Spring Week 10 NEWSLETTER
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In Observance of Tragedy and Unthinkable Injustice
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Dear Theatre and Dance Community,
These last few days our minds and hearts have been roiled by the excruciating news of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis and the disturbing video of his final moments has stunned all communities of the world. As our
Chancellor’s letter
on Friday noted, the police event in context with the recent killings of Breonna Taylor (by police in her home), Tony McDade (killed by Tallahassee police) and Ahmaud Arbery (by neighbors while jogging), our Black community members, in particular, are outraged, traumatized, and in profound pain.
Our Theatre and Dance Community extends heartfelt sympathies to the families, friends, and loved ones of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade and Ahmaud Arbery. We join in profound mourning their unspeakably tragic and untimely deaths. We stand in solidarity with our Black family, friends and neighbors in their hour of need yearning to find deeper meanings of unbearable human loss
And again, to echo the Chancellor’s message, no matter how painful, difficult or uncomfortable, our society must review these events with powerful transparency and recognize there are systemic problems in our society that desperately need our attention and energy to remedy. Our institutions must do better. Each of us must do better. If one person is denied justice and human rights, we are all denied justice and human rights. America must find its soul
.
Sincerely,
Allan Havis
Department Chair
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Congratulations to the Cast and Creative Team of
Q for Quarantine
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Please join us in congratulating the cast and creative team of
Q for Quarantine
on a terrific performance! The original "Zoom whodunit," created by and starring students (and special guest faculty artists) from UC San Diego Theatre & Dance (many of whom are pictured above), streamed on May 31st via our
Spring 2020 Virtual Studio
!
Created by first year MFA acting students, the performance was described as such: "The Purell family has a problem. They've been quarantined since the beginning of the pandemic, but now someone has broken quarantine and their beloved dog, Chalice, is missing. So, they've hired a detective to get to the bottom of things."
Don't worry if you missed the livestream last night -- you can still watch
Q for Quarantine
!
Click here
to view a recording of the performance and to learn more about the artists involved. See below, in this newsletter, for more information about our upcoming virtual productions and events!
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Upcoming Productions & Events
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Spring 2020 Virtual Mainstage Productions:
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What would you do if the world was ending? When chaos roams the earth, you can either tie yourself to the bit of light left or fall into the darkness. Separated from your loved ones, you hold a notebook with you that lists all the people you are searching for. Maybe you're not searching. Maybe you just want to know they're alive. You and a group of people from across the country find yourselves recollecting an episode from
The Simpsons
, finding comfort through connection. What will you do to preserve the past and create a new future?
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A video featuring Act 3 director,
Tristan Samson
, will be posted on the UC San Diego Theatre & Dance
Facebook page
later this week. Please
check the page
for updates!
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Ground-breaking and innovative digital dance created by undergraduate dance students during the COVID-19 shelter-in-place era.
New Directions Experimental Dance and Digital Performance
is the first of its kind and will pave the way for future dance-making in our digital future.
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This Week's Featured Virtual LAB Productions:
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Drive-In: A Salon Showcasing the Work of the MFA Costume Designers
Let’s all go to the movies and enjoy a treat: the visual worlds that Euihyun, Daniella, and Natalie have been creating while socially distancing. How do we showcase the body in the virtual world? Join us as we share and discuss our work as storytellers.
June 6 @ 4pm PST
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Piece of the Pandemic
A choose your own adventure in a virtual setting about living in quarantine at a social distance.
June 6 @ 7:30pm PST
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Upcoming Virtual LAB Productions*:
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The Gathering
The Gathering is an ultra secret society whose purpose has been shrouded in mystery for millennia. All that is known is that somehow they are awakened to action when humanity is most in need of saving. Only a select few will be chosen for fellowship. Will you be brave enough to accept and rescue humanity before it's too late?
June 10 & 11 @ 7:30pm PST
Richard II Solo Project
A short video bringing together a number of speeches and the deposition scene from Shakespeare's Richard II. Exploring how to carry this story with just one actor, focusing on Richard as a character, and the journey of these specific speeches within the play.
June 11 @ 7:30pm PST
The Museum of You: An Audio Guide
Plug in your headphones, press play, and walk us through your space as we walk you through the museum. Take part in a few Institute-Approved Exercises, rediscover the life inside the objects around you, and empower yourself to see your space with fresh eyes. We hope you enjoy your visit.
June 12 @ 6pm PST
Do the Stars Gaze Back
On an outpost deep in outer space, a mysterious emergency forces everyone to flee in their individual escape pods. Drifting alone in space, gazing at the stars, yearning for human connection. Is there anybody out there? Do the stars gaze back?
June 12 @ 7:30pm PST
Virtual Meeting: Finger Me Through the Screen
The central theme of this variety piece revolves around taboo and catharsis and examines the societal significance of taboo and peoples’ fascination with it. Taboo attracts an intrinsic curiosity; if you forbid someone from doing something, they wonder what would happen if they did. The mysterious and deviant nature of taboo entices people and the goal of this piece is to capture its essence. The piece utilizes and embraces a 2D medium while incorporating video art to supplement movement elements.
June 13 @ 8pm PST
Tangible Scores
Connecting with what we can touch. An interactive experience where we explore the "art of touch" following the traces of Marinetti, the founder of the Futurist Movement, and other sources.
June 7 @ 12:30pm PST (Try-out + aftertalk)
June 13 @ 12pm / 12:45pm / 1:15pm PST
(14 participants maximum)
UCSD Chicanx Teatro Ensemble & Mobile Theater Unit
Looking at works/pieces created for mobile phones. But could be live and/or recorded as we develop the work, but anticipating those being via phones
TBD
*All LAB dates and information subject to change. Stay updated on all performance information by visiting our online
Spring 2020 Virtual Studio
. We will also continue to update information in our upcoming newsletters -- so keep your eyes peeled!
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Theatre & Dance Undergraduate Graduation
Friday, June 5th, 2020
5:00pm
Streamed live at the link below.
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Faculty and Alumni Participate in the Broadway Stage Management Symposium
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The Broadway Stage Management Symposium, a two day forum featuring a series of panels, lectures and seminars led by some of Broadway's most experienced stage managers, was held online this past weekend, May 30th and 31st.
Professor
Lisa Porter
, along with her co-author of
Stage Management Theory as a Guide to Practice
, Narda E Alcorn, were featured as speakers. MFA Stage Management alumna
Emily Hayes-Walsh
was also featured as a speaker as well as frequent La Jolla Playhouse stage manager, Kelly Martindale. The Broadway Symposium was founded by Broadway stage manager and undergraduate alumnus
Matthew Stern
.
Click here
to learn more about the Broadway Stage Management Symposium.
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Alumni Featured in
Walks of Life
for La Jolla Playhouse's Digital WOW Festival
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BA alumna
Monique Gaffney
is featured in Episode One of La Jolla Playhouse's Digital WOW production of
Walks of Life
, created by Blindspot Collective. Sound Design is by MFA alumna
Melanie Chen Cole
. Episode One of
Walks of Life
is now available on the Playhouse's
website
.
Walks of Life
is an original work of auditory theatre featuring short scenes by playwrights and composers from across the country. In the midst of a pandemic that fractures and isolates our communities, this aural experience offers the opportunity to safely and imaginatively reconnect with each other by bearing witness to life’s intimate moments captured entirely in sound. Participants experience the performance while walking independently through their own neighborhoods, and over the course of three 30-minute parts, they are introduced to characters and stories that might be unfolding in the homes around them.
Click here
to learn more and experience the production.
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Alumni Lauren Yee Featured in Newest Edition of La Jolla Playhouse's LJP Vault
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LJP Vault is a series of posts each week from La Jolla Playhouse artists and staff sharing favorite photos, videos and memories.
The most recent edition of LJP Vault featured MFA playwriting alumna
Lauren Yee
, author of last year's
Cambodian Rock Band
and Season 20/21’s world-premiere play,
Mother Russia
.
Check out the video
to hear Lauren’s favorite memory from the run of her critically-acclaimed production and why the afternoon with a very special audience in the Potiker Theatre meant so much to her.
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Need Help? Visit the COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resource Page
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The COVID-19 Freelance Artist Resource webpage is an aggregated list of FREE resources, opportunities, and financial relief options available to artists of all disciplines. It is specifically designed to serve freelance artists, and those interested in supporting the independent artist community. This includes, but is not limited to actors, designers, producers, technicians, stage managers, musicians, composers, choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, craft artists, teaching artists, dancers, writers & playwrights, photographers, etc.
Click here
to visit the webpage and to learn more.
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Have news to share?
Send it to us at tanddnews@ucsd.edu and we'll pass it along for you. Photos are encouraged.
Miss a back edition? Visit the Newsletter Archives.
Sincerely, UC San Diego Theatre & Dance
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