideshow will feature select photographs, videos and stories from Weber and Pizzichemi’s 2013 residency in Nairobi working with four organizations that support the performing arts in underserved areas: Shangilia Child Rescue Center, VOCAL (Voices of Change All Over), Banjuka Dance Program and GoDown Arts Center. The artists will take time to answer questions, announce further upcoming plans, promote their active fundraising efforts and explain the artistic expansion of the project.
The Whitney Center for the Arts was established by Pittsfield native Lisa Whitney in 2012, saving and creatively reusing the historic Colt House in Pittsfield’s Upstreet Cultural District. Named in honor of her parents, the arts center features changing art shows, intimate theatre and music performances, and other special events, and has upstairs offices and studios for rent.
This newly established arts center aims to provide a platform to established and up and coming visual and performing artists to showcase their talent and promote arts and culture in Pittsfield. For more information contact Ghazi@thewhit.org
They Dance For Rain is a sponsored project of Fractured Atlas, a non-profit arts service organization. To learn more about They Dance For Rain, visit www.rockethub.com/projects/34186-they-dance-for-rain-2014 or contact Stefanie@fertileuniverse.com or 413.281.6734
Tap & Blues: December
..a rare public appearance by the ladies of the muddy waters….
Robin O’Herin & Stefanie Weber
Come to a place that beckons for some Blues. Join us as we openly explore the roots and branches of Delta Blues and the lush punctuations of rhythm Tap Dance.
…from our two heads and two hearts to our twenty toes…
Featuring slide guitar and two pairs of Tap shoes.
• Tuesday • December 10th • 7p
The Whitney Center For The Arts
46 Wendell Ave., Pittsfield, MA
•Saturday • December 14th • 7p
Studio Revolution
Arts& Industry Building #422
221 Pine St., Florence, MA
The Anatomy of a Tap Dancer 12/14
The Anatomy of a Tap Dancer is a dance workshop that examines through movement and sound the details that create today’s Tap Dancer.
Rhythm, pulse, tones. Muscles, fascia, bones. Steps, shoes, phrases, numbers and history known and unknown. Poetry, styles, trends and zones. Heart, sole, spirit and… minds of our own.
Celebrate this amazing American vernacular art form, its roots, our bodies, the floor and each other. All levels are welcome, all will dance, be challenged and changed. Every workshop at each location is unique and suited specifically to those in the room.
Saturday December 14th
2-4p
$20
Northampton School of Dance
141 E. Damon Rd. Northampton, MA
Register: Stefanie@fertileuniverse.com
413.281.6734
Tap shoe rentals: $2
Stefanie Weber is an outsider Tap Dance artist. Action-based, she travels near and far to share her love, experience and passion for the American derived art form of Tap Dance. Focusing on the deep and subtle aspects of the biomechanics (movement), dynamic expressions, and space between beats, Stefanie brings a unique perspective and vast knowledge from her years of study, performance, isolation and creative action.
Saturday December 14th at 7p, Stefanie appears on Tap with Delta Blues singer and guitarist Robin O’Herin in the intimate space of Studio Revolution #422 in Florence in the Arst & Industry Building.
to RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/events/1479433392281957/
To support Stefanie’s dance making project in Nairobi: http://www.rockethub.com/projects/34186-they-dance-for-rain-2014
6 Tap Dance Sessions
Beginning November 6th, I will be offering 6 Tap Dance Sessions on Wednesdays at The Whitney Center For The Arts in Pittsfield on 42 Wendell Ave. All levels of Tap Dancer are welcome. The classes will serve the needs of the dancers in the room. Focus will be given on technique, improvisation, musicality, artistry, individual needs, biomechanics and flow. There is nothing like this anywhere else in or near to Berkshire County. Try it.
Classes are a steal at $10 each and shoe rentals are $2.
Contact me if you’d like to find out more about the way I approach this art form, my enthusiasm for it..or just to let me know you’ll be coming for class and need some shoes. (smiley face.)
413.281.6734
Stefanie@fertileuniverse.com
Classes: Nov 6, 13, 20, 27. Dec 4 & 11.
RSVP on FB if you want to: https://www.facebook.com/events/690363294315872/
They Dance For Rain: What’s Next?
Long term visions
Tap
Hoop
Visibility
They Dance For Rain: Your Contribution
You can be a part of this
Where Your Donations Go
Auto Mobile Body Works: Greenfield, MA
Creatures of Habitat Physical Poetry Public Performance Project announces the showing of Auto Mobile Body Works, original projections and live performance in a few select open spaces in downtown Greenfield on Saturday October 5th beginning at 7:30p. Audience participants are asked to meet at the Town Common at Main St. and Court Square dressed to be outside and prepared to walk to nearby locations.
Auto Mobile Body Works, conceived and directed by action-based dance artist Stefanie Weber, utilize movement, video, vehicles and outdoor paved spaces to create a site-specific series of scenes that both imagine and reveal an abstract integration of human and auto bodies. Weber, a native of Pittsfield, MA began the Creatures of Habitat in 2001 to artistically explore connections between behavior, environment and a collective psyche she believes humans share with the rest of nature. Projection video made for Auto Mobile Body Works was done in collaboration with Michael Sinopoli of Greylock Productions. Music is used courtesy of Thomas White/Electric Soft Parade. Performers include: Ione Beauchamp, Diane Firtell, Dawn Meltzer, Shira Wohlberg and Stefanie Weber. Auto Mobile Body Works is supported in part by Dana Bixby Architecture and a grant from the Greenfield Local Cultural Council, a local arts council which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
For more information visit fertileuniverse.com or contact Stefanie@fertileuniverse.com, 413.281.6734 The Creatures of Habitat can be found on facebook.com/COHfan