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héroïne - A Woman's Tale Not Your Average Cup of Tea, Breakbone DanceCo. Premieres Their Dance Opera at Strawdog Theatre March 2- 18, 2006. | |
 héroïne-A Woman's Tale (2005) archaic excerpt Size::11MG (for DSL or higher) Time::2:00   |
 héroïne-A Woman's Tale (2005) lifeless excerpt Size::13MG (for DSL or higher) Time::2:00 |
Chicago, IL -- December 24, 2005 -- héroïne-A Woman's Tale, produced by Breakbone DanceCo., is a fierce celebration of one woman's survival of abuse that combines a deep fascination with lost childhood memories and the exhilarating freedom of the human imagination. In this collaborative effort between Breakbone artistic director/founder Atalee Judy and 4 female artists (Berianne Bramman, Tabitha Faes, Jyl Fehrenkamp and Ann Filmer), Breakbone has created a contemporary dance theater work detailing fragmented visions of one woman's life as seen through the eyes of two childhood playmates; a doll and a horse (played by Bramman & Judy). The audience will peer through one woman's mind, witnessing flashes of experiences she cannot remember and emotions she cannot control. The musical soundscore is by Toronto electronic noise composer s:cage whose work is a symphony of industrial dissonance and ambient tones that "dive into a world of soundscapes and noise, merging beauty and anger, harshness with light, and dreams with nightmares. " (splintercage) To add to héroïne's aural landscape, vocalists and lyrical narrators Berianne Bramman and Atalee Judy create operatic moments that vacillate between delicate vocal lyricism and emotive dissonant wailing. Tracks like "Lifeless" hit a resonant chord when the two singers mourn for the héroïne's death, yet at the same time, flaunt a vulnerable side with genuine turmoil and upsetting memories. With cinematic elements shot on location in Chicago, filmmaker Carl Wiedemann adds a backdrop of video projection which serves as a visual focus for the héroïne's memories and dreams. Chicago dramaturg and director Ann Filmer aids in the theatrical direction creating emotional exercises and mental notes for the performers to help them portray and embody such serious subject matter. Fleshing out the work, performers Jyl Fehrenkamp and Tabitha Faes portray the physical and psychological personae of our heroine with virtuosic dance performances that make this dramatic noise opera " ...a smart, harrowing idea [with] piercing physical and psychological tones". (Chicago Tribune) Judy concedes that, "the work is a strange brew that may not be everyone's cup of tea; but the vocals, the visuals, the performance energy, and the dancing goes straight to your heart in an emotional way. It comes in through your skin. I trust the viewer's imagination to fill in the blanks, and the viewer is, in turn, left with a deeper understanding of why some women block their memories of abuse for many years - and how some manage to find a 'safe place' and soar above it. " héroïne premieres March 2, 2006 at Strawdog Theatre 3829 N. Broadway in an intimate three-week run from March 2 - 18 with performances Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm. Tickets are $15.00 general admission and $12.00 students/seniors. Seating is limited, reservations strongly recommended. Tickets may be purchased online and/or reserved online at www.breakbone.com or reserve tickets/get info by calling 773.841.BONE. There will be a post performance party on Saturday March 11 with the composer s:cage and the performers. All proceeds of the heroine CD sales will go to Deborah's Place - A Chicago shelter for battered and abused women.Sponsored in part by The Chicago Foundation for Women, héroïne - A Woman's Tale is part of the Heroine Project - a six month long celebration merging the talents of Chicago female artists working in diverse genres. The Heroine Project was conceived by Atalee Judy to offer female artists the support and inspiration to keep their voices thriving and vibrant. Participants for The Heroine Project are Aloft Aerial Dance, Bethany Betzler, Breakbone DanceCo., Margi Cole, Suzanne Dado, The Dance COLEctive, Rachel Damon, Nikki DiGioia, Nicole Garneau, Sarah Haas, Cybele Moon, Margaret Nelson, Shayna Swanson and Synapse Arts Collective.### | |
mp3 downloads (music by s:cage, voices by breakbone danceco.): |
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Biographies for the artists involved in héroïne: |
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 Atalee Judy (Artistic Director/Choreographer/ Narrator & Vocalist) is the core conceptualizer for héroïne-A Woman's Tale, an experimental dance opera. héroïne began while Atalee was at a music festival called Maschinenfest in Germany and heard music that inspired her to create a powerful new work based on one woman's struggle and survival with victimization as a child. The band was s:cage from Toronto, Canada and the music was an orchestrated blend of powernoise, industrial and ambient aural soundscapes. Employing her unique skills in vocal techniques (she studied formal opera for a year and has been vocalist for numerous punk bands), narrative skills, choreographic vision, and her cinematic imagery, she challenges performers and viewers alike to see the work as a lesson in the mishandled power of abuse - that it needs to be repeatedly debated and discussed as a reminder to what can happen. |
 Berianne Bramman (Vocalist/Narrator) has been singing since the age of 1 - singing “Away in a Manger” as a solo in a Christmas pagent. Now, 29 years later, with 3 instruments, various vocal arrangements, and an all-girl punk band in her past, Berianne realizes there will never be a time when music doesn’t drive her existence. Her musical background is very diverse and encompasses all genre's. Her current selections of choice are industrial, powernoise, and IDM. When not completely wrapped up in musical pursuits, Berianne can be found circling in the worlds of Anarchist politics and science fiction (sometimes simultaneously). Her latest fusions of politics and fun have been the Think Galactic science fiction book discussion group (monthly discussion from a radical left analysis), and putting together a Bowling Event to raise money for the Chicago Anarchist Defense Fund. |
 photo:: laurel daugherty-seto :: stillmedia.org
Stephen Seto (Composer s:cage) is an audio/visual artist from Toronto, Canada. Former bass/guitar player for experimental electro- pop project, Parade, s.seto first appeared as splintercage in 1996 with his debut cassette ‘still movement bliss’. With the disbanding of Parade in 2000, he shifted direction, left the guitars behind and emerged into the world of dark electronic music. Textured, layered, moody, melodic, this work merges beauty and anger, harshness with light, dreams with nightmares to dive into a world of soundscapes and noise. Infused with beats, or stripped down and bare, s:cage creates an atmosphere of electronic sound that draws from a variety of genres. Add to this a strong visual element, this project has drawn from it’s roots in the experimental to offer us a vision. The music from "remote", the first full length s:cage album, released in 2004 on german electronic label ant-zen records, is featured in Breakbone's Dance Opera, "Heroine - A Woman's Tale". | |
 Tabitha Faes (Performer) completed her studies in January of 2004 and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from Columbia College Chicago. Her current focus is on fulfilling her passion of performing original choreography. She has been a member of Breakbone Dance Co. since 2001. The demands of working with Breakbone Dance Co. continually challenge Tabitha on an artistic and physical level. She has danced for several companies in the Chicago area including Chicago Moving Company and Without Shoes Modern Dance Company. Tabitha shares her love of dance with children by teaching for the Chicago Moving Company. She has also taught in elementary schools for the Gallery 37 Connections Program and at Woodstock Ballet Studio. In July 2004, Tabitha traveled to Paraguay to co-teach dance workshops with fellow Breakbone member, Elisa Foshay, courtesy of the Peace Corps. Tabitha is expanding her teaching knowledge to include the Pilates Method and has completed her certification at Frog Temple Pilates Studio. Most importantly, Tabitha is thrilled to be creating a life in the Chicago arts community as a performer and educator. |
 Jyl Fehrenkamp (Performer) moved to Chicago after graduating from Northern Illinois University with a BA in English and a minor in Dance Performance. Jyl "enjoys" working with paper and has earned many a paper cut in the administrative offices at Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Lou Conte Dance Studio and is currently the Academic Program Coordinator & Asst. to the Chair at The Dance Center of Columbia College Chicago. She is also in the process of establishing her own public relations company, Mitzi Team, and hopes to continue to promote local dance and performance artists with her unique style of press kits. Jyl's choreography has been featured at the P-Power Performance Project, The Around the Coyote Arts Festival, Duets for my ValenSwine, a festival she helped co-create, the Girly-Q Variety Hour and she was an Artist-in-Residence at Links Hall during 2003-04, where she created a new work for 4 swimmers and a great white shark. She is currently the resident choreographer for The Mat-tresses, an elite group of showgirls and modern dancers who perform at, "The Mattacular" with Matthew Hollis. |
 Ann Filmer (Dramaturg) based in Chicago whose passion lies in directing and developing new work. Ms. Filmer is the recipient of the 2004-05 Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship at the Goodman Theatre. As the Producing Director of Chicago Dramatists from 2000-2004, she directed four world premieres most notably, the Jeff-Award-winning The Liquid Moon by John Green, for which she received an After Dark Award for Direction. She also directed the world premiere of Brett Neveu’s Eric LaRue for A Red Orchid, and has directed for the Goodman, American Theater Company, among others. Ms. Filmer is the creator and Artistic Director of Estrogen Fest. She most recently assisted Robert Falls on Rebecca Gilman's Dollhouse and was a dramaturg for Steppenwolf's First Look Repertory series. |
 Klaar Martin (Textile Artist) Klaar's specialty is manipulating fabrics and objects into things that are distressed, worn, bloody, weathered, old or dirty. KLaaR majored in film production at the Rochester Institute of Technology and has worked at PBS affiliate WXXI as a camera operator and graphic designer. She moved to Chicago in 1994 and spends the warm months costuming for and performing at Renaissance fairs. She has performed as Barber Surgeon - Sarah Bellum, Town Gossip - Penny Dreadful, Teller of fractured tales - Helena Handbasket, Daughter of the Bard - Judith Shakespeare, and is currently the Sadistic Courtesan - Rosalind Rechter in The Consorte Bella Donna at the Bristol Renaissance Faire. Currently she just helped finish shooting for “Lovecraft Syndrome” a new short film by David W. Schmidt. |
 Carl Wiedemann (Filmmaker) holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Cinema and Photography from Ithaca College (Magna Cum Laude) and an MFA in Filmmaking from the School of the Art Institute (Full Merit Scholarship). Carl is a certified Steadicam operator and has worked for 10 years as an owner/operator on Corporate and Dramatic projects on both film and video. He has made numerous short, 16mm films which have screened internationally and at many U.S festivals of underground films. Citing his film Primer for Dental Exctraction, "Filmmaker Carl Wiedemann's stark imagery, deft camera work and haunting cinematography recall David Lynch's groundbreaking Eraserhead." (Film Threat On-line) Carl has received filmmaking grants for his work from the Illinois Arts Council , the Chicago Underground Film Fund, and the New York State Council on the Arts. |
 A. Cameron Zetty (Lighting Designer) héroïne-A Woman's Tale marks the fourth production in as many years with Breakbone; previous designs with Breakbone are Logotype v2.1, Deadtech and ONE. When not sleeping, Cameron has been designing for: Boxer Rebellion (The Altruists), Columbia University's Graduate Directing Program, Dennis DeYoung (the music of STYX) at the Chicago Theater, Famous Door (Suburban Motel) The Journeymen (Lilies, Othello, Agnes of God, Vincent in Brixton) The Rocky Horror Show directed by Marc Robin and the Blues Brothers Revival, both at the CCPA, Mary Archie (Mojo, Hot'l Baltimore), the 2002 Miss Illinois Pageant, The Noble Fool (What the Butler Saw, The Swordsmen, Roasting Chestnuts, Kerouac Jack), Rivendale Theatre Ensemble (Secret Diary of Adrian Mole), Seanachai Theatre (Bold Girls, Drink Me, Journeys End), and Trap Door Theatre (Porcelain). Assistant design positions include: Chicago and Broadway productions of Elton John & Tim Rices' Aida (2000 Tony Award for Best Lighting Design), seven productions at the St. Louis MUNY, and traveling this fine country of ours as lighting director for the national tour of 'Art'. Cameron is recipient of the 2003 Jeff Award for Outstanding Lighting Design. |
art sanctifies.©