December 1999

Brooklyn Academy of Music 1999 Next Wave Festival BAMcinematek Brooklyn Philharmonic 651 ARTS

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BAM Next Wave Festival sponsored by

PHILIP MORRIS ~lA6(8Ill COMPANIES INC Brooklyn Academy of Music Bruce C. Ratner Chairman of the Board

Karen Brooks Hopkins Joseph V. Melillo President Executive Producer

presents Love Songs

Running time: "BAM Harvey Lichtenstein Theater approximately two December 8-11,1999, at 7:30 p.m. hours, with one intermission Conceived, Written, and Directed by David Rousseve Choreographed by David Rousseve in a collaborative process with the performers

Performed by David Rousseve/REALITY David Rousseve, lIaan Egeland, Terry Hollis, Kyle Sheldon, Charmaine Warren, Steven Washington, Julie Tolentino Wood

Producer Susan Latham Set and Puppet Design Debby Lee Cohen Lighting Design Beverly Emmons Costume Design Carol Pelletier Sound Design David Meschter/Applied Audio Technologies Technical Director David Ferri Technical Assistant Tom Price Sound Engineer Bob Bursey Puppet Construction Mia Kanazawa Set, Puppet, and Prop Construction Mark Kindschi Prop Coordination Tjet Clark

Major support provided by The Ford Foundation. Next Wave dance pro­ grams are supported by The Harkness Foundation for Dance and the Joyce Mertz-Gilmore Foundation. Opening night is sponsored by Philip Morris Companies Inc. BAM thanks the Theater Development Fund for its support of this season.

37 -!P\/A Snng~'----

My work on this piece is dedicated to those who continue to teach me about love: my partner, my parents, and the ancestors who generously allow their stories to be told. -David Rousseve

David Rousseve would like to especially acknowledge his"deep gratitude and heartfelt thanks to the performers of REALITY, who have generously and unfailingly given of their bodies,minds, spirits, and hearts in the creation of Love Songs.

Special thanks to Joe Melillo; Harvey Lichtenstein; Alice Bernstein; Melissa Cusick; Dewonnie Frederick; Lynn Stirrup; Coleman Rupp; Lisa Barnes; Sue Latham; Teresa Stratas; Conor McTeague; Thomas Glass; Toshi Reagan; Sondra Loring; David Gere; Mitchell Morris; Suzanne Carbonneau; Tim Miller; Mary Reilly; Danielle Dybiec; Robert Marlin; the Board of Directors of Whispering Voice, Inc.; Love Songs Gala Committee; Department of World Arts and Cultures at UCLA.

Love Songs was co-commissioned by Arizona State University Public Events, Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Dance Center at Columbia College, and On The Boards. ~

The creation and development of Love Songs was made possible, in part, with funds from The Jim Henson Foundation; Materials for the Arts; NYC Department of Cultural Affairs/NYC Department of Sanitation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the National Dance Residency Program (NDRP), a program underwritten by The Pew Charitable Trusts and administered at the New York Foundation for the Arts; The Rockefeller Foundation's Multi-Arts Production Fund; and Times Square Delivers.

Love Songs was also funded, in part, by a grant from the National Dance Project, a program of the New England Foundation for the Arts, with support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the 'John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

The oPening scenes from Act" are included in the work Love Stories, commissioned by and for the' Dance Alloy (1996). The movement section in Act" is based on the work Bittersweet Chocolates, commissioned by and for Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (1997).

Exclusive Tour Representation: Rena Shagan Associates, Inc. 16A West 88th Street New York, N.V. 10024 212.873.9700 (tel) 212.873.1708 (fax) www.shaganarts.com

38 Love Songs After a brief prologue, during which a dying mother in the contemporary world is forced to allow her child to see into the "night," Love Songs enters this very terrain of "night": A surreal world where the drama of Wagner and the romanticism of Puccini combine with a dose of down-home African-American storytelling to create a timeless dialogue on love. The main storyline of the "night"--centering around the passion of two African­ American slaves named Sarah and John-weaves with stories and images surrounding characters and issues from a more contemporary world.

There are several references to southern African-American history and/or folklore in tonight's performance that it might be helpful to be familiar with. These include:

-To be born with a veil on one's face means that one is clairvoyant. -The Flying Africans (tales of African slaves who could actually fly) is one of the most enduring stories in all African-American folklore. -Moses is the name the slaves gave to Harriet Tubman, the most successful conductor on the "underground railroad" (a series of safe havens for runaway slaves that led to freedom in the north).

The Music Act One: Wagner; Tannhauser (Entry of the Guests) Puccini; La rondine ("Chi il bel sogno di Doretta") Schubert; Impromptu in A-flat major, D.935, NO.2. Chopin; Nocturne in E-flat major, Op. 9, NO.2. Schumann; "Traumerei" from Kinderszenen, Op. 15. Saint-Saens; Samson et Dalila (liMon coeur s'ouvre ata voix") Wagner; Tannhauser (Pilgrims March) Schumann; "Traumerei" from Kinderszenen, Op. 15. Wagner; Tristan und Isolde ("Liebestod") (instrumental).

Act Two: Saint-Saens; "Le Cygne" Wagner; Tristan und Isolde (Prelude) Wagner; Tristan und Isolde ("Liebestod") Puccini; Madama Butterfly ("Humming Cho")

Music Rights "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta"; composed by Puccini; performed by Montserrat Caballe and the London Symphony Orchestra; courtesy of EMI Records Ltd.

liMon coeur s'ouvre ata voix"; composed by Camille Saint-Saens; performed by Marilyn Horne and the Vienna Opera Orchestra; courtesy of Decca Records

"BeglOckt darf nun dich, 0 Heimat, ich schauen" (Pilgrim's Chorus) from Tannhauser; composed by Richard Wagner; performed by the Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic; Conducted by Georg Solti; courtesy of Polygram

"Schon nahen sich die Edlen meiner Lande" (Entry of the Guests) from Tannhauser; composed by Richard Wagner; performed by the Vienna State Opera Chorus, Vienna Philharmonic; Conducted by Georg Solti; courtesy of Polygram 39 Whispering Voice, Inc. Whispering Voice, Inc., is the nonprofit administrative organization manag­ ing David Rousseve/REALITY. Whispering Voice, Inc., is funded, in part, by grants from Chase Manhattan Bank; the Harkness Foundation for Dance; the Lila Acheson Wallace Theater Funds.at Community Funds, Inc.; Philip Morris Companies Inc.; and individual contributors.

Whispering Voice, Inc. 104 Franklin Street New York N.V. 10013 212.965.0085

Management for Whispering Voice, Inc. Rachel Chanoffand Sara Coffey Company Tour Management for David Rousseve/REALITY JuUe Tolentino Wood General Press Representative Grant Lindsey Costume Coordination Charmaine Warren Graphic Design/LOVE SONGS Merchandise Anthony Turner

Whispering Voice, Inc., Board of Directors Hyacinth Blake, Effie Fribourg, Catherine Gund, Susan Latham, Masahiro Ouchi, David Rousseve, Lori E. Seid, B.J. Crosby, Susan Silverstein, Martina Yamin

Whispering Voice, Inc., is a member of Pentacle (DanceWorks, Inc.), a nonprofit service organization for the performing arts. Directors Mara Greenberg and Ivan Sygoda Fiscal Associate Arnie Apostle ~Albo's \ALbo _

David Rousseve is a choreographer, writer, Ballet Hispanico, and the Ririe-Woodbury Dance director, dancer, and actor. Upon graduating Company.. This season he created a new work magna cum laude from Princeton University in for The Houston Ballet (to Aaron Copland's 1981, he danced in the companies of Jean' Appalachian Spring), and returned to create his

Erdman, Senta Driver, Kathryn Posin, r second commissioned work for Ballet Hispanico Stephanie Skura, Yoshiko Chuma, and the (with an original score by Eddie Palmieri). Toronto Dance Theater. He also appeared as an actor off-Broadway, off-off-Broadway, and As a writer, Mr. Rousseve was recently published extensively on network television. In 1988 Mf. in Out of Character: Rants, Raves, and Rousseve founded REALITY, and has since cre­ Monologues from Today's Top Performance Artists ated 11 full-length works for the company. (Bantam Press) and was a 1998 fellow in the Sundance Film Festival's Screenplay Development Mr. Rousseve has also been commissioned to Lab. He is currently writing a screenplay based on create new works for Pittsburgh's Dance Alloy the theater piece Urban Scenes/Creole Dreams. (in collaboration with composer Ysaye Barnwell), Zenon Dance Company, the Cleo In the fall of 1996 Mr. Rousseve joined UCLA's Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, the Atlanta world arts and culture department as a tenured Ballet (with a live performance by the faculty member. He has also served on the fac­ Morehouse College Glee Club), New York's ulties of Princeton University, Columbia College

40 Summer Dance Program, Bates Dance Festival, Dance Umbrella, and the Internationales the University of Maryland,· and Randolph­ Sommer Theater Festival in Hamburg. Macon Women's College. In addition to live performances, REALITY has In 1996 Mr. Rwsseve received the CalArtsiAlpert been featured in film and video. In 1992 the Award in Dance, a National Dance Residency PBS series Alive TV commissioned a film adap­ Program grant, and was named Distinguished tation of Pull Your Head to the Moon... Tales of Alumnist by the Association of Black Princeton Creole Women which was broadcast nationally Alumni. He has received fellowships from the and won first place for film choreography at Nationpl Endowment for the Arts (1990-97) and Germany's IMZ International Film Festival. the New York Foundation for the Arts, and was During the 1995-96 season, REALITY recently awarded a 1999 Irvine Fellowship in appeared in the national broadcast of Positive: dance to explore film as a choreographic medium. Life with HIV, a series of five programs for those living with HIV or affected by the AIDS epidemic. David RoussevelREALITY marked its 10th anniversary in 1999. Since its founding, the Bob Bursey (sound engineer) recently worked company has grown to become one of the most as the audio engineer for Pina Bausch's U.S. important voices in contemporary performance. tour, and completed his second season as mas­ From 1987-92, David Rousseve created the ter sound technician for the American Dance eight-part dance/theater series Pull Your Head Festival. He also serves as production manager to the Moon... Tales of Creole Women, which for the Hollins University dance department. culminated in Urban Scenes/Creole Dreams. Mr. Bursey has worked with numerous touring Performed with a full gospel choir singing an dance companies and musical groups,. includ­ original score by Ysaye Barnwell (of Sweet ing Pilabolus Dance Theater, Urban Bush Honey in the Rock), Urban Scenes/Creole Women, Tango Kinesis, Guangdong Modern Dreams was a critical and popular success at Dance Company, and The Next Ice Age. BAM's 1992 Next Wave Festival. During this period he also created a groundbreaking site­ Debby Lee Cohen (set and puppet designer) specific work at Los Angeles' historic Bradbury designed the scenery for David Rousseve's Building for New York's Dancing in the Streets. Whispers of Angels, Pop Dreams, and Urban From 1993-95 he created The Dream Series, Scenes/Creole Dreams. She has also designed which culminated in REALITY's second success sets and props for Meredith Monk for the past at the 1995 Next Wave Festival, The Whispers 14 years. In 1996 she was commissioned to of Angels, which featured an original score by design a children's parade for the city of Paris Grammy-nominated songwriter/performer and from 1987-94, she designed the giant pup­ Me'Shell Ndegeocello. pets for NYC's Village Halloween Parade. As a film animator she has created both commercial REALITY has performed to overwhelming critical and independent works. She is the recipient of acclaim in venues ranging from intimate alterna­ The Jim Henson Foundation Projects Grant for tive theaters to vast opera houses across the puppet design (for this production), a National globe, including the Serious Fun Festival at Endowment for the Arts Interarts Grant for pup­ Lincoln Center, The Walker Art Center, Zellerbach pet design, a New York State Council on the Arts Hall at Cal Performances/U .C.-Berkeley, Royce Film Production Award, and a New York Hat! at UCLA Center for the Arts, Queen Foundation for the Arts Fellowship Award in Elizabeth Theatre in London's South Bank Film. Her most recent production was the birth Centre, London's Dance Umbrella, the of a beautiful daughter, Maria Minna Molloy. Birmingham (England) Rep., Festival Biennale de-Ia Danse in Lyon, The American Center in Tjet Clark (prop coordination) is originally from Paris, the Carlton Festival in Brazil, London's California and specializes in construction and 40A ~ALbo', \ALbo _

interior design. She has toured with Diviana and . Ms. Emmons is artis­ Ingravallo, Ron Athey, and Julie Tolentino as tic director of the Lincoln Center Institute. technical manager and in preproduction for film and video. In 1997 she was featured as a print David Ferri (technical director) was the technical model for Calvin Klein and as a runway model director at RS. 122 for more than a decade, for Thierry Mugler. Her work as co-director and where he worked with countless performance visual collaborator was presented in 1998 at artists and dancers, including Ethyl Eichelberger, The Green Room (Manchester, United Kingdom), Viveca Vazques, Karen Finley, and John Kelly. and Tramway Theater (Glasgow), and the 1998 He was the production manager for Pina and 1999 Downtown Arts Festival in New York. Bausch's American tours of Nur du in the fall of 1996 and Nelken in the fall of 1999. He lIaan Egeland (performer) has been with David received a Bessie Award for outstanding lighting Rousseve/REALITY since 1997. She received her design for Doug Varone's work Straights. Current M. F.A. in dance from UCLA's department of work includes Jane Comfort, Mark Dendy Dance world arts and cultures in 1999, where she also & Theatre, Doug Varone & Dancers, and Mark taught intermediate modern dance technique, Haim. He is also the production manager for the and received a bachelor's degree from California American Dance Festival. Institute for the Arts in 1989. Ms. Egeland's one­ woman show, Stripping the Veneer, premiered Terry Hollis (performer) is a native of Atlanta, last spring at Highways Performance Space in Georgia. After graduating from Morehouse Los Angeles. Excerpts of Stripping were presented College, he moved to New York and trained at at UCLA's Armand Hammer Museum in October the Dance Theatre of Harlem. His performing 1999. Her work Knick Knack was featured in credits include Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, L.A.'s Dance Kaleidoscope '99. In New York Ms. Kraig Patterson, Sarah Skaggs Dance, Neta Egeland's own dance group, (ie)dance, has per­ Pulvermacher and Dancers, Amy Pivar Dances, formed at RS. 122, Dia Center for the Arts, and Reggie Wilson's Fist and Heel Performance HERE, Dixon Place, and the Knitting Factory. Group (of which he is a founding member). He Recently she worked with Victoria Marks and also performs with John Kelly and Co. Mr. Hollis assisted David Rousseve at the Houston Ballet. can be seen in Beck's video "Devil's Haircut" and This fall Ms. Egeland was selected as an associ­ in an HIV-prevention video produced by Dancer ate artist to work with Bebe Miller at the Atlantic Responding to AIDS. His own work has been Center for the Arts in Florida. presented by the Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church (on their Food For Thought program), Beverly Emmons (lighting designer) has Aaron Davis Hall, Dance Theater Workshop's received seven Tony nominations, the Lumen Fresh Tracks and Split Stream series, Dixon Award, two Bessies, and a 1~80 Obie for Place, and Movement Research. He has had Distinguished Lighting. Her broadway credits work commissioned by The Yard, the Barnard include Annie Get Your Gun, Jekyll & Hyde, College dance department, the Stockton College The Heiress, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, dance department, and Oure Danse Kompagni in Passion, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, High Rollers, Denmark. He is currently an artist-in-residence at Stepping Out, The Elephant Man, A Day in Movement Research in New York. Hollywood A Night in the Ukraine, The Dresser, Piaf and Doonesbury, and Amadeus Mia Kanazawa (set production) uses dance, hand­ (Tony Award). She has worked off-Broadway made felt, paper, fabric, foam, rattan, and bamboo with Joseph Chaikin and Meredith Monk, to create one-of-a-kind functional and theatrical among others, and has designed for Robert objects. Together with designer Debby Lee Cohen Wilson, including Einstein on the Beach and and Mark Kindschi, Ms. Kanazawa has construct­ Civil Wars Pt. V., and choreographers such as ed, choreographed, and performed giant endan­ Lucinda Childs, Trisha Brown, Martha Graham, gered-species puppets for the Greenwich Village 40B (continued on page 73) \A/~'s \A/~~~~

Halloween Parade, sculptural costumes for Ben & with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company Jerry's, and puppets for Meredith Monk, Houston from 1981-88, and created sound designs for a Grand Opera, PBS' Kratt's Creatures, and the variety of organizations and artists, including Festival Quartier d'ete in Paris. , LaMonte Young, Pandit Pran Nath, the Kronos Quartet, the American Ballet Theatre, Mark Kindschi (set and prop construction) has Lincoln Center, and Houston Grand Opera. His been an actor, dancer, set designer, wire walker, recent sound designs include The Peony Pavilion circus performer, mechanic, rigger, and sculptor. (the epic 20-hour opera reconstructed and He has performed, designed, and built sets revived by Chen Shi-Zheng and Lincoln Center); around the world for such diverse companies as After Sorrow and Kwaidan, both directed by Ping Meredith Monk, Shaliko Company, La Mama, Chong; Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates and David Rousseve/REALlTY, Theater for the Deaf, John Duffy; Magic Frequencies by Meredith Metropolitan Opera, and The Public Theater. Monk; and Tongue of a Bird by Ellen Most recently, he and his wife Mia Kanazawa McLaughlin, directed by Lisa Peterson. He is and designer Debby Lee Cohen built huge mari­ also the sound supervisor and designer for the onettes for the Festival Quartier d'ete in Paris. A Lincoln Center Festival, and has designed vari­ self-taught blacksmith, Mr. Kindschi has sculpt­ ous interactive computer systems, such as a tap­ ed for the last ten years in Harborside, Maine. to-MIDI converter for Charles Moulton's dance His work has been sold at Civilization, Exit Art, Tapnology and a flute-to-haiku poetry Details, and A Show of Hands in NYC. His creation/computer speech system for composer bronze gargoyle adorns the portal of the Yasunao Tone. Peabody Museum at Yale University. Carol Pelletier (costume designer) is pleased to Susan Latham (producer) is a producer and be working with Mr. Rousseve again. She previ­ nonprofit management consultant. As Company ously costumed his Whispers of Angels, Pop Manager for Meredith Monk/The House Dreams, Mana Goes to the Moon (at LaMama Foundation, she toured with Meredith Monk and ETC.), and Yellow-Tailed Dogs (at the Atlanta her various performing ensembles throughout Ballet). She has worked with Meredith Monk, the United States, Europe, and Japan from Ping Chong, and the Yara Arts Group. In over 1985-90. As a consultant and manager she has ten years at Ubu Repertory Theater she has worked with a variety of artists, including com­ worked with numerous directors, including posers Robert Ashley, John Cage, Pauline Francoise Kourilsky, Andre Ernotte, Shirley Oliveros, and La Monte Young; choreographers Kaplan, Ntozake Shange, Robbie McCauley, David Gordon, Dana Reitz, and ; and Shaunielle Perry. She teaches costume theater artists Richard Foreman, John Jesurun, design at . and The Talking Band, and organizations such as INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, Lovely Tom Price (technical assistant) has done techni­ Music, and the Village Halloween Parade. Her cal work for a number of dance companies, production credits include composer Rhys including Sean Curran, Doug Varone, Bill T. Chatham's The Heart Cries with Many Voices, Jones/Arnie Zane, Paul Taylor, Pilobolus, and presented at BAM's 1990 Next Wave Festival, Elizabeth Streb. In addition to his technical expe­ and David Rousseve/REALlTY's Urban rience, Mr. Price is choreographing for his alma Scenes/Creole Dreams, presented at BAM's mater, Vassar College, and performing with the 1992 Next Wave Festival. Greek improvisational company Skethia.

David Meschter (sound designer and composer) Kyle Sheldon (performer) was born in Philadelphia received a degree in audio technology from and graduated with a bachelor's degree in radio, American University in Washington, D.C. He television, and film from Glassboro State College. was the sound consultant and repertory musician He danced for five years with the Melanie Stewart 73 (continued on page 76B) \11/00's \11/00 _

Dance Company, performed as a guest artist with Pennsylvania; and the Bebe Miller Company. Ann Vachon/Dance Conduit, and worked with Bill T He was a featured dancer in the Porgy and Jones in New York. In 1996 he was a faculty Bess tour to Austria in 1997. Directed by member at the U.C.-Berkeley dance department, choreographer George Faison, Mr. Washington and in 1997 produced, managed, choreographed, was featured in John Hendrick's Evolution of and performed in Harriet Dodge's Muddy Uttle the Blues as part of the Salzburg Jazz Festival. River at Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco. He most recently performed in a production of His solo work was recently presented at the Moses und Aron at the Metropolitan Opera dur­ Museum for Contemporary Art and the Churnin ing this season. He has taught extensively Center for the Arts in Chicago. Mr. Sheldon was throughout the United States in high schools recently a guest teacher, leading workshops and and universities and has presented his own master classes at The Place and Greenwich choreography in Pittsburgh and Hawaii. Dance Agency in London, as well as teaching residencies in both Manchester and Lancaster, Julie Tolentino Wood (performer) is of Filipino/EI England. This season he choreographed the Salvadorian decent. She has performed with Joy play Trail of Her Inner Thigh, directed by Kellman, Katiti King, Amy Pivar, Margarita Rhodessa Jones. He is a faculty member at the Guergue, Diviana Ingravallo, Sondra Loring, Ron U.C.-Berkeley dance department. Athey; in films by Barbara Hammer, Tom Kalin, Catherine Gund, and Ella Troyano; and in music Charmaine Warren (performer) is a native videos by Diamanda Galas, Chaka Khan, Primus, Jamaican and holds bachelor's and master's and others. Her debut solo work MESTIZA ... was degrees in dance and dance research. She is commissioned in May 1998 by queerupnorth currently pursuing her Ph.D. in historical stud­ (United Kingdom) and Tramway (Scotland). In ies in dance from the Jamaican/African per­ the spring of 1999, she was the artist-in-resi­ spective at Howard University. Upon returning dence at The Green Room in Manchester and to Jamaica as a lecturer, teacher of dance, and performed Pieces of Mind-M as Landscape, a member of the internationally known with Aldo Hernandez at Queerfest, Birmingham, National Dance Company of Jamaica, she U. K. Her site-specific work with collaborator Tjet began extensive research on the dances of her Clark, Butterfly Box # 1 and I. Quarishi's country. Her lecture on Jamaican dance, From Abandoned Shores, was featured in the NY Ritual to Reggae-Don't Give Up the Fight, is Downtown Art Festival in 1998 and 1999. The given to students of dance and their parents at Bottom Project will be commissioned by the Studio Museum in Harlem. She lectured on queerupnorth and PS. 122 in the fall of 2000 western dance history at the Alvin Ailey She is a 1999-2000 recipient of the Franklin American Dance Theatre Foundation, and was Furnace Fund for Performance Art grant. She a faculty member at Duke University and at fhe appeared in Red Hot and Blue's "Safe Sex is Hot Colorado Dance Festival. She joined the faculty Sex" poster, Gran Fury's Kissing Doesn't Kill, Gay of Howard University's dance division in 1997, Games ad campaigns, and Madonna's book and is currently on staff as a dance writer for Sex. She is co-author of the LAP Women's Safer The Amsterdam News, The New Yorker, and Sex Handbook and contributor to J. Killacky's Black Masks. Walking with the Dead, owner of Clit Club/NYC since 1990, and currently sits on the Advisory Steven Washington (performer) is a native of Board for the Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Stamford, Connecticut, and attended NYU as a Project. She dedicates her performances to her dance major. In addition to David family and friends-past and present-and Rousseve/REALlTY, he has worked with Ron K. would like to thank David Rousseve for his con­ Brown/EVI DENCE; Dance Alloy in Pittsburgh, stant inspiration.

76B Love Songs Local Cast Who's Who Ensemble under the direction of Chuck Davis in Johan Parlagutan recently moved to New York and is Durham, NC, and toured throughout Japan as a cho­ currently a company member in Chen & Dancer. "I reographer and dancer for Master Choreographer Hiro would love to dedicate this performance to my Goto. She performs a broad range of dance forms, beloved mom, who will always be a savior of my life." from modern to traditional African, and her motto is Gha'il Rhodes Benjamin is a Brooklyn-based actress, "You must love yourself enough to dream." LaQuanda poet, storyteller and singer. She performs her solo Forte is a Junior at Joh n Dewey High School, whose show Spiritual Eclipse throughout the tri-state area first love. has always been performing. In addition to and coordinates theater groups for senior citizens, singing and dancing, she is also actively involved in teenagers, and the homeless. Rachel London is a several mentoring programs. Kathy Ewa, BS, MBA, a fourth grader at P.S. 178 in Queens, and last former microbiologist and business analyst, is current­ appeared at BAM as the Flower Girl in the Royal ly a designer, restauranteur, dramatist and jazz vocal­ Shakespeare Company's production of Hamlet. She ist. Shakir Torbert resides in Brooklyn with his par­ loves to dance, play the clarinet and follow the excit­ ents and 3 siblings, and is a member of The Bedford ing adventures of young wizard Harry Potter. Kimani Stuyvesant Restoration Dance Theatre Company. He Fowlin graduated from Sarah Lawrence College has tap danced with Gregory Hines, Buster Brown (where she studied with Viola Farber, Bill T. Jones, and Savion Glover, and was featured on the TV show William Adair, and Pat Catterson, among others), and Gullah Gullah Is/and. Alexis Rehrmann is a theater now teaches dance at JHS 217. She currently dances director and BAM employee. She is thrilled to be with Harambee Dance Company, Fote Fode Dance onstage at the Harvey Theater. Rhea Zimmerman and Drum Company, and Umoja Dance Company, graduated cum laude from the University of recently performed with Ron Brown of Evidence, and Washington with a BA in dance. Since then she has received a grant to perform in Lima, Peru. Richard enjoyed working with Phffftl Dance Theater Company, Malone "Since I am a university professor, I suggested Mark Dendy, and Kava/Parker Dance, and is happy to that my students attend the performance and then be making her second appearance in Love Songs write an essay describing it. David Rousseve and his with David Rousseve/REALITY. Claire Sering has troupe are marvelous, and it's a joy to be a part of it." been an arts administrator for organizations such as Jennifer Lafferty received a BA in Dance from UCLA, Ballet Tech, New Federal Theatre and Queens where she had the opportunity to work with David Symphony Orchestra. She would like to thank David, Rousseve. She recently relocated to New York City. Julie and the REALITY for including her in a produc­ Jacqueline B. Zamora was born in the Dominican tion as special as Love Songs. Leila Zimbel was born Republic. She is 29 years old and works as an aero­ in Cambridge, MA and attended Barnard College. She bics instructor. Roslyn Tate has been dancing most of has worked with numerous New York-based choreog­ her life and finds it handy as she pursues a career in raphers. Sharon Mansur is in her second New York acting. "Blessings and thanks to my family, loved season, having previously spent seven years ones and teachers." Toby Rappaport is a student at immersed in the Washington, DC dance community. Skidmore College and has been working at BAM in She has enjoyed performing with Sara Rudner, Daniel various capacities for the last two years. He is very Burkholder &Quiescence, Jess Curtis & Stephanie excited to be performing in his first professional pro­ Maher, and of course, David Rousseve/REALITY. Mia duction here, and would like to thank David McSwain "Thank you David Rousseve/REALITY for Rousseve, REALITY, and everyone at BAM for making this experience. It's one that will stay with me forev­ this possible. Valerie A. Winborne is a dancer, chore­ er." Gail London is an arts-in-education administrator, ographer and accredited Dance/Movement Therapist drama teacher and professional baker. She is also the Registered. It's been ten years since Valerie has proud mother of lan, age 5 and fellow cast member, danced with David, and she is overjoyed to be a part Rachel, age 9. of this production. Krishna Gales is a performance dance artist who performs frequently in New York Love Songs Gala Committee City, Washington DC, and England, and has appeared Wanda Acosta/Starlight &Wonderbar, Ysaye Barnwell, as a featured performer on VH 1's RuPaul Show. She Elise Bernhardt, Hyacinth Blake, Kim Chan, Ayoka is also the mother of the beloved Imani, which means Chenzira, Debby Lee Cohen, BJ Crosby, Beverly 11ace" in Swahili. Elizabeth Reynoso has been a Emmons, Effie Fribourg, Tony Giovanetti, Yvette human rights activist, fitness instructor and documen­ Glover, Catherine Gund, Aldo Hernandez/THROB tary filmmaker for ABC News and PBS's Frontline. Records, Mia Kanazawa, Mark Kindschi, Susan She is thrilled to be making her New York stage debut Latham, David Meschter, Richard Move, Masahiro with REALITY and David Rousseve, and she dedi­ Ouchi, Carol Pelletier, David Rousseve, Genevieve cates her performance to Mark. Mary Alln Brooks is Rousseve, Mark Russell, Lori E. Seid, Baraka Sele, a performance artist who recently relocated from San Rena Shagan, Mikki Shepard, Susan Silverstein, Sally Francisco. She is pleased to be a part of Love Songs. & Bill Sommer, Earnie Stevenson, Teresa Stratas, Ivan Jennelle Mahone worked, toured and created resi­ Sygoda, Laurie Uprichard, Chi Chi Valenti, Charmaine d~ncy programs for The African American Dance Warren, Julie Tolentino Wood, Martina Yamin