January 21st, 2012
Give Your Body Room
an interview with Ruth Zaporah
Ruth Zaporah is a New Mexico based performance artist, director and teacher. She is internationally known for her innovative work in performance and performance training, particularly in the field of physical theater improvisation. Zaporah spends much of her time on tour, performing and leading trainings both nationally and internationally. She is a two-time recipient of National Endowment Choreography Fellowships. She is the author of “Action Theater: The Improvisation of Presence”.
http://www.actiontheater.com/index.htm
Ruth speaks with Joanna about Action Theater – an improvisational training process developed by her; the dance of the imaginal and the body, presence and relation to the world, acceptance, “emotional seasoning,” coming back to the body … among other topics.
Music: “Codona” (from The Codona Trilogy) by Don Cherry, Nana Vasconcelos, Colin Walcott
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
I’m celebrating My Birthday …
When Barretto Point Park opened in the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx in 2006, it marked a major accomplishment —becoming the only riverside park in the neighborhood and one of the few greens space in the heavily industrialized area. But Misra noted that there was no transportation to and from the park and that pedestrians had to endure a smoggy walk through a key transportation route that serves some 15,000 heavy trucks daily. Misra and her teen advocacy group, ACTION, lobbied the New York transit authority (MTA) for a bus route to be extended to include stops at the park. Misra’s campaign was successful, and a seasonal city shuttle bus now serves the park in the summer, taking 4,000 Bronx residents to green space they might not otherwise be able to access. Misra is a 2010 Brower Youth Award recipient.
Graham Hill, a serial Designpreneur, holds a degree as a Bachelor of Architecture from Carleton University in Ottawa and has also studied Product Design at Emily Carr in Vancouver. In 1995, with his cousin, he grew (and later sold) the web-developer SiteWerks to 60 people, doing work for clients such as Microsoft. In 2003 he founded both TreeHugger.com and a ceramic cup business (WeAreHappyToServeYou.com). TreeHugger later became part of Discovery’s Planet Green initiative and is where Hill currently places his efforts. Past business ventures include fashion, viral email and plant-based air filters. Hill speaks English, French, German and Spanish and loves kitesurfing, squash and snowboarding. From his New York home, Hill schemes daily about how he can help humanity avoid rapid extinction.
Ben Hewitt is a best-selling author and farmer whose book The Town That Food Saved, published by Chelsea Green publishing, chronicles a rural Vermont town’s attempts to implement a local food system. Hewitt speaks frequently on the subjects of regionalized agriculture, relocalizing economies, and reframing America’s values to promote positive change and a durable prosperity that is not dependent on extractive industry. With his wife and two sons, he operates a diversified 40-acre livestock, dairy, berry, and vegetable farm in Northern Vermont. He lives in a self-built, off-the-grid home that is powered by wind and solar energy. To help offset his renewable energy footprint, Ben drives a really big truck.
Zev Friedman grew up in Sylva, NC and received his B.S. in Human Ecology from UNCA. Zev’s specialty is forest agriculture; he now runs the Forest Cuisine Project, which helps land owners to start forest farms and to market their products. He is particularly passionate about assisting landowners in setting up mushroom farming operations and in using fungi as remediators for damaged environments. Zev also specializes in urban permaculture design and installation, including many private residences, as well as consulting on the design of the Mars Hill town hall and grounds; he is an active member and teacher in Transition Asheville, helping to plan for Asheville’s future as an abundant, self-reliant city in the age of petroleum decline.
Christopher Johnson is a highly acclaimed, nationally known Spoken Word artist and Poet. Christopher has been on many National Poetry Slam Teams including New Jersey, Providence and Boston. In 2007, Christopher won the $10,000 dollar grand prize for spoken word in the Fame Cast contest. He now resides in Providence, Rhode Island where he gives workshops throughout the Rhode Island school system.
