for those of you in the LA area, we will be doing a free performance of parts 1 and 2 of The Patchwork Girl of Oz this Sunday at 3 pm. I have pasted in the press release. For anyone who would like to see it, but has a conflict, it will also be performed at Los Angeles Theatre Center on Sunday April 21 at 3 pm. That one is $10. Hope to see some of you there. Louise CALENDAR LISTING/DANCE/FAMILY LOUISE REICHLIN & DANCERS CONTACTS: FOR LA C&D: LOUISE REICHLIN 213-385-1171 Event: Louise Reichlin & Dancers Location: Alfred Newman Recital Hall, USC University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089 Date: Sunday, April 7, 2002, at 3:00 pm. Program: The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Parts 1 and 2 Tickets: Free and open to the public Information: Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers 213-385-1171 Web site: http://www.usc.edu/dept/dance/p2_lacd.html THE PATCHWORK GIRL OF OZ RETURNS TO NEWMAN HALL Six-leaved clovers, the left wing of a yellow butterfly, bottles of computer chips, a gill of water from a dark well, a magical notebook computer, and 3 hairs from the tail of a blue Woozy. Ingredients for a 21st Century wizard's stew? The answer is in Louise Reichlin's production of The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Parts 1 & 2. Louise Reichlin & Dancers, a performing company of Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers, presents The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Parts 1 and 2, a multi-media dance performance piece based on Reichlin's adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Reichlin extends Baum's text, first published in 1913, into the present, and creates a magical modern day fable that uniquely incorporates multi-media screen projections, animation, spoken word, music, and dance. Reichlin, director of Louise Reichlin & Dancers, and faculty member of USC's Thornton School of Music, writes, choreographs and directs. Part I was created in collaboration with Richard Wainess, Information Technology Program, School of Engineering, USC, as multimedia designer. Part 2 premiers at USC's Alfred Newman Recital Hall, University Park, on April 7, 2002, at 3:00 p.m. For information on the program, part of the Thornton Music Masters Series, call 213-385-1171. This season Reichlin and her troupe continue the story of Ojo and the Patchwork Girl, whose journey takes them through a fantasy world where the trees and flowers and food are blue. In Part 2, the company features new characters from the Kingdom of Oz - Dorothy Gale, Princess Ozma, and the Wizard himself. One way this piece is being developed to included audience interaction is with new workshops at Vermont Ave. Elementary School. Reichlin and her dancers are working with the students in developing a key scene in Part 2. The students will portray two diverse cultures having trouble coexisting, the One-Legged Hoppers and the Joking Horners. They are about to go to war when they're visited by the travelers from Oz who are on their quest. The students will perform with the Reichlin's dancers at Newman Hall. The program features: Elizabeth Brookman, Janell Burgess, Adrienne Fisher, Sarah Sydney Jenkins, Brian Pelletier, Louise Reichlin, Ellen Rosa, Shannon Schwait, and Wil-son Williams. Linda Borough, Costumer, and long time collaborator with Reichlin, creates the costumes for The Patchwork Girl of Oz. Michael Masucci, Video Artist, creates the "Dorothy Gale" video for the opening of Act 2. ART AND TECHNOLOGY The Patchwork Girl of Oz was written in 1913 by L. Frank Baum, and is one of his whimsical fantasies about the magical world of Oz. The original work is filled with strong female figures, humor, as well as the classic underpinnings of a Greek myth. Reichlin's adaptation updates the original story and blends new technology within the storyline. In the Prologue to The Patchwork Girl of Oz, Baum envisioned today's wireless technology by creating the wireless telegraph for Princess Dorothy to use to communicate with the Historian; Reichlin follows his lead incorporating computer chips, notebook computers and a Virus Alert. GENESIS Reichlin visited an exhibition of Willard Carroll's collection of Baum's work highlighting the first book of the series, The Wizard of Oz, at the Los Angeles Public Library. She remembered how as a child, she imagined herself as a character in the book, filling her dreams with their adventures. After viewing the library exhibit, Reichlin was struck by the dance nature of John R. Neil's illustrations, especially of Scraps, the Patchwork Girl. The character danced out of the pages in every book. Carroll attended a performance of The Patchwork Girl of Oz at Zipper Hall, and later e-mailed Reichlin calling her adaptation "inventive and entertaining." THE COMPANY Now in its 22nd year, Louise Reichlin & Dancers was founded by Reichlin in 1979, using the non-profit base of Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers. The company presents Reichlin's work and specializes in works for families and their children. Reichlin and her company were featured in the First International Festival for Youth in 1999, and have performed at the Los Angeles Children's Museum, and The Los Angeles County Museum of the Art's 'Sundays in the Museum' series. They also toured to Nevada for a Family Series sponsored by the Las Vegas Cultural Affairs Division. Most recently, Reichlin has created dances with her company for the Multimedia event DreamScapes, with music created and performed by Steve Reid's Bamboo Forest. That work premiered in Orlando Florida, and is scheduled to tour beginning in July 2002. The Patchwork Girl of Oz, including the conclusion Part 3, will be presented at the Miles Playhouse in Santa Monica next November. Following that, it will tour to Idaho and the West. This season Louise Reichlin & Dancers is again working with the Arts Prototype Program of the LA Unified Schools as well as touring performances in schools. The events of this season and this project are supported, in part, by the California Arts Council, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, and the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department. -- ***************************************************************************** Please visit us at Southern California Dance and Directory: http://www.usc.edu/dept/dance Los Angeles Choreographers & Dancers is at http://www.usc.edu/dept/dance/p2_lacd.html You can reach us by phone at 213-385-1171.
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