"AWoW, WHERE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN"

“AWoW, where anything can happen.” Vera Hoar

 

And Tuesday night’s “anything” was a distinctly multi-cultural night with performers from Macedonia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Ireland, Puerto Rico, the Czech Republic, Germany and the United States. As member Jim Rodgers once said, “It’s proof that AWoW is becoming the United Nations of the cultural scene here in New York City.”

 

The Trio
The Trio Samovili

Tuesday night’s Showcase started off with a delightful taste of chamber music. The Trio Samovili, comprised of Macedonian soprano Gabriela Gyorgeva, Serbian flutist Ana Tanasijevic and Bulgarian pianist Aleksandra Kocheva performed three pieces consisting of two arias by GF Handel: Piangero la Sorte Mia (Giulio Cesare) and Ombra Mai Fu (the famed Largo from Xerxes) and culminating with a traditional Macedonian song Zajdi Zajdi Jasno Sonce, which is considered an anthem of the Balkan area. Through their interpretation you could easily feel the special emotions of homeland and the spirit of the Balkan. 

 

Joanna Migdal
Joanna Migdal

In celebration of this month’s 35th anniversary of The National Women’s History Project, Joanna C. Migdal read “Good Night, Noises Everywhere”, a cento (collage-poem) she had composed of lines by 45 of some of her favorite women poets of the past. The audience (including the men!) were moved as the lines of her poetic soliloquy expressed universal and timeless frustrations and anxieties of these women.

 

I.S. Migdal
I.S. Jones

With a commanding stage presence and vivacious poems of triumph, tribute, and forgiveness, I.S. Jones’s poetry stunned the audience at AWoW. Her brilliant and heart-warming verse brought the audience from roaring amens to a celebration of the “black body.” I.S. was a delight to experience. We hope to see her again…and again.

 

Ashley Bell
Ashley Bell

 

Ashley Bell thrilled the crowd with a beautiful performance of Bach/Gounod’s Ave Maria. She then joined forces with Artists Without Walls’ regular, violinist Annette Homann, for an impromptu, spectacular rendition of “The Prayer” by David Foster.

 

Allison Sylvia
Allison Sylvia

 

 

 

 

Allison Sylvia performed her anti-strophe, edon.adan, at this past week’s showcase.  “I am endlessly grateful for the opportunity to perform for such a supportive audience,” she said. “There are few words to describe how exciting it was that the audience ‘clapped [that they] believed in fairies.” This is one talented young lady, whose greatness is early in its ascendance. 

 

Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres
Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres

 

 

 

The opening scene, excerpted from Brendan Connellan’s new play Savage, was just the mix of unsettling darkness and bubbling farce that you might expect from some of his prior pieces, POMPA POMPA, Kill the Bid! or Death, Please! Courtney Torres and Larry Fleischman fully captured the awkward daughter-father dynamic as she dropped on him a very unexpected and somewhat unwelcome piece of news. Mary Tierney directed with great imagination and verve. The full play should be completed in the coming months so the fall out will be further explored! Expect further mayhem!

 

 

Martina Fiserova
Martina Fiserova

Martina Fiserova closed out this month’s AWoW Showcase with another spellbinding performance. During her three song set of “Silver Streams,” “Song For Brian” and “A Well” you could hear a pin drop as she wowed the crowd with her voice, her guitar, the piano and the poignant stories she told about where she received the inspiration for the songs. As AWoW member Mitch Traphagen posted after the performance ‘”Go to her shows, look on YouTube — whatever you have to do — she is worth it. An incredible talent.” 

 

Another great evening of multi-cultural talent. The next Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at The Cell will be on April, 28, 6:45pm. 

 

Photos by Vera Hoar. 

 

 

 

 

AWoW's SHOWCASE AT THE CELL, MARCH 24, 2015: THE PHOTOS of VERA HOAR and MITCH TRAPHAGEN

The wonderful photographs of Vera Hora and Mitch Traphagen capture the spirit of another exciting evening of performances at The Cell Theatre, last Tuedsay, March 24th. 

 

Gabriela Gjorgeva
Gabriela Gjorgeva

 

I.S. Jones
I.S. Jones

 

Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres
Larry Fleischman and Courtney Torres

 

Lynnell Herzer and Zofia Stefanowicz
Lynnell Herzer and Zofia Stefanowicz

 

Alison Sylvia
Allison Sylvia 

 

Martina Fiserova
Martina Fiserova

 

Sam Adelman and Terry McCarthy
Sam Adelman and Terry McCarthy

 

Ashley Bell and Annette Homann
Ashley Bell and Annette Homann

 

Ron Vazzano and Joanna Migdal
Ron Vazzano and Joanna Migdal

 

Niamh Hyland
Niamh Hyland

 

Charles R. Hale
Charles R. Hale

HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY STUDENTS PERFORMING in ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE 2/18/14

Artists Without Walls, in conjunction with the Hofstra University Irish Studies’ program and the Hofstra Cultural Center, will be bringing its “Showcase” to Hofstra University on Tuesday, February 18th, 2:15pm. Over the next two weeks we will be highlighting the performers who will be appearing. We are very pleased to announce that two of the performers are currently studying at Hofstra, Koro Koroye and Priya Gupta. 

 

 

Koro Koroye
Koro Koroye

Nigerian born spoken-word artist Koro Koroye, a Hofstra graduate and current graduate student, imbues the art of storytelling and spoken-word with energy, passion, and strength. Koro has appeared at The Cell Theater, the Living Room and Lehman College in New York City during the past year. Recently, Koro appeared in Charles R. Hale’s production, “Rise Up Singing: Women and the Labor Movement.” Koro both performed and wrote for the show. 

 

 

Priya Gupta
Priya Gupta

Priya Gupta is a dancer and a Dance Education major at Hofstra. She is a student of Professor Darrah Carr, the founder of Darrah Carr Dance, and studied Indian classical dance with Mrugakshi Patel, an accomplished exponent of dance and well known choreographer of Indian folk dances. Priya will be performing a style of Indian classical dance called Bharatnatyam.  

 

We are thrilled to have these two great young talents as part of Artists Without Walls’ Showcase. 

"AVE MARIA": MOLEY, OWEN and KORO

 

One of the objectives of Artists Without Walls (AWoW) is to build a multicultural community that springs from “creative chemistry.” By enabling the exchange of ideas, methods, and creative concepts by connecting people of various cultures and communities who can learn from each other and collaborate to create something new.

 

A few months ago, after meeting at an AWoW event, brothers from Ireland, Owen and Moley Ó Súilleabháin teamed up with the dynamic spoken word poet from Nigeria, Koro Koroye. They performed new works that bring together Latin Gregorian chant and sacred songs from ancient Ireland with poems-some in Koro’s ancient tribal language–and her contemporary themes of identity and individual expression. In this video, ideas of family, home, migration, self-discovery and transformation are seamlessly presented in a dynamic performance that honors tradition and rejoices in innovation.

 

We feel that this performance is most representative of Artists Without Walls’ mission.

 

Owen O Suilleabhain, Koro Koroye, Moley O Suilleabhain
Owen O Suilleabhain, Koro Koroye, Moley O Suilleabhain

 

MOLEY, OWEN AND KORO: AN ARTISTIC BLENDING OF CULTURES

 

One of the objectives of Artists Without Walls (AWoW) is enabling the exchange of ideas, methods, and creative concepts by connecting people of various cultures and communities.  

 

A few months ago, brothers from Ireland, Owen and Moley Ó Súilleabháin, teamed up with the dynamic spoken word poet from Nigeria, Koro Koroye, after meeting at an AWoW Showcase.  They performed new works that bring together Latin Gregorian chant and sacred songs from ancient Ireland with poems-some in Koro’s ancient tribal language–and her contemporary themes of identity and individual expression.  In this video, ideas of family, home, migration, self-discovery and transformation are seamlessly presented in a dynamic performance that honors tradition and rejoices in innovation.

 

We feel that this performance is representative of Artists Without Walls’ vision, developing a multicultural community that springs from “creative chemistry.”

 

Owen O Suilleabhain, Koro Koroye, Moley O Suilleabhain
Owen O Suilleabhain, Koro Koroye, Moley O Suilleabhain

KORO KOROYE: An ARTISTS WITHOUT WALLS' SHOWCASE PRESENTATION

 

Nigerian born, Spoken Word artist Koromone “Koro” Koroye” presenting her poem “My Name” at an Artists Without Walls’ Showcase.

 

For more information on Artists Without Walls contact info@artistswithoutwalls.com

pSmM8qlqoMdW0AWadcHjL_Ief9w08BCxBvw0xyxWNPs