Robert Stone, 77

Robert Stone, Novelist Inspired by War, Dies at 77
by Ashley Southall, The New York Times, January 10, 2015

Andraé Crouch, 72

Andraé Crouch, 72, Who Infused Gospel With Soul, Dies
by Bruce Weber, The New York Times, January 9, 2015

Brooklyn's JACK launches Forward Ferguson series

Wildcat! dance collective
(photo: Eleni Zaharopoulos)

Brooklyn performance venue JACK presents Forward Ferguson, a new series "dedicated to furthering the conversation around racial justice in America, featuring dance, music, theater and performance art."

Highlights include a discussion on community-police relationships; work by Social Health Performance Club; the dance collective Wildcat!; a Freedom Songs Festival; readings of Black-authored anti-lynching plays of the early 1900s, performances by our resident youth theater company Truthworker, and a partnership with the activist group Equality for Flatbush.

Events begin January 16 and run through June. For a complete schedule and descriptions, click here.

Artists, learn how to navigate Obamacare

EVERY ARTIST INSURED: 

NAVIGATING HEALTH CARE REFORM

Free Actors Fund Workshop

CO-SPONSORED BY 

HOWL ARTS, LA MAMA AND COMMUNITY BOARD 3 

Tuesday, January 13, 6:30-8:30pm

Saturday, January 17, 3-5pm

HOWL HAPPENING GALLERY

6 East First Street, Manhattan

(between Bowery and 2nd Avenue)

(map/directions)

This free workshop will help you understand the Affordable Care Act and provide you with clear guidance on what your options are.  It’s an excellent opportunity for unbiased counseling on an important topic, and includes a Q&A session. RENATA MARINARO, Exchange Navigator and Eastern Region Health Services Director of THE ACTORS FUND, will answer questions like:

What do the "Obamacare" plans cover?
What are the penalties if I don't have insurance?
My income is low – can I get a break on insurance premiums? (Yes!)
Who is eligible for free insurance?  How do I apply?
I don't like the plan I was on – how do I pick a new one?
I'm uninsured; where can I go for discounted care?

For further information, questions and more workshop times (including the Affordable Housing series) and locations please visit actorsfund.org.

Elaine Summers remembered by Movement Research

from Movement Research

Elaine Summers, 1973
(photo:Philip Hipwell)

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Elaine Summers, an original member of Judson Dance Theater and longtime friend of Movement Research.

For those of you who did not know Elaine personally, here are some bits from her bio, and we hope you will discover her and continue to enjoy her spirit and art in this world.

A memorial is being planned and details will be shared as we have them.

Elaine Summers, MA, Fulbright Fellow, MIT fellow (Center for Advanced Visual Studies) received her BA in Visual Arts in Boston, MA, and came to New York City in 1952 to study dance at Julliard. She worked and lived here ever since and became one of the founders of the by now legendary workshop that would form the Judson Dance Theatre. After her groundbreaking first large-scale intermedia concert "Fantastic Gardens" (1964) she founded the Experimental Intermedia Foundation and continued to produce work both nationally and internationally with her Elaine Summers Dance & Film Co. She received numerous awards and residencies, among others at the University of Iowa. Her work is being studied worldwide and is currently being archived at the Jerome Robbins Dance Collection of Lincoln Center Public Library, with the help of NYU Department of Cinema Studies.

Summers originated the movement approach Kinetic Awareness and has continuously explored and pioneered ways of moving with a healthy body. In 1987 she founded the Kinetic Awareness Center to continue the development and research of the Kinetic Arts & Sciences, as well as train new generations of teachers.

She worked with people as diverse as Trisha Brown, Davidson Gigliotti, Nam June Paik, James Byrne, the Wooster Group, Meredith Monk, Merian Soto, Amy Greenfield, Pauline Oliveros, and many, many others.

Her work has been shown at the Museum of Modern Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, in Sanarcangelo / Italy, Australia, the UK, and Vienna. Her project, Skytime, was a web-based invitation to all the world to celebrate the sky together in any relatable medium. Its first beginnings can be seen at www.skytime.org.

www.elainesummersdance.com

Why I live for the dance

Sun Moon Child

A video altar piece, a celebration and tribute to Black dance, 

created in 2007 by pierre bennu

music by Imani Uzuri

Rod Taylor, 84

Rod Taylor, star of "The Time Machine," dies at 84
by CBS News, January 8, 2014