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| Who We Are | Our Name | Our Mission | Our History | |
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Who is Striding Lion InterArts Workshop? |
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Striding Lion InterArts Workshop is an ensemble of Chicago artists from various disciplines dedicated to producing quality interdisciplinary performing arts experiences. In both our performance and our education we utilize a uniquely collaborative approach that strives to honor all artistic voices in the creative process. Offering critically acclaimed interdisciplinary productions through our Striding Lion Performance Series, and the very best in interdisciplinary arts education, Striding Lion endeavors to broaden the relationship between artist and audience—breaking down barriers to make interdisciplinary performance both accessible and meaningful. We are a not for profit, 501(c)3 organization which depends upon the generous support of our public to continue to pursue our mission. CORE COMPANY
Amanda Berg Wilson (Artistic Director), is a perfomer, director, teacher, producer, and a co-founder and the Artistic Director of Striding Lion. Highlights of her work with the company include: performing as Rachel in Striding Lion’s inaugural production, Daughter Of Jacob; directing the critically heralded Cowboy Mouth; writing and performing her first autobiographical piece Texas, He Comes Back to Haunt Me in the 2nd Annual Striding Lion InterArts Festival; performing three seasons in a row for thousands of youth as Mother/Fiona/Elder in The Giver; performing as Titania in and directing Ill Met By Moonlight; performing as the Tour Guide in and directing Striding Lion’s critical and popular hit, Billy the Mountain and Other Wartime Stories; performing in and directing City Beautiful; directing last season's mainstage Gerrymander, and performing in Reasons for Moving, the centerpiece of the 6th Annual InterArts Festival. Amanda has represented Striding Lion in dozens of educational residencies throughout the Chicagoland area, and will serve in her sixth year as an instructor of an after-school performing arts program at Foreman High School, an endeavor made possible by a grant from Chicago's After School Matters program. Elsewhere in Chicago, Amanda has performed or directed with Collaboraction, the side project, Stage Left, Apple Tree Theatre, the Vittum Theater, Healthworks Theatre, and Simple Theatre. Amanda is the recipient of the 1998 Memphis Theatre award for Best Actress in a Drama for her work in Scotland Road, of Westward Magazine's 2000 Best of Denver award for her work in the ensemble of Babe, The Sheep Pig, and was selected as a finalist for the Goodman Theatre’s 2005/2006 Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship. She will co-direct the development of the 2007-2008 season’s original world-premiere production, The Concept Album, with Ben Wilson, to whom she is very happy and fortunate to be married.
Renee Callahan (Managing Director) was welcomed into the den during her Chicago debut in Striding Lion's run of Ill Met By Moonlight. Since her induction into the company, she has performed in Striding Lion's Billy the Mountain and Other Wartime Stories, participated in two Annual Striding Lion InterArts Festivals, and taught at Saint James Cathedral's “Summer in the City” summer camp. Renee earned a Bachelor Degree in Media Studies specializing in Political Science and Environmental Studies from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she also studied acting and dance. While in Champaign, she worked at WPGU-FM radio station as a news reporter, anchor, and talk show host and appeared in a few independent films by Late Sunday Afternoon Depression Company. Since her move to Chicago, she has also worked with Apple Tree Theater in The Giver as Lilly/Larissa/Elder. And as a Chicago member of the acclaimed international dance company, Dance 2XS, Renee has performed in a variety of shows and events in the Chicagoland area. She is devoted to the continuation of her growth as an artist, performer, and human being.
Allison Kurtz has been working as a dancer, actor, choreographer and teacher in and around Chicago since the age of sixteen. Shortly after graduating from Northwestern University’s creative writing program with a BA in English, Allison found a new artistic home with Striding Lion. Since the fall of 2001, she has performed in six Striding Lion productions, and looks forward to serving as choreographer on this year’s City Beautiful project. In addition to her work as a performer, she has taught several workshops and residencies and served as co-curator of the 2nd Annual Striding Lion InterArts Festival. As an independent dancer/choreographer, Allison has worked with such companies as Simple Theater, Piven Theatre, New Leaf Theatre, Evanston Dance Ensemble, and Raizel Performances. Allison has been on staff at About Face Theatre, and she currently teaches at Dance Center Evanston.
Ben Berg Wilson has been active in the Chicago music and theater worlds for nearly fifteen years. Having performed on vocals, saxophone and guitar since childhood, Ben received his Bachelor of Music at Northwestern University in 1997, concentrating in classical and jazz performance and theory. While at Northwestern, Ben co-founded the bands Bathtub Gin, Jupiter's Child, The Honey Set, and Loose Change, performing an eclectic and funky brand of original music. Ben has performed as a jazz singer with such notables as Max Roach, Bobby McFerrin, Darmon Meader, and Rufus Reid, among others. As an actor and vocal director, Ben's theatrical experience includes productions of Noises Off!, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, Tommy, Our Town, and Forever Plaid. Ben composed the original music for Striding Lion's original productions, Daughter of Jacob, City Beautiful, and Gerrymander, music directed the critically acclaimed production of Cowboy Mouth, and performed multiple roles in Striding Lion's meisterwerks, Ill Met By Moonlight
ASSOCIATE COMPANY
Annie Arnoult Beserra (Choreographer) holds an MFA in Dance from The Ohio State University and a BA in Dance and Comparative Literary Studies from Northwestern University. She was the founding Artistic Director of Striding Lion InterArts Workshop in Chicago, IL, choreographing Daughter of Jacob, The Giver, Ill Met by Moonlight, and Billy the Mountain and Other American Card Tricks, where her work earned critical acclaim from The Chicago Reader, Time Out Chicago, and The Village Voice. Beserra has also choreographed in New York for Toad Productions and in Chicago for Piven Theater Workshop, Roadworks Productions, XSIGHT! Performance Group, T.J. and Company, Lucky Plush Productions, Evanston Dance Ensemble and the Theater and Dance Departments of Northwestern University. She has performed in her own work and for choreographers throughout Chicago and was a member of Billy Siegenfeld’s Jump Rhythm Jazz Project from 1996-2000. She has been a guest artist at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival, The University of Alaska at Anchorage, Northwestern University, Southern Methodist University, Western Michigan University, UC Irvine, Louisiana Dance Theater, and Alaska Dance Theatre, and served as adjunct faculty in ballet and jazz at Northwestern University. She was awarded the Ray Travel Award for Scholarship and Service by the OSU Council of Graduate Students and an International Matching Travel Grant by the College of the Arts to present her research at Le Centre National de la Danse in Paris at a joint conference of the Society of Dance History Scholars and the Congress on Research in Dance.
Colby Beserra (Composer) In addition to writing and performing his own music throughout Chicago, Colby Beserra is the Music Director for the Albany Park Theater Project, an award-winning, nationally recognized teen theater ensemble based in the Albany Park neighborhood of Chicago. Beserra was the Music Director, one of 3 composers, and played the part of Oberon in Striding Lion InterArts Workshop’s adaptation of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (called Ill Met By Moonlight ) at the Viaduct Theater in 2004. He also served as Co-Music Director and performed in the Frank Zappa-inspired piece Billy The Mountain and Other Wartime Stories at the Elbo Room in the spring and summer of 2005 and at the New York International Fringe Festival in the summer of 2006. Beserra is a 2-time grant recipient from the American Composers Forum and the former Managing Director and Director of the Vittum Theater, a 300-seat, state-of-the-art theater opened by the Northwestern University Settlement House in 1998 where he developed programming for Chicago's students and teachers - performances, workshops and classes meant to expand students' exposure to the arts and give teachers more tools in connecting classroom studies to the larger world outside of school. He is an owner, producer, and bandleader for Great Life Music and the Music Director for Chicago Public Radio’s UnderCover series on Eight Forty-Eight. Selections from Beserra’s self-titled album and Jukebox Saloon, a collaboration with pianist Dan Lipton can be heard on Beserra’s website, www.colbybeserra.com.
Todd Lahrman has been a company member since 2004. He was last seen performing in Annie Beserra’s Jenkins Farm Project at the 6th Annual Striding Lion Interarts Festival. Other Striding Lion performances include: The Giver, Il Met By Moonlight, Billy the Mountain, and City Beautiful. Todd has also performed at The NYC Fringe Festival with Striding Lion’s production of Billy the Mountain. Todd’s Chicago credits include: Jolly at the Goodman Theatre, Communicating Doors with The Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, Glory of Living, autobahn, and Things We Said Today at Profiles Theatre, Line at Oracle Theatre, The Search for Odysseus with The Simple Theatre Company, and The Giver at Apple Tree Theatre. He also performed in Annie Beserra’s Jenkins Farm at Ohio State. Todd attended Ball State University, where he studied theater and creative writing. He is a former Airborne Ranger and has studied The Michael Chekhov Acting Technique with Mala Powers and Jack Colvin.
Karen Louis is an interdisciplinary performance and visual artist who has been involved with Striding Lion since the April '02 production of "Cowboy Mouth." Although her primary discipline is performance, she is quick to jump into the mix to sew up some fancy costumes, mend some smelly ones, paint some pretty pictures, and always voice an opinion or other, welcome or not. She is currently in the Interdisciplinary Arts M.A. program at Columbia College Chicago, and holds a B.A. from the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. Karen has trained at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute, NYC and IO Theatre(formerly Improv Olympic), Chicago. Karen is an an enthusiastic performer, artists and teacher, with a real passion for arts outreach programming and education reform. She has taught as a Striding Lion Artist with Afterschool Matters for quite a few years now. She has also served as a teaching artists with Healthworks Theatre(Chicago) and the Women's Project and Productions(NYC). Eat the Art.
Beth McDermott has
known since the age of 7 that she wanted to be
involved in the theatrical arts. She attended
the University of Iowa where she majored in
dance and minored in business. Beth came to
Chicago over 10 years ago to pursue her love of
dance, singing, and acting. She has worked with
Billy Siegenfeld and the Jump Rhythm Jazz
Project, Marquee Theatre Company of Evanston,
ATG (Actors Theatre of Glencoe), and Holzer &
Ridge Casting. She has also taught various
levels of tap and jazz from children up to
adults and has done some choreography. Beth was
part of the creative structure and development
of Striding Lion InterArts Workshop back in the
spring of 2001 and officially became associated
with Striding Lion by becoming one of the
artistic associates and now ensemble member. She
has performed in Daughter of Jacob, Hysteria,
Ill Met By Moonlight and, most recently, Billy
The Mountain and Other Wartime Stories. She
is currently employed at Mindscape Adornments in
Evanston, which represents American crafts from
all over the United States.
Michelle Mashon joined Striding Lion in its efforts to incorporate visual arts into its interdisciplinary program. Upon graduating from Moore College of Art and Design in 2000, she has been active in producing independent public art events, showcasing the work of local visual and performance artists in Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Chicago. She designed promotional materials and executed a multimedia/video scenic design for Striding Lion's production of Cowboy Mouth, designed set and costuming for Ill Met By Moonlight, and created promotional materials and was involved in workshops for Billy The Mountain And Other Wartime Stories and 2007's Reasons for Moving. As part of the 1st and 2nd Annual Striding Lion InterArts Festival, Michelle was responsible for organizing the display of work from several up and coming Chicago artists in various venues around Chicago. Continuously involved in arts and education, she has instructed in a wide variety of arts programs, including an interdisciplinary summer camp, and is currently also a graphic designer, project manager and installation artist.
Matt Reed is an actor, singer, performer & multi-instrumentalist and has been working professionally in the Chicago area since childhood. In this time Matt has performed, recorded, toured or sat-in with a variety of musical acts such as Paul K and Weathermen, Chris Mills, James Moody, Judy Roberts, Placido Domingo and Mr. Blotto. After completing Second City’s Conservatory Program, Matt has also busied himself writing and performing improv/sketch comedy shows at Comedy Sportz and at Second City’s Donny’s Skybox Theater. His comedic music trio, The Listening Zoo, is set to release a double album December of 2007. Additionally, Matt is also a singer-songwriter, composer and arranger. Since releasing his first solo album, “Where the Pale Girls Go,” Matt has composed music for dance, theater and film. Matt co-wrote the music and assumed the role of Nick Bottom in Ill Met By Moonlight and performed, co-wrote the music and was Co-Music Director of Billy the Mountain and Other Wartime Stories (both shows produced by Striding Lion Interarts Workshop). More recently, Matt has composed tunes for a newly developed musical “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls,” co-scored music for a 45 minute dance piece entitled, “The Jenkins Farm Project,” and his music be heard throughout, “Hosoi” a recent documentary about skateboard legend Christian Hosoi. Matt plans to begin recording the follow up to “Where the Pale Girls Go,” in early in 2008. STRIDING LION INTERARTS WORKSHOP INTERN
Katrina Atkin has been dancing since the age of 3. She has trained with Thodos Dance Chicago, Battleworks Dance Company, and Pilobolus, at Dance Center Evanston, American Dance Festival and at Point Park University. She has performed at the Goodman Theater, with Thin Ice Theater, National Pastime Theater, and of course, with Striding Lion. This winter Katrina is dancing her seventh season with the Evanston Dance Ensemble. This is her third year working as an intern for Striding Lion. STRIDING LION INTERARTS WORKSHOP BOARD OF DIRECTORS Suzanne Kanter , President Annie Arnoult Beserra Matt Kuzma Glynnis Lessing Karen Louis Keith Reed Matt Richmond Alan Succari Amanda Berg Wilson |
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Striding Lion Interarts Workshop | © Striding Lion 2002 | All Rights Reserved