ARTWARD BOUND ASKS NYC CHOREOGRAPHERS TO STEP OUTSIDE.NEW YORK New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of CITY--One of the first things First Things is a monthly ecumenical journal concerned with the creation of a "religiously informed public philosophy for the ordering of society" (First Things website). choreographer cho·re·o·graph v. cho·re·o·graphed, cho·re·o·graph·ing, cho·re·o·graphs v.tr. 1. To create the choreography of: choreograph a ballet. 2. Fiona Marcotty did after moving to New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. in 1989 was to head for. the hills. To a Vermont artists' retreat, that is. Her memories of that week--living close to nature and creating dances alongside other choreographers--have remained potent. "It was intense. We worked like dogs," says Marcotty, "but it was incredibly bonding and I am still close to the others." So when The Field, a New York City performing arts service organization where Marcotty works, began pondering its next agenda, she proposed artist getaways. Marcotty now directs this newest program, Artward Bound. Beginning in April, The Field will host residencies for groups of six to eight performing artists who are transported to rural sites such as Workspace for Choreographers, in the Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains Blue Ridge also Blue Ridge Mountains A range of the Appalachian Mountains extending from southern Pennsylvania to northern Georgia. It rises to 2,038.6 m (6,684 ft) at Mount Mitchell in the Black Mountains of western North Carolina. , or Earthdance, a renovated farmhouse in the Berkshire hills Berkshire Hills (bûrk`shər, –shĭr), mountainous region of wooded hills with many small lakes and streams, W Mass. The Berkshires are a southern extension of the Green Mts. of Massachusetts with a forty-eight-foot dance studio and a sauna. For the choreographers, it's all free. For New York City artists, normally under siege from the bustle and grind of daily living, Artward Bound is an opportunity "to let nature restore and rejuvenate re·ju·ve·nate tr.v. re·ju·ve·nat·ed, re·ju·ve·nat·ing, re·ju·ve·nates 1. To restore to youthful vigor or appearance; make young again. 2. them," says Marcotty. While choreographers are expected to work the full ten days of the retreat, she insists, "There are no expectations for artists to come up with a finished product." The retreats will include career-building discussion groups and an optional salon-style performance upon return. Thanks to funds from the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation, The Field can pick up the tab for the first six monthly retreats which conclude in September. Participants are chosen by lottery (the next deadline is May 12), and the only requirements are that applicants must live in the greater New York City area and have made at least four original dance works or sixty minutes of material. Since there are very few performing artists' retreats around the country, The Field hopes to find additional funding to keep this program going indefinitely. |
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