Resilience
of the Spirit: Human Rights
Festival 2007
April
8 –
August
12, 2007
TWO
INSPIRING STORIES OF SURVIVAL AND REDEMPTION
OPEN
FIRST HUMAN RIGHTS FESTIVAL
SAN
DIEGO
– 6th @ Penn Theatre is pleased to announce the opening events of
the Resilience of the Spirit: Human Rights Festival 2007. Backbone:
A Personal Story of Triumph, a commissioned Butoh
dance by physician and educator Charlene Penner, and
The
Heliopause, a play by Eric Henry
Sanders, will run in tandem on April
8-11, 15-18, and 22-24, 2007. Sunday
performances are at
7:00 p.m.
, and performances on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday are at
7:30 p.m.
Sunday and Tuesday performances
are followed by a talkback with the audience.
Backbone:
A Personal Story of Triumph expresses the voice and
physical reality of torture and its aftermath through Butoh
dance. It is a journey that moves
from horrific devastation and isolation into the tender possibility of
companionship and joy. The dance is
an invitation to examine life and find a way to find compassion and trust,
leaving anger and the need for control behind.
Featured
dancers in Backbone
will be Cynthia Jemmott, Timyra-Joi,
and Sarah Nicita. While
choreographer Penner received her M.D. degree from
the
University
of
Saskatchewan
and has learned and practiced many hands-on-body therapies and energetic
movement forms, her current practice is Butoh Ritual
Dance, creating, performing and teaching in order to support the evolution of
consciousness and the dream that one day everyone might live in a world of peace
and harmony.
The
Heliopause takes as its
subject the 1994 atrocities in
Rwanda
committed by neighbor against neighbor in the name of ethnic and political
differences. It is a penetrating
snapshot of a Hutu man seeking redemption and forgiveness from his neighbor and
fellow countrywoman whose family he brutally murdered during the Rwandan
genocide.
Sanders’
plays have had performances and staged readings in theatres across the
United States
. He has been a finalist for the
Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville, the New Works Festival at the
Mark Taper Forum, and the PlayLabs at Steppenwolf
Theatre, a three-time semi-finalist for the O’Neill Playwrights’ Conference,
and a runner-up for the Princess Grace Fellowship administered by New
Dramatists. The
Heliopause was developed through a
commission from the Alliance Theatre and
Amherst
College
.
General
Information
6th
@ Penn Theatre is located at
3704 6th Avenue
(corner of
6th Avenue
and
Pennsylvania
). Tickets for Backbone:
A Personal Story of Triumph and The
Heliopause are $18
general admission and $15 for seniors.
For more information or to purchase tickets call 619-688-9210
or visit the web site at www.sixthatpenn.com.
About
the Resilience of the Spirit: Human
Rights Festival 2007
These
events kick off 6th @ Penn’s Resilience of the Spirit: Human Rights
Festival 2007, a series of events protesting human rights abuses, demonstrating
the resilience of the human spirit, and raising awareness of human rights as a
social justice issue. The Festival
is scheduled to run April 8 through
August 12, 2007
, and is presented in partnership with Amnesty International, Survivors of
Torture, The Aja Project, International Museum of
Human Rights at
San Diego
, and the Women’s History Art Initiative: Women’s Human Rights Film Series.
The
seeds of the Festival took root when 6th @ Penn’s Producing
Artistic Director,
Dale Morris
, was so deeply moved by the audience reaction to the theatre’s 2006
production of I
Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given To Me By A Young Lady From Rwanda,
that he determined to do more to
document similar stories and their inspirational aftermath.
While theatre is at the core of the Festival, it will also include dance,
photography, multimedia performance, film, poetry, and a literary program with
local school children. Brenda
McFarlane will serve as the Artistic Director of the Festival.
According
to Festival Producer Catherine Kineavy, “It is our belief that art can
transform society; we hope that by telling these stories we can engage our
community in the conversation about human rights.
We, along with our audience, can help change the world by participating
in a dialogue for social justice.”
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