Voices of Muslim Identity & Understanding Islam Workshop
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
2016-17 UMS LEARNING GUIDE Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity & Understanding Islam Workshop 16 BE PRESENT 17 BE PRESENT 1 Table of Contents 04 05 06 19 29 ATTEND THE DETAILS LEARN UNDERSTANDING ISLAM CONNECT 07 Why? 20 Foreword: Framing Your Day 30 Being an Audience Member 09 Artist 21 Overview 33 Arts Online 13 Art Form 22 Presenters 35 Recommended Reading 17 Performance 24 The Workshop Agenda 39 Writing About Live Performance 25 Islam – The History and Practice 42 About UMS 27 Islam – Culture 44 Credits and Sponsors 28 Resources february 17 UMS SCHOOL DAY PERFORMANCE Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity Friday, February 17 // 11 am Power Center BE PRESENT 3 Attend Coming to your E-mail Inbox! Map and Driving Directions Logistical Details (drop-off/pick-up locations) Venue Information UMS.ORG / 734.615.0122 BE PRESENT 4 The Details ACCESSIBILITY We aim to maximize accessibility at our performances and below are details regarding this performance’s points of accessibility. If you have further questions, e-mail [email protected] or call 734.615.0122. The following services are available to audience members: • Wheelchair, companion, or other special seating • Courtesy wheelchairs • Hearing Impaired Support Systems PARKING There is handicapped parking very close to the Power Center on Fletcher Street and in the parking structure behind the Power Center on Palmer Drive. The first three levels of the Palmer Drive structure have five parking spots on each level next to each elevator. There are a total of 15 parking spaces in the garage. VENUE ADDRESS Power Center, 121 Fletcher St, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 WHEELCHAIR ACCESSIBILITY The Power Center is wheelchair accessible and has 12 seats for audience EMERGENCY CONTACT NUMBER members with special needs. 734.764.2538 BATHROOMS ADA ARRIVAL TIME Compliant toilets are available in the green room (east corner) of the Power Between 10:30-10:50 am Center for both men and women. TICKETS ENTRY We do not use paper tickets for School Day Performances. We hold school The front doors are not powered; however, there will be an usher at that door reservations at the door and seat groups upon arrival. opening it for all patrons. FOOD No food or drinks (including school lunches) are allowed in the theater. BE PRESENT 5 Learn Beyond Sacred: Voices of Muslim Identity Ping Chong + Company UMS.ORG / 734.615.0122 BE PRESENT 6 LEARN Why? UMS EDUCATION ARTISTIC STATEMENT Ping Chong + Company produces theatrical works addressing the important cultural New York City. The participants are not actors and share their personal stories in and civic issues of our times, striving to reach the widest audiences with the this performance. The participants represent a wide range of people in the Muslim greatest level of artistic innovation and social integrity. The company was founded community, from those who identify as culturally Muslim to those who are devout in 1975 by leading theatrical innovator Ping Chong with a mission to create works of in religious practice. The goal of Beyond Sacred is to use theater and personal theater and art that explore the intersections of race, culture, history, art, media, and testimony to foster greater understanding between Muslim and non-Muslim technology in the modern world. communities throughout the United States. UMS is excited to include this important work in our School Day Performance series. We trust it will provide a productive Beyond Sacred is an interview-based, documentary theater performance that opportunity for participants to engage in examination of these often sensitive and explores the diverse experiences of young Muslim New Yorkers. The stories vary in politically-charged issues. many ways, but they share the common experience of coming of age in post-9/11 BE PRESENT 7 LEARN Why? ONLINE: CONNECTING TO THE PERFORMANCE There must be a new paradigm of connectedness, of inclusion, of sharing, of belonging, of respect, of responsibility, of sacredness because with every passing day in our brave new world we are losing more and more of our connection to ourselves, to each other, to the past, to our rich histories, and to the earth itself which nurtures Watch this video to learn of the evolution and us. Because without this sense of inspiration of Ping Chong’s theatrical work. connection there can be no respect for life on this planet. PING CHONG [TED TALK 2011] BE PRESENT 8 LEARN Artist BIOGRAPHY OF PING CHONG Ping Chong is an interdisciplinary artist whose innovative work spans theater, Chong’s important pieces of the 1980s include Nuit Blanche, Kind Ness, dance, film, multimedia, and installation art. His pieces deal primarily with and Snow. These works frequently feature nonlinear storytelling that ties themes of cultural identity, social justice, race, immigration, and “the other.” different characters together through shared experiences. Chong began his continuous production of the Undesirable Elements series in 1992. His 2014 Chong was born in Toronto in 1946 and grew up as a first-generation American piece Collidescope: Adventures in Pre- and Post-Racial America addresses race in New York City’s Chinatown. He began his performance career in the 1970s by weaving through real and imagined events in American history from the as a member of Meredith Monk’s pioneering interdisciplinary theater company. Civil War to the killing of Trayvon Martin. Ping Chong & Company also offers Their collaborations, including The Travelogue Series and The Games, blend workshops and trainings for arts educators from around the world. elements of movement, music, and theater without emphasizing a single specific genre. Chong has received many of the most important awards in the arts, including a 2014 National Medal of Arts from President Obama, six different fellowships from Chong created his first independent production, Lazarus, in 1972. Set in modern the National Endowment for the Arts, and two Obie awards for stage direction. New York City, it equates the Biblical character’s alienation after returning from the dead with contemporary cultural alienation. This work is an early example of Chong’s signature integration of theater, film projection, puppetry, and recorded sound. In 1975, he founded the Fiji Theater Company, now called Ping Chong & Company. BE PRESENT 9 LEARN Artist ONLINE Getting to know Ping Chong. BE PRESENT 10 LEARN Artist ONLINE Getting to know Ping Chong + Company and the beginning of the Undesirable Elements series. Visit the company’s website: Ping Chong + Company. photographer: Kevin Kennedy BE PRESENT 11 LEARN Artist ONLINE Read about their work in the community. BE PRESENT 12 LEARN Art Form THEATER GLOSSARY Actor: The actors are the people who tell the stories Stagehands: These people do much of the heavy characters. The director must keep lighting in mind onstage! This person’s job is to convey a written lifting backstage, moving scenery and props before while blocking the actors. character in a believable way and to accurately or during the performance. represent the director’s vision. Dialogue: This is the conversation between Lighting Designer: The lighting designer works with characters, or the spoken lines in a play. Director: The director is the person in charge of the the creative team and reads the script closely to “vision” for any particular show. All of the elements create the correct time of day and atmosphere for Proscenium: A traditional theater venue with an of a piece of theatre come together under the the performance. They must keep in mind visibility arch that separates the audience and the action on director’s supervision; the director is in charge of of any given character on stage, cost, and of course, stage. lighting, sound, set, costumes, and often works with safety. the actors on how to interpret the script. Set: The scenery and props that are designed and Costume Designer: The costume designer is in placed on stage to create the environment of the play. Producer: The producer is in charge of the financial charge of what people wear onstage. Costumes and managerial aspects of the show you see; they are distinctive forms of dress that reflect gender, Upstage: Upstage is toward the back of the theater. raise the funds and often hire the creative team. class, ethnicity, profession, activity, and nationality. A movement “upstage” is also a movement away The costume can give us clues as to where the from the audience. Playwright: The playwright writes the scripts that character lives, how they make their money, or how will soon be made into fully-fledged productions. they see themselves. Wigs and makeup work with Downstage: This is the part of the stage that is However, a playwright will sometimes work for years costumers to assist in creating this complete vision closest to the audience. A movement “downstage” on a single piece. for the character. in traditional theatre would be to approach the audience. Stage Manager: Stage managers provide their Company: The company is comprised of the entire directors with organizational support throughout cast, crew, and creative team. A company is all staff Stage Left: Left as seen from the actors’ point of the rehearsal process. During the run of the show, associated with a single show. view. If you are an audience member, stage left will they are in charge backstage, calling light cues, and be on the right side of the stage as you are facing it. making sure that actors are at their places. Smaller Cast: The actors or players in the performance. productions will only have a single stage manager, Stage Right: Right as seen from the actors’ point of while bigger productions may hire an entire team. Blocking: Any movement by the characters onstage. view. If you are an audience member, stage right will Blocking is carefully planned to advance the plot be on the left side of the stage as you are facing it.