LOWRY NEIGHBORS AND NEIGHBORHOOD SHOWCASED THIS
WEEK/WEEKEND AT THE JOHN HAND THEATRE
|
Dear Friends,
Denver, CO July 14, 2008: Five Two Eight O brings to the stage stories told by Lowry's residents and interpreted
by Denver visual and performing artists.
On
Thursday, July 24, at 7:00 p.m., the public is invited to the John Hand Theater to hear
a sequence of personal stories about the lives and experiences of their
neighbors. Several storytellers will speak, followed by an open talkback where
other stories can be shared by audience members. Visual artists, playwrights,
choreographers, monologuists, poets, photographers and performers will mingle,
watch and listen, and then go away for two days to create and develop art and
performance inspired by Thursday's stories.
On
Sunday, July 27, the artists and performers will reconvene at 5:00 with the
work they've created. The public is invited back to take in the stories, now
re-envisioned as artistic reflections of the community: spoken word, music,
dance, sidewalk art, sculpture, theatre.
A facilitated dialogue will follow (Doors will open at 4:30 for a
pre-show reception, where you may be encouraged to tell a 5-minute story from
your own life on video).
Event Schedule
Thursday, July 24: Stories begin at 7:00 p.m.
in the John Hand Theatre
Friday and Saturday, July 25
and 26: Artists
and performers create work inspired by the stories; local artists and galleries
may offer workshops in art or theatremaking.
Sunday, July 27: 4:30 p.m. reception and exhibit,
followed by performances and dialogue at 5-7:00 p.m., John Hand Theatre
*The John Hand
Theatre is located at 3653 E. 1st
Place, Denver, 80230.
|
STORIES INTO ART, ART BECOMES DIALOGUE, DIALOGUE PROMOTES UNDERSTANDING.
*Painting by: Devan Gomez
|
|
Denver, CO July 21, 2008: Juan paid a coyote to lead
him through the desert for 16 hours with no food or water. They came to a swift
river- he, his traveling companions and a group of strangers. Some couldn't
swim. They decided to grasp hands, not let go, and walk through the deep, fast
current to the other side. It was terrifying but they all made it, no one
letting go. Juan's story is one of success. He came to the United States
illegally and now owns and operates a business in Denver. He raised his family
here. He is a slender, unassuming man with a flashing smile and a soft voice,
not used to talking in front of an audience. His story is gripping, and
everyone leans forward to listen intently. In the front row, a Buddhist monk
from Thailand- whose story is yet to be told- asks Juan a question. From the
back, a tall man, Danny -a rap and spoken word artist- raises his hand.
Everyone seems to want to respond to Juan, to his struggles and his victories.
He's one of their neighbors, and now they know him.
Others
tell their stories. Then, everyone goes away for two days. On Friday and
Saturday, e.V.b. clay studio opens its
doors to those who want to make tiles that tell a personal story. The artists
who attended Thursday's stories work, alone or in groups, to create new art
rflecting what they heard and saw. Jacqueline incorporates a tumbleweed into
her movement piece about Juan's journey. Laura re-interprets Devan's story of
friendship, love and confusion. Reks (the "S" at the end of his name stands for
"Service") cuts styrofoam into a colorful, textural poster that incorporates
the word "DENVER" in letters the saffron color of the Thai monks' robes. Sarah
gathers with her family to hold favorite clothes; she asks them to talk about
their memories that arise from touching a shirt, a baby dress, a pair of combat
fatigues: she writes down their memories on paper and pins each response to the
item.
On
Sunday, everyone returns to see the art, hear the poetry and music, see the
dance. And, there are newcomers- people who never heard the original stories,
but who are relatives of the storytellers or artists, or simply curious
community members. Danny performs a moving response to Devan's story. The
visual artists show and talk about their work. Dancers dance. Themes, important
to this particular group of people- those who were invited here, those who came
because they were curious- emerge. Unexpected themes. How important civility
is, and how difficult it is to really know the meaning of perceived incivility
in an increasingly multicultural world. How easily our fast-held attitudes can
be shattered by hearing a single story, by meeting the person whose personal
narrative challenges and disconfirms all our cherished beliefs. How vital it is
to actually know something personal and real about our neighbors and their
experiences, so that we can live together in understanding, if not always in
harmony.
|
|
Potential artistic contributors and volunteers should call Artistic Director Janna Goodwin at (303) 912-5935.
|
|
|
|
|
COMING NEXT
August 14, 7 p.m.
Santa Fe Arts District Stories
Globeville Studios
635 Santa Fe Drive
August 17, 6:30 p.m.
Santa Fe Arts District Exhibits and Performances
Globeville Studios
635 Santa Fe Drive
September 4, 7 p.m.
Five Points Stories
Crossroads Theatre on the Rail
2590 Washington St, Denver
CO 80205
|
|
