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Letter from the Artistic Director
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Hello! I have just returned from Acre in Israel, where I had a wonderful experience. It was very hot, but there was still incredible energy for our project.
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Acre and the arts
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There was enormous excitement in the community for highlighting the beauty of Acre, a city long known for its arts scene, including its drummers, poets, and cultural vibrancy. The walls that you see behind our dancer Julnar are a section of the medieval walls of the old city - very romantic and compelling. In addition to performers on the beach and in the water, we're planning to have both dancers and fisherman on the walls, and we are excited about working with the local fisherman. At a certain point in the music, 3 small fishing boats, each with a dancer in them, will appear from behind the walls. The dance will take place at sunset, and the light will be absolutely spectacular; the setting sun turns the walls pink.
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Hard at work
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While in Acre, I met with Hanan and Yacoub Hijazi, who are the directors of a cultural center in the Old City. Their cultural center will be our local coordinator for the project, and they have suggested that our performance take place as its own event, and not as part of the Akko Festival. They felt that getting permission to place dancers up on the walls during the festival would be difficult. It is also a compliment to us that they felt that our performance should stand alone and not be swallowed up in the festivities. The picture was taken during the meeting when I first met some of the local artists we will be working with. We are at the Cultural Center, with Hanan and Yacoub on the left and the choreographer and composer on the right.
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Exploring different beaches
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Hanan and I spent a morning traveling along the western beaches, to select the best and most audience-friendly site for our performance. In their cultural center, Hanan is a passionate advocate for maintaining the cultural heritage and inspiring artistic achievement in the region, especially among youth. Here, to the left, is my young translator, who was willing to run atop the recently built walls of New Akko to pose as a dancer. I was really moved by the receptivity of the community about the dance. I was happy to see such enthusiasm for the performance, and I was very touched by the warm hospitality that was shown to me every day, in many ways.
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| Listening to waves |
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 The local choreographer, Raba, and I met several times, and I feel as if we made a really good heart connection. When I talked to a young doctor in the neighboring city of Haifa, she was really excited about Raba, whom she says is very talented and famous.
The working title for our performance is "Dance of the Waves." The waves are an everpresent part of life in Acre, and the wave is a meaningful metaphor across languages.
This project is shaping up wonderfully! I look forward to returning in September with Jenny Moore, our Program Consultant, for the October performance. | |
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Thanks!
Huge thanks go to our wonderful board -- Julie Andrus, Louise Miner and Ames Sheldon -- without whom this work would not be possible!
We continue to seek funding for our Israel project. If you wish to contribute, you could make a tax-deductible check out to "The Marian Chace Foundation" -- our fiscal agent -- and mail it to Global Site Performance at 2230 Marshall Street NE, Minneapolis, MN 55418.
Marylee Hardenbergh
Global Site Performance
Visit our website: http://globalsiteperformance.org
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