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Posted by DCA Theater on September 10, 2009 in July-December 2009 Season, INCUBATOR Series: Striding Lion Interarts Workshop

by Karen Louis, Pioneers co-director

Striding Lion is proud and incredibly grateful to the DCA for offering us the INCUBATOR series for the month of September. To begin this blogging journey, allow me to introduce us:

Striding Lion is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to cultivating a collaborative community through interdisciplinary arts programming. We are committed to the empowerment of the independent artist, to the enrichment and entertainment of diverse audiences, and to the evolution and advancement of artistic expression.

This INCUBATOR series is a long-time dream of an opportunity to workshop, side by side, both our educational programming and our professional workshop models in (gasp!) the same space, back to back, head to head(as the tune to “Whip it” fills my mind- but that’s usual-I’m from Kent, Ohio...We’re big Devo fans).

This week, we have begun to workshop Pioneers, a production designed to be brought into the schools in which we hold residencies. In our education programming, we bring our students into our professional workshop model, with the end result of a final performance written, performed and conceived by the students, utilizing the curriculum of the teachers, schools,and education standards so as to promote a deeper connection, engagement, and understanding of the material, while embracing the imagination, energy and humor of the collaborative crew! Led by Education Director, Annie Beserra (co-founder of Striding Lion and founder of Beserra Dance Theatre),

we are busily exploring the landscape of Westward Expansion through movement, text, photographs, diaries and songs of the Pioneers, Native Americans and those who sacrificed their lives, homes and security in the pursuit of new territory, new experiences, and the ultimate adventure.

We’ve been having some great fun, getting into the skin of the time and place of the Pioneers, beginning with Ghost Dances

and discovering the mystery, strife, energy and circumstance that build the drive to move forward into the unknown, while adapting to circumstance,family, community, and the constant want to continue for posterity and growth. This theme will continue with “Directional Shifts,” the second segment of our journey with the INCUBATOR series(led by me) that is an inquiry into the role of the artist as a pioneer.

This is a great journey, and we are thrilled to continue it with the DCA INCUBATOR series!  I’m excited to see where this leads, and what you think about it! We’ll be putting two nuggets of performances up for you, both derived of our workshop methodology, and articulated by our artists. Come to the final performance on September 29th, and play with us! It’s always a celebration of seeking friends, cohorts, artists, and enthusiasts of live art and all things good. Find us at www.stridinglion.org, on Facebook, Myspace and Twitter.  We are an active group, in an active community, foraging and articulating our path, as we build and grow…