Subterranean Choreography: The Mariana Bekerman Dance Company, Dec. 5th at LPAC

Choreographer Mariana Bekerman found her artistic voice in the NYC underground nightlife scene of the early '90's. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, and raised in Flushing, Queens, Bekerman is nostalgic for those NYC decades of openness and artistic freedom. She says, "...these clubs where my life outside the dance class, regardless of weather conditions, personal situations, and so forth. I had my parties and battles to attend, and I was there."

This Saturday night, celebrating their ten year anniversary and returning to LPAC, Mariana Bekerman Dance Company debuts, Black and White. With a heavy dose of irony in the title, Bekerman says this work is not about polarization, "Black & White is a show meant remind us that life is not Black & White. In each section, the work questions the essence of human existence in some way and, more specifically, focuses on uniting artists and audiences together."

Bekerman began working on B&W in 2007 and has finally settled on a group of dancers and collaborators that add new dimensions to the project (in a good way). To Bekerman B & W is in its early stages and would like to take the scale of the show bigger by adding small vignettes to the program.

Discovering LPAC LAB through Queens Council on the Arts, was a huge help to the development of B&W. "Steven was very hospitable to us and welcomed us to LPAC. In 2007, LPAC LAB presented our program at the Little Theatre (well, actually it was an edited version of Taro, along with a few early works-in-progress pieces of B & W, since The Company had already started on it by then)."

Today Bekerman lives a much quieter existence in Howard's Beach, Queens with her husband and cat. This perspective gives Mariana the space to find the "underground" visions that are so inherent in her work. "I don’t go out dancing too much and if I do, I would probably rely on Facebook to inform me where. Perhaps it is time to tweak my mission statement or, better yet, return to the clubs!"

To watch MBDC on Youtube click here.

BLACK & WHITE
Mariana Bekerman Dance Company
December 5th at 8pm

Little Theatre

General Admission:
$15 advance
$20 at the door
$10 Students

Click here to purchase your tickets

MY ACTING 1 CLASS PERFORMS

Every semester Handan Ozbilgin's LAGCC Acting 1 students are required to perform a scene as part of their curriculum. This semester the professor incorporated the multimedia spectacle, “Around the World in 24 Hours” into the class. For this innovative project she introduced an innovative acting method: Facebook. Using the themes of “technology” and “home,” all of the characters were drawn from student postings on the LPAC Facebook page.

One 18 year-old student posted as a 72 year-old woman named Margie who didn't appreciate young people drawing (posting) on walls. The professor used the comment function to develop the character further. "Margie , I dont dare to put anything on your wall. By the way where are you from?" Handan asked.

To read the script of "Creating a Character, Creating a Scene", Director Handan Ozbilgin's interactive Facebook project click here. To see the performances come Saturday night. Find photos from this project below and at Flickr.

LAGCC Acting 1 Students,
Sat, Nov. 7 at 6:20 pm (only one group) and later at 10:45 p.m( the whole class). You might think 10:45 p.m. is little late to see a play, but their will be plenty of exciting performances, food and wine to go around. You won’t regret staying late.

Besides this Facebook project, Handan is also presenting a stage reading of a short play by the most prominent Turkish playwright Ozen Yula. Four of the LAGCC students will be reading the play at 9:45pm. The play is about street kids dealing with a violent society.

What is "Around the World in 24 Hours?": Video Clips from 2008 and Interview with Managing Director, Cathy Bencivenga

One week to go until the multimedia spectacle "Around the World in 24 hours," hosted by LPAC and the Internationists, Sat. Nov. 7 @3pm- Sun. Nov 8th @3pm. Every hour a live event will occur. Performers are able to interact with each other, panel discussions are given a wide and vast audience, and people online have the opportunity to chat and share their experiences in "Real Time". When a show is not being performed live in the stages, hallways or classrooms of LAGCC, it will be on screen; with additional live performances streamed from artistic facilities all over the world. To see entire lineup click here.

With "24 hours" around the corner, CATHY BENCIVENGA, the Managing Director of the global director's collective, The Internationalists, took time to answer a few questions for LAGCC, which is around the world 365 days a year.

Hi Cathy, you are one of the founding members of the director's collective, The Internationalists--where did all of you kids meet? How many countries/continents are represented?
The idea for The Internationalists came when our member directors, at that time about 20 directors from 11 countries, met at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab in 2007. At the time I was working with one of our members, Doug Howe, and was pulled in almost immediately to be the Administrative brain.

I know the challenges of managing a global collective must be numerous--if you could pick one or two--what are the toughest? Are there benefits of being part of a Director's collective?
Everything you would normally expect from working internationally poses a challenge in one form or another - time differences, language barriers, access to and quality of technology. But from my end I add things like how to send money when a member in Germany needs a reimbursement, which is more complicated than you'd think.

The benefit of the collective is that everyone has ownership. Each director also gets to be a production manager, stage manager, designer, and producer - we all do the marketing and the planning and the fundraising. Everyone is more aware what needs to be accomplished and has a vested interest in getting it done, because in the end they get to work in a safe environment with exciting, interesting people who share a common mission.

How did you find out about the LPAC Lab?
We found out about the residency through a connection at the New York Foundation for the Arts, where our member, Esther Neff, works in development.

What other projects are you working on?
The culmination of our yearlong residency at LPAC will be a festival called The Odduseia, which will include new works from each of our member directors, all inspired by Homer's The Oddysey. Even though it isn't until next summer, we are already busy in development of the pieces, planning, and fundraising.

In addition to being the Managing Director of The Internationalists, I am also the General Manager for TACT/The Actors Company Theatre, which produces rarely-seen plays Off Broadway. We've just started performances of The Late Christopher Bean by Sidney Howard, running at the Beckett Theatre at Theatre Row through December 5.

Where do you go in NYC when you are not making theater?
Not that I have much spare time, but when it occasionally happens, I try to see shows I'm not producing, find new interesting places to eat or drink in the city, or just spend some down time relaxing with friends.

Around the World in 24 Hours
November 7th at 3pm thru
November 8th, 3pm
Little Theatre

General Admission: $24
$12 Midnight SPECIAL

To purchase tickets, contact the box office at (718) 482-5151 or go to www.laguardiaperformingarts.org.

Tap phenom, Andrew Nemr, October 10th @8pm

"Andrew Nemr is one of the tap dancers who will help move the form forward into the New Millennium. His skills are true and richly expressive."
Gregory Hines

Andrew J. Nemr and CPD PLUS (Cats Paying Dues), the New York based tap dance company, returns this fall for their 2009 New York Premiere of "Echoes in Time" at the Mainstage, October 10th, at 8pm.

"Echoes in Time" is a window into the heart of a tap dancer. Presenting works from a wide range of Tap Dance Masters including James "Buster" Brown, Steve Condos, Leslie "Bubba" Gaines, Chuck Green, Gregory Hines, Henry LeTang, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Jimmy Slyde, and the Copasetics. Audiences will see the oral tradition of tap dance come to life before their eyes as CPD PLUS performs accompanied by a 5 piece jazz band. Mentored by many of these Masters himself, Nemr draws from his personal experiences with them to bring a story of discovery, challenge, loss and commitment to the stage. As told by cool cat Andrew to the LPAC team this is not the first time LaGuardia has hosted a tap dance master.

Hello Andrew we are all very excited about your performance on the 10th. Tap is such a specific art form how does one choose to become a tap dancer? Who is your inspiration?
I've been dancing since I was 3 1/2. I started out with tap, jazz, ballet, and gymnastics/tumbling at Chris Collins' Dance Studio in Virginia. It was after I saw the movie TAP starring Gregory Hines and Sammy Davis, Jr., in 1989, that I made a conscious decision to become a tap dancer. It was the famous "Challenge Scene" that really did it. Seeing the likes of Arthur Duncan, Jimmy Slyde, Bunny Briggs, Sandman Sims, Harold Nicholas, Steve Condos, Gregory Hines, and Sammy Davis, Jr., enjoying themselves, and being free to express themselves through tap dance, was like nothing I had ever seen. I fell in love.

You are likely working on your craft most of the time but when you do steal a moment what do you do in your free time?
When I was coming up I was told that to be a tap dancer you have to live it. So, yes, although there are often times where I'm in the studio working on something specific, I find myself thinking about ideas all the time. I spend most of my free time listening to music, at the gym, reading biographies, or taking walks in the City. I live just outside the city in New Jersey (no jokes please :-) ), but I can get into town in about 15 minutes without traffic so I like it. It's a nice change of pace from the daily grind of the City.

Where is your favorite place to perform?
I've had some amazing performance experiences, the Apollo Theatre, Cannes (France), and Monaco, but these days I really just try to enjoy the people that I get to meet and play with along the way. I had the opportunity to play with Rashied Ali, Harry Connick, Jr. and Clark Terry. These are amazing musicians and to play with them was truly inspirational.

How did you found out about the LPAC Lab program?
The Copasetics, a group of tap dancers founded in 1949 in honor of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, performed at LaGuardia in 1989. A number of the members of that group have been personal mentors to me, including LeRoy Myers, Ernest "Brownie" Brown (who just recently passed away), Henry "Phace" Roberts, and James "Buster" Brown. To be able to return to this venue with a tap show - especially Echoes, in which we present some of their work - is really special to me. Even better, is the fact that I get to share the experience with a whole company of dancers that have really put their hearts into bringing this show to life.

Click here for more info on Andrew Nemr.

Emerging Long Island City Dance Company Returns to LPAC

Valerie Green/Dance Entropy is one of 3 former LPAC Lab residents returning for opening weekend 2009-2010, “The Journey Continues.” Valerie Green created Dance Entropy in 1998, adding a permanent company home in 2005 called Green Space in LIC Queens. Her choreography has been presented around the country and at festivals and venues throughout New York City. This Friday and Saturday, Dance Entropy presents a world premiere called “Flying Fortune.”

Flying Fortune (premiere)

An abstract stream of consciousness work developed off of fortune cookie fortunes. The movement creation took into account every bit of information included on the small white slips of paper from the fortune itself, to the daily lucky numbers, as well as the learn Chinese lessons. The result is a mysterious, odd collection of movements and encounters amidst an installation of steaming crystal balls and flying orbs. This fantastic journey ends with a video displaying the original source material, challenging the viewer to assemble the dance along with the fortunes in their memories.

Choreographed by Valerie Green. Performed by Amy Adams, Andrea Brown, Valerie Green, Joanie Johnson, Kristin Licata, Jennifer Painter, Ashlea Palafox. Video by Janus Jaworski. Costumes by Deborah Erenberg. Music by Camille Sain-Saëns, Mychael Danna, Marlon Cherry, Palms Down, Dick Dale, and Darko Runek

“Organic…flawlessly choreographed dance sets” -Lucy Torres, Times Ledger

“Journeys” Opening Night 2009-2010 Season: Valerie Green Dance Entropy, Michiyo Tanaka’s Mad About Dance, and Yaa Samar Dance

Fri 9/25 & Sat 9/26 @7pm Mainstage Theatre

Reserved Seating: $15 (advance)/ $20 at the door / $10 students

19-year-old Queens Prodigy Storms Mainstage

Established by Juan Zapata with the view of creating a creatively free, talented and professional dance company, World Class Dancers came together 2 years ago in Queens.

WCD started off with a few interested people and has since grown into a solid group of 50+ very dedicated dancers with a variety of inspirations and skills. The mission of World Class Dancers is to create, and continually enhance, a truly international dance company.

In 2 years, WCD has made a mark on New York City with several signature performances and a growing fan base.

Who is Juan Zapata, Artistic Director of World Class Dancers? Take a look:

Hey Juan where do you live in Queens?  Currently I am living in Corona; I've been in NY for close to 10 years but I'm originally from Colombia.

You are the Director of World Class Dancers. In your words what is World Class Dancers?  To me WCD is so much more than a dance company. It's a family, and its a place where you are stengthened and encouraged to achieve more than you ever thought you could as an individual.

I know you are only 19 years old, how does someone so young have their own dance company? How long have you been dancing? Influences? Actually I have only been dancing for a few years. When I began it was more of just a hobby, but it quickly became my greatest passion. When I started I hadn't received any formal training, but over the past year I have taken classes and workshops in the city, as well as taken part in a summer intensive program and one-on-one training with professionals in the industry.

Tell me about how you found out about the LPAC Lab program? Well we used to rehearse in a local church but unfortunately we had to go due to construction and a few other things.  So we were basically homeless for a while, rehearsing outside in the cold and rain...it was a hard time for us.  We went through a lot of changes during that time but now I am proud to say that we have a solid and stable dance company, and we have been blessed with rehearsal spaces that we can now call home.

Anything else you would like to add?  On behalf of the entire World Class Dancers company I would just like to thank Mr. Steven Hitt and LaGuardia for their support of us as well as Mr. Jay Cruz from the YMCA for the unwavering faith in our dream. We definitely would have never made it this far without them.

For more info on the phenomenon that is World Class Dancers click here to go their web site.