Solebury school performing arts newsletter january 2014

Performing Arts

2014 Solebury School

January/February

Mark your calendar for Friday, February 28 for the Music and Dance Concert in the PAC at 7:00!

Inside Meet Alum Nick Smerkanich, who won an NYIT award this year.

Issue 4, 2014 Photo Caption: Caitlin Miller and Andy as Dorothy and Toto from the Middle School production of Fairy Tale Courtroom. A donation of $252.00 was made to Rescue Me Yorkie Rescue, a local dog rescue organization that was Andy’s former home.

Photo: Beverly Berkley

Music Notes As always, Solebury School continues to be current, and cutting edge. Our Indie Music Class is gearing up for some exciting events! We will Skype with the band Good Old War, January 30th, and with Sidd Khosla, from the band Gold Spot on February 3rd. We are thrilled to be having an in class visit and performance from Mut Lu, Febraury 13th. Mut Lu will join us, just before he hits the road for a tour with Amos Lee.

Performing Arts

January/February 2014

Meet Nick Smerkanich, Class of 2008 and winner of the NYIT award for outstanding actor!

How did Solebury prepare you for college?

Academically, Solebury went above and beyond in preparing me for college. The work ethic that was instilled in me during my time at Solebury made none of my academic classes in college seem overwhelming. At Solebury, I loved being able to bring in theories and ideas from one class to another and find the connections where we normally might not look. I took that practice into my studio and classwork in college, sometimes making a theatre piece in an archaeology class instead of a final paper for example.

The moment I performed in The Bald Soprano in the 9th grade in the Barn’s black box, I saw how exciting and weird and electrifying and terrifying theatre could be.

Solebury’s theatre program and my friends who played on that stage with me instilled in me a deep passion for the performing arts. And then I ended up at the Experimental Theatre Wing in Tisch and I was frightened and excited like no other because before me was a program that championed the individual artist, not just the actor, and trained him to create his own work. I found myself in a program that was based on similar tenants as Solebury. Championing the individual. Theatre-maker Richard Foreman once said, “You make yourself, then you make your work.” And I believe that Solebury started that process of finding who I was as an individual. And in my artistic work I was able to destroy it, or take it apart, rebuild it, reshape it, and then realize that I too will always be a work in progress. Solebury was one of the first places to teach me that it is always ok to be curious and ask questions. And to create provocative art, you have to be curious and ask questions all the time.

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You just won an acting award in NYC! The New York Innovative Theatre (NYIT) Awards celebrate excellence in the Off-Off Broadway theatre world. I’ve made my start with a few companies in the Downtown arts scene and have been so blessed to be a part of exciting projects on the forefront of experimental theatre. I was awarded the 2013 NYIT awards for Outstanding Actor in a Lead Role and Best Ensemble in PopUp Theatric’s: The Window: 4 Alice. It was a site-specific play done in three storefront windows on Third Avenue that ran through the spring and summer of last year.

Performing Arts

Directed by Shawn Wright Musical Direction by Joe Nappi Choreography by Ashley D’Alessandro and Rebecca Wilschutz On Stage February 20, 21, 22 and 23

Tickets can be reserved by calling the Main Office at 215862-5261

January/February 2014 Chicago. A group of young people have gathered at their favorite dance club to unwind and say goodbye to Ren McCormack. Ren's father has walked out, so he and his mother are forced to move in with her sister's family in a small town nobody has ever heard of Beaumont. Ren soon finds himself at odds with the repressive atmosphere in Beaumont, where the spiritual life of the community is overseen by the power local minister Reverend Moore. Ren is stunned to learn that dancing is not allowed anywhere within the town limits of Beaumont. His new friends explain that this law dates back five years to a car accident that claimed the lives of four Beaumont teenagers. In the flood of grief and guilt that followed that tragedy, Rev Moore managed to convince the town council to ban dancing. The only person seemingly unfazed by Rev Moore's iron-fisted control is his daughter Ariel.

Following a bout with her jealous boyfriend, Ren walks Ariel home and they find they have a lot in common. But Rev Moore forbids Ariel to see Ren again, citing him as a troublemaker, despite his wife's pleas. Annoyed, the minister walks away. The next day, frustrated by his new stifling environment, Ren vows to "take on this town" and incites a revolution by his classmates to throw a dance.

Ren drives Ariel and their friends 100 miles outside Beaumont to a dance hall where they party into the night and teach Willard how to dance. When Ariel finally arrives home, her defiance infuriates Rev Moore, who denies that he has become too severe since the death of his son - one of the teenagers killed in the fateful car accident. Angered, he walks away again. At the long awaited town council meeting, Ren makes his case for a dance with Ariel's help. When the motion is defeated, he is devastated, but his mother convinces him that Rev Moore "fixed" the vote, and urges him to try again by speaking privately with the minister. Ren goes to the church, but after a brief discussion in which Rev Moore is unable to share his fears and motivation for continuing the ban, he asks Ren to leave and turns away. Appalled by his own actions, it is only then that the minister realizes how much the pain of his son's death has overshadowed his life, and the lives of everyone in Beaumont. After a struggle with his conscience, he announces to his parishioners that he has had a change of heart - that in fact a dance might be a good idea.

And so, for the first time in years, the young people of Beaumont are able to dance freely, and as everyone joins in, the evening becomes not only a celebration, but finally as ecstatic expression of healing. They dared to dance and "Everybody Cut Footloose!"

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Performing Arts

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January/February 2014

Performing Arts

January/February 2014

A record number of students will “be kicking off their shoes and cutting loose” when Footloose opens February 20. You will be seeing many new faces! Cast members include: Emily Austin, Fiona Bauman, Carmen Baynes, Izzy Blasucci, Marion Breeman, Ashley D’Alessandro, Lia D’Alessandro, Sam Danish, Jian Dempsey, Chris Donohue, Hannah Dorph, Brook Erinhoff, Jonathan Fleming, Lexie Federico, Georgia Freeman, Jacob Goodman, Sara Heller, Haley Huxley, Trevon Isiah, Alyssa Kristjanson, Claire LeGall, Susie Lenovitz, Lorenz Markhoff, Caitlin Miller, Abby Mott, Josh Poole, Jess Randoph, Ben Roxey, Joe Smokonish, Sasha Scudder, Stella Stinnet, Zonia Reuda, Ben Waggit, Ben Weinberg and Ashley Weintraub! \ will be “kicking off their shoes and cutting

The cast of Fairy Tale Courtroom along with director Rebecca Wilschutz, Assistant Director Jonathan Fleming and costumer Kimberly Borukhovsky! The cast included Garritt, Eli, Robbe, Jacob, Emma, Logan, Stella, Ben, Addy, Lorenz, Michael, Caitlin, Andrew and Ben! Photo credit – Beverly Berkley!

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The Bucks County Playhouse and Solebury School is pleased to introduce a joint teaching venture:

Introduction to Musical Theatre For Grades 4 – 9 March 3, 4, and 5 from 6:00 – 8:00 In the Solebury Dance Studio Instructors: Cathy Block and Rebecca Wilschutz Students will learn to warm-up their voices and bodies properly, how to tackle a song while telling the story and also to put choreography with the song to make a complete production. Work will be presented to the parents on Wednesday, March 5 at 7:00. Cost for the workshop is $100.00 and can be paid at the first class. To register or for questions, please email rwilschutz@solebury.org

Performing Arts

Solebury School 6832 Phillips Mill Road New Hope PA 18938 www.solebury.org

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5-6-7-8 !

Alum Brett Glauser led a swing dance class and taught some new tricks to the group. Brett is currently studying Commercial Dance at Pace in NYC! Pictured with Brett are George, Adam, Chen, Lexie, Lia, Neal, Savion, Izzy, Sara, Michaela, Kyle, Jian, Aspen and Michael.