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  2. From the Classroom to a Creative Work Lavender Terrace Asks The Question, “What Does 100 Years of Protest Feel Like?”

    As a part of Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s Freshworks, a month-long creative residency for Pittsburgh-based artists and collaborators, NaTasha Thompson and Petra Floyd will debut their work in progress entitled, “Lavender Terrace.” Both are graduate students at Carnegie Mellon University and have extensive experience using their work to communicate underrepresented voices and shared cultural inheritances. 

    I had the opportunity to talk with them and from watching their interactions with each other I assumed that they were long-time friends only to find out that their relationship is just 1 year in the making! In fact, Lavender Terrace started out as a classroom assignment and blossomed into a creative work along with their friendship.

    NaTasha was reading Harlem Renaissance writer Marita Bonner’s The Purple Flower for an analysis assignment and a few times the two would bump into each other during classes at CMU. “The School of Drama and the School of Art were hosting interdisciplinary workshops – one was experimental writing and the other was experimental dance,” Petra explains. “We were the only two Black students in the classes and naturally gravitated to each other.”

    “After completing The Purple Flower, I reached out to Petra to see if she would be interested in doing visual work for an idea I had around the play and that we could use it to experiment inside of our education, and after the first draft, it took off from there!” 

    The idea took off indeed! The two entered the first iteration  of their work to an on-campus contest and won. “The College of Fine Arts hosts an interdisciplinary award and I reached out to NaTasha and told her that I think we should enter it,” Petra said. “It was a two-day marathon of work and we won! We won $2500 and this provided an opportunity to execute something really big, but then COVID didn’t end. Then we saw the announcement for Freshworks and it provided a way that we couldn’t work at school as well as an opportunity to work with others – safely.” 

    Lavender Terrace is a speculative movement response to Marita Bonner’s play The Purple Flower. Bonner’s writing  was first published in The Crisis, the official publication of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1928. Bonner’s play is an allegory for sexism and racism against black women, and the play was never performed in Bonner’s lifetime.

    The two creatives didn’t want to spoil any surprises but shared that the audience will experience beautifully choreographed movement pieces, pre-recorded performances, live elements and interactive opportunities. We will also meet two characters “Cornerstone” and “Finest Blood” pulled from the original work, who represent the problematic tropes that have persisted about Black people over the past century. “Our work is about the  pursuit of “life at its fullest” by Black Americans in the late 20’s,” NaTasha said. “Our goal is to craft snapshots of that pursuit over the years.”

    Lavender Terrance debuts on Friday, March 5 at 7:00PM. Click Here to purchase your ticket to this Pay What Makes You Happy performance.

     

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  3. Kelly Strayhorn Theater Provides Unique Venue for Voices of Social Change

    2.10.19

    The mission of the International Society for the Performing Arts (ISPA) is to strengthen the performing arts globally through the advancement of leadership, the exchange of ideas, and by fostering a diverse and engaged membership. At this year’s gathering in New York City, our Executive Director janera Solomon had the honor of being the keynote speaker. “As arts organizations, we have new realities. Locale matters.”, she said. “We have to better understand the communities, neighborhoods, even streets where we are located, not only as places for our offices or performance venues but as ecosystems. Yes, we know we need communities as donors, audiences, volunteers, etc. but, we have to see ourselves as part of a neighborhood ecology.”

    She encouraged the group of arts leaders from around the world to think locally and compassionately.

    “To not only be bold in our thinking, to also be compassionate, encouraging of each other, to see the unique potential. As we move forward, as arts leaders, we have to ask: do our institutions, in the office, backstage, or in the board room, reflect the ideals, and the values, we champion in our communities? Are our boardroom and water cooler conversations, especially about the thorny issues of our time — race, class, orientation — transparent, thoughtful, enlightened? How will the places where we work, mirror the ideals of the art we make? Do we have institutional cultures that foster the habits we want to see in a more thoughtful world?”

    janera’s address was well received by a crowd made up of 639 delegates from 51 countries around the world.

    Learn more about ISPA here.

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  4. Kelly Strayhorn Theater Provides Unique Venue for Voices of Social Change

    2.10.19

    This past year we have provided stage space and creative space for artists and voices that might not otherwise be heard.  At the MLK Day Celebration, we became a great cloud of witnesses to artwork focused on Black Lives Matter, women empowerment, and the struggle of coming out and living transgender in an unaccepting world.  At our Keyword: International event, we gathered around artist that push the boundaries and demanding that we as a people talk about the things we don’t want to talk about – racism, sexism, poverty, injustice.  And at our My People Queer Arts Showcase, artists who might not be welcome in other venues were provided space and stage for their voices to be heard.

    As there are most certainly loud voices in our city who would like to see the Kelly Strayhorn theater sterilized or homogenized, we continue to push forward to be a beacon of light in our community, providing a venue for the non-sterilized and un-homogenized so that change can come and set us all free.  Take a look at all the ways KST is more than a theater.

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  5. On Art and Community

    7.05.18

    KST launched, “Pay-What-Makes-You-Happy,” as our ticketing model in 2015. Like ideas, it started with a, “what if…” rather than a fully formed concept. For some, it’s a feel-good venture, and others a stronger statement about inclusion; for us it is both.

    Pay-What-Makes-You-Happy (PWMYH) furthers Kelly Strayhorn Theater’s role as cultural hub where all of Pittsburgh can come together to make new connections, encounter great artists, and take part in lively energy of East Liberty.

    What should arts organizations do in rapidly gentrifying neighborhoods? KST was invited to be part of the Kresge Arts and Culture Cohort with PolicyLink and this is the question we are exploring.

    We have complicated choices. Should we turn our backs on our old audiences, and embrace the new? Or, take on the more difficult task of bringing people, who don’t normally socially mix, together?

     

    A little bit of context.

     

    According to recent NEA study, Performing arts about 37% of adults attend a performing arts event. In Pennsylvania, the average is 35%.  We don’t have Pittsburgh numbers but in our state it means that nearly 70% of our neighbors, friends, colleagues and family members, do not on a regular basis, attend a performing arts event. And, when they do, often it is by invitation.

    This low participation rate and the increasing economic (and cultural divides) are the reasons why KST launched our ticketing model, Pay-What-Makes-You-Happy. In the context of economic and cultural gentrification, this approach takes on new significance.

    We find ourselves with a bigger mission. We are trying to encourage more than mutual co-existence. We want shared sense of belonging. By definition, a community. Shared values and commitment.

    PWMYH, like many choose your price models, is designed to empower and encourage participation.

     

    What it is not.

    It is not a marketing campaign, (though we agree Pay What Makes You Happy sounds better than “Pay What You Can! It is not an excuse to pay nothing. And, it is not a social welfare program.

    PWMYH is one attempt removing barriers. art is not only for “those people.” It is about agency — choice. This is about community and bringing people together, respectfully; with their humanity intact — so discounted tickets or comps if you are in “need.”

    In a cultural landscape where nearly 70% of adults no not regularly participate in an arts and culture on a regular basis, this is about encouraging a different kind of cultural risk taking. How will you know what you don’t know, or challenge what you think you know without trying something new, doing what you usually do.

     

    I hope art changes our perceptions.

    We know that arts, whether it is in a theater or in a church basement, makes a difference, a TRANSFORMATIVE difference in people’s lives.

    Because of KST’s location, at the intersection of low income neighborhoods, and Pittsburgh’s wealthiest, this has been and continues to be critical question for us.  East Liberty has a history as a meeting place – a hub. It is a diverse community — all kinds of people are here. Everyone benefits from this diversity.

    In this neighborhood, and on this avenue, as I’ve experienced it, we are a community of equals. Everyone’s humanity is recognized. For people who live, work and create here, diversity, especially in the arts, isn’t tolerated it’s celebrated.  I hope its an ideology the entire city will embrace.

    At KST, generosity is matched with creativity to make transformative art experiences come to life,” says executive director janera solomon. “Every day, we are inspired by the giving spirit of the artists, philanthropists, foundations and audiences that make KST events a neighborhood celebration. Pay What Makes You Happy is a bold experiment that invites everyone’s participation in our uniquely diverse programming.”

    Given the politics of our community, our world, the effort might raise all kinds of questions about equity, access, As far as we know, these two very different american icons never met. They had very different life experiences, and though both artists, lived very different artistic lives.

    “In the 1970s, 70 percent of people lived in middle class neighborhoods, but today only 40 percent do. The effect is that people in different socioeconomic groups do not spend time with one another. That lack of contact causes different points of view for sure, but it also leads to very different outcomes in life.”

     

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/07/your-money/money-bubble-economic-inequality.html

     

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  6. Thaddeus Phillips – Artist Spotlight

    4.10.18

    Image from 2013 showing of '17 Boarder Crossings' by Thaddeus Phillips

    Photo Credits – Mark Simpson Photography

    The Kelly Strayhorn Theater welcomes​ back Thaddeus Phillips, a true vanguard in contemporary American theater. Phillips artistic practice has been presented worldwide ranging from FringeArts Philadelphia to the hit Netflix crime-drama NARCOS.

    KST Communications Specialist; Duane Binion sat down with the acclaimed artist to learn more about Phillip’s latest piece INFLATABLE SPACE slated to premiere at the KST Alloy Studios, Friday, Aril 13 – 14, 2018 at 8:00pm. Tickets are Pay What Makes You Happy, and available online at www.kelly-strayhorn.org


     

    This is your Pittsburgh/Kelly Strayhorn Theater return! How do you feel about coming back? What significance do you see in presenting the World Premiere of INFLATABLE SPACE at KST?

    The Kelly Staryhorn Theater is an extraordinary place to present creative theatrical work. Performing ’17 BORDER CROSSINGS’ at KST was wonderful and the interaction with Pittsburgh audiences and members of the theatrical and artistic community was just fantastic. For me it is quite significant to be opening this new project in Pittsburgh, as I find the city to be a vibrant and vital place where very crazy ideas can be freely explored, presented and discussed.

    How did the collaboration with yourself, Ean Sheehy, Juan Gabriel, and Spencer Sheridan come about for the creation of INFLATABLE SPACE?

    The creative team for INFLATABLE SPACE consists of artists I have worked with extensively in the past – as the idea for this work is very challenging; it is key to have a team.

    Ean Sheehy played E.A. Poe in ‘RED-EYE to HAVRE de GRACE’ a musical theater work presented by New York Theatre Workshop and my company Lucidity in collaboration with the Wilhelm Bros. & Co. Ean is an amazing performer and a great thinker.

    Spencer Sheridan is an LA based video designer and all around digital/analoge renaissance man. A few months ago we realized projections could be used.

    Juan Gabriel has created scores for many works I have directed including, ‘Whale Optics’ and ‘A Billion Nights on Earth’ –  for this show he is coming on as a sound designer, working with us to select tracks from the Golden Rector and turn them into a score that is meant to really hold the show together.

    The secret weapon behind the dramaturgy is my wife, Tatiana Mallarino who is responsible for keeping the ideas in check and has been the main ‘writer’ along with me in conjuring up the storyboard and developing the use of the inflatables.

    Originally this project was titled “The Archivist”, why did you change the title? How did you come up with the name INFLATABLE SPACE?

    ‘The Archivist’ was the first genesis of this project. Perhaps now it is even an entirely different show – it was about a film archive. However, the ultimate archive, essentially of all life on earth, is the Voyager Interstellar Golden Record – that was launched on Voyager 1 in 1977. This probe, with the record strapped to it’s side, contains, of course, music and images from across the world. It is currently entering interstellar space and has a shelf lfie of about 100 Billion years. We are using this record and it’s songs to ground the ideas behind ‘INFLATABLE SPACE’, and therefore – that germ, that idea of an ‘archive’ now has gone galactic and remains at the center of this theatrical exploration.

    The description of INFLATABLE SPACE currently describes the work as “Phillips weaves together idiosyncratic juxtapositions in a dramatic tale about possible extraterrestrial life, moments on earth and new interstellar discoveries.” Can audiences expect to see references to aliens, are there comedic moments, or any other underlying surprises we can expect?

    This is a very crazy project that has been developing organically and morphing constantly and taking many surprising turns. The exciting aspect of creating work this way is you don’t know what road it will take you down, and in this case, ‘cosmic road.’ The danger of creating work this way is, well, you don’t know what road it will take you down. We are working as well in collaboration with the Creamos Inflatable Factory in Bogota, Colombia on the inflatable design elements for ‘INFLATABLE SPACE’. Working with air is a tricky and invigorating business, what you see on paper is not what happens when you inflate an object – therefore what we thought was one thing on the drafting table became something else in reality – and in this way the show has been ‘discovered’ or created by its own velocity – and we are along for the ride. The surprises audiences can expect are seeing a work emerge from nothing – and a very odd sequence of a simple journey of two, accompanied by the music from the Voyager Golden Record.

    My team and I are inspired by old vuadvulle routines, Chaplin, Beckett and Keaton and there should be glimpses of inspiration in this work – as well as scientific principals of space and time. And yes, perhaps Ean and I are aliens the whole time. Or perhaps we are two NASA lab technicians installing the Golden Record on the Voyager 1 Probe in 1977 – or we are both in a time loop coming back on itself – like a black hole . . . our goal is to set up a fun dynamic work that leaves many of these questions very open but puts in the spectators minds and lets them play with the ideas we are putting out there.

    It is also absolutely fascinating that the TESS telescope is launching the day after we close at KST – and will be searching for more exo planets – planets that could sustain life, which opens up the mind to the ideas we are playing with in ‘INFLATABLE SPACE’.

    Tell me about the promo video being used for INFLATABLE SPACE. What is some of the imagery being shown and its purpose?

    The video is made from research shots in Bogota in collaboration with the Creamos Inflatable Factory in Bogota and the deployment of some of these items at the Miami Light project during a residency in February. The images are of the inflatables in a theater, the golden record reprint we found as well as scale model tests of ideas for the final inflatable that we just finished last week.

    What are you hoping audiences take away from this performance?

    I am hoping this work will present and hour of time away from Earth – or away from the normal – a fun yet meditative space in which to reflect on what it means to be on this planet and also in the universe.

    What’s next for Thaddeus Phillips?

    Ill be creating and directing a new theater piece for Teateri, a company in Sweden in June. It will be an action adventure called ‘Midnight Train to Marrakesh’. Also, ‘A Billion Nights on Earth’ a work I directed and designed for 3 year olds and up – it will be presented at the New Haven Festival of Arts and Ideas in June.

     


     

    True to Phillip’s reputation “INFLATABLE SPACE” takes us on a journey of intelligence, humor,
    sarcasm, and wanderlust. ​Stay up-to-date with the latest happenings around Thaddeus Phillips by visiting him online at thaddeusphillips.com

    Thaddeus Phillips :: INFLATABLE SPACE

    EVENT DETAILS
    Friday – Saturday, April 13 – 14, 2018
    8:00pm / KST Alloy Studios
    5530 Penn Ave :: Map

    SHOW LENGTH
    55 mins / No Intermission

    “Protean, often funny, and somehow the audience’s ally. He typically offers a wry and compassionate, if sometimes barbed, take on contemporary issues.”—American Theatre

    World Premiere KST Commission
    For his latest work, award-winning director/designer/performer Thaddeus Phillips teams up with critically acclaimed actor Ean Sheehy to deploy an assemblage of custom-crafted inflatable scenery that expands, contracts and collapses as he explores a universe of creation and destruction. Starting with a reprinted edition of Carl Sagan’s legendary Golden Record—humanity’s most viable message to other worlds, launched into space in 1977—Phillips theatrically examines a selected archival history of life on earth.

    Visually stunning, Inflatable Space features Phillips’ playful work weaves together idiosyncratic juxtapositions in a dramatic tale about possible extraterrestrial life, moments on earth and new interstellar discoveries. Colombian pop star, Juan Gabirel Turbay creates a sonic landscape using the tracks on the Golden Record while LA based video artist, Spencer Sheridan delivers a playful and evocative video design that launches this work beyond normal theatrical conventions.

    Inflatable Space is a National Performance Network (NPN) Creation Fund Project co-commissioned by Kelly Strayhorn Theater, Miami Light Project and NPN. The Creation Fund is supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

    Made possible with generous support from the National Performance Network’s Artist Engagement Fund. For more information: www.npnweb.org.

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    TICKETS

     

    Pay What Makes You Happy! Tickets for this event are available at any price. Simply choose the level that makes you happy—or name your own! All seats are general admission.

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  7. Bringing the World Back to Our Community

    12.04.17

    “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” — Mark Twain

    There is something special about travel. People everywhere are the same; we come in the same types. Yet, the way we live — customs, values, concerns, cultural expressions vary deeply. And, in these variances lie opportunities for exchange and connection.

    In mid-October, I had the opportunity to participate in a curatorial exchange trip to Mexico, hosted by The Performing Americas Program (PAP). A long-time initiative of the National Performance Network/Visual Artists Network (NPN/VAN) International Program, PAP aims to build equitable cultural exchange opportunities for artists and presenters in the regions of Latin America, the Caribbean, and the United States.

    I was hesitant to go — the trip coincided with a board meeting and KST’s season opener of a work we co-commissioned!

    But, onward I went. And, I’m better for it. Connecting with colleagues gave me the energy boost I didn’t realize I needed. Our conversations with the artists and with each other stimulated lots of questions for consideration. How can we collaborate differently? How do we make better use of our resources for more ambitious ideas? How do we better support international artists in our community, and what are possibilities for exchanges? What resources do we have to offer? The practicalities of touring, visas, and travel costs aside, my colleagues stimulated my thinking about ways we might work together to foster communities of international collaboration.

    We visited two cities in Mexico – Guadalajara and Guanajuato – and witnessed live performances and exhibits while participating in much dialogue about building individual and regional relationships. Among the activities, we attended Guanajuato’s Festival Internacional Cervantino. Everyone in the community knew about the festival and excitedly took part, showing a real commitment to such programming.

    In Pittsburgh, we have a generous and luxurious scene for art making. We have resources to share. In Mexico, I was inspired by our conversations with the artists we met and the colleagues in the delegation. Let’s think more boldly about how we might use our resources to make Pittsburgh an INTERNATIONAL city.

    Looming through the experience was the current protectionist view assaulting public discourse – here we are dreaming of the possibilities, while visa quotas, plans for a wall, and an increasingly hostile climate to foreigners jockeys for the hearts and minds of our fellow citizens. How disjointing. How heartbreaking.

    But, artists everywhere are resourceful and optimistic – as are presenters!

    I returned to my community in Pittsburgh, rejuvenated and inspired to do this work.

    What an honor it was to be part of this exchange program. And it will be a pleasure to incorporate what I’ve learned as we forge into our 10th anniversary year of original programming.

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  8. Pittsburgh Changemaker: Trevor Miles

    We interviewed Trevor Miles, Pittsburgh choreographer, Americorps Public Ally at Public Allies Pittsburgh, and a Community Engagement Fellow at KST. Trevor is a self-proclaimed fashionista, reality television lover, fast food junkie and author of the KST Changemakers blog. Read more about his journey here as this week’s Changemaker!

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    Trevor Miles performing “The Awakening Pt. 1” at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater 

     

    What do you do for the community now and why is it important?

    I currently serve as an Americorps Public Ally at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater, working as their Community Engagement Fellow. As a Public Ally, I’ve been teaming up with like-minded individuals for several months, developing a citywide clean-up day for the Homewood neighborhood in Pittsburgh, and other service projects like hosting community discussions. I’ve made so many fascinating connections through the Public Allies Pittsburgh program!

    I’m also currently the Artistic Director of TCDC | Trevor C. Dance Collective, my own youth performing arts group based here in Pittsburgh. Forming this group has been amazing because it allows me to take youth that typically wouldn’t have the opportunity to perform and mentor them, train them, and get them in front of audiences across the city. TCDC isn’t the first team like this that I’ve spearheaded. For seven years prior to TCDC’s creation, I worked with CHANCE (Creating Hope and Newfound Courage Everywhere) based in Clairton, PA. During my seven years with that team, we raised over $10,000 for charities like Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Homeless Children’s Education Fund, Friends of Danang… so many!

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    CHANCE at KST’s East Liberty Celebration with Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto

     

     

     

    The really fascinating thing about my work with CHANCE is that we raised money off of pure grassroots methods. We worked eight to ten months putting our shows together, and only charged $3 per ticket for the final event. We sold Sarris Pretzels during the school year to purchase t-shirts for our dance group. The students would be in class all day, then spend hours with me after school creating routines. We put in work. That taught us all discipline, and showed us how to work as a family.

    Operating an organization like CHANCE was a humbling experience for me because it taught me the importance of garnering community buy-in. Clairton is a ‘sports town’, and dance didn’t really exist there before CHANCE kicked that initiative off. I had to get people to believe in our mission so they would come to the shows. Not only that, CHANCE at KST’s Halloween Mayhem performing Zombiji had to get the youth to believe in the power of movement.

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    CHANCE was inclusive—I opened the team up for students K-12 so literally anyone who was interested in helping out could hit the stage, or volunteer as a stagehand or costume decorator. I didn’t want kids to shy away because of a lack of training/dance knowledge. I teach my students not to be afraid to perform because they don’t possess the ‘right’ body type. I look for heart in my dancers. I tell them, “Give me the energy I need, and I can work with you. Go on stage and hit. Give me life.”

    I didn’t have a massive marketing machine behind me when I coached CHANCE. There was no startup budget for us. We had to knock on doors. We had to use word-of-mouth. We faced hurdles because we were operating out of a school district, like scheduling issues, grades, transportation problems, you name it. We were simply a group of 30 students from a tiny town, battling the odds. However, we wanted to enhance art in our community and help charities, and we never gave up on our mission. I’ve been blessed to be able to teach hundreds of kids during this process. When I was 23, the NAACP Clairton Chapter recognized my efforts in Clairton, and they awarded me the 2013 NAACP Community Service Award. Getting to perform with my team in front of the different NAACP chapters in Pennsylvania at their Human Rights Banquet was definitely a milestone for me. I’m proud to say I was a driving force in making performing arts a staple in Clairton.

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    TCDC operates the same way; we are a small team of seven young artists ages 9-25 that infuse contemporary and hip-hop into our storytelling. Young people have stories to tell as well, and our voices are loud. TCDC is very artistic in our approach and anyone who knows me knows I bring the drama during a performance! I’m looking forward to continuing to tear up Pittsburgh stages with TCDC during our 2015-2016 season!

     

    What is one defining moment of your life?

    My defining moment was when I was 17 and I discovered dance as an old man (17 is often considered old to begin dancing). I was a senior in high school and thought, “Well, it’s now or never to see if I can do this”. I always wanted to be a gymnast or singer, figure skater, actor or performer in some way as a youngster, but I never had the money or resources. I started learning African and Modern, and after a few months of stumbling around and struggling to remember the choreography, I hit the stage in a showcase at my school. And I did it!

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    I remember challenging my instructor Ennad Murrell a lot. I thought the modern music we were dancing to was odd, and I didn’t care for some of her choreography. However, I am so appreciative of that  because now that I teach kids, I see their discomfort in trying something completely new—I’ve learned that’s a beautiful thing. It’s a teachable moment—the amount you can get a child to grow from trying and conquering something new like dance is invaluable. I’m glad Ennad pushed me.

    When I got on stage, executed my moves and noticed the audience’s reaction… there was something very addictive about that. I think that’s a huge reason why I love performing today. I enjoy knowing the stories I tell on stage resonate with people, and that I can give them my energy and they return with their energy. We create this space of happiness and celebration. Dance brings humanity together, and it’s pretty freaking amazing to pioneer that.

     

    What advice do you have for youth that want to become a changemaker in their community?

    TCDCFind your passion and run with it. I’ve found youth who make an impact on their communities by selling cupcakes. Making jewelry. Cheerleading. Being a part of the science club. And of course dancing! Find that thing in the world that gives you life, and let it explode within you. Live, breathe, eat, and sleep your passion. That’s how you change the world around you. You have to love what you do.

     

    What is a song on your playlist? (A song that motivates and drives you). 

    Because I’m extra, I have five songs on my playlist: It’s All Good by Ciara, Warriors by Dawn Richards, Work by Ciara, Let’s Go by Icona Pop and 1 Thing by Amerie… in that order!

    Honestly, I have a million choices. I enjoy music that moves me. If a song is on and I start thinking of choreography, I put it on my playlist. I let it happen very organically. EDM, folk, jazz, symphonic—I don’t care, as long as I can dance to it!

    TCDC | Trevor C. Dance Collective is currently developing two stage performances, Dreaming and RENEGADE for their 2015–2016 season. To keep up with the team, visit them on Facebook.

     

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  9. Pittsburgh Changemaker: Chris Hnat

    Kelly Strayhorn Theater is presenting local leaders that have been changemakers in Pittsburgh. Mentors, teachers, artists— KST acknowledges these pioneers. This is Our Story: KST Recognizes Pittsburgh Changemakers. We interviewed Chris Hnat, drummer for Soundwaves Steelband, KST’s resident steel pan ensemble.

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    What do you do for the community now and why is it important?

    What I do for the community changes to suit what is needed at the moment, and that changes from time to time. It all has to do with the medium I use, which are the steelpans created by Phil Solomon. I help create an environment for people to learn all the necessary tools to understand music and how it benefits our lives. It helps us in learning how things work and how they are put together. At the moment, one thing I’m attempting to do is help nudge music, so it may evolve into a newer shape… creating many new opportunities for others to come, and be able to have this tool available to them so they may even progress higher as people, and perhaps have happy, healthier lives.

    What was one defining moment of your life?

    A defining moment in my life happened when the recession hit in 2008. Previous to that I had worked along side Phil Solomon for 12 years, as his assistant, building steelpans. We developed school programs, instruments for professionals across the world. Huge waves of positive changes happened from the environments Phil Solomon created. I witnessed many changes with my own two eyes. Knowing I wanted to be involved with steel pans—it wasn’t until we lost our work due to budget cuts and I was out of work—which is when I really decided that I was in this to help make changes in the world. Since then, I have had to make changes deep within myself and search for the understandings that will allow me to make the most effective changes that I can.

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    What advice do you have for youth that want to become a changemanker in their community?

    Seek deep understanding of yourself, others and your surroundings. Get to know where everything is really at in this present moment. Observe.

    What is a song on your playlist that motivates you?

    A song that motivates me is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5. As I learn more about the history of that piece of music, it drives me to want to understand and learn all the fine, deep understandings that the great composers have used to relay what they wanted to say through the music.

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  10. Fast Facts: Kenia Ashby

    KST welcomes Brazilian singer Kenia Ashby on May 16 as she celebrates famed singer Sergio Mendes. Learn more about Kenia before you see her live this Saturday.

    – Kenia was born in Nova Iguaçu, a suburb of Rio de Janeiro

    – She studied the piano and learned how to play the guitar by ear at a young age

    – Kenia broke out into music in NYC during the 1980’s and 1990’s with pop-accented Brazilian jazz

    – Kenia has been featured in jazz festivals all across the northeastern US, including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware
    – She has even performed internationally in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Mexico City, Warsaw, Poland

    – Her sound is described as a unique blend of pop, bossa nova, and jazz—deep, sultry and richly diverse

    “Kenia is a Brazilian original, building a bridge to the next generation of Brazilian music fans… her voice can suspend time, and it can lead you to think about nothing at all, even if just for a few minuts, and in this day that’s nothing short of miraculous.” –  ~Scott Adams, Radio Personality at IHeartMedia Inc.

    Kenia’s website features her bio, videos and more. Doors for A Celebration of Sergio Mendes open at 7 PM, and the event features Brazilian appetizers and a cash bar. Click here here for more information on this great evening of music, food, and friends.

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