Moments of Beauty

This  fall as a part of The Field’s Emerging Artist residency program, supported by the Tides Foundation, I am developing a solo clown / song / existential adventure piece — in search of forms for voice.  Also, I am playing with Vernice Miller and ALAT Theater Company in development of Red Tent Fabrik and Vincent DeGeorge in his ensemble project, Wreck.  As the first step of Puffin Foundation project I will be holding workshops creating performance with kids at Henry Street Settlement integrating the form of Live Sound Action and the content / substance of dirt and the process of compost — there is drama and beauty here.  And, I am teaching the fine art of Acting as well as The Function of Theater  . . . this time is full and fruitful.

I just received a grant from the Puffin Foundation for my investigation of Live Sound Action : Cosmological Composition.  This grant will be applied to exploration and perfomance work I will create in collaboration with kids from the Lower East Side Ecology Center.  I enjoy the Puffin Foundation’s tag line: ” . . continuing the dialogue between art and the lives of ordinary people.”

The work-in-progress ensemble show of Live Sound Action was wonderful and informative. April 16 and 17 at Gowanus Arts Bldg. Wildlife Showcase.  Now —  ready for text.

see slideshow

see photo album tribal epic 1 / 24

We played in our first three sessions of Tribal Epic – Kinesthetic Delight in Improvisation with Live Band monkeyworks, had a wonderful open practice session, and now, we continue on:  upcoming dates:  Feb 21, Mar 21, Apr 18, and May 16

see photo album of tribal epic 1/17

Landscape Memorial / You and Me We Belong

Song and Composition by Eliza Ladd.  Performance by Margot Bassett, Vincent DeGeorge, Nichi Douglas, Stephanie Fittro, Eliza Ladd, Adam Patterson, and Ian Smit.  Lighting by Brian Scott.

She said, He said –  view another ensemble music video

We did 5 shows, many people came. The space was amazing, sounded great.

Below are a few photos, by Alex Miles Younger, and a few snippets of reviews . . .

From Jenn Smith at the Berkshire Eagle:

The performance of the five actors and two musicians was nearly seamless. The statements made were bold, and perhaps prophetic, but not too preachy.

Whether it was from the charge of the performance, the stunningly simplistic stage setup or the intimacy of the black box, I left Elephants and Gold with a wow on my lips and wheels turning in my head.

From Chris Rohmann at the Valley Advocate:

The performers embody elephants with a lumbering four footed gait that is both majestic and vulnerable.

More to come soon on Elephants and Gold at the Berkshire Fringe and what is next . . .

I hope you can come to see the show in Great Barrington, MA this August.

(note: the Sunday Aug. 9 show is at 8 not 9 as it says on card)

This site is just going out live NOW, so no longer will it be only the wonderful designer, Alex Miles Younger, and I who see and explore it.  I would love it if you travelled around the space, followed the map, sat in the garden,  – there is quite a deep and wide architecture here.  Please check out the Performance, Teaching, and About Me pages, and all their little children who act like rivers, tributaries, and passageways.  There is even a secret apartment or two somewhere in this place.  It’s like a treasure hunt, you can see beautiful things, find eggs, and, learn about what I am doing and what I have done.  I actually do want to interact with humans, so, if it is YOU I am talking to across these spatial wires, let me know your response to something you have experienced here.

Thanks for visiting and I hope to see you soon.  Eliza.