Forward thinking artists                         

ArtBark International

2911 La Combadura

Santa Barbara, CA 93105      

(805) 569-0389

artbarkinternational@gmail.com

www.artbark.org

                                   

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Critically-Acclaimed ArtBark International Reprises Alma.Sama in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara April 29-30, 2017

 

Santa Barbara, CA, February 27th, 2017 The multigenerational performing arts collective ArtBark International, with seasoned dance artists hailing from California, New York and Slovenia, will reprise their dance theater work Alma.Sama at Arc Pasadena on April 29, 2017 at 7:30 pm and the Gail Towbes Center for Dance in Santa Barbara, CA on April 30, 2017 at 6:00 pm.  Ticket prices are $5 kids, $10 adults and  $100 angel patrons.

 

For detailed ticket and venue information, please visit http://www.artbark.org/tickets

 

Alma.Sama is a visual and sonic feast for audiences of all ages, with original music by Stephen Kelly, costumes by Misa Kelly, and projections by the company. The evening-length work premiered to sold-out audiences and was presented by Slovenia’s leading cultural center the Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana in June 2015. Described as “sophisticated dance poetics with expressive depth and superior movement vocabulary,” and “subtle, intellectual, sophisticated” by the Slovenian publication Parada Plesa, Alma.Sama celebrates the life of Slovenian traveler and revolutionary Alma Karlin (1889-1950) in an energetic and lush non-linear dance theater work.

 

Alma.Sama serves as a timely and relevant story as Karlin was a visionary who shed all that she had been reared to believe as the "right" course of action for a woman of her standing. The Slovenian polyglot, world traveler, painter, theosophist and author of numerous books sacrificed comfort and convention in favor of an often subsistence-level life with the people of South America, India, Japan, and the South Pacific in the years after the First World War. Celebrated for saying, “An eagle must mate in the air or fly alone,” Karlin believed in the power of empathy and embraced the unknown exposing herself to new ways of thinking and understanding cultures and people around the world. Alma.Sama commemorates this historical figure while exploring what the physical and emotional fibers of a visionary might embody today.

 

The project began as a “seed” idea in 2012 when ArtBark was on tour in Europe. While at the Celje Library in Slovenia, they met with dramaturg Marijan Pušavec who dreamt of creating a dance theater work based on the life of Alma Karlin. Inspired by Pušavec’s passion, together they set out to make his vision manifest. In 2015 — after three years of creative development, which included sharing early sections of the work with communities in Connecticut, New York, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles ­—ArtBark ventured to Slovenia for the final leg of research with a one month residency to visit historical sites relevant to Alma M. Karlin, to dialog with historians, and integrate of their findings into an evening-length work.

 

Alma.Sama. is a co-production between ArtBark International, Cankarjev Dom Slovenia, and House of Culture Celje. The West Coast performances are supported by the Ministry of Culture Slovenia, Slovenian Embassy in Washington and Ministry of Foreign Affairs Slovenia.

 

Hubbard Collective joins ArtBark as guest artists at ARC Pasadena. Closing the evening with their dynamic work Sacred Matters, the company gives voice to the harsh reality of being Black in America. In Santa Barbara, Nebula Dance Lab will share a work-in-progress created specifically for this project by their Artistic Director Devyn Duex, producer of the HHII Festival.

 

Press contact: Trina Mannino – 586-260-6316 / trinamannino@gmail.com

 

###

 

Media
Gallery of images shot at the Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana, Slovenia by Tone Stojko. Images of Hubbard Collective by Skye Schmidt. Press the download arrow to download and save images. http://artbark.smugmug.com/Other-9/Cankerjev-Dom-Photos/AlmaSama-with-guest-artists/n-P4wT4C
 

 

ABOUT ARTBARK INTERNATIONAL

Acclaimed as “forward thinking artists” by the Santa Barbara Independent, ArtBark International is a roving, multigenerational performing arts collective with artists hailing from California, New York and Slovenia. Their present activities embrace innovative ways of organizing that serve to shift the paradigm of how professional artists come together and grow as they work across the United States and the Atlantic through the Internet, performances and residencies. ArtBark International’s work has been performed at AFL Kultur Merzkezi in Istanbul, ARC Pasadena in California, The Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana, Center for Performance Research in Brooklyn, contraMASS Galerie and Palais Kabelwerk in Vienna, Pieter in Los Angeles, and studio Le Regard du Cygne in Paris, among others. In 2015, the collective premiered the evening length work Alma.Sama, described as “sophisticated dance poetics with expressive depth and superior movement vocabulary,” in Ljubljana, Slovenia and co-produced by the opera house Cankarev Dom, ArtBark International, and Celje, House of Culture. artbark.org

 

 

ALMA.SAMA Collaborators and Co-Creators

Authors: Misa Kelly, Stephen Kelly and Marijan Pušavec

Performance: Mojca Majcen, Trina Mannino, Misa Kelly and Stephen Kelly

Costumes and Props: Misa Kelly

Music: Stephen Kelly and Misa Kelly

Choreography: Misa Kelly, Stephen Kelly, Trina Mannino and Cecily Stewart

Movement Vocabulary: ArtBark local artists and the performers

 

ABOUT HUBBARD COLLECTIVE

Hubbard Collective will be presenting a choreographic work at ARC Pasadena by Irishia Hubbard titled Sacred Matters. This emerging choreographer uses 15 dancers to depict various issues that have affected the black community. From the Charleston church shooting to the unlawful killing of 12 year old Tamir Rice, these vignettes address the harsh realities of being black America. 

 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES: ARTBARK INTERNATIONAL

UNITED STATES

California

Misa and Stephen Kelly

Misa and Stephen met while Misa was a student of dance and Stephen was focusing his creative endeavors primarily as a concert pianist. 23 + years later the two have become partners in all things creative enjoying co-creating dance and physical theater with fellow ArtBarkers while continuing to enjoy their creative exploits as individuals. Rather than choose the path of parenthood the two decided to devote their lives to their art and being of service to other creatives with limited resources through their work with the Future Traditions Foundation. Together they have realized over 150 projects; toured to Turkey, Slovenia, Austria, France, Connecticut, and New York and have been a source of inspiration to many.  Their home base is Santa Barbara, California where they have easy access to their home away from home — Santa Cruz Island — and they can provide excellent personal assistant support to their beloved feline — Magnolia. 

www.artbark.org www.mdkellydances.com

 

New York

Trina Mannino

Upon graduation from the University of Michigan, Trina Mannino relocated to New York in 2010. Since then she has worked with ArtBark International, Barbara Mahler Dances, Beth Gill, Dance Elixir, Donna Costello and Laura Peterson Choreography, among others. She presently studies under Mahler and Janet Panetta. Her first forays into dance making have been shared at Arc Pasadena in CA, Center for Performance Research in NY, The Dragon's Egg in CT, Pieter in CA, and Triskelion Arts in NY, among others. Trina made her first short dance film "We’re Here Now” which premiered at Triskelion Arts’ CollabFest in September 2013, and was screened at Center for Performance Research’s Fall Movement Festival that same year. In 2015, she was a guest teaching artist at the University of Michigan in the dance program’s Dance Master Class Repertory Series. Her writing regularly appears in Dance Europe Magazine and on The Dance Enthusiast. www.trinamannino.com

 

 

SLOVENIA

Mojca Majcen

After performing with the Slovenian National Theatre, Mojca joined Dance Theatre IGEN as soloist touring widely with their work receiving 1st prize at the Choreographic Miniatures in Belgrade; 2nd Prize and Special Jury Prize at Tokyo Dance Platform; Jerabkova 3rd prize award in Prague; and an individual award from Celje, Slovenia. In 2012, Mojca became a co-founder of ArtBark performing with the collective in California, New York, Vienna and Paris. In 2013, with Kirov Dance Company, she toured Slovenia, Korea and Macedonia.

 

 “Majcen’s the kind of dancer you can’t stop watching: Her exquisite technique is matched by a spellbinding presence. Whether she’s slapping the floor or firing off an above-the-head jeté, she’s in complete command. It’s only when other dancers join her onstage that you realize she’s hardly more than five feet tall." Elizabeth Schwyzer, Santa Barbara Independent

 

 "Without doubt Mojca Majcen is one of the most distinctive dancers from Slovenia, her virtuosity and passion for dancing will help her to dance in the future on many world stages" 

- MATEJA PODJED-NT&RC Celje

 

Marijan Pušavec

Marijan Pušavec is an author, researcher, translator and dramaturgist. As a dramaturgist his work has spanned from working for community theater to international recognized dance theater. He has created dramaturgy for: Theatre Ante Portas, award winning IGEN Dance Theater, the City of Celje, Slovenia’s theater, and the National Theatre Maribor on the Book of Job. Marijan has also worked extensively as a lector, proofreader, and editor for Slovene Folk Theatre in Celje, Slovenia. As an author Marijan’s work ranges from being a published author of short stories to that of script writing for comics.

For the past decade one of his primary focuses has been upon the famous personality and author from Celje, Slovenia Maksimilijana Karlin (1889-1950). Marijan has conducted extensive research about her life which has resulted in new translations of her unpublished and lesser known work. In relation to Alma Karlin he has organized public lectures and discussions about her life and work, is presently constructing a website for her, as aforementioned is working on the script for a comic series based on her life, and Marijan also participated in the artistic documentary film based on her life made by the Portuguese artist Andre Guedes. One of his life dreams is to create a dramaturgical script for dance and theater that draws from this extensive body of knowledge he has accumulated.

 

Presently Marijan is very active in the local artistic community participating as a writer, advisor, and supervisor for both domestic and foreign artists who have extended stays in Celje, Slovenia.

 

ARTIST BIOGRAPHIES – GUEST ARTISTS

Hubbard Collective

Irishia Hubbard is a Lancaster, South Carolina native who began her dance training at the age of three. Notably, she has appeared on TV shows such as Paula Abdul’s “Live to Dance.” Other choreographers that she has worked with include, Donald McKayle, Sheron Wray, Shaun Boyle, Lisa Clark Schemling, and Greg Chapkis. Irishia graduated in 2016 from the University of California, Irvine with a B.A. in Educational Sciences and a B.F.A. in Dance Choreography. She was awarded the first scholarship by modern dance legend Donald McKayle for her choreography and dance performance. Passionate about dance pedagogy, she created UCI’s first youth dance program, Shining Stars. She currently teaches at West Coast Dance Project and Focus Dance Center for youth classes and competitive teams. Her other roles include choreographing for Orange County based dance company JazzXchange and as Artistic Director for Shining Stars.

 

Nebula Dance Lab

Devyn Duex has an eclectic background performing extensively in the United States as a dancer/actress/singer on stage and in film/TV. Prior to moving to Santa Barbara, CA in 2003, Devyn performed with the James Sewell Ballet, Straw Hat Players, The Pittsburgh Playhouse, Cabrillo Music Theater, Buena Vida Productions, Universal Pictures, American Entertainment, Moorhead State University, Cabrillo Music Theater, Skits Outreach Company, among others. With her prior dance company Universal Dance based in LA, she performed at over 200 events in two years; performing in several major US cities and Mexico. As a choreographer, Devyn has had the opportunity to work with the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Pittsburgh Playhouse Junior, Straw Hat Players, and Fargo Elementary School choreographing for the Theater and, while performing as a company member of Troupe Allegro, she created a work at Moorhead State University. Since moving to Santa Barbara in 2003, Devyn has worked with Motion Theater Dance Company, SonneBlauma Danscz Theater, and independent choreographers: Marcos Duran, Heather Shea and Nicole Helton. In 2010, Devyn founded Nebula Dance Lab to provide an incubator for creative art in motion- allowing the professional company of artists in modern and contemporary dance the opportunity to experiment, push boundaries, and create new language in dance through physical exploration. Nebula has shared their vibrant work at venues such as the San Pedro Music & Dance Festival (San Pedro, CA), NECTAR artist forum, SB-ADaPT Fest-Sprouts, MixMatch (Los Angeles) and IGNITE (San Diego). Devyn holds a BA in Theater Arts- Musical Theater from Point Park University and an MBA/MKT degree from the University of Phoenix. She is a member of SAG and AFTRA.