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BiographiesPROJECT LEADERSHIP Robert H. Leonard, principal investigator Robert H. Leonard is associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va., where he teaches directing and improvisation. He brings 30 years of experience as founding artistic director of the Road Company, a nationally recognized theater ensemble (1972-1998) based in Johnson City, Tennessee, which created and produced two dozen original plays reflecting the history and issues of the Upper Tennessee Valley and Central Appalachia. Leonard served as a site visitor for WagonBurner Theater Troop for "Performing Communities," and currently serves as a member of the national board of Theatre Communications Group. Ann Kilkelly, investigator Ann Kilkelly is a professor of theater arts and women's studies at Virginia Tech. She is recognized nationally as a scholar and performer of jazz-tap dancing and history, performance studies and interactive performance techniques. She has received Smithsonian Senior Fellowships and a National Endowment for the Humanities Collaborative Research Grant, and performs and gives master classes in jazz tap around the country. At Virginia Tech she served as the director of Women's Studies for six years, she teaches and directs multimedia performance concerts, and she recently created the Diversity Training Laboratory to help students and faculty use performance techniques to examine diversity issues. Kilkelly also served as a site visitor for Roadside Theater for "Performing Communities." Linda Frye Burnham, project editor Linda Frye Burnham is a writer who is co-director of Art in the Public Interest and the Community Arts Network. She is the editor of APInews and edited "Performing Communities" for the Web. She founded High Performance magazine and, with Steven Durland, was its editor (1978-1998). She co-founded the 18th Street Arts Complex and Highways Performance Space in California. She is the editor, with Steven Durland, of "The Citizen Artist: 20 Years of Art in the Public Arena," an anthology from High Performance (1998). She has served as contributing editor to the Drama Review and staff writer for Artforum. Her writing has appeared in numerous art magazines in the U.S. and U.K. Steven Durland, project designer Steven Durland is a visual artist and writer who is co-director of Art in the Public Interest and the Community Arts Network. He served as editor of High Performance magazine (with Linda Burnham) 1986-1998. He also served as Executive Director of the magazine's publishing entity, the 18th St. Arts Complex in Santa Monica, California, 1989-1993. He has taught at UC Irvine and UMass, lectured at more than a dozen colleges and universities and served on panels at a dozen local, national and international arts conferences. His sculpture has been present in solo exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. Erica Yerkey, project manager Erica Yerkey has been a part of the Community Arts Network since the fall of 2000. In addition to her CAN administrative duties, she functions as a free-lance dance artist and educator. A graduate of Radford University, she holds a BFA in contemporary dance. Yerkey has performed and studied with Sara Pearson/Patrik Widrig and Company, Donald McKayle, Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane and Company, the Urban Bush Women, Doug Nielson and the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange among others. Now living in Blacksburg, Virginia, she is a respected and sought-after teacher, choreographer and performer in her community and elsewhere. Recent residencies include: The Swannanoa Gatherings Sing Swing and String Week, Virginia Tech Department of Theatre Arts, YMCA Open University, Virginia Tech Women's Center, as well as Radford University. On faculty at the Center of Dance, a dance education facility in her community, Yerkey is currently creating a modern dance technique program for people of all ages. SITE VISITORS Michael Fields, site visitor to Roadside Theater Michael Fields is a founding member of the Dell'Arte Company where he acts, directs, teaches, creates plays, manages all company business and oversees development. He is the producing director of the Dell’Arte Mad River Festival, director of the California State Summer School for the Arts Theatre Program and resident director with Het Vervolg Theatre of Holland. He holds a BA in Communication Arts from the University of San Francisco and an MFA in Directing from Humboldt State University. Fields is on the board of directors of the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) in New York, he is a member of the James Irvine Foundation California Arts Leadership Forum, and has served as a National Endowment for the Arts panelist. Keith Hennessy, site visitor to Jump-Start Performance Co. Keith Hennessy is an interdisciplinary artist choreographer and community arts organizer. Hennessy's solo work has been produced throughout the U.S., in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, including several gay and lesbian performance festivals. Since 1998, he has performed with Cahin-Caha, cirque bâtard, a French/American, mongrel circus based in France. Hennessy was a member of the performance collective Core and was a founding member and principle collaborator in the Contraband performance company. Hennessy co-directs 848 Community Space in San Francisco. Hennessy's web site can be found at http://www.circozero.org. Ann Kilkelly, site visitor to Roadside Theater See biography above. Ferdinand Lewis, site visitor to Cornerstone Theater and Los Angeles Poverty Department Ferdinand Lewis is a founding member of The Ghost Road Company, an educator, writer and theater artist. He is currently at work on two books: "Ensemble Theater: An Anthology" and "Ensemble Theater: Traditions, Approaches, Strategies." He lives in Los Angeles. Robert H. Leonard, site visitor to WagonBurner Theatre Troop See biography above. Arnaldo J Lopez, site visitor to Teatro Pregones An ensemble-theater scholar born and raised in Puerto Rico, Arnaldo J. Lopez studied English literature, typography and letterpress arts in Pennsylvania, where he also lived and worked as a graphic designer. A Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese at NYU, he likes to write on issues of identity, arts and politics. Mark McKenna, site visitor to The Dell’Arte Company Mark McKenna is artistic director and an ensemble member of Touchstone Theatre, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is a graduate of the Lecoq International School of Theatre in Paris. He has taught theater classes at Lehigh University and the University of Pennsylvania, and the MFA Theatre Program at Towson State University. McKenna is active in the growth of the Network of Ensemble Theatres. He is a board member of Alliance for Building Communities, a regional community-development corporation. Nayo Watkins, site visitor to Carpetbag Theatre Company Nayo Watkins is a poet, essayist, playwright, performer and an arts and community consultant who lives in Durham, N.C. She is sole proprietor of Bodacious Consulting and Organizing. She served as coordinator for the Mississippi American Festival Project and for the N.C.-based Alternate ROOTS Community Artist Partnership Project. She served as executive director of the African American Dance Ensemble (Durham), At the Foot of the Mountain Theatre (Minneapolis), and the Mississippi Cultural Arts Coalition (Jackson), and as program assistant for the Afro-American Studies Program of the University of Mississippi. |
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