Sunday, July 5, 2009

And the July 2009 Winner is....


We are so excited to announce that a gift of $100 went to:



Applicant # 1 for @sk #1

(proposal received 6/26/2009)

Leonix Movement Theatre Company
Leonix is a movement theatre ensemble that devises original performance work based on community need and social reform.
The name “Leonix”, a fusion of the Lion and the Phoenix, is a metaphor of the troupe’s objective to create courageous and regenerative work. Drawing on traditions of many artistic disciplines, including melodrama, clowning, and modern dance, Leonix strives to create socially relevant performances that entertain, educate and empower individuals and communities.

“Crossing the Bridge”
A tragicomic contemplation on death, grief, and laughter, inspired by Studs Terkel’s, “Will the Circle be Unbroken?”. Combining highly physical feats and inspired song against a narrative background, Crossing the Bridge presents a brother and sister dealing with terminal illness, hospitals, and the poetic absurdity that can come with impending death.

Los Angeles

Son of Semele Theater
3301 Beverly Blvd
LA, CA 90004
www.sonofsemele.org
Friday & Saturday, August 7-8 – 8pm
Sunday, August 9 – 3pm & 7pm

Electric Lodge
1416 Electric Ave.
Venice, CA 90291
www.electriclodge.org
Friday, August 14 – 8pm

Seattle

Annex Theatre
1100 East Pike St.
Seattle, WA 98122
www.annextheatre.org
Monday & Tuesday, August 17-18 – 8pm

Indianapolis Fringe Festival

Earth House
237 N. East Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
www.earthhousecollective.org
Friday, August 21 – 10:30pm
Saturday, August 22 – 7:30pm
Sunday, August 23 – 4:30pm
Wednesday, August 26 – 7:30pm
Saturday, August 29 – 1:30pm
Sunday, August 30 – 9:00pm

Tickets:
LA & Seattle: www.brownpapertickets.com
Indianapolis: www.indyfringe.org


Thank you to all soup-eaters for making this successful gift!

x0x0,

Anna, Sara & Nehara

The Soup is ON!

Some folks have been asking for more information about the Alternative Transmissions Soup Kitchen so here's the skinny:

Alternative Transmissions Soup Kitchen is envisioned as a semi-monthly artists salon and micro-financing endeavor in the form of a soup kitchen. The basic equation is: $5 buys you a bowl of soup and one vote on project proposals; votes are tallied and whichever receives the most is awarded the mini-grant of total monies raised.

The project arrives in Los Angeles from the INCUBATE collective in Chicago via New York, where I attended a version of INCUBATE's Sunday Soup Kitchen at Creative Time's Democracy in America exhibition last fall. In Chicago, INCUBATE hosts the Soup Kitchen every Sunday in their space and grants on a monthly basis, with the proposals sent out and votes received via email. Each Sunday is hosted by an artist who makes soup and fund recipients return to present about their project.

It's been a goal of team itch (Taisha Paggett, Sara Wolf, Meg Wolfe) of itch journal/Show Box Productions to generate a version of the SSK here since I returned. We came close to launching it when Meg found a home for Show Box this spring, though that proved to be temporary.

The idea came up again at the Alternative Transmissions panel at the Dance Under Construction conference in May. The panel brought together Anna B. Scott/Afrologica, Ari Hoffman/Earful of Dance Podcast and myself on behalf of itch to discuss local alternative media efforts in generating a discourse around dance in Los Angeles. I can't recall now, but I suppose the idea was broached in conjunction with a discussion about localism and what effect our efforts may have. And in order to extend the reach of the AT panel, Anna tweeted salient points of our conversation and Ari recorded for her podcast with that giant microphone she has.

And the really fantastic thing is that dancer/choreographer Nehara Kalev of Catch Me Bird, who hadn't attended the panel but subsequently listened to our conversation via Ari's podcast, contacted us a few weeks later, offering to host a soup kitchen in order to get the ball rolling--as if to demonstrate that yes, though they may be small our efforts still can have a large impact.

And thus was born the Alternative Transmissions Soup Kitchen.

Since we don't have a space to host @sk (great acronym, right?) on a regular basis, and since we're still developing the project, we have had to think creatively about how to structure the grant-giving process. At our inaugural event today (Sunday, July 5th) we will be posting the two proposals anonymously for attendees to vote on and will be disbursing the mini-grant right then and there.

As we develop @sk into a (for now) mobile and semi-regular artists salon and mini-grant fund, these aspects may change, but one key feature that will remain is the $5 = bowl of soup + 1 vote = mini-grant at the heart of the Soup Kitchen.

Like our event today, which has manifested out of the contributions and efforts of Nehara, Anna B. and myself, the Alternative Transmissions Soup Kitchen is propelled by the metaphor of soup itself.

Do you remember the children's story about stone soup? My one onion and your single carrot don't seem like very much food, but when we combine what little we all have, then we can make enough soup to feed our community. Similarly, my $5 may not go very far in supporting an artist, but combined with yours and the other folks who will attend today, we may be able to raise $100 or more. That's a sizeable chunk of change to apply to a project.

We hope you can make it this afternoon but, if not, stay tuned for future Soup Kitchen events!

—Sara Wolf

Friday, July 3, 2009

@sk: Alternative DIY Funding for dance

Well, the big first event is upon us. ON July 5, 2009 4 - 9, dance artists across the city will join together to share soup, conversation, a hot tub and $5 - $20 each. During our fiesta, a few folks will have their work up for "bidding." AT the end of the night, the project with the most votes will receive the door.

How's that for DIY grant making? All you have to do is @sk.

If you have not already registered through your evite, please take the time to do so now!

If you are unable to attend our first soup kitchen, but want to donate to the pot anyway, please press the "donate" button to give a spicy $10. Because of the service fee from PayPal, this will get about $8.80 to the night's winner.

Stay tuned for more information on what the Alternative Transmission: Sunday Soup Kitchen is, how we came up with the idea, and who we are (look at the blog list for quickie answers) and how you can get involved.

For now, please respond to your invite! No invite and you wanna go? Shoot Anna an e-mail at afrologic at gmail and she will get you one.

Don't forget your bowl!