Jenny Lerner, Baryshnikov Dance Foundation 212.486.7229
Acclaimed Artistic Director JoAnne Akalaitis to Mentor a Laboratory Project of Young Artists at the Baryshnikov Arts Center
The Baryshnikov Dance Foundation and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts have announced the second annual Baryshnikov Arts Center Fellowship Program. The 2006 Fellowship program will offer 22 undergraduate and graduate students from the Tisch School’s seven conservatory programs (dance, design for stage and film, dramatic writing, film, musical theatre writing, interactive telecommunications, and acting), an unprecedented creative experience to engage in an exciting, cross-disciplinary laboratory project.
Under the direction and mentorship of renowned theater director and writer JoAnne Akalaitis, the 22 Fellowship recipients will be assembled into three multi-disciplinary teams to explore the “Myth of Creation” as a theme. The program’s intent will be to focus on the creative process, giving students the opportunity to experiment and take risks in a collaborative environment. Each team will be encouraged to exchange ideas, share artistic visions, and work together across disciplines, while learning technical skills and building relationships for the future. Directors Emma Griffin, Susanna Gellert, and Dmitry Troyanovsky will work with each team to facilitate creative development and collaboration. The Baryshnikov Arts Center (BAC), located at 450 West 37th Street in New York City, will provide space and resources for the four-week program, from May 15- June 10.
“We are delighted to be partnering with Mikhail Baryshnikov and the Baryshnikov Arts Center for a second summer,” said Mary Schmidt Campbell, dean of the Tisch School of the Arts and associate provost of the arts at NYU. “This season’s collaboration represents an expansion of our program, and will offer our students and alumni a truly unique opportunity. The partnerships our students forge during their month in residence and the experience with mentors and other professionals in the arts, we hope, will make an important difference in their careers.”
The 2006 BAC Fellowship recipients are: Reza Jacobs, Carline Murphy, Will Aronson, and Rachel Jett (Graduate Musical Theater Writing Program); Shabd Simon-Alexander and Alyson Perry (Department of Photography and Imaging); David Gould, Deena Selenow, Alexandria Kryzaniwsky, Angrette McCloskey, and Matthew Berger (Department of Drama); Mario Spinetti (Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music); Beth Gill and Edisa Weeks (Department of Dance); David Hindman, Mirit Tal and Ryan Holsopple (Interactive Telecommunications Program); Freddy Arsenault (Graduate Acting Program); Andrea Lauer and Dan Scully (Department of Design for Stage and Film); and Shiho Miyazawa (Undergraduate Film Division, Kanbar Institute of Film & Television).
JoAnne Akalaitis is the winner of five Obie Awards for direction and is the founder of the critically acclaimed Mabou Mines in New York. She has staged works of Euripides, Shakespeare, Strindberg, Schiller, Beckett, Genet, Williams, and Philip Glass and her own work at Lincoln Center Theatre, New York City Opera, Goodman Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Court Theatre, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, and The Guthrie Theater. She is the former Artistic Director of the New York Shakespeare Festival and was artist in residence at the Court Theater. She was the co-chair of the Directing Program at Juilliard School and is currently chair of theatre at Bard College.
The Baryshnikov Arts Center Fellowship pilot program is made possible by private funding.
The Tisch School of the Arts, comprising the Performing Arts Institute, the Jack H. Skirball Center for New Media and Film and the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, is one of the nation’s preeminent centers for professional training, scholarship, and research in the performing and cinematic arts. It offers both graduate and undergraduate degrees and draws students from around the world. Nearly 3,000 students pursue degrees in acting, dance, design, drama, musical theatre, performance studies, film and television, cinema studies, dramatic writing, photography and interactive telecommunications.
Incorporated in 1979, the mission of the Baryshnikov Dance Foundation (BDF) is to foster an interest in the arts; to encourage the development of performers, choreographers, directors, writers, composers and designers; and to advance their collaboration. In November 2005, the Foundation opened the Baryshnikov Arts Center, located in the new performing arts complex 37 ARTS. The Center serves as a creative laboratory, meeting place and performing space for a vibrant community of artists from around the world. Programs include student fellowships, artist residencies, and commissions of new works.