The Diana Wortham Theatre
in partnership with the
UNCA Cultural and Special Events Committee
presents

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
and
The Hallelujah Project: In Praise of Spirit and Stone

Saturday, April 13, 2002, at 8 p.m.
Sunday, April 14, 2002, at 3 p.m.
Diana Wortham Theatre
Asheville, North Carolina

Dance Series Sponsors: Tina & John McGuire

Conceived and Directed by
Liz Lerman, Artistic Director and Founder

Peter DiMuro, Associate Artistic Director
Jane Hirshberg, Producing Director

Music Director: Robert Fen
Music composed by Andy Teirstein and Robert Fen
Lighting Designed by Michael Mazzola and Chloe Brown
Production Manager: Chloe Brown
Final Editing: Peter DiMuro and Liz Lerman

Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Company:
Peter DiMuro, Thomas Dwyer, Margot Greenlee, Elizabeth Johnson, Liz Lerman, Kazu Nakamura, Marvin Webb, Martha Wittman
Also performing in Asheville: Ted Johnson, Michael Means, Michelle Pearson (Guest Artists), Quincy Northrup (Apprentice)

The Liz Lerman Dance Exchange Hallelujah Project is supported in part by grants from the North Carolina Arts Council, a state agency; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Wallace-Reader's Digest Funds; and the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Southern Arts Federation and the North Carolina Arts Council.

PROGRAM

Excerpts from Dances At A Cocktail Party (2002)
Conceived and Directed Liz Lerman
Choreography by Liz Lerman and the Company
Original Scenic and Lighting Design by Michael Mazzola
Costume Design by Naoko Nagata
Music composed by Leonard Bernstein
By arrangement with Leonard Bernstein Music Publishing Co. LLC, copyright owner and publisher; and Boosey & Hawkes, Inc., sole agent.

This excerpt is part of a piece that was commissioned by the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

HALLELUJAH: In Praise of Spirit and Stone
Performed and created by Liz Lerman Dance Exchange and the Asheville community
Project Leader/Artistic Development: Michelle Pearson
Project Assistance: Marvin Webb
Directed by Peter DiMuro
Lighting Design/Production Management: Chloe Brown
Technical Director/Sound Design: Michael Van Sleen
Music Composed by: Robert Een
Director of Outreach, Diana Wortham Theatre: Rae Bucher

Intermission

UNEASY DANCES

Body Map (1998)
Choreography and text by Liz Lerman
From "Fifty Modest Reflections on Turning Fifty," commissioned by Arizona State University and The Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix, sponsor of the L'Chaim Series, which celebrated Israel at 50

Anatomies and Epidemics (2002)
Conceived and Directed Liz Lerman
Choreography by Liz Lerman and the Company
Original Lighting Design by Michael Mazzola
Music composed by Alan Hovhaness, Spike Jones, Andy Teirstein

Notes on Asheville’s Hallelujah

The Asheville Hallelujah project began last summer in a flurry of participants and activity. Since then, we have dance with almost one hundred Asheville area resident from all walks of life. Over the past year, the Asheville Hallelujah participants were present during four residency periods, twenty-three workshops and over fifty hours of work (and play) in anticipation of today’s performance.

Through an intricate process of discussion, stories, dance and music, we explored the unique and diverse qualities that make Asheville an amazing place to live and visit. Most participants agree they choose to live here because of the physical beauty of the area and the quality of life factors. When asked to explain what makes Asheville unique, we continually referred to the many opposites prevalent in our town.

Among a plethora of other points, we talked about the physical opposites in the land — our mountains and valleys. We discussed how the mountains have served us as a lure and a barrier throughout history.

We also talked about the wide variety of spiritual helpers and practices in our residents, the large gap between liberals and conservatives, the income gaps in our population and simply the uncharacteristically diverse groups of people who make up our small town.

Hence our title ‘In Praise of Spirit and Stone." To each participant, it means something different. As you experience today’s performance, I invite you to decide what it means to you.

—Rae Bucher, Director of Outreach

Special thanks to the following people and companies who helped make this project possible: Ann Dunn, Susan & Giles Collard, Amanda Hollinger and the YWCA, Connie Schrader and UNCA, Eagle's Home Studio and Dana Davis and Julie Becton Gillum (project photographer) and all of the participants.

When we first came to Asheville and asked the question "What are you in praise of?", the answers we received were as varied as the people who live here. We heard about praising the opposites that exist in Asheville. For instance, we heard about mountains acting as both lure and barrier, which led to personal stories of growth and stasis. So right from our first workshops last year, our process yielded results as diverse as the land. This was not to be a simple story of equivalence: stones representing the land, and spirits symbolizing people.

The stone and the spirit that make up Asheville are not so easily defined, or confined. We discovered that stones continue to slowly grow and move unexpectedly. Spirits? They can be fluid and searching, but also can be stubborn and unyielding.

The Dance Exchange has made a rotation of visits to fourteen other cities in the last four years on the "Hallelujah" Trail – each one with a process and performance outcome as diverse as possible. Some highlights – January 1, 2000: a dance at dawn, on the docks of the eastern most tip of the United States with the fishermen and their families who inhabit Eastport, Maine. May, 2001: in the sculpture garden of the Walker Arts Center, Minneapolis, the company performing the gestures of the Hmong tradition, interspersed with what the Hmong teens called "American" gestures. Spring/Summer, 2002: experiencing the contagious pride, curiosity and quest to answer the beginning question, "So, what is it y'all are in praise of?" It's this spirit from around the country, and in your neighboring "Hallelujah" cities in North Carolina, that has become a stepping stone to Asheville.

We'd like to thank all those who have informed the process along the way - we've been invited into many homes, to a range of spiritual rites and celebrations, and breathed in these scenic mountains. We truly have gotten to know people. We thank all the performers you see on stage tonight. Their generosity continues to give to the project. There are many people who informed the process and performance who you do not see on stage tonight. A special thank you to Byron Ballard and to Hannah Rosenthal who acted as community liaisons, and introduced us to many wonderful individuals. This project's statewide scope was enabled by the creative collaboration of our presenters in Raleigh, Boone and Greensboro, and of course, John Ellis and Rae Bucher of Diana Wortham Theatre. Many thanks for their commitment to the creation of art!

Peter DiMuro, Associate Artistic Director
Michelle Pearson, Project Leader / Artistic Development

Asheville Hallelujah participants*

Arrachme, Candice Adams, Jennifer Anderson, Shiner Antiorio, Tracey Armstrong, Byron Ballard, Kate Ballard, Claire Barratt, Barrie Barton, Moss Bliss, Rachel Brown, D. Rae Bucher, Hilarie Burke, Patricia Cole-Ferallo, Giles Collard, Susan Collard, Sharon Cooper, Dana Davis, Leigh Dudasik, Kate Fioccola, Kathy Forsberg, Lauren Fortuna, Jean Frazer, Debbi Freiling, Severing Gabber, Jan Glimpse, Julie Gillum, Marilyn Griffith, Mary Gross, Pam Harders, Marilyn Hill, Lawrence Hines, Tamara Hubbard, Sam Humphreys, Kara Jasinski, Heloise Jones, Jack Kennedy, Mary La Bianca, Janice Lancaster, Gregor Lee, Hillary Logan, Joan Mackenzie, Jean-Ann Marshall, Catherine Massey, Anna Matheson, Ellen Maynard, Ann Mojonnier, Marnie Muller, Yoko Myoi, Roberta Namark, Idelle Packer, Brad Parquette, Hope Pendergrass, Ellen Price, Renee Redrick, Pascal Robert, Jody Roltgen, Errol Rose, Hanah Rosenthal, Nancy Sanders, Katie Saurer, Connie Schrader, Myra Scibetta, Cornelia Scibetta, Charlene Scott, Mildred Shields, Holly Simns, Donna Snyder, Sondra Stamey, Mary Stair, Jerri Lynn Tandon, Julia Taylor, Susan Warren, Larry Manning, Elly Wells, Rebecca Williams, Mary Esther Young.

*Bold indicates those dancing in this performance.

Meet the Asheville participants who made the bio deadline:

Shiner Antiorio delights in combining Sign Language, movement and music in her performances and teaching the language to all ages.

Arrachme is currently the president/artistic director of Sajara, a world organization that utilizes the performing arts as a catalyst of communication, and empowering harmony. Web: http://www.fluid-motion.com

Claire Barratt, a native of Great Britain, was a co-director of Circle Modern Dance in Knoxville. She presently dances with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre.

Rae Bucher, Director of Outreach at Diana Wortham Theatre and Artistic Director of Highland Repertory Theatre, is proud to be part of the Asheville Hallelujah.

Dana R. Davis is Co-Director of the JD Project, Operations Director at Asheville Area Arts Council and proud mother of Audrey.

Julie Becton Gillum co-directs J D Project, teaches dance at Warren Wilson College and performs with Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre. The Hallelujah Project has been great fun.

Tamara Hubbard is a management consultant for area arts organizations. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to perform in front of the curtain for a change!

Heloise Jones is a Manager at the Asheville Art Museum and a creative spirit who spreads her wings any chance she gets.

Mary La Bianca is a student at UNCA studying painting and dance. She is very excited about being a part of this project.

Janice Lancaster is a graduate from the NC School of the Arts in Contemporary Dance. Native to NC but new to Asheville, she is in praise of its diversity.

Gregor Lee graduated from Sweet Briar College with degrees in history, dance and arts management. She directs the National League of Junior Cotillions and teaches at Center Stage Dance Studio.

Catherine Massey is a professional dancer/choreographer. In her spare time, she writes grants, raises money for the Asheville Art Museum, and teaches modern dance.

Anna Matheson is a passionate elder who thrives on intimate relationships, both here and in India/Nepal with her Tibetan Buddhist, Moslem and Hindu friends.

Ellen Maynard grew up dancing in Atlanta and continued crafting, and exploring movement at Earlham College. She recently performed with JD Project at Warren Wilson College.

Idelle Packer, physical therapist and teacher of the Alexander Technique, has loved meeting dancers in Asheville through the amazing Hallelujah Project. Thank you, Michelle!

Brad Parquette has a diverse background in dance, theatre and the visual arts. The ability to make movement, in space, and on paper is his joy in life.

Hope Pendergrass, an Educator at The Health Adventure, has been dancing with JD Project Modern Dance Company for 3 years. She has thoroughly enjoyed the creative process behind this production.

Renee Redrick, a teacher at Fletcher School of Dance, is excited to be in this project and to share her love for movement and the human body.

Connie Schrader is a Lecturer at UNCA. She also teaches at the New Studio of Dance.

Cornelia Scibetta: mother of two, RN with Mountain Area Hospice and Mission St Joseph’s.

Myra Scibetta is a junior at TC Roberson High School and enjoys dancing and soccer.

Mary M. Stair says there is nothing like dancing, singing and playing French piano music to bring you back — to LIFE.

Sondra Stamey is a performer, choreographer, teacher and writer with a dance degree from Meredith College where she was first introduced to the Dance Exchange.

Julia Taylor is a recent graduate of the Visual Arts Program at NCSA who is now directing her artistic expression toward performance, dance & movement.

Elly Wells is a freelance marketing & project manager who enjoys dancing like mad in her house when no one's around but the dog.