...Announcing Kaz DanceHUMAN's


SPECIAL SEPTEMBER DANCE SERIES, 2008 --
"Bridging Arts: Bodies and Spaces of Change"
--with Special Visiting Guest Artist Gerry Turvey from the UK (www.turveyworld.co.uk)

TWO WEEKENDS of Physically INTEGRATED DANCE WORKSHOPS, Sept. 5-7 and Sept. 12-14
For both "able-bodied" people and persons with physical limitations or disabilities.
Pre-register early (space is limited). Limited space also for visual artists to participate (see *below).

Special attention on the physical aspects of change such as perceived disabilities and limitations, meetings and partings, aging, and the energy of safe passage through transitions. The work will be site-specific and body-specific.

Weekend One: Bodies and Spaces of Transition

WHERE:
Site-specific and body-specific Dancing Outdoors (weather-permitting) at Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School, 15 Mulligan Drive, South Hadley, MA.

WHEN & WHAT:

* Friday, Sept. 5, 6:30-8 pm: The evening's introductory workshop will acquaint participants with our artists' tools: space, place, bodies, histories, etc., with Gerry Turvey's inimitable style, and with the dynamics of the environment and the integrated workshop community.

* Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 6 & 7, 2 - 4 pm: The movement focus will be site-specific and body-specific, examining the nature of transitions, the changing environment (inner and outer), and the dynamics of the dancers. Gerry's approach considers and connects unique identities and stories, how we relate to ourselves, each other, and our changing environment through movement.


Weekend Two: Art Inspires Dance: Bridges and Complements

WHERE:
Weekend Two's Workshops will take place at the NACUL Center Gallery, 592 Main Street, Amherst.
*Visual Artists who would like to sketch/draw are also invited to attend (limited number); please call to inquire.

WHEN & WHAT:

* Friday, Sept. 12, 6:30-8 pm: The points of departure for this workshop will be influenced and inspired by the chosen Art works, and participants will be guided to reflect on the works and their themes. Personal responses take the form of shape, image, form, dynamic and relationship to the space, the Art, and to each other within it.

* Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 13 & 14, 2-4 pm: The movement focus will be site-specific and body-specific. Gerry's approach considers and connects individual and group dynamics within different environments, using the created artworks and chosen spaces as inspiration for investigating and creating images in motion.

COST*: Friday Evening Classes:
For Series or Weekend Participants: $12, or $20 for both Friday classes (pre-paid)
Friday Evening Only: $15

All Six Classes in the Series: $85
Two-Weekends (Two Saturdays and Two Sundays: $65
One Weekend Only (Saturday and Sunday): $35
One Day Only (Saturday or Sunday): $20

*If you can give a little more to help cover costs, or if you would like to but can't afford to attend, please contact us.

TO REGISTER, Please MAIL YOUR CHECK made out to Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater by September 1
along with clear instructions on which dates you are registering for, to:
Ellen Kaz
86 Northampton Road, Amherst, MA 01002

For more information, please e-mail ellenkaz@hotmail.com or phone 413-253-7559.


ABOUT THE ARTISTS

On Gerry Turvey:

Trained as avisual Artist, Gerry Turvey now works as a choreographer and dance educator. Ms. Turvey makes dance work in unusual spaces; using image and form as a starting point, she develops the juxtaposition of bodies creating unusual images in space.

Ms. Turvey has instigated and participated in projects around the world including Kenya, Uganda, Namibia and South Africa. She has also worked in Romania, Switzerland, USA, France and other parts of Europe.

Ms. Turvey's unique approach to dance brings people together to share their different body histories through experiencing and appreciating movement together. Creative workshop sessions are based on safe and structured improvisations, using simple skill development and tasks. Individual, partner and small group work are interwoven, with an emphasis on play and breath within movement. Individual needs are respected, with no pressure to do anything; participants work on their own or with the group. Ms. Turvey aims to foster inspired movement activities, and encourages participants to open new doors for personal growth and creativity through physical engagement.

'The supportive atmosphere youcreated during the workshop enabled us to approach difficult andchallenging exercises with confidence'

"You left us with a renewed enthusiasm and enhanced our personal and professional development"

"It was great to see how naturally and comfortably the group becameinvolved. Dance is such an honest medium and a good starting point foranyone to work together"

(Quotes from previous participants)
www.turveyworld.co.uk

On Ellen Kaz and Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater:

Ellen Kaz created Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater, for Real People in Real Human Bodies, in 2006, shortly after she was diagnosed and had surgery for a degenerative back condition. As a dance professional, Ms. Kaz has taught, choreographed and performed for over 20 years internationally. Ms. Kaz's work has been seen from New York to Cape Town, South Africa, in Europe and throughout the U.S.
In its first two years, DanceHUMAN has received both critical and public acclaim including the prestigious NETC's Special Award for Outstanding Achievement in the American Theater and the Paul Winske ACCESS Award from Stavros Center for Independent Living.
DanceHUMAN offers integrated workshops and performances that challenge the aesthetic and exclusive nature of mainstream dance, changing the perception of the art form to include a more integrated and real range of HUMAN experience for both dancers and audiences alike.
Ms. Kaz continues to teach and choreograph independently internationally, and locally at the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts School in South Hadley, MA.

--Comments from DanceHUMAN Workshop Participants and Audiences:

"I haven't felt this free in my body since I was twelve."

"This feeds my soul."

"The work changed how I see the world."

"This is why I come to performances: to be moved!"


http://www.myspace.com/kazdancehumantheater

peace.
ellen.



WELCOME! Below, you'll find info on upcoming and recent workshops, special events, performances and awards.

Mission: Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater makes movement art that celebrates the HUMAN spirit embodied in all its forms through dance collaborations with physically disabled and non-disabled people.
Mission Extension Pilot: DanceHUMAN has EXPANDED with a New Branch Pilot Project of Dance for Developmentally Disabled Adults!

• DanceHUMAN Ongoing WORKSHOPS

* DANCE SERIES for Physically Disabled/Non-Disabled Adults
WHAT: DanceArts Physically Inclusive/ Exclusive! Workshops in Integrative Improvisation and Choreographies
WHEN:Select Saturday Afternoons, 2:00 – 3:30 pm (accessible venue)
COST: $15-20 sliding scale per class (pre-registration preferred).
WHERE: PVPA High School Studios, South Hadley, MA

* RECENT PERFORMANCES

"The Difference Between," World Premiere at Northampton Center for the Arts, with Catalyst Dance Co., Jan 10-13, 2008. Duet with Deb Waldron and Katie Neill, choreographed by Ellen Kaz.

Recent DANCEHUMAN EVENTS & WORKSHOPS

Spring '08 Choreographies for Berkshire Hills Music Academy, graduate performances, developmentally/cognitively disabled adults. Performances TBA: May, 08.

Fall '07 Movement Pilot with the Rainbow Players, Amherst, Ma
Part of DanceHUMAN's New Branch Pilot Project to bring dance to folks with developmental disabilities, in conjunction with ETTA International, Ezzell Florenina and Stavros Center for Independent Living, a special series with this international integrated theater project. BENEFIT PERFORMANCE with DanceHUMAN, for BEST BUDDIES, international. With Ellen Kaz and a Member of the Rainbow Players/Best Buddies

More of DanceHUMAN's effort to raise awareness and support for inclusive arts!
CityStage, Springfield, Ma
Thursday, November 1, 07 --

*AWARDS*

Ellen Kaz accepted Stavros Center for Independent Living's Paul Winske ACCESS Award this December, 2007, in addition to a SPECIAL AWARD for her work with DanceHUMAN at the NEW ENGLAND THEATER CONFERENCE in November, 2007! At the awards weekend in New Hampshire, DanceHUMAN gave a lecture/demonstration and a participatory workshop in integrated dance for conference attendees and guests

A bit more on workshops…COME ON and DANCE!

Workshops are safe, fun, sometimes quirky explorations into what is possible when we celebrate movement that respects our real, HUMAN physical parameters and relationships. Participants in workshops and performances have included folks who use wheelchairs, have partial paralysis, chronic pain or other physical difficulties, chemically sensitive individuals, folks of all ages, even self-proclaimed "dance-phobics," as well as non-disabled dancers, professional to beginner level.

PARTICIPANTS say:
o This feeds my soul.
o I haven't felt this good in my body since I was twelve.
o This is the dance class I've been waiting for my whole life.

Rumi says:
o Dance, when you're broken open.
o Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.
o Dance in the middle of the fighting.
o Dance in your blood.
o Dance, when you're perfectly free.
--Jelaluddin Rumi

And, a bit more on Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater…

In its first year, Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater has already been featured in many regional news media including The Women's Times, The Daily Hampshire Gazette's Weekend section, The Amherst Bulletin, and The Republican, as well as on local radio and television. Another feature article on DanceHUMAN came out in April, 2007 in The Republican.
The project has performed original works of integrated dance at Thornes Market A.P.E. Performance Space, the Northampton Community Music Center, at the Barn Studio in Amherst, at area senior centers, the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School in South Hadley, and at a Benefit for Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater at the Evolution Café in Florence.
The project has also hosted international guest artist Gerry Turvey (September 2006) funded by Arts Council England, and on April 21, 2007 hosted guest artist Christie Svane, who pioneered the International Dance Exchange Alliance in Amsterdam.
In one short year, the Valley's own DanceHUMAN project is already being hailed as a force for physically integrated dance in New England and for the growing wave of integrated arts internationally. In November, we will be accepting a Special Award from the New England Theater Conference for our work!

For further info, contact Ellen Kaz at 413-253-7559 ellenkaz@hotmail.com.

News of DanceHUMAN:

TWO AWARDS in ONE MONTH for Ellen Kaz and Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater!

Paul Winske ACCESS AWARD from Stavros Center for Independent Living, Amherst, MA Dec. 5, 2007
...and... SPECIAL AWARD at New England Theater Conference Honors ELLEN KAZ for "OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN AMERICAN THEATER" November 2007

Ellen Kaz, director/choreographer for the Pioneeer Valley-based integrated dance project Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater, was awarded the Paul Winske special Access Award at Stavros' banquet celebration this past December, and The 56th Annual New England Theater Conference's (NETC) SPECIAL AWARD for "Outstanding Achievement in American Theater" on Nov. 3, 2007.

Previous NETC Special Award recipients include: Eve Ensler (2003) (feminist activist/playwright of "The Vagina Monologues"); The National Theater for the Deaf (1982); The Village Voice (1975); Merce Cunningham (1971); Alvin Ailey (1965); and David Susskind (1960).

Among those honored at this year's NETC Awards Banquet, which took place in Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, were Golden Globe and Academy Award winner Ernest Thompson, best known for his play ON GOLDEN POND, and Gary Garrison, Executive of the Dramatists Guild of America and Artistic Director of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts (Garrison also received a Special Award this year, along with Kaz).

In accepting her award, Kaz said she felt "honored to be named among such distinguished and accomplished artists in the American Theater." She said, "I created DanceHUMAN to help manifest my vision of dance as a basic human right, a basic human gift of expression" for all people, including those with "two left feet, four left feet, or no feet at all." She said, "DanceHUMAN's main focus is to offer accessible integrated dance through community-based workshops and performances that reach, include, and represent the wide range of HUMAN experience."

A choreographer and dancer for 20 years, Kaz, fell in love with integrated dance after creating a commissioned work, "Mapping the Wild Ground," for Cape Town's Remix Dance Company with colleague Jodi Falk in 2003. Shortly thereafter, Kaz was diagnosed with a degenerative back condition. Two months after back surgery, she returned to South Africa in a wheelchair to choreograph a new work, "Finisterre," for Remix. She returned the following year to mentor with Adam Benjamin, internationally renowned Integrated Dance Artist and founder of London's ground-breaking Cando-Co. She came home ready to manifest her vision, the Pioneer Valley's first integrated dance project. In 2005, Kaz DanceHUMAN Theater was born.

Offering community workshops and regional performances, DanceHUMAN was created to "make movement art that honors the HUMAN spirit embodied in all its forms through collaborative dance with persons with and without physical disabilities."

DanceHUMAN has also recently developed a Project Branch of Dance with Cognitively Disabled Persons. In October and November of 2007, DanceHUMAN held dance workshops with The Rainbow Players (Empowerment Through The Arts, International), an Amherst-based theater company of developmentally disabled actors, led by Ezzell Fiorenina, who tour internationally. The work was performed at Springfield's City Stage for Best Buddies, International at a November 1st fundraising event.

DanceHUMAN will also be performing a new piece at the Northampton Center for the Arts this January in a gala anniversary concert with Catalyst Dance Company of the Pioneer Valley Performing Arts Charter School.

DanceHUMAN offers community-accessible dance art workshops and integrated dance performances regionally at such venues as Thornes Market A.P.E. Performance Space in Northampton, CityStage in Springfield, the Northampton Center for the Arts, and the Northampton Community Music Center. In the year and a half since its inception, the DanceHUMAN Project has hosted international guest artists Gerry Turvey from the U.K.; Christie Svane, creator of the International Dance Exchange Alliance in Amsterdam; and the Valley's own internationally renowned vocalist Justina Golden.

For information on how YOU can participate in integrated movement workshops (all levels of experience welcome, from none to professional), or for info on upcoming performances and events, contact Ellen Kaz, 413-253-7559 or ellenkaz@hotmail.com.



peace