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Co-Production with Temple University

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PROSPECTUS: “Six Characters in search of a plot” collaboration with Dr. William Yalowitz and the Temple University/Tyler School of Art Community Arts Program

March, 2005

 Director’s  Biography

 Dr. William Yalowitz, director/choreographer, is an Assistant Professor at Temple University’s Tyler School of Art, and directs Tyler’s Community Arts Program.  Yalowitz was named “Best Unclassifiable Theater Artist” by Philadelphia’s City Paper in 1997 and Best Choreographer by the Philadelphia Inquirer in 1999.  He was the choreographer-in-residence at the People’s Light & Theater Company in Philadelphia and was nominated for a Barrymore Award for his movement-theater work there. Yalowitz has directed critically acclaimed community-based performance productions in several Philadelphia neighborhoods, including the Black Bottom in West Philadelphia, the Latino community in Norris Square/Kensington, and in North Philadelphia at the Church of the Advocate, dealing with issues ranging from Black-Jewish Relations, Urban Dispossession, Exile & Return, Civil Rights History, and Immigration & Cultural Assimilation. His community-based performance work has received numerous awards and grants, and has been featured in national conferences, in the Philadelphia Inquirer, and on Public Radio.  Yalowitz has taught Dance, Theater, and Community Performance at the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Massachusetts, and as an artist-in-residence at various venues in Europe, Israel, and Mexico.  He was a delegate to the United Nations International Conference on Racism, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerances, NGO Forum, in Durban, South Africa in 2001.  Dr. Yalowitz holds an MFA and an Ed.D. in Dance & Intercultural Community Performance from Temple University.

 

Possible Collaborative Projects

 Temple University/Tyler School of Art

 

·        The Temple/Tyler Community Arts Program can produce a performance of the work in January, 2006 at Temple University.

 

·        Interdisciplinary Seminar in Community Arts, a course to be taught by Dr. Yalowitz and guest scholars and artists in Fall, 2005, will be focusing on Jewish/Arab co-existence in another context, that of the contemporary United States, where Arab Americans and American Jews are daily affected by the conflict in Palestine/Israel, in ways that are quite different than those in the Middle East.  This course is aimed at developing a working group of Arab and Jewish students and allies, who will be involved in the ongoing Philadelphia Arab-Jewish Performance Project.  Temple/Tyler students will interface with the PCI Acting Communities Tour in January, 2006 and will be involved in continuing work with artists, scholars, and youth from each community, looking at U.S. Arab-Jewish co-existence and alliance.

 

After Yalowitz returns from directing “Six Characters Asking” in Israel in August, 2005, the process, context, text, and developing performance of the piece will become a focus of investigation for the Interdisciplinary Seminar in Community Arts course, an opportunity for international exchange between Temple student artists and activists and Israeli artists and young people.

 

Philadelphia

 

·        Professional Theatre Venue:

Performances can be booked at a key Philadelphia performance venue, likely the Painted Bride Art Center (where Yalowitz’s 1995 work, “Joshua’s Wall” was performed, dealing with Black-Jewish Relations in the U.S. as part of the “Ivrim” Festival).

 

·        Community Venues:

Performances can be booked at other local community venues with the Temple/Tyler Community Arts Program’s organizational partners. These partners will also be involved in the PCI Tour and the ongoing Philadelphia Arab-Jewish Performance Project.  Possible venues include Mishkan Shalom Synagogue, Al Aqsa Mosque, and Art Sanctuary/ Church of the Advocate.  Possible  co-sponsors include Philadelphia Peace Walk and  Al Bustan Seeds of Culture.

 

 Peace Child Israel - Background

Established in 1988, Peace Child Israel is the veteran organization utilizing theatre and the arts as a tool for cross-cultural dialogue in Israel.  Committed to addressing minority-majority relations and co-citizenship issues. the goals of Peace Child Israel are:  education for democracy, pluralism and tolerance in the Israeli society.  Through the medium of theatre and the arts, the pedagogical objectives of compassionate listening, critical thinking and non-violent communication are applied whiling workshop participants address issues of identity, stereotypes, mutual respect, equality in a democratic society, cultural similarities and differences.  Role playing, reverse role-playing, collage, movement and improvisation are among the numerous tools used to facilitate experiential learning.  cooperation in the creative process RESULTS in the writing and performance of original play by each group of teens from neighboring schools that participate in the project.  programs for parents and teachers were added to the organization’s agenda in 2001.  The Peace Child Israel program is recognized in the Ministry of Education “Community service program”

 

Send direct contributions to:

Peace Child Israel

P.O. Box 57431 Tel Aviv, 61573

Tel:  (972-3) 730-0481  Fax:  (972-3) 730-0695

Email:  pci@netvision.net.il


 

Peace Child Israel: Making Conflict Resolution and Dialogue Work in the Middle East

 

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