Open Hearth Arts presents: Verse Converse Poetry Festival Poetry in Performance Taos, NM June 5, 6 and 7, 2009
Friday June 5
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"Connecting To The Words" - Voice Workshop for the Performing Poet, Arron Shiver 11:00am-1:00pm, Open Hearth Salon, 118B South Plaza, $10 or weekend pass Bob Holman Lecture, The Horse is a Car Without Wheels: A brief history of "oral" poetry 2:00-3:30pm, Open Hearth Salon, 118B South Plaza, Free Open Slam 3:00-5:00pm, Hosted by Ned Dougherty Caffe Tazza 122 Kit Carson Rd., $5 for slammers and audience Winner of the Open Slam takes the door and will receive free attendance to all VC events, and the opportunity to compete in the Taos Invitational Poetry Championship. Taos Invitational Poetry Championship 6:00-9:00pm, Hosted by James Nave Shadows Lounge and Grill, Plaza de Colores, 330A Paseo del Pueblo Sur , $5 or weekend pass The Silver Tongue Award and $500 cash prize given winner of Invitational. Feature poem by Taos High School Slam Team Contenders: Taos: Juan Concha, Christa Sperry Albuquerque: Kenn Rodriguez, Jessica Helen Lopez, Christian Drake, Joseph Andres Romero, Cuffee, Faustino Villa Denver: Suzi Q, Panama Soweto, Bobby Lefebre, and Ayinde Russell
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Saturday June 6 Workshops 10:00am-5:00pm, Anglada's Building, 736 Kit Carson Rd., $25 each or weekend pass Instructors: Jimmy Santiago Baca, 10:00 am -11:30 am "Celebrating the Dark Journey in Creativity" Kenn Rodriguez , 10:00 am - 11:30 am "From Page to Stage: Basic Performance Principles" Tongue ‘N Groove, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm "OPEN FIELD POETICS & THE ORAL TRADITION: ½ million years of poetry”
David Behrstock with James Nave, 12:00pm - 1:30 pm
"Poetry in Motion: Embodying the Word in Performance "
Jessica Helen Lopez, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm "Poecia sin Fronteras: Border Poems and the Power of Storytelling" Bob Holman, 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm "Spontanaeity Must be Carefully Rehearsed"
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Children's Poetry Workshop 11:00am-1:00pm, Twirl, 225 Camino de la Placitas, Free Verse Converse Poetry in Performance 7:00-10:00pm, Anglada's Building, 736 Kit Carson Rd. $18 at the door; $13 in advance; $10 for students and seniors or weekend pass Hosted by John Dillon and Vivian Nesbitt, of Art of the Song Featuring: Jimmy Santiago Baca, Bob Holman, Luminous Animal, Christa Sperry, Lyrically Inklined, and the Youth Invitational Open Hearth Winners After Party with the Poets , Shadow's Lounge and Grill, Jimmy Stadler Trio, free with ticket from Poetry in Performance show at Angladas or weekend pass. Sunday June 7
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Love Brunch 11:30am-2:00pm Open Hearth Salon, 118b South Plaza Open reading and brunch, bring your love poems; free; or $7 all you can eat: bagels, croissants, juice, coffee. Passes: Weekend Pass (all workshops and events): $85/$55 for students and seniors Early Bird Special Weekend Pass(purchase by May 26): $65 Two workshops and all events: $65 For more information, ticket purchase or workshop registration: Openheartharts.org vc@openheartharts.org 575-741-1011
This project is made possible in part by New Mexico Arts, a division of the Department of Cultural Affairs, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Workshop Schedule
Friday June 5 Open Hearth Salon, 118B South Plaza "Connecting To The Words: Voice Workshop for the Performing Poet" - Arron Shiver 11:00am-1:00pm In this workshop, Professional actor and writer Arron Shiver will help poets explore a deepening of connection to their work and how it is communicated to the audience. Using vocal and movement techniques, he will guide participants in unlocking where the sound lives in the body in order to communicate their work in a more meaningful and powerful way. When we mean what we say and share it from an organic, grounded place, those listening will have no choice but to understand, respond, be changed... Saturday June 6 Anglada's Building, 736 Kit Carson Rd. "Celebrating the Dark Journey in Creativity" - Jimmy Santiago Baca 10:00 am - 11:30am Baca's workshop will assist poets in exploring the less savory aspects of the Muse, which is essential to good craft and powerful vision. "From Page to Stage: Basic Performance Principles" - Kenn Rodriguez 10:00am-11:30am "OPEN FIELD POETICS & THE ORAL TRADITION: ½ million years of poetry” Tongue ‘N Groove (Anne MacNaughton & Peter Rabbit) 12:00pm-1:30pm A hands-on workshop for beginning and intermediate poets, offered by two of spoken word’s pioneers, this workshop will provide context for today’s orally-based poetics; it offers experience in poetry writing as well as performance. Many "wow" moments.
"Poetry in Motion: Embodying the Word in Performance" - James Nave & David Behrstock 12:00pm-1:30pm Performance gives a poet additional tools with which to communicate; to help the words come off the page and have their power and soul received by the audience. David and Nave help poets take best advantage of these off-the-page tools. "Poecia sin Fronteras: Border Poems and the Power of Storytelling" - Jessica Helen Lopez 2:00pm-3:30pm This is a workshop that will generate discussion about contemporary U.S./Mexican border issues and memorialize through poetry and storytelling the plight of immigrants and their families. It is meant to create awareness through social action and written/spoken word. I will utilize poems by Luis Rodriguez, "Running to America" and Amalia Ortiz, "Women of Juarez," in addition to a chapbook created by the Robert F. Kennedy student body entitled, "Dreams Tied to a Tumbleweed." This workshop will include a short power point presentation and will call for those who attend to begin a poem/story that we will share at the end of the allotted time. Narrative and persona poems will be encouraged.
"Spontanaeity Must be Carefully Rehearsed" - Bob Holman 2:00pm-3-30pm Ok, you've got a big reading coming up. What should you read? In what order? Gain hands on experience in this workshop that references the oral tradition, performance as an art form, blah blah without the blablabla.
Workshop Instructor Bios Arron Shiver is a professional Actor/Writer living in Taos. Over the last five years he has made his living working for some of the foremost talent in the film business including: Ron Howard, Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu, Jim Sheridan, James Mangold, Paul Haggis, and Taylor Hackford, just to name a few. He received his B.F.A. degree in acting from California Institute of the Arts, where he worked under the tutelage of master Linklater Voice Teachers Fran Bennett and Claudia Anderson, and was trained in Classical acting by The Acting Company and Julliard Class 1 graduates Mary Lou Rosato and Mary Joan Negro. He has led many workshops in these subjects and more over the last seven years, in Taos and elsewhere. He is a native Taoseño. Jimmy Santiago Baca was born in New Mexico of Indio-Mexican descent, Jimmy Santiago Baca learned to read and write and unearthed a voracious passion for poetry while in prison as a young man. He emerged from prison a writer. Baca sent three of his poems to Denise Levertov, the poetry editor of Mother Jones. The poems were published and became part of Immigrants in Our Own
Land, published in 1979, the year he was released from prison. He earned his GED later that same year. In 1984 he earned a BA in English from the University of New Mexico, and in 2003 an honorary PhD in Literature from UNM. He is the winner of the Pushcart Prize, the American Book Award, the International Hispanic Heritage Award and for his memoir A Place to Stand the prestigious International Award. In 2006 he won the Cornelius P. Turner Award. Baca has devoted his post-prison life to writing and teaching others who are overcoming hardship. He has conducted hundreds of writing workshops in prisons, community centers, libraries, and universities throughout the country. In 2005 he created Cedar Tree Inc., a nonprofit foundation that works to give people of all walks of life the opportunity to become educated and improve their lives. Cedar Tree provides free instruction, books, writing material and scholarships. Cedar Tree has an ongoing writing workshop in the Albuquerque Women’s Prison and at the South Valley Community Center. Baca's poetry collections include C-Train and Thirteen Mexicans: Dream Boy's Story (Grove Press, 2002), Healing Earthquakes (2001), Set This Book on Fire (1999), In the Way of the Sun (1997), Black Mesa Poems (1995), Poems Taken from My Yard (1986), and What's Happening (1982). His memoir, A Place to Stand (2001), chronicles his troubled youth and the five-year jail-stint that brought about his personal transformation. Baca is also the author a collection of stories and essays, Working in the Dark: Reflections of a Poet of the Barrio (1992); a play, Los tres hijos de Julia (1991); and a screenplay, Bound by Honor, which was released by Hollywood Pictures in 1993. Kenn Rodriguez is an award-winning journalist, educator, youth arts facilitator and writer. Kenn has been called “one of the most honest, down-to-earth performance poets in the region, if not the nation” by the Austin Chronicle. He's been honored in his native New Mexico as Poet of the Year in 2005 by the New Mexico Hispano Entertainers Association and was named to the Top 40 under 40 by the New Mexico Business Weekly in 2004. In 2005 he coached and was a member of the National Poetry Slam championship team from Albuquerque, N.M. A former heavy metal drummer and Sunday school dropout, Kenn has been honored for his work with young writers and has also been published in numerous journals and anthologies, including “Poetry Slam: The Competitive Art of Poetry” (Manic D Press) and "A Bigger Boat" The Unlikely Success of the Albuquerque Poetry Slam" (UNM Press) and has featured numerous festivals and venues across the country, including the SXSW Music Conference. He was recently included in the documentary film "Committing Poetry in Times of War" about fired Rio Rancho teacher Bill Nevins. He currently lives in Albuquerque, N.M.
Tongue 'N Groove is a poetry duo from Taos, who have performed, lived and taught together for more than 35 years. Peter Rabbit has been has been at least 3 times bohemian, beatnik, hippie and has performed his work and lectured at colleges, universities, museums, jazz clubs, bars, supermarkets, festivals, and strip clubs all over the U.S. and Canada. Peter has been part of the commune movement since the mid 60s. His book Drop City is considered an underground classic. Peter has six books (poetry and prose) and is a founding member of The Luminous Animal, a jazz/poetry ensemble performing since the early 80’s.
Anne MacNaughton has lived in New Mexico since 1979 and recently retired from teaching English and Creative Writing at the Taos High School. Her work has been published in numerous journals and anthologies, including The Best Poetry of 1989, Robert Bly’s The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart, and In Company: an Anthology of New Mexico Poets after 1960. She currently teaches creative writing and English at UNM-Taos. David Behrstock, M.Ed is an actor, director and performance coach of professional actors, poets and musicians. David combines his extensive background in theater, the Alexander Technique, and education to help poets connect their body and voice with the meaning in their words to add texture and resonance to a performance. David is the founder of Verse/Converse as well as the CoExecutive Director of Open Hearth Arts. James Nave is a poet, performer, and educator. He has memorized over 600 poems and has been performing his poetry and the poetry of others on stage for over twenty years. His poetry has appeared in the North Carolina Literary Review, the Asheville Literary Review, Summit Magazine, the Taos News, Chokecherries, Heartstone Journal, The Dirty Goat, River Oak Review, Schuylkill Valley Journal of the Arts, Willard and Maple, Red Wheelbarrow, Phoebe, Tightrope, Griffin, South Carolina Review, and Poetry Slam Redux. He is one of the co-founders of Poetry Alive! and has been active member of the spoken word movement since 1991. He has presented writing workshops and performances throughout the U.S., as well as in international schools in Europe, Africa, Asia, and South America. He is featured in the award-winning documentary Slam Nation and is the Poetry Slam Master for the biannual Leaf Poetry Slam at the Lake Eden Arts Festival. Navé holds an MFA in poetry from Vermont College and is a certified Appreciative Inquiry facilitator. Jessica Helen Lopez Jessica Helen Lopez was a member of the 2006 and 2007 Albuquerque City Slam Teams. She has performed in a variety of local and southwestern venues including a featured solo performance at the District Bar & Grill, where she now hosts the IWPS Poetry and Beer Slam. Lopez has twice completed competitive team tours throughout Texas that concluded at the National Slam Finals in Austin. Lopez is a self-described “confessional poet.” Lopez has been published in the American Open Mic Vol 1 Poetry Anthology and such ‘zines as Central Avenue, The Rag, Feminism Now, TVI Leonardo Anthology and Instant Pussy. Her published work can also be found in the 2006 Slam Team poetry compilation, Album Familiar as well as her recorded works, Live at the Outpost CD Vol 1. She is the co-founder of the writing workshop and online organization New Mexico Poetry Tangents and co-editor of “New Mecca: An Anthology.” She continues to perform and write poetry and volunteers within the Albuquerque public school system.
Bob Holman Bob "The Rogue Man" Holman never gets tired of poetry. He has made it his life's focus since at least 1974, bringing poetry into the foreground of American culture. He won three Emmys over six seasons producing Poetry Spots for WNYC-TV. Holman, Bill Adler, and Sekou Sundiata created “the world’s first” poetry record label, Mouth Almighty/Mercury Records. He is curator for the
biennial People’s Poetry Gathering (peoplespoetry.org) in NYC. He is also poetry guide at About.com (poetry.about.com), consistently a banner site with 7,000 “Museletter” subscribers and 35,000 hits/week. Holman produced the PBS series The United States of Poetry , featuring over sixty poets including Derek Walcott, Rita Dove, Czeslaw Milosz, Lou Reed and former President Jimmy Carter, as well as rappers, cowboy poets, American Sign Language poets, and Slammers. The NEA has announced major preproduction support for his new poetry media project, the World of Poetry (worldofpoetry.org), the world’s first digital poetry anthology. Holman has toured the world with his "amazing traveling word show," and is Artistic Director of the touring company Real Live Poetry (washingtonsquarearts.com). He has been awarded three NY Foundation for the Arts Fellowships in Poetry, been funded by the NEA, New York State Council on the Arts and the Lannan Foundation. In 2004, he became a Def Poet, appearing on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. In 2003 he was awarded the Barnes and Noble “Writers for Writers Award” by Poets & Writers, and represented the USA in Poetry Africa in Durban. Holman was also a challenger for The World Heavyweight Championship Poetry Bout against Sherman Alexie in the Taos Poetry Circus, 2000. From 1998-2002, he was Visiting Professor of Writing and Integrated Arts at Bard College. Since 2003, he has taught Exploding Text: Poetry Performance at Columbia University, as a graduate course in the School of the Arts. In 2002 he opened the Bowery Poetry Club in New York. This seven day a week poetry place is “a beacon on the Bowery,” according to the New York Times. A non-profit, Bowery Arts & Science, Ltd., works with the Club for educational, outreach, and technological pursuits. Last year Bowery Arts & Science and The Open Center launched Study Abroad on the Bowery, a certificate course in applied poetics with Anne Waldman as Co-Artistic Director with Holman. Recent faculty include: Amiri Baraka, Jonathan Lethem, Jessica Hagedorn, Paul Auster, Samuel Delany and Sapphire. Holman's works include Bicentennial Suicide: a novel to be performed, 1976, Frontward Books; The Rainbow Raises Its Shoulder/When A Flower Grows 1979, Chinatown Planning Council ; Tear To Open, 1979, Power Mad Press ; 8 Chinese Poems, 1981, Peeka Boo Press ; SWEAT&SEX&POLITICS!, 1986, Peeka Boo Press; Cupid's Cashbox 1990, Jordan Davies; Bob Holman’s The Collect Call of the Wild 1995, Henry Holt; Aloud! Voices from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe, editor, w/ Miguel Algarin, 1996, Henry Holt ; In With the Out Crowd 1996, produced by Hal Willner, Mouth Almighty/Mercury; Beach Simplifies Horizon, 1998, The Grenfell Press; A Couple of Ways of Doing Something, 2003 (a collaboration with Chuck Close), published by Aperture, 2006; The Awesome Whatever, 2007, Produced by and with music by Vito Ricci, Bowery Records