Westminster College to Host Bright Futures Performing Arts Program
Posted on Thursday, June 7, 2007
The Westminster College Drinko Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning will host Campbell Memorial High School students at the Bright Futures Performing Arts Program, "Conquering Conflict through the Arts!" June 11-22.
The program is funded by the Marian G. Resch Foundation, Youngstown, Ohio, and will include guest artists Ed Shockley, playwright/dramatist; Paul Shapera, musician/composer; Shaun Rolly, stage combat director; Abbey Alter, choreographer; and Westminster faculty members Cynthia Snodgrass Jones, performance director and coordinator of the program; and Michael Slane, lighting designer/technical director. Westminster students Patrick Thomas and Apphia Dorazio will assist.
A special performance event will conclude the two-week program Friday, June 22, at 7 p.m. in Orr Auditorium. Free and open to the public, this event will include inventive music, dramatic dialogue, stage combat and dance created and performed by the guest artists and the Campbell students.
Shockley, a multiple award winning playwright and screenwriter, is a pioneer in theatre and arts education. He has founded or revamped several arts education companies and participated in staff development at all levels. His dynamic residency uses playwriting to reinforce curriculum material, increase literacy and self esteem among students, and offer innovative tools to educators.
Shapera operates MochaLab Productions, a professional production studio in New York, where he composes, orchestrates and produces audio for all media. He does live performances as music director and sound designer for stage. A classically trained pianist, he performs in piano lounges, cabarets, as a guest with rock and funk bands, and as a session keyboardist. He has worked extensively with companies and projects worldwide.
Rolly teaches movement and stage combat at Pennsylvania colleges and universities and at Lincoln Park Performing Arts High School. He works professionally in pantomime, clowning, complicité and comedia dell'arte performance, and is a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists union. He has over 200 stage shows to his credit and has done film stunts that included hand-to-hand fighting, stunt driving, as well as being hit by a car, shot with a machine gun, and thrown through a window.
Alter created The Walnut Street Lodge, an arts, health and community center in Sharon, with her sister, Denise Alter, and Rob Killmer. The Lodge offers dance and theatre performances and training, yoga instruction, massage therapy, nutrition counseling and cooking classes, and is home to The Walnut Lodge Players. After developing her own undergraduate program, the art and science of the human body, at The Pennsylvania State University, Alter earned her master's in choreography and performance, adding an in-depth study of yoga and its application to dance. She joined The Ballet Theater of the Virgin Islands as choreographer and won numerous awards for her work before leaving the islands in the wake of hurricane Hugo.
Thomas, a sophomore theatre major, is a son of Joseph and Justine Thomas of Struthers, Ohio, and is a graduate of Struthers High School.
Dorazio, a sophomore theatre and education major, is a daughter of Mark Dorazio and Susan Dorazio of Scenery Hill. She is a graduate of Bentworth High School.
Contact Dr. Virginia Tomlinson, director of the Drinko Center, at (724) 946-6097 or e-mail tomlinvm@westminster.edu for more information.
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