These are some of the people that I have worked with, who have directly influenced my aesthetic
Shozo Sato
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Shozo Sato, an internationally renowned Japanese master of Zen arts and visionary theatre director, most known for adapting Western classics to Japanese Kabuki theatre.
Shozo Sato is a professor emeritus of Art and Design and former artist-in-residence for the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Adaptations of Western classics in Kabuki form include MacBeth, Medea, Othello, Faust, Achilles and the operas, Madame Butterfly and The Mikado.[1][2] His last academic production was Kabuki Lady Macbeth (2012) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.[3] He is also a visiting professor at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.[4] |
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Sato is the author of The Art of Arranging Flowers: A Complete Guide to Japanese Ikebana, published in 1968 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York, NY. The volume was printed and bound in Japan.[5]
Squonk Opera
Squonk Opera is a group of interdisciplinary performing artists from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Led by artistic directors Jackie Dempsey and Steve O'Hearn, Squonk Opera formed in 1992 and has created twelve distinct shows and performed in over 250 venues in the United States. Squonk Opera has been touring internationally since 2003 - to Scotland, Belgium, Germany and twice to South Korea, where they opened both the Busan International Performing Arts Festival and the World Music Theater Festival. Over 200,000 people have seen Squonk around the world, and reviews include "insane majesty" from The Scotsman, and "...surreal and poetic" from USA Today. Squonk Opera's shows consist of music, visual art, and acting elements in an attempt to make a form of opera accessible to all people. The group "like to think of ourselves as a wacky, provincial opera company," says Dempsey, who named the group "Squonk" after a description of a jazz saxophonist's playing as a "squonk-fest", rather than the legendary creature of the same name.
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Theodora Skipitares
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Theodora Skipitares, an interdisciplinary artist and educator, began teaching in the Art and Design Education Department in 1995. During the 1980’s and 90’s she traveled extensively, performing and exhibiting her artwork throughout Europe, Asia, and South America. At this time, she was also a teaching artist for the Guggenheim Museum Learning through Art Program and for Hospital Audiences, Inc. At Pratt, she taught “Contemporary Ideas of Art and Self,” a course that enables the student to develop a personal philosophy as an artist, designer, and teacher through the exploration of the relationship between the creator, the creative process, and art and culture. The culminating project for each student is an autobiographical performance, based on the idea that teaching is a performative act.
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In 1999, Skipitares was a Fulbright Scholar in India. When she returned to New York, she resumed teaching at Pratt while continuing to perform and exhibit new work. In 2003, she created an all-institute course called “Puppetry and Performing Objects,” that is open to graduates and undergraduates. It was also at this time that she began teaching art/literacy courses for incarcerated youth and women at Riker’s Island Prison.
Skipitares has received 28 National Endowment for the Arts grants for her work, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship, McKnight Playwriting Fellowship, and Rockefeller Fellowship, among others.
She has presented lectures throughout Europe, India, and Cyprus, as well as several universities in the U.S. To date, she has created 23 original performances works that have been reviewed favorably in several publications, including The New York Times.
Skipitares has received 28 National Endowment for the Arts grants for her work, as well as a Guggenheim Fellowship, McKnight Playwriting Fellowship, and Rockefeller Fellowship, among others.
She has presented lectures throughout Europe, India, and Cyprus, as well as several universities in the U.S. To date, she has created 23 original performances works that have been reviewed favorably in several publications, including The New York Times.
Imago
Founded in 1979 by Carol Triffle and Jerry Mouawad, Imago Theatre's original productions have toured internationally for over two decades. The universal nature of Imago's world has won audience and critical acclaim in tours across Asia, Europe, Canada and the U.S. Imago has been hailed by critics worldwide for their sophisticated, highly entertaining works for all ages.