Philadelphia Live Arts Festival

Second Thursdays Series

Artists from the Live Arts Festival artist residency program or a guest artist from the region talk about their work process and share their musings, imaginings and ideas that are the inspiration for what will eventually evolve into a new work.

They’ll be casual, intimate gatherings, so anything goes. The artists may perform segments of new work, tell stories about their un-traditional research, or just discuss what they’re currently imagining for their upcoming piece. Your feedback and questions throughout are warmly welcomed and encouraged!

Why you should come:

• Free admission
• Free beer
• You’ll hang with the artists, meet new people, see cool stuff, and be part of amazing conversations (or just listen in if you’d rather!).

When you should come:

• The second Thursday of each month, October – June 7pm

Upcoming featured artists:

• January 14, 2010

• Whit MacLaughlin / New Paradise Laboratories (FATEBOOK, 2009)Dare to take a peek inside the brain of Whit MacLaughlin, the Artistic Director of New Paradise Laboratories and mastermind behind 2009’s FATEBOOK.  Whit will give insight into his latest projects: FREEDOM CLUB (in collaboration with The Riot Group); MORT (the third part ofNPL’s American Party trilogy preceded by BATCH and PROM); and his newest idea, F@#CK COMPUTERS. For more advance details on the new works, visit http://www.princeton.edu/arts/news/archive/freedom-club/.Miro Dance Theatre
• Amanda Miller and Tobin Rothlein of Miro Dance Theatre will be showing a slideshow of their recent trip to India where they performed their newest work, How am I Not Myself?In the work, two classically trained dancers, one in Ballet and the other Bharatnatyam, examine the questions that come with dance, identity, and moving beyond the classical form. At the age of four Amanda Miller and Viji Rao began their classical training on opposite sides of the world. Now, thirty years later, following professional classical careers, they are both engaged in their own unique forms of contemporary dance. In How am I Not Myself? they join with video artist Tobin Rothlein to look at their transition from classical to contemporary with an exciting dialogue of movement and multimedia and a celebration of the contemporary and the unclassifiable.
• Makoto Hirano & Ben Camp
• Ben Camp and Makoto Hirano will be showing a few scenes that may or may not make it into their upcoming work, PunchKapow. PunchKapow is an original devised piece in development by Ben, Alex Torra, Makoto, Charlotte Ford, Mikaal Sulaimon, and Brett Cassidy.  The piece is inspired by representations of violence and how much fun they can be – comic books, action movies, video games, and anime.  People love violence, and we want to dive into the joy of fighting as much as the darkness. This piece is the first for an organization called Team Sunshine Performance Corporation, and will priemere in November.JANUARY PRE-SERIES BONUS EVENT:For this month’s Second Thursdays Series, you’ll enter the Festival studio through AREA 919’s gallery space. Between 6pm and 7pm, visit AREA 919 for a glass of wine and their Antique Collection of 18th and 19th Century works in stone, marble, iron, and wood from Europe, India, China, and America.  For more information: www.area919.com.

• Where it all happens: The Festival Studio , 919 N 5th St Philadelphia, PA 19123, Free onsite parking + abundant neighborhood street parking