Tandy Beal to Bring HEREAFTERHERE to Santa Clara University, 3/28-30

The ultimate uncharted territory is explored in HereAfterHere: A Self-Guided Tour of Eternity, a work that explores what - if anything - happens after we die. Acclaimed director, choreographer, and performer Tandy Beal created this thought-provoking work, collaborating with composer Jon Scoville to interview over 500 people of all ages, races, and religions, whose different descriptions of the hereafter are brought to life, as it were, in a stunning presentation that blends music, dance, film, magic, and humor. HereAfterHere, presented by Santa Clara University's SCU Presents, Arts for Social Justice, and the Department of Theatre & Dance, as part of its Visiting Artist Series, plays at Santa Clara University's Louis B. Mayer Theatre, March 28-30, 2014. For tickets ($20-$40), the public may visit www.scupresents.org. $10 tickets are available for Santa Clara University Students with a student ID. For more information, visit www.tandybeal.com.

Combining filmed interviews with original music, gorgeous video, expressive dance, and thoughtful and funny theatre, HereAfterHere celebrates the adventure of life, while shining light on our discomfort with the mystery of death and what may - or may not - come after. "There are 77 million Baby Boomers right now and we're all looking at this issue," says co-creator and director Tandy Beal. "I wanted to open up a dialogue, hopefully before it's a crisis in people's lives." The audience will also be invited to participate in the dialogue - as they arrive at the theater, attendees have an opportunity to send text messages with their ideas about life after death. Those ideas are then projected on a screen for audience members to view as they wait for the show to begin. The performance is part of Santa Clara University's Arts for Social Justice Program, an interdisciplinary initiative whose mission is to use the arts to raise awareness of critical issues.

HereAfterHere: A Self-Guided Tour of Eternity made its sold-out World Premiere in Santa Cruz, California in 2010, going on to additional performances in Santa Cruz and Salt Lake City, Utah. The Santa Cruz Sentinel said, "HereAfterHere is a stunning pastiche, aimed at expanding the imagination on what could be waiting on the other side of the grave. Beal's approach takes away the sense of dread about death, without turning it into some kind of comforting fantasy." Said Julie Boudreau, education and outreach coordinator at Hospice of Santa Cruz County, "I wish the whole world could see it."

Directed by Tandy Beal, HereAfterHere features original music by Jon Scoville, video by Ellen Bromberg and Denise Gallant, lighting by Derek Duarte, scenic design by Kate Edmunds, and costumes by Maria Crush. The cast includes: Saki, Breeze, Sara Wilbourne, Salvador Benavides, Jane Real, Jo Blake, Alexis Bartlow, Kaylie Caires, Denis Nagtalon, Sarah Nguyen, Holly Wooldridge, Yulia Yankina, Eli Weinberg, John & Nancy Lingemann.

As Artistic Director for Tandy Beal and Company ('71-present), Pickle Family Circus ('92-'00), and Moscow Circus in Japan ('94-'96), Director Tandy Beal has created 20 full-length shows and approximately 100 shorter works that have toured 48 states and worldwide. These have included a State Department tour of Eastern Europe, a show for NASA's SETI project with Carl Sagan, and performances in Japan, sponsored by the Japan US Friendship Commission. Her most recent projects include directing an opera for Bobby McFerrin in Asia, the Middle East, Russia, and Europe, and creating Flabbergast, a new work for the 50th Anniversary of the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company in Salt Lake City, Utah. She is featured in a San Francisco Performing Arts Library video, Four Dance Icons of the West, and in two books: Pickle Clowns and Living Happily Ever After (also featuring Jon Scoville).

Composer Jon Scoville has created music for bay of the luminaries of modern dance, including Alwin Nikolais, Murray Louis, Laura Dean, and Sara Rudner, and for the Hovik Ballet (Oslo), Oakland Ballet, Pickle Family and Moscow Circuses, and Teatro Armazém in Rio. His music has been featured around the world on NPR, Radio Free Europe, Radio Belgrade, Paris' Théâtre de la Ville, Fête à Aix, Kyoto's American Center, Tokyo's Seibu Theatre, and festivals in Verona, Pamplona and Santander.

Several free public events will take place in conjunction with the performance of HereAfterHere at Santa Clara University:

• End of Life and Religious Faith, Silicon Valley Interreligious Council. SCU Professor Dale Larsen will open a discussion with religious leaders about the afterlife. Thursday, March 6, 11:45 a.m. -1 p.m., Sobrato Commons Room B, Santa Clara University.
• Homeward Bound: Rituals at the End of Life. Rabbi Lori Klein, Stanford Hospital chaplain; Taqwa Surapati, Muslim Chaplain; and others will present a discussion. Tuesday, March 25, 7 p.m., First Congregational Church (1980 Hamilton Ave, San Jose, CA 95125).
• Present at the Passing. This workshop will cover end-of life-concerns including being a supportive presence, embracing loss, and aging gracefully. It will be led by Marita Grudsen, deputy director of the Stanford Geriatric Education Center, and Alexandra Kennedy, MFT, author, educator and psychotherapist. Wednesday, March 26, 7 p.m., Center for Spiritual Living (1195 Clark St., San Jose).
• Pondering the Imponderables: Metaphors in Science, Art and Religion. This discussion will include science writer Nancy Abrams, The Rev. Dr. Eileen Altman, associate pastor of First Congregational Church in Palo Alto; Kamal Abu-Shamsieh, Muslim Chaplain; acclaimed director, choreographer, and performer Tandy Beal; and others. Saturday, March 29, 3 p.m., Louis B. Mayer Theatre, Santa Clara University.
• Lighting the Way: A Conversation about Spiritual Living and Dying. This panel and discussion will look at one of life's most important and least talked about experiences, with leaders from the Compassionate Care Program at the Center for Spiritual Enlightenment. Thursday, April 3, 7-8:30 p.m., Center for Spiritual Enlightenment, www.CSEcenter.org.