babyboomer
06-13-2008, 09:46 PM
By Noah C. Zuss
LaGuardia Community College will present a free show at 7:30 p.m. on Friday June 13 that tells the personal stories of individuals living with disabilities. The production will be performed at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center before making a world premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on June 28.
The LPAC performance is a dress rehearsal for the bigger, much anticipated Washington show.
The performance, part of multidisciplinary artist Ping Chong’s “Undesirable Elements” series, is based on the oral histories of the actors in the production. Written and directed by Chong and Sara Michellle Zatz, the production aims to “gives voice to the disability community,” by giving prominence to their stories.
In “Inside/Out…voices from the disability community,” seven members of the disability community will share their personal experiences and the paths that led to their careers in the arts, activism, and education, and the formation of their identities as members of the disability community.
Among the actors is Matthew Joffe, director of LaGuardia’s Office for Students with Disabilities.
Joffe is excited to be in the show and feels great about being able to show his true self on stage. He credits Chong for giving him the rare opportunity to be part of such a large production.
Joffe regards Chong’s work as socially conscious and of the highest quality as well.
“It’s an opportunity to take ownership of our experiences in life and share them with an audience,” he said. “Despite having an outward disability it can give power and credibility to our lives.”
Joffe is disabled by Moebius Syndrome, a very rare disorder characterized by lifetime facial paralysis. Individuals with Moebius Syndrome can not smile or frown. In many cases, they cannot blink and have no lateral eye movement.
“He’s a remarkable man,” said Bruce Allandice, managing director of Pig Chong and Company. “What he’s accomplished is truly amazing.”
Other actors with disabilities in the performance are living with hearing, ambulatory and vision disabilities.
Chong is an American contemporary theater director, choreographer and video installation artist. Born in Toronto, raised in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Chong is an internationally recognized writer and director. He is also regarded as a seminal figure in the Asian-American theater and Asian-American arts movement.
Originally trained in visual art and film at the School of Visual Art and The Pratt Institute, he focuses his work on the interaction of Eastern and Western cultures and issues of diversity.
In 1975 he founded Ping Chong and Company, with the mission “to explore the meaning of contemporary theatre and art on a national and international level” and “to create and tour innovative multi-disciplinary works of theater and art, which explore the intersections of history, race, art and technology in the modern world.”
Chong’s other work has focused on immigration and ethnicity, young people exposed to war and other socially relevant topics.
According to Allandice, the company has created and staged about 35 productions since 1992.
“Each of these productions is about what defines us as ‘other’ in the community as a whole,” Allandice said.
He elaborated when asked about the socially conscious component to the performance.
“What the piece does is create a kind of sense-a portrait of the disability experience, but it also has a historical aspect,” he said “Part of it will be about the disability movement and relating to that, but it will also delve into these individuals personal histories.”
Of the overall impact of the work Allandice says, “It’s to create a greater understanding of the disability experience.”
The event will take place at the Mainstage Theatre, located at 47th Avenue and Van Dam Street in Long Island City. The open rehearsal will be American Sign Language interpreted and limited wheelchair seating is available. For more information or to reserve a seat, contact the box office at (718) 482-5151 or via e-mail at laguardiaboxoffice@lagcc.cuny.edu.
LaGuardia Community College will present a free show at 7:30 p.m. on Friday June 13 that tells the personal stories of individuals living with disabilities. The production will be performed at the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center before making a world premiere at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. on June 28.
The LPAC performance is a dress rehearsal for the bigger, much anticipated Washington show.
The performance, part of multidisciplinary artist Ping Chong’s “Undesirable Elements” series, is based on the oral histories of the actors in the production. Written and directed by Chong and Sara Michellle Zatz, the production aims to “gives voice to the disability community,” by giving prominence to their stories.
In “Inside/Out…voices from the disability community,” seven members of the disability community will share their personal experiences and the paths that led to their careers in the arts, activism, and education, and the formation of their identities as members of the disability community.
Among the actors is Matthew Joffe, director of LaGuardia’s Office for Students with Disabilities.
Joffe is excited to be in the show and feels great about being able to show his true self on stage. He credits Chong for giving him the rare opportunity to be part of such a large production.
Joffe regards Chong’s work as socially conscious and of the highest quality as well.
“It’s an opportunity to take ownership of our experiences in life and share them with an audience,” he said. “Despite having an outward disability it can give power and credibility to our lives.”
Joffe is disabled by Moebius Syndrome, a very rare disorder characterized by lifetime facial paralysis. Individuals with Moebius Syndrome can not smile or frown. In many cases, they cannot blink and have no lateral eye movement.
“He’s a remarkable man,” said Bruce Allandice, managing director of Pig Chong and Company. “What he’s accomplished is truly amazing.”
Other actors with disabilities in the performance are living with hearing, ambulatory and vision disabilities.
Chong is an American contemporary theater director, choreographer and video installation artist. Born in Toronto, raised in Manhattan’s Chinatown, Chong is an internationally recognized writer and director. He is also regarded as a seminal figure in the Asian-American theater and Asian-American arts movement.
Originally trained in visual art and film at the School of Visual Art and The Pratt Institute, he focuses his work on the interaction of Eastern and Western cultures and issues of diversity.
In 1975 he founded Ping Chong and Company, with the mission “to explore the meaning of contemporary theatre and art on a national and international level” and “to create and tour innovative multi-disciplinary works of theater and art, which explore the intersections of history, race, art and technology in the modern world.”
Chong’s other work has focused on immigration and ethnicity, young people exposed to war and other socially relevant topics.
According to Allandice, the company has created and staged about 35 productions since 1992.
“Each of these productions is about what defines us as ‘other’ in the community as a whole,” Allandice said.
He elaborated when asked about the socially conscious component to the performance.
“What the piece does is create a kind of sense-a portrait of the disability experience, but it also has a historical aspect,” he said “Part of it will be about the disability movement and relating to that, but it will also delve into these individuals personal histories.”
Of the overall impact of the work Allandice says, “It’s to create a greater understanding of the disability experience.”
The event will take place at the Mainstage Theatre, located at 47th Avenue and Van Dam Street in Long Island City. The open rehearsal will be American Sign Language interpreted and limited wheelchair seating is available. For more information or to reserve a seat, contact the box office at (718) 482-5151 or via e-mail at laguardiaboxoffice@lagcc.cuny.edu.