Celebrating Independence: The Strong Voices of LAWTF

During the month of July, our country celebrated our Independence Day. While many of us spent our time celebrating with family and friends, we can also take some time this month to reflect on the freedom that we enjoy on a daily basis. One freedom that the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LAWTF) cherishes and celebrates throughout the year is freedom of artistic expression through the many voices of our performers, as well as through our workshops and outreach events. Our Festival provides a space for women to share their individual artistry and experiences, and to express their cultural viewpoints of womanhood.

Below are some of LAWTF’s performers who speak to independence and freedom of expression:

Saria Idana

Saria Idana, originally from New York, is a theatre, literary, and music artist. committed to freedom of expression as a vehicle for social activism. Saria's work focuses on personal and global struggle in conjunction with social justice and human resiliency.

Her piece, "Homeless in Homeland," deals with her experiences as a Jewish-American woman exploring her identity as she travels to the Middle East amidst the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "Saria speaks in her own voice and in the voices of fifteen other characters, American, Palestinian and Israeli." (sariaidana.com) Part of her show includes a 30-minute talk back to the audience in which she discusses the intersections of art and activism in relation to the topics found within her solo show.

Mzuri Moyo

Mzuri Moyo hails from Paterson, New Jersey and is best known for her powerful vocals. Mzuri has performed all over the United States and abroad. She lived briefly in Paris and Italy where she trained as a singer. She trained as an actress at HB Studio in New York City. 

"Miriam Makeba: Mama Africa" debuted at the 19th Anniversary Festival and was written specifically for the Festival to bring focus on rape of women and children in the Congo. She portrays Miriam Makeba, the late South African singer and activist, who not only was the first African to popularize African music in the US and around the world, but also took a strong stance against South African apartheid. 

These two artists are just two of well over 400 solo artists from around the globe that have been presented by the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival who take on the challenge of presenting works that speak to personal expression through their disciplines of performance art.  There is an empowerment that lies within artistic freedom, one that transports and inspires audiences through “edutainment.”

To experience more LAWTF performers, we invite you to visit some of our performers on our YouTube channel. You may also visit us on our website at www.lawtf.com. Make sure you to sign up for our monthly newsletter  to receive information about the Festival and our events and Like Us on Facebook.

Gustavo Garcia

Marketing/PR Assistant

Count Down to Festival 2012!

Well, we do have a lot going on over the next few weeks. Top of the list is our 19^th Annual Festival, titled SHINE! which kicks off on Wednesday, March 22 at 7 PM, with our traditional Champagne Gala and Awards Ceremony. We are honored to have the opportunity to recognize the achievements of four women who have made significant contributions in the world of theater.

This year's honorees are:

l-r: Ivonne Coll, Michelle Danner, Denise Nicholas and Aliah Whitmore

Ivonne Coll receiving the Eternity Award. This award is bestowed on an artist or individual whose lifetime achievements have made a lasting contribution to the world of theatre. She is considered a trail-blazer for Latina performers.
 

Michelle Danner  is receiving the Rainbow Award, presented to an artist or individual for her diverse contributions in fostering non-traditional and multicultural theatre works. Artistic Director of Edgemar Center for the Arts, Michelle has developed programming for at-risk youth, children and seniors.

Denise Nicholas is the recipient of the Integrity Award. This award is presented to an artist who has brought credibility and dignity to her work. An internationally acclaimed actress, Denise also wrote the award-winning novel, "Freshwater Road," inspired by her own days in the civil rights struggle.

Aliah Whitmore is receiving the Maverick Award, presented to an artist or individual whose work has set a high standard of individuality and self-styled creativity. The artistic director of her own theater company, her recent show "Girls Girls Girls: The Heart of the Relatively Make-Believe" focused on the artistic contributions of women of different colors, ages, and body shapes, and Hollywood's sometimes-dismissive treatment of them.

Following the kick-off is 3 days of exciting, multi-cultural and multi-discipline performances by 23 solo women artists. From dance to drama we guarantee that you will walk away having been thoroughly entertained!

We are also thrilled to have a stellar line-up of celebrities hosting each of the shows. Joining with us are Hattie Winston (Becker), Ted Lange (The Love Boat), Roger Guenveur Smith (A Huey P. Newton Story), Sy Richardson (Larry Crowe), Charo Toledo (East Side Story), Rosie Lee Hooks (The Body Guard), Iona Morris (Moist), Florence LaRue (The 5^th Dimension), Karen A. Clark (A Corporate Affair), Denise Dowse (All of Us), Faye Hauser Price (Glee), Freda Payne (Band of Gold) and Evangeline Fernandez (A Mexican Trilogy).

Tickets for the March 22 – 25 Festival are selling fast so call us at 818.760.0408 to check on show availability and be sure to visit our website at www.lawtf.com to meet the 2012 performing artists.

Following the Festival is our ENCORE! presentation at the Ivy Substation in Culver City. This is our second year for ENCORE! which features solo artists from past Festivals. This performance is made possible in part by the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment

Be sure and visit the website at www.lawtf.com for more information about ENCORE! and the performing artists or give us a call at 818.760.0408.

2012 Public Service Announcement With Executive Producer, Adilah Barnes

 

 

Please join us in supporting Vox Femina Los Angeles for its 15th anniversary season with From Shakespeare to Shamrocks, a spring concert celebration that brings the English and Irish together in song on Sunday, March 18^th at 3:00 PM.  Join Vox for a bi-cultural afternoon of classic Shakespeare sonnets and a wee bit of authentic Irish music sung in Gaelic.  From classical works to folk songs, celebrate England, Scotland and Ireland's many traditions old and new.

VOX FEMINA, is also a recipient of a grant from the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment. The concert is free and open to the public but reservations are reguested and can be made by calling VOX FEMINA at 310-922-0025