PEP | Performers Exchange Project

Sorry for the long silence, friends.. In the end, we were not a good fit for that grant, and for the time-being we will be taking a break from Our American Ann Sisters to explore new projects. More on 2012 plans coming soon, we promise…

Hello friends-

Though PEP has been off-the-stage for the winter months, we’ve been busily putting our energies toward a grant proposal that will hopefully send us back on the road next fall. This grant would allow us to take time to revisit sections of Our American Ann Sisters, and bring some scenic elements to fruition from our original designs. With any show, especially a devised show, the work never seems done; however, extra funding gives us the opportunity to dive back into the work and poke at the things, that. . . well, need poking. Stay tuned!

-Love, PEP

As the sponsors of ASSEMBLY, we have relished the ideas, conversation, and comraderie, and been inspired by the collaborations that have come from the last two years of holding ASSEMBLY at the Bridge. Now the time has come for us to put this baby to bed. She has served her purpose and, we are happy to say, there are now numerous ways for artists to find each other and collaborate within their own disciplines in Charlottesville. Heard of Secretly, Y’all? Or Filmmakers Republik? Or Songwriters Showcase? These are all supercool forums for artists to try out material, share their process and get feedback. You should check them out, if you haven’t already.

Below are some testimonials from attendants and participants of Assembly:

“THANK YOU  so much for the gift.  I personally benefited and grew very
much as artist through my participation in assembly. ”

“You’re salon has made a huge difference to me..”

“Thankyou pepsisters. That was a fine fine assembly y’all called, & I’m totally truly honored to have been invited.”

“Thank you…It was inspired and inspiring. Onwards and upwards!”

“I am in awe of the concept and impulse. Onwards you crazy diamonds!”

Thank YOU for showing up, for presenting your work and yourself, and for often stepping outside your comfort zone. Assembly is no more, but assembly is all around us. See you around town!

xo
Sian Richards & Jennifer Tidwell
Performers Exchange Project

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See Our American Ann Sisters in Charlottesville VA!
When: Friday, Oct. 8th, 7:30 PM.  ONE NIGHT ONLY!
Where: Piedmont Virginia Community College
Main Stage, V. Earl Dickinson Building

$10 adults, $8 seniors/students
General seating
http://www.pvcc.edu/performingarts/theatre.php
PVCC Box Office: 434.961.5376 or e-mail boxoffice@pvcc.edu.

Meet the Peabody Sisters from the 19th Century. This remarkable family of women is a springboard for a vaudevillian fantasia on being female, an artist, an intellectual and an American. Kara McLane Burke is now performing the roles originated by Kay Leigh Ferguson. More cast and crew info HERE.

We hope to see you there!

Love PEP

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Check it out…

PEP will be one of the presenters at this event:

Friday, September 24th 8:00-10:00pm

From Piedmont Council of the Arts, our fiscal sponsor:

“We’re quite excited to join forces with Olio to bring you Olio 9: Arts Organization Edition at CCDC! This fun event will provide a great opportunity to learn about the missions and programs of local arts groups while connecting with members of the Charlottesville creative community. Plus, an after-party will be held at Zocalo with music by local DJs WesternFront and Hummingbird Feeder!

The event is FREE and open to the public.

The evening will feature short presentations by ten PCA member arts organizations:

Ash Lawn Opera
The Bridge PAI
Heritage Theatre Festival
Light House Studio
Live Arts
Music Resource Center
Performers Exchange Project
Second Street Gallery
UVa Art Museum
WriterHouse ”

Hope you can make it!

-PEP

Finally we’re hitting the olde roade! First stop: Catskills (aka Highland Lake, New York) at NACL:

Sat Sept 18th
8pm
NACL (North American Cultural Laboratory)
Highland Lake NY
Go here for info

then back home for

Fri Oct 8th
7:30 pm
Piedmont Virginia Community College
Charlottesville VA
Go here for Info

more TBA…

And don’t forget Assembly–
When: Sept 12th at 8pm.
Where: The Bridge.
What: A salon style gathering open to all Charlottesville artists of all stripes.
Please bring something to share, if you can. Nothing fancy. Half eaten jar of olives? Great! Already open box of wine? Sure! If you can bring a cup too, that’s fabulous. http://www.thebridgepai.com/2010/07/the-assembly/

Love, PEP

About a year and a half ago, Jennifer Tidwell and Sian Richards of PEP invited all the artists they knew to a monthly gathering at the Bridge called ASSEMBLY. The purpose was to create a forum whereby all types of artists in Charlottesville could socialize, present works in progress, request help on projects, and seek collaborators.

It remains our belief that more unity and collaboration among individual artists in our town will lead to a more vibrant and mutually supportive arts scene in Charlottesville, and might yield a voice to speak to local government and funding organizations.

Originally the group was a word-of-mouth, by-invitation sort of thing, but now PEP is opening up ASSEMBLY to anyone interested in the Charlottesville area. It happens the 2nd Sunday of every month, from 8:00 to 10:00. Here are the remaining dates in 2010. Mark your calendars and check it out!

• September 12
• October 10
• November 14
• December 12

[album id=9 template=extend]Yesterday, Sian, Jennifer and I headed to Roanoke for an afternoon of experimentation with Hollins U’s MFA Playwright candidates.  They were very game – took their shoes off, threw themselves (unrehearsed) into some Chairman Mao exercises and basically did whatever we told them.  Suckas.

Seriously, it was fantabulous to see so many playwrights with experience as actors, directors, theatre technicians – and all interested in the collaborative process of building performance to boot!  They created short individual performance etudes, wrote short bits of text (natch) and used these elements, in groups of three, to create super short performances.  Of course, they had some random inspiration to contend with: tarot cards and other source material around Gypsy history, folklore and fortune telling.  This source material just happened along, and since we PEPsters are in love with the value of randomness, well we just took the ball and ran with it.

Anyhooters, it was gangs of fun and the playwrights concocted some impressive stuff, so here’s a shout-out to all our willing and very able MFA students for participating in our experiment.  And many thanks to Todd Ristau, our host.

Just as an FYI, we’ll be in Roanoke on Monday evening, July 5, at the Taubman Art Museum for a “talk” about our performance history, how we got started, how we work and other unbelievably earth-shattering information.  Don’t worry peeps!  Even though it’s a “talk,” we promise it will be lots more fun than the usual variety (think disgruntled parents, principals, significant others).

If you’re curious about our lovely mistress Process, and wonder when you too might meet her, just jingle us up or email us, (or whatever you 21^st century peeps do) we’d love to work with you…

Martha

PEP will be heading over to McGuffey Art Center tomorrow June 3rd to participate in Women in the Arts!

Piedmont Council of the Arts is holding it’s Women in the Arts Preview Party and we will be performing an excerpt from Our American Ann Sisters.

We are really looking forward to giving some new people a peek at the work we have been doing and to check out all the photographers work featuring some of the women in our local arts community. Click the party link above for ticket information. The party will be going from 5:30 till 7:30.

We hope to see you there!

PEP

Dearest Friends- You helped us reach our goal (and then some!). THANK YOU! We just spent last week preparing the show for touring. Stay here for more updates…love, PEP