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Artist and Instructor Bios
Ruth Zaporah
Ruth Zaporah is a New Mexico based performance artist, director and teacher. She is internationally known for her innovative work in performance and performance training, particularly in the field of physical theater improvisation. Zaporah spends much of her time on tour, performing and leading trainings both nationally and internationally in dance and theater venues, war zones, night clubs, art museums, and refugee camps. Despite the context, Zaporah's work essentializes the human experience. Whether students speak English or not, whether there are bombs going off in the distance or the country is Germany, Israel or China, everyone recognizes themselves in the practice. She is a two-time recipient of National Endowment Choreography Fellowships and currently is a Cultural Envoy of the U.S. State Department. Ruth's articles on improvisation have been regularly published in Contact Quarterly, a magazine for new dance forms. She is a contributing writer in Shambala Publications' BEING BODIES. In 1998 Ruth was interviewed by Inquiring Mind, a Buddhist Journal. Her own book, ACTION THEATER: THE IMPROVISATION OF PRESENCE , published by North Atlantic Books, is in its fourth printing. The long awaited DVD, Action Theater, The Practice, from filmaker Deborah Fort has just arrived and now available! This 5.5 hour film offers 30 of the most essential exercises of the Action Theater practice. They are demonstrated by Senior Teachers along with many examples of open scores, as well as live performance clips of Ruth and other Action Theater improvisers. Available through www.actiontheater.com.
Workshops: A Splendid Moment - Action Theater
Niamh Condron
Niamh (pronounced Neev), a dancer, choreographer, teacher and Yogi based in Dublin, Ireland. Niamh created 'Constant Composition Technique' in 2005/6 which combines Improvisation with Human Movement Potential Techniques and has been teaching this since then through her company This Torsion Dance Theatre, www.thistorsion.com. She has a BA Degree from Northern School of Contemporary Dance, UK, specializing in Choreography. Through this training her background is in Graham and Ballet, but after discovering new human movement forms in Europe and USA, her interest shifted towards Improvisation for performance. Niamh established This Torsion Dance Theatre in 2001, after receiving a DANCEWEB Award to train at ImpulzTanz Festival Vienna. Her work has been supported by the Irish Arts Council and Dance Ireland, by receiving training awards to develop her career with important dance artists, and by her company receiving Bursary Awards to develop company repertoire. In 2004 Niamh met and began an important artistic relationship with Improvisation Pioneer Julyen Hamilton. She then began including live music and text in her choreographies and went on to make a duet with Hamilton, in 2008, that performed for over two years in Ireland and Paris. Niamh was Dance Artist in Residence in Westmeath, Ireland, from 2005-2008, where she created a 3 day International Dance Festival including live and recorded dance performances and workshops: Vibrate Dance Festival. Niamh has danced with companies and choreographers including Scott Wells and Dancers, San Francisco; The Curve Foundation, Scotland; Dance Theatre of Ireland; Sioned Hews, Belgium; Earthfall Physical Theatre Company, Wales; Irish Modern Dance Theatre; Justin Morrison, San Diego; Sara Rudner, New York; and Companie Giacomo Calabrese, Italy. www.thistorsion.com.
Workshops: Body, Voice, Move
Rachael Lincoln
Rachael Lincoln makes, performs, and teaches dance. She is particularly interested in collaboration, improvising set material, and the indeterminate relationships between movement, sound, images, and meaning. She has performed her work and taught in venues including UCLA, Sophiensaele Theater in Berlin, Theater Artaud in San Francisco, The Bytom Dance Festival in Poland, and the Indonesian Dance Festival. In addition to her own work, Rachael co-directs Lean-to-Productions with collaborator Leslie Seiters, has danced with The Joe Goode Performance Group, and is the Assistant Director of Project Bandaloop. www.rachaellincoln.com
Workshops: Creating Duets
John Farmanesh-Bocca
Awarded an American Theatre Wing Scholarship, John trained at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts before serving as Directing Fellow at The Juilliard School’s Drama Division (2003-2005).
John’s most recent Adaptation/Directing credits include Hercules Furens at the Getty Villa, Titus Redux at the Kirk Douglas Theatre also at RADAR FEST in Los Angeles which he also was awarded Outstanding Direction of a Drama by LA STAGE SCENE Magazine, and Pericles Redux both at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2008 (which made numerous top ten lists for best of the Fringe) and The Kirk Douglas Theatre (which was hailed as one Best Plays of 2oo9by the Los Angeles Stage Blog.) Richard III Redux for the Veteran’s Center for the Performing Arts, and Wish I Had a Sylvia Plath which he co-created that garnered the prestigious 2oo7 Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and toured Europe in 2oo8. Notably in Summer 2010 John also adapted and directed The Merchant of Venice with his Shakespeare Santa Monica troupe at The Annenberg Community Beach House.
John currently serves as a contributing faculty member of New York University’s Classical Studio at the Tisch School of the Arts. In Southern California he serves as a guest faculty member of California State University Long Beach and as Artistic Director of both Shakespeare Santa Monica and Not Man Apart– Physical Theatre Ensemble both based in Santa Monica California. www.NotManApart.com
Workshops: The Body Electric
Jones Welsh
Jones Welsh is a performer, administrator, and arts activist. He received his degree in theatre and dance from the University of Washington in 2000 with specific training in the Non-Profit Management Certificate Program, then founded 501(c)3 performing arts organization Making Faces Productions, which is now Not Man Apart - Physical Theatre Ensemble (www.notmanapart.com). As Managing Director and Associate Artistic Director of Not Man Apart, Jones contributes to the company's annual Flagship Productions (to date: Pericles Redux, Titus Redux, Hercules Furens) and co-produces the annual LA Improv Dance Festival and the Somatic Movement Arts Festival. Completing five years with Diavolo Dance Theatre, he now collaborates with the Diavolo as an Artistic Associate, teaching and performing with the group across the globe. Jones works closely with many other LA based companies, including Heidi Duckler Dance Theatre (formerly Collage Dance Theatre), Invertigo Dance Theatre, Intention Dance Theatre, Keith Glassman and Dancers, String Theory, Leonix Movement Theatre Ensemble, Rosanna Gamson/World Wide, and many more. In addition to teaching athletic modern dance at Universities and studios, Jones is also the Adult Program Manager at Broadway Gymnastics School and teaches private Contact Improvisation and Dance workshops. www.JonesWelsh.com
Workshops: Diavolo Technique and Set Pieces, Adult Gymnastics
Short Company Bio
Not Man Apart – Physical Theatre Ensemble
A collective of performers, dancers, actors, designers and theatre artists who make dance/movement inspired theatre pieces using a mash-up of theatre traditions, modern technology and poor theatre approach. Cultivating new storytelling forms from ancient techniques to present thrilling staging of both modern and classic texts using multi-track scoring, physical prowess, unconventional dance and movement.
Praised by The Hollywood Reporter as a “Futuristic Theatre Company,” by The Los Angeles Times as “Exhilarating and Propulsive” and as “Exciting and Innovative” and “Startlingly Refreshing” by the British Theatre Guide, N.M.A. has developed quite a following both overseas and in their home state of California. Known for their athletic, intense modern versions of Shakespeare, N.M.A. will be building its’ repertoire in the coming year not only with classics but with its’ original works as well.
Not Man Apart strives to be among one of the premiere Physical Theatre Ensembles of the Americas. www.NotManApart.com
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