The Center at West Park presents

CREATIVE TEAM

Anabella Lenzu (Choreographer and Performer)
Fernando Santiago (Director)
Todd Carroll (Technology Advisor & Multimedia)
Jennifer Johanos (Costume Designer)
Anabella Lenzu (Script)
Daniel Pettrow (Creative Collaborator & Script Editor)
Naoko Maeshiba (Dramaturgy Advisor)

PRODUCTION TEAM

Madelyn Paquette (Production Manager)
Amanda Kettell (Stage Manager)
Henry Menestrier (Technical Director)

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

ANABELLA LENZU/DANCEDRAMA (AL/DD) is a thought-provoking and historically conscious dance-theater company, breaking down the wall separating the artist from the audience. Based in New York, the mission of AL/DD is to establish and develop a cultural, educational, and artistic exchange between the communities of the United States, Argentina & Italy. Lenzu crosses sociopolitical and cultural barriers, promoting dance and art education through teaching and performing. AL/DD explores themes of collective memory, individual identity, and social awareness by having dancers and the audience fuse in a psychological and emotional experience. https://www.anabellalenzu.com

ANABELLA LENZU, originally from Argentina, is a dancer, choreographer, writer, and teacher with over 30 years of experience working in Argentina, Chile, Italy, and the USA. Lenzu directs her own company, Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama (ALDD), which since 2006 has presented 400 performances, created 15 choreographic works, and performed at 100 venues, presenting thought-provoking and historically conscious dance-theater in NYC.

As a choreographer, she has been commissioned all over the world for opera, TV programs, theatre productions, and by many dance companies. She has produced and directed several award-winning short dance films and screened her work in over 100 festivals both nationally and internationally, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Cyprus, France, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, London, Mexico, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Switzerland, United States & Venezuela. Anabella’s work has been seen at La Mama, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Movement Research at Judson Church, Draftworks at DanceSpace project/ St. Mark Church, 92nd Street Y, HERE Arts Center, Abrons Arts Center, DUO Multicultural Arts Center, Queens Museum, Bronx Museum, Gibney Dance, Center for Performance Research, Triskelion, Chez Bushwick, Roulette, Chashama, Dixon Place, Sheen Center, The Consulate of Argentina in NYC, NYU/Casa Zerilli Marimo, University Settlement, Baruch Performing Arts Center, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Instituto Cervantes, 3LD Center for Art & Technology, Kumble Theater/Long Island University, among many others. She has received grants from Brooklyn Arts Council, Puffin Foundation, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Edwards Foundation, The Vermont Community Foundation, and the Independent Community Foundation.

She holds an MFA in Fine Arts (concentration in Choreography) from Wilson College, PA. Classically trained at the renowned Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires, Lenzu studied the modern dance techniques of Humphrey/Limòn and Graham in New York. Her studies of Tango and the folk dances of Argentina, Spain, and Italy, further inform her work.

Lenzu has written for various dance and arts magazines, and published her first book in 2013, entitled Unveiling Motion and Emotion. The book contains writings in Spanish and English on the importance of dance, community, choreography, and dance pedagogy. Her second book, Teaching Dance through Meaningful Gestures, is expected in 2023 and explores basic exercises, visualization exercises, active imagination, and artistic application. The book explores how the technique is a philosophy and a theory, and how the body is an instrument for expression.

Currently, Lenzu conducts classes at NYU Gallatin, School of Visual Arts, and Peridance Center. She has also been serving on the Selection Committee for the Bessie’s Awards since 2020.

FERNANDO SANTIAGO is an Argentine actor, director, and theater teacher working uninterruptedly for 40 years. As an actor, he has taken part in 38 theatrical and cinematographic productions. He was part of several theater companies in the cities of Bahía Blanca, La Plata, and Buenos Aires (CABA) in Argentina. Since 2000, he has produced his own solo performance theatrical works (in Spanish and Italian), making national and international tours in Spain, Italy, and Denmark. He collaborates with festivals of theater, music, and dance (tango and folklore) between Italy and Argentina with the cultural associations "Un ponte, due Culture" Regione Marche y "Progetto Zattera Teatro" Regione Lombardía (Italy). Since 2020, he directs, collaborates, and advises on single-person works for streaming audiences.

TODD CARROLL, a professional photographer and educator with over 30 years of experience, presently maintains a photo studio in Brooklyn, New York, where he works freelance for various international magazines and publications, as well as his personally driven photo and video projects. For more than two decades he has been collaborating with Anabella Lenzu, creating multimedia support for large-scale theatrical productions, as well as a series of award-winning short films. He obtained a Masters of Professional Studies in Digital Photography Degree from SVA in NYC in 2009 and currently works and teaches classes there. http://www.toddcarrollphoto.com

PRODUCTION AND MAJOR SUPPORT

The night that you stopped acting/ La noche que dejaste de actuar is presented through a residency at The Center at West Park and is made possible, in part, by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, Foundation for Contemporary Arts-COVID-19 Bridge Fund, NYC, The Vermont Community Foundation Grant, Artist-in-Residence at Spoke The Hub, Brooklyn Arts Council Grant, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund Grant.

SPECIAL THANKS

A sincere and heartfelt thanks for your support in this event: Todd Carroll, Fernando Santiago, Gisela, Daniel Pettrow, Jennifer Johanos, Zachary Tomlinson, The Center at West Park and team, Robert Brashear, Melanie Green, Olaiya Olayemi.

CONTINUE YOUR SUPPORT

Please Donate
OUR FUTURE LIES WITH YOU

The support you give is essential for the growth of the AL/DD company.
Without your support: artists, their families, friends, and audiences... we would cease to exist!
Your friendship and investment inspire us onward to new creative heights!
Donations are fully tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, The Field, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

OR TO DONATE BY CHECK:

Make checks payable to The Field.
In the Memo line, write Anabella Lenzu.

Please mail all checks to:
Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama,
233 Devoe Street, 1B,
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Anabella's Upcoming Performances

January 18 & 19, 2023 at 7PM
Out-Front! Festival curated by Pioneers Go East Collective
at The LGBT Center, 208 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011

Upcoming Online Choreographic Mentorship Workshops

Choreography for the Camera Workshop
Saturdays, November 5, 12 & 19, 2022
11-1pm (EDT) NYC Time

This three-day workshop will be led by choreographer Anabella Lenzu and photographer Todd Carroll. The objective of the course is to gain an understanding of choreographing for the camera and the choreography of the camera when recording dance for all screens. Explore how to adapt, extract and see choreographic material transform from 3D to 2D. We will lead participants through exercises, discussions, and works that look at the role of performance and the use of movement in filmmaking, embracing risks and limitations. I invite participants to explore questions like: What is Choreography? How do we read dance now? What is performance for you now during the pandemic?

For Filmmakers, directors, choreographers, and dancers interested in dance film collaborations.

IN MEMORIAM
Rev. Dr. Robert L. Brashear (1949-2022)

Our friend, colleague, CWP Board Member, and Pastor of West Park Presbyterian Church, Bob Brashear, passed away in August of this year.
Bob was a keeper of the history of West Park and its community. His vision for the "intersection of art and activism, of beauty and justice" remains the inspiration for our work.

To make a contribution to the memorial fund for his family, please click here.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The Center at West Park is a not-for-profit community performing arts center based in the historic West Park Presbyterian Church, a New York City landmark on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.

We recognize that this land where we are privileged to be is the unceded territory and ancestral home of the Munsee Lenape. Today, members of the Lenape and many other indigenous sovereign nations continue to live, work, and create in New York City.

For over 30 years in the mid-19th century, this land was home to Seneca Village, the first free Black community in New York City. In 1857, the city used eminent domain to forcibly remove the residents and demolish their homes, schools, and churches to make room for the construction of Central Park.

Since its construction in 1889, this building has been home to countless artists and activists:

In 1978, West Park led the way in openly welcoming LGBTQ+ members as part of the More Light Movement.

From 1980 to 1985, West Park was home to The Shakespeare Center and the renowned Riverside Shakespeare Company.

From 1987 to 1991, God’s Love We Deliver worked out of West Park’s kitchen to serve up to 250 meals per day to people living with AIDS during the height of the crisis.

The West Park Presbyterian Church building was named a New York City Landmark in 2010. In 2016, The Center at West Park was founded by a coalition of community members to preserve and revitalize West Park as a community resource and home for arts and culture.

We are deeply inspired by the legacy of those who have called this land and this building home before us. We hope to honor them in all our work today and in the future.

ABOUT THE CENTER AT WEST PARK

The Center at West Park is a community performing arts center based in the historic West Park Presbyterian Church, a New York City landmark. We present engaging and boundary-pushing early-career and established artists through our artist residency programs, provide affordable rental space for artists to develop their work, and steward the restoration of our historic home’s landmark exterior. The Center is a secular, 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.

This program is made possible by the generous support of audience members like you. To make a donation to support future residencies, go to centeratwestpark.org/donate.

Staff

Natasha Katerinopoulos, Managing Director
Zachary Tomlinson, Artistic Director
Dane Jerabek, Marketing & Box Office Manager
Richard Pimentel, Fascilities Manager
David Shocket, Consulting Technical Director
Gary Eisenkraft, CPA, Accountant
Mercedes Marrero-Alvarado, Porter
Dion Thompson, Porter

EVOLUTION FESTIVAL PRODUCTION TEAM

Madelyn Paquette, Line Producer
Olaiya Olayemi, Artistic Doula
Amanda Kettell, Stage Manager
Bleu Zephra, Stage Manager
Joe Bilello, Technical Director

OBJECT MOVEMENT CURATORS

Maiko Kikuchi
Rowan Magee
Marcella Murray
Justin Perkins

FALL 2022 GUEST CURATORS

Christina Franklin
Melanie Greene
Trevor Weston

Board of directors

Marian M. Warden, President
Marsha Flowers, Vice President
Theodore S. Berger, Treasurer
Beryl Abrams, Secretary
Jennifer Rogers Carlock
Don Frantz
Derrick McQueen
Mitchell Schamroth
Susan E. Sullivan