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Media Contact David Hyry (415) 864-3547 dahon@aol.com PRESS PHOTOS for Burning Libraries CLICK HERE! FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE! ALICE Arts Presents Burning Libraries: Stories from the New Ellis Island Directed by Helen Stoltzfus Written by Helen Stoltzfus with Albert Greenberg PRESS RELEASE ALICE Arts Presents Burning Libraries:Stories from the New Ellis Island "If a person dies without his or her story being told, that's like a library burning down." (Attribution Unknown) Burning Libraries: Stories from the New Ellis Island is a transportive, theatrical spectacle that soars with aerial magic, haunting sound, dance, puppetry and video effects. Burning Libraries travels from a Yemenite kitchen to a Vietnamese refugee boat and from a Mexican desert to a Liberian campfire. In a time of rampant xenophobia and thinly veiled racism, Burning Libraries tells over 30 real-life tales of ordinary people from minority and immigrant communities. The stories are sometimes harrowing, sometimes sublime, always compelling. Burning Libraries celebrates the ability of the human spirit to take flight and is a visceral reminder that we have all come to America as travelers from some other place and time. Directed by Helen Stoltzfus, Burning Libraries: Stories from the New Ellis Island features a musical score by Albert Greenberg, lighting design by David Robertson, video and media design by Ian Winters, performed by dancers Danny Nguyen and Jesus Cortes, and aerialists Kerri Kresinski and Susan Voyticky. ABOUT ALICE Arts ALICE Arts celebrates the cultural diversity of the San Francisco Bay Area by presenting a broad range of public performances in galleries, museums and theatres. ARTISTS Helen Stoltzfus, Director, Playwright Helen Stoltzfus is co-artistic director of ALICE Arts. She has been creating, performing, directing and teaching collaborative theatre for over twenty years. She is former co-artistic director of the inter-nationally acclaimed ensemble, A Traveling Jewish Theatre-and its only non-Jewish member. Her plays have been performed worldwide, from The Los Angeles Theatre Festival to Hamburg's Sommer Theatre Festival, and from Prague to Appalachia. In 1999, she produced the first National Ensemble Theatre Festival in San Francisco. In 2004 she and Albert Greenberg founded ALICE: Arts and Literacy in Children's Education. Albert Greenberg, Composer, Dramaturg Albert Greenberg is co-artistic director of ALICE Arts. He was a founder, co-artistic director, playwright, actor and principal composer for A Traveling Jewish Theatre for 23 years. His plays include Berlin, Jerusalem and the Moon, Trotsky and Frida, The Fatherless Sky, and Una Noche de Suenos Vidi Flores-A Dream of Flowers. His works have been performed throughout the United States, Europe, Canada and Israel. Mr. Greenberg has composed music for the American Public Radio program An Open Gate and the Kennedy Award-winning adaptation of the David Grossman novel, See Under Love. Before moving to the Bay Area he was a recording artist with Pentagram Records and the Silvery Moon Production Company. He is currently developing a new performance work with Ms. Stoltzfus, tentatively titled "From the Cradle: Family Stories from Iraqi Refugees and American Vets". David Robertson, Lighting Design David Robertson has been a lighting designer in the Bay Area since 1998. He has worked with many local companies, including A Traveling Jewish Theatre (ATJT), Word for Word, The Magic Theatre, The Courage Dance Group, Theatre Rhinoceros, Killing My Lobster, ACT's Young Conservatory and Dell'Arte International. He designed ODC's "Lip Service" as part of their "Dancing Downtown" 2006 season and "Life is a House" for their 2008 season, as well as touring with them nationally as their lighting director. Ian Winters, Video and Media Design Ian Winters is a San Francisco-based photographer, video artist and performer, working at the intersection of architectural form, frozen image and time-based media. Recent collaborators and media projects include Pamela Z, Sara Kraft, choreographer Mary Armentrout, composer Evelyn Ficarra, and others. Recent venues include London City University, Moscow Conservatory, Electro-acoustic Center, Journées de lélectroacoustique, Paris, Moving Baltic Sea Festival and others. Jim Quinn, Sound, Video and Lighting Consultant Jim Quinn has been involved in Bay Area theatre and music performance since 1982 as a lighting designer, audio engineer and stage/production manager. He has worked with groups as diverse as Soon3, A Traveling Jewish Theatre, San Francisco Opera, San Francisco Ballet and the San Francisco Symphony. He is currently the production manager for the Sun Valley Summer Music Festival. Kim Epifano, Choreography Consultant Kim Epifano has a 25-year history as an award-winning performer, choreographer, director, educator and collaborator, and founder of Epiphany Productions. Her work has been nominated for and awarded several Bay Area Isadora Duncan Dance Awards (IZZIES), wond the SF Weekly's Black Box Award in 1998 for Best Dance Ensemble, and placed first in Mexico's Bi-National Competition. Jesse Vail, Puppet Consultant and Prop Designer Jess Vail is a professional puppeteer and artisan. His company, Fool Moon Puppetry Arts, has been delighting young and old alike for nearly two decades. He has a great passion for the art of puppetry and is pleased to see it presented well in this wonderful show. Performers Jesus Cortes, Dancer In 2000, Jesus Cortes began dancing with Ballet Ballet Folkórico de Mexico de Amalia Hernandez in the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City. He became a soloist in the role of The Deer Dance "La Danza Del Venado" and toured Mexico, Europe and the US. He was the company choreographer and lead teacher for Los Ninos de Santa Fe y Compania. He joined Moving People Dance Theater performing Contemporary, Jazz and Modern in June 2005. In 2006 he founded and was the artistic director of Arte Sin Fronteras, a new dance school/company in rural Northern New Mexico. He joined Printz Dance Project Company in 2009 as a guest artist for their tenth anniversary. Kerri Kresinski, Aerialist Kerri Kresinski has been performing for her entire life. Her style is eclectic, building from her foundation of classical and modern dance and acrobatics, adding depth from Butoh, height from aerial acrobatics, and spice from African, hip hop, belly dance and funk. Kerri has performed in shows all over the world including the New Pickle Circus and MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen. She is a co-founder and performer in San Francisco's Sweet Can Circus. Kerri makes a living performing her aerial tissue and double strap acts, dancing, playing percussion, stilt walking, and teaching classes and workshops. Danny Nguyen, Dancer Danny Nguyen was born in Saigon, Vietnam. At the age of eighteen, he escaped in an eight-meter boat with 47 other Boat People. Upon arriving in the US, he was inspired to begin a career in dance. He earned his MFA in Dance, Performance, and Choreography from Mills College. In June 1999, he formed the Nguyen Dance Company and has participated in many international dance workshops. Susan Voyticky, Aerialist Susan Voyticky honed her craft through studies at Stanford University, Ecole Jacques Lecoq and The Circus Space. In San Francisco, she developed Circo Zero with Keith Hennessy, starred in the New Pickle Circus, and worked with a variety of Bay Area companies including The Medea Project, Epiphany Productions, and Zaccho Dance Theatre. Susan has toured Europe with the Caravan Stage Company, the Eastern seaboard of the US with the UniverSoul Circus, as well as performing in Osaka for Universal Studios Japan. In addition to choreographing and creating original work, Susan teaches aerial arts at the San Francisco Circus Center and New York Circus Arts.
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