Friday, February 21st, 7:00 pm
Saturday, February 22nd, 8:00 pm
Art Pond Studio Space
313 E 58th Street at 2nd Ave
THE PLAY: Barack Obama feels the continuing loss of his father who was never there for him. He feels it as a large black hole growing hourly larger that must be filled in order for him to become himself. The play is a journey of self-discovery inspired by “Dreams from My Father” but in no way a translation. Obama meets three iconic Afro-American leaders, all fatherless sons who also feel the desperation of incompletion. Each tries to influence the young Obama dispensing guidance peculiar to his own character and way of movement. In time he meets an influential man who is complete with his own father and pushes the future president to find closure in his quest by loving himself as a fatherless son.
THE PLAYWRIGHT: John Ransom Phillips is a painter and writer living in New York City whose works have been exhibited both nationally and internationally. He holds a PhD from the University of Chicago in the History of Culture. His published works include Ransoming Time: A Photographer’s Dream Book (Clarissa Editions, 2014), Small Diary of a Little Painter (Clarissa Editions, 2014), Beyond Nature (Clarissa Editions, 2014), Ransoming Mathew Brady (Hudson Hills, 2010), Contemporary Book of the Dead (Hudson Hills, 2009), and Bed as Autobiography (University of Chicago, 2004).
THE DIRECTOR: Sidra Bell, is currently a Master Lecturer at the University of the Arts, was an Adjunct Professor at Barnard College, and has a degree in History from Yale University and an MFA in choreography from Purchase College. She was awarded a 1st Prize for Choreography at the Solo Tanz Theater Festival in Stuttgart. Her critically acclaimed company “Sidra Bell Dance New York” (SBDNY) was lauded in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette’s 2010 Best in Dance for ‘ReVUE’, and in the 2012 Year in Review in ArtsATL’s notable performances for ‘Nudity’. Bell has received many commissions from BODYTRAFFIC, Ballet Austin, Sacramento Ballet, Juilliard, River North Chicago Dance Chicago, Ailey II, LEVYdance, Robert Moses’ KIN, LINES Ballet School, Uppercut Dansteater (DEN), Motto Dans Kolectif (TUR), Peridance Contemporary Dance Co., Tisch, University of Utah, August Wilson Dance Ensemble, Point Park University, University of Michigan, Ailey School, Barnard College, New York Live Arts, Dance Theater Workshop, Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Tribeca PAC, Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Springboard Danse Montréal, The Duo Theater, Purchase College, National Choreographer’s Initiative, Visceral Dance Company, University of the Arts, Five College Dance Department, and Houston Metropolitan Dance Company. She was commissioned as the choreographer for the feature film TEST written/directed by Chris Mason Johnson (Frankfurt Ballet/White Oak Project). Screenings have included: Seattle Film Festival, Frameline37 (San Francisco), Outfest (L.A.), and Lincoln Center’s NewFest. Bell is a sought after master teacher and her alternative approach was featured in Dance Teacher Magazine and Dance Studio Life Magazine. She has taught her unique creative practice at major institutions for dance and theater throughout Canada, Europe, South America, and the United States. www.sidrabelldanceny.org
