New York Live Arts Announces the Winter and Spring Events for THE SUITCASE FUND

New York Live Arts has announced an array of winter and spring events for the Suitcase Fund, Live Arts' signature international artist and cultural exchange program. Events include Research Presentations by Serbian artists Saša Asenti?& Ana Vujanovi?, as well as Marijana Cvetkovi? Markovi? and Miki Braniste; and a two week research residency by South African choreographers Thabiso Pule & Thami Hector Manekhla, in partnership with Movement Research.

On Friday, February 7 at 6:00pm, the Suitcase Fund will present a Research Presentation by Serbian artists Ana Vujanovi? & Saša Asenti?, presented in conjunction with their two-week research residency from January 24 - February 9 in NYC. Dance of Precatiat (working title) will focus on the work of Workers Dance Movement in New York City in the 1930's. The movement was a specific phenomenon in modern dance in the United States of America, and was formed by working class and immigrant dancers who were attracted to both the modern dance world and radical political activity. The research will examine the work of the Workers Dance League, New Dance Group and other groups and individuals whose focus was on political choreography, the human condition and struggle for social change.Following the February 7 Research Presentation, Ana Vujanovi? & Saša Asenti? will present the U.S. premiere of On Trial Together in the New York Live Arts Theater, February 20 - 22 at 7:30pm. On Trial Together was developed, in part, through the Suitcase Fund international cultural exchange program.

The Suitcase Fund's winter/spring events continue in April, with a Research Presentation by Marijana Cvetkovi? Markovi? from Serbia and Miki Braniste from Romania on Tuesday, April 14 at 6:00pm. Visiting from STATION Service for Contemporary Dance in Serbia and Nomad Dance Academy, a network of Balkan arts professionals, Cvetkovi? Markovi? will conduct a two-week research residency in NYC from April 5 - 20. Her research has the goal to improve knowledge, develop information flow between New York, Serbia and the Balkan Region and establish artistic and institutional partnerships for new projects. The information gathered will be instrumental in the development of STATION's new programs in contemporary dance as well as for the university course taught by Cvetkovi? Markovi?.Braniste will be in NYC from April 12 - 26 through the Gabriela Tudor Fellowship, created by the Gabriela Tudor Foundation in partnership with Allyson Green & New York University/Tisch School for the Arts. The fellowship will include a series of meetings with different dance makers, managers and presenters, as well as a cultural program that will include visits to museums, dance spaces and performances. The second part of the project involves American artist Catherine Galasso going to Bucharest, Romania for two-weeks from June 15 - 29.

From May 18 - June 2 the Suitcase Fund, in partnership with Movement Research, will host emerging South African choreographersThabiso Pule & Thami Hector Manekhla for a two-week research residency. The artists will attend performances, take classes and workshops, and participate in discussions and meetings with NYC artists and presenters.

The Suitcase Fund is New York Live Arts' international artist and cultural worker exchange program. Offering artists and cultural workers from the U.S. and abroad indelible opportunities for conversation and collaboration, the Suitcase Fund forges an international artistic community and facilitates the exchange of best practices on a global scale. The Suitcase Fund was founded in 1985 by Dance Theater Workshop. Currently, the Suitcase Fund has projects and partnerships in Eastern/Central Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Previous projects have focused on South America and Asia.

The Suitcase Fund receives generous support from the Trust for Mutual Understanding for projects in East/Central Europe, and the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation for projects in Africa and the Middle East.

Listing info:

Winter/spring 2014 NYC Suitcase Fund Events

Research Presentation by Ana Vujanovi? & Saša Asenti?'s (Serbia)

Feb 7 at 6:00pm

New York Live Arts Conference Room

FREE, reservations strongly requested

Performance of Ana Vujanovi? & Saša Asenti?'s On Trial Together

Feb 20 - 22 at 7:30pm

New York Live Arts Theater

$20

Performance of Cynthia Hopkins' A LIVING DOCUMENTARY

Mar 5 - 8 at 7:30pm

New York Live Arts Theater

$30

Research Presentation by Marijana Cvetkovi? Markovi? (Serbia) and Miki Braniste (Romania)

Apr 14 at 6:00pm

New York Live Arts Conference Room

FREE, reservations strongly requested

Residency with Thabiso Pule & Thami Hector Manekhla (South Africa)

May 18 - June 2

In partnership with Movement Research

About the Artists:

Saša Asenti? works as a freelance performance maker and cultural worker. His performances have been presented at different festivals and art centers in New York, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Hamburg and other cities across Europe. He collaborates with Ana Vujanovi?, Xavier Le Roy, Eszter Salamon, Olivera Kova?evi? Crnjanski and others. In 2005, he founded Per.Art an organization that deals with production and promotion of contemporary performing arts in Serbia. In 1999, he founded Art and Inclusion, a program for people with learning disabilities in Novi Sad, Serbia. He was the artistic director of Nov.ples, a contemporary dance festival in Novi Sad, and the director of the biannual dance festival Balkan Dance Platform 2009, and the co-curator of IN-presentable 2009 festival in Madrid. Currently he is an artist-in-residence at the Akademie Schloss Solitude in Stuttgart, Germany.

In 2005 Miki Braniste founded The ArtLink Association together with two other young cultural operators and in 2010 she founded a new structure, Colectiv A in Cluj. Starting in 2004 she was involved in initiating and coordinating overall scale cultural events such as: The "Voir, entendre la Roumanie" Festival in Lyon (2004), eXplore Dance Festival in Bucharest (2005), residence in Bucharest for the photographer Pascal Martinez under the Pepinieres europeennes/ MAP XXL European program, the 4Projects program and The Bodyworkshop led by choreographer Florin Fieroiu in October/ November, PerForming the Body in 2006 and eXplore Dance in 2007. In 2010 she founded, along with Cora Sevianu and Laura Panait, the Colectiv A Association, detached from Artlink Association, the Cluj team. Colectiv A aims to participate in the development of local cultural scene by organizing contemporary dance workshops, interdisciplinary collaborations, artistic residencies, etc. and to implement the international festival of performing arts and video, Temps D'Images in Cluj. In 2011 and 2012 she was invited by the Center of Excellence in Image Study to teach cultural strategies and management courses. She was also selected to take part in a Atelier for young festival managers taking place in Singapore in May 2011. The workshop was organized by European Asian Foundation, European Festival Association and CultureLink. In Octber 2011 she was invited tin Tokyo to participate in the International Visitor Program organized by Tokyo Governement.

Marijana Cvetkovi? Markovi? graduated from the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Belgrade (Art History), completed her MA in Management in Culture and Cultural Policy at the University of Arts in Belgrade and Université Lyon 2 (France) and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Arts in Belgrade. Markovi? has initiated various programs and projects in the fields of cultural policy, international and Balkan cultural cooperation, contemporary dance and visual arts, museums and more. She is a manager of Station Service for contemporary dance and Nomad Dance Academy, Balkan platform for development of contemporary dance and performing arts and a cultural activist at the independent cultural scenes of Belgrade and Serbia. Her Fellowships include the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Paris, Central European University, Budapest and Università di Foggia. Markovi? has taught as guest lecturer and teaching assistant at the MA in Cultural Management and Cultural Policy at the University of Arts in Belgrade (UNESCO Chair) since 2009 and at the MA in International Performance Research program since 2011 (Erasmus Mundus Programme with Warwick University, UK, the University of Helsinki and the University of Amsterdam). She gives lectures and workshops on project management, regional cultural cooperation, performing arts management, museum management and cultural policy and has been published numerous articles in various magazines and edited books.

Dancer, choreographer, event & project manager and co-founder of kingheccius productions, Thabiso Pule started dancing in 1998 with the community group named Soweto Community Dance Project under director Carly Dibakwane. In 2003 he was introduced to choreography by attending different workshops that were hosted in South Africa. Pule was exposed to different choreographers, both national and international, like Nelisiwe Xaba, Gregory Maxoma, Moya Michel, Zweletho Sebolai ,Moeketsi Koena, Gregory Gordon, George Khumalo, Reginald Danster, Pule Molebatsi, Germain Akoni, Kettly Noel, Agusto Covilius and Fabrice Lambard.

Hector Thami Manekehla was born in Soweto South Africa; he started dancing after leaving his favorite sport cricket. In 1998 he joined Soweto Dance Project under the directorship of Carly Dibakwane, were he met other choreographers. He was involved in various projects and collaborations with different choreographers and dancers from South Africa & abroad. Hector Thami Manekehla never went to any formal dance school; his knowledge of dance and performing in the arts comes from self-practice and attending lots of workshops in South Africa and abroad. He worked with the likes of Nelisiwe Xaba, Mamela Nyanmza, Reginald Danster, Gary Gordon, the late (George Mxolisi Khumalo), Augusto Cuvillias, Kettly Noel, Moya Michaels, Salva Sanchez, Mia Haugland Habib, Fabrice Lambart, Alfred Winkler, Bea Nikles, Morten Travik, Anabel Cairo Vega, Perig Vellirbu, Yoann Allex and many various artists from various disciplines within the arts. In 2008 he created and directed KAROHANO-chief choreographed by him and co-choreographed by and Thabiso Pule & Haja Saranouffie. The piece won 1st prize in dans afrique dans competition that was organized by culturesfrance in tunisia.The piece was performed in different festival across Europe, Middle East and Africa. Although he never went to a formal dancing school, Hector Thami Manekehla has lot of experience in theatre as a performer, creator and director-he has gained international recognition thru his work. He is an active member of Sweet and Tender Collaborations network of artists. During 2008 he was invited by a Norwegian company Mia Habib Production to participate in the 2nd SKITE/SWEET&TENDER COLLABORATIONS RESIDENCY MEETING which was held in Porto/Portugal, the company also invited him the following meetings- Living House/Dansen Husen ( Norway2009), Prisma Forum (Mexico 2009). He has also been in invited by Jean Marc Adolphe, chief director of Art Magazine (Mouvement) and he is also director of (Skite) in France-to number of residencies and performance meetings in Europe

Ana Vujanovi? is a freelance worker in contemporary performing arts and culture. Vujanovic holds a Ph.D. in Theatre Studies. She is a member of the editorial collective of TkH [Walking Theory], theoretical-artistic platform, Belgrade and chief editor of TkH journal for performing arts theory. Her particular commitment has been empowering the independent scenes in Belgrade and Yugoslavia (Druga scena). She has lectured and given workshops at various universities and independent educational programs throughout Europe. She engages in artworks in the fields of performance, theatre, dance and video, as dramaturge, co-author and collaborator. She publishes regularly in journals and collections (TkH, Maska, Frakcija, Teatron, Performance Research, TDR...); and is author of four books, most recently Public Sphere by Performance, with Bojana Cveji? (Berlin: b_books, 2012). She is currently international visiting professor at the Department for Human Movement/Performance Studies, University of Hamburg. In recent years her research interest has been focused on the intersections between performance and politics in neoliberal capitalist societies.

ABOUT NEW YORK LIVE ARTS

New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents of our times. At the center of this identity is Bill T. Jones, Executive Artistic Director, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer.

We commission, produce and present performances in our 20,000 square foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square foot studios that can be combined into one large studio. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, provides an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists. Our influence extends beyond NYC through our international cultural exchange program that currently places artists in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Funding Support for New York Live Arts

Major support for New York Live Arts is provided by: Bloomberg Philanthropies; The Brownstone Foundation; The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation; Con Edison; The Joseph and Joan Cullman Foundation for the Arts; Doris Duke Charitable Foundation; Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art; The Ford Foundation; The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation; Florence Gould Foundation; Japan Foundation; Jerome Foundation; Lambent Foundation; MAP Fund, a program of Creative Capital; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Mertz Gilmore Foundation; Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation; New England Foundation for the Arts; The New York Community Trust; Robert Rauschenberg Foundation; The Rockefeller Foundation NYC Cultural Innovation Fund; The Jerome Robbins Foundation; The Scherman Foundation; The Shubert Foundation; and the Trust for Mutual Understanding. New York Live Arts is supported by public funds administered by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.