The House of Ash

I highly recommend this program. I had a wonderful time being part of it last year... Please feel free to contact me if you would like more information about it.



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Dear friends and colleagues —

After an incredibly successful first year of EMERGENYC (Hemispheric New York Emerging Performers Program), we are delighted to announce the Call for Applications for 2009. As you will see, this year's format has changed and EMERGENYC 2009 will be a shorter, more intensive version of the 2008 series, more closely approximating the intense and multi-faceted approach we have developed at our Encuentros. This year's topic will be ACTIVIST PERFORMANCE, so please distribute widely to young New York-based activist/performers ages 18-23, and to organizations that could make this call available to them.

We are including the Call and Application Form as an attachment (Word document) and also in the body of this e-mail. Application deadline is February 20th.

All the best,

Marlène


--EMERGENYC Hemispheric New York Emerging Performers Program Call for Applications 2009Activist Performance Series

The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at New York University is now accepting applications for EMERGENYC, its 2009 Hemispheric New York Emerging Performers Program. This year's theme focuses on Activist Performance. As a part of the Institute's Hemispheric New York initiative, the Emerging Performers Program aims to support the development of New York-based artists between the ages of 18 and 23 through a program of workshops and events that will take place between April and June 2009. We seek talented, committed and highly motivated young activists/artists/performers whose work functions as a vehicle for political expression and social change, and who examine the broad range of identities, practices and histories of the Americas (the western hemisphere, thus "hemispheric") through genres such as spoken word, street performance, political cabaret, performance art, video performance, movement, and others.

Why Hemispheric New York?
New York City is a space of transformation in which expressive practices from throughout the Americas come into contact and combine into new artistic forms. The constant encounters and collisions of African-, Native-, Asian-, Latino- and European- American cultures that define the City, combined with the multiple political and counter-cultural movements that have flourished on its streets, are a key source of the artistic and activist innovation that has long characterized New York City. Experimental performance, hip-hop and salsa are powerful examples of the hemispheric fusions that the City's neighborhoods have incubated. Anti-consumerism activism like Reverend Billy's Church of Stop Shopping, artistic interventions such as the Guerilla Girls and Fulana's If You Fear Something, You'll See Something poster campaign are examples of the innovative conjunction of art and political protest. Drawing on this vitality, the program will enable young activists/performers to work with leading practitioners in the field, to take interdisciplinary leaps, and to develop their own strategies to use performance for social change.

The Program
Between April and June, the selected participants will take part in weekly workshops led by George Emilio Sánchez as well as by invited artists/activists such as Reverend Billy and Saviri D, Guillermo Gómez-Peña, Fulana, and others. One of the goals of this year's series is to work in all five boroughs in New York City. We are asking applicants to define social issues that are important to them (e.g., globalization, the environment, the economy, racism, gender/sexuality, etc.), and to find a bridge to communities around those issues.
The program will be divided into three phases. Phase 1: every Saturday from April 4th to May 9th, participants will work closely with George Emilio Sánchez in developing performance and activist strategies, such as Boalian techniques, performance art and site-specific interventions. Phase 2: intensive daily sessions from May 16- 23, participants will work closely with leading activists, artists and scholars, and will explore specific tactics for work in the field (street performance, interviewing, videotaping, seeing other people's work, etc.). Phase 3: every Saturday from May 30th to June 13th participants will develop their work with communities of interest throughout the City (hopefully in the five boroughs), building on the strategies explored through the workshops. Final event (June 20th): participants will share their strategies and experiences in a public forum.

This program is free of charge.

Who Is Eligible
EMERGENYC is open to activists/artists/performers between the ages of 18 to 23 who live in New York City. Applicants must have prior experience in activism and/or various performance genres. The program welcomes applications from individuals enrolled in the City's colleges and universities AND from those who are not currently pursuing formal higher education.

How to Apply
Please send the following materials to hemi.newyork@nyu.edu no later than February 20th 2009:
1) Completed application form
2) A resume or biographical statement (maximum 500 words) that tells us about who you are, where you are from, your performance background and your current projects.
3) A statement of purpose (maximum 750 words) describing the reasons you want to participate in EMERGENYC. Please also describe the specific issues you would want to address through the program and any preliminary ideas about the communities where you would ground this work.
4) 2 letters of recommendation, which your recommenders must send directly to hemi.newyork@nyu.edu

Selected participants will be notified March 6th and program activities will begin on April 4th.

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The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics is a collaborative, multilingual and interdisciplinary consortium of institutions, artists, scholars, and activists throughout the Americas. The organization's mission is to map new areas of knowledge based on understanding embodied practice—performance—as a way of creating new meaning and transmitting cultural values, memory and identity. Through courses, work groups, conference/festivals, a digital video library, an online scholarly journal, a tri-lingual website, and public forums, the Institute explores the relationship between expressive behavior and social and political life in the Americas.

For more information on the Hemispheric Institute, please visit: http://hemisphericinstitute.org
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APPLICATION FORM

Name:
Artistic Name (if any):
Street Address:
E-mail Address:
Phone Number(s):
Website (if any):
Date of Birth:
Languages spoken (other than English):
How long have you lived in New York City?
Please provide us with the names and contact information of your recommenders.
Recommender 1Name:E-mail Address: Phone Number:
Recommender 2Name:E-mail Address: Phone Number:
APPLICATION CHECKLIST (see Call for Applications for details) Completed application form Your biographical statement (250-500 words) Your statement of purpose (500-750 words) 2 letters of recommendation (to be sent directly to us by recommenders at hemi.newyork@nyu.edu) Optional: Samples of your work.