Artists in Residence
Acting/Improv
The Collaborative Art. With an emphasis on process, you and the other participants will work together with the artist-in-residence and other staff members to form an ensemble. As a group, we will create pieces that will come from you through improvisation, scripted material, as well as original work developed in collaboration with other specialties. You will study acting, script analysis, and improvisation in an atmosphere of a professional company, and will be challenged to develop material that will be part of a larger interdisciplinary performance for the grand finale at ArtsFest. We will also provide an opportunity for participants to discuss the theater business with working artists, a look through the window into the professional life of an actor.
“Storytelling with a purpose is both a Jewish attribute and an actor’s attribute,” declares Geoffrey Cantor. “Take the Passover Seder, for example. It’s an all-consuming experience, involving the heart, mind and body. That’s also how I see acting.” A magna cum laude graduate of Amherst College with a degree in theater, Geoff went on to train at the National Theater Institute of the renowned Eugene O’Neill Theater Center and the Central School in London, England. He has since appeared on television and radio, Broadway and the London stage; and played feature roles on numerous television series and in critically acclaimed films. (Last season, he was a regularly featured performer on Law and Order and appeared in an episode of The Sopranos, and was a lead on Spike TV’s recent miniseries, The Kill Point.) Geof has also been featured in over 200 television and radio commercials, most recently as The Good Listener in the Kleenex Tissue Let It Out campaign. He has taught and coached young professional actors in New York for eight years and is artistic director at the Bergen County YJCC. [back to top]
Computer Animation
The World of 3-D. Dive into a world that you have created using 3-D animation software. Create your own cinematic view of this unique place by setting up lights and staging while flying through it with a camera. During this intensive week, students will gain knowledge of the tools and interface of one of the industry’s leading 3-D animation and gaming software programs. We will address challenges of modeling, materials and textures, lighting, camera work, and rendering to complete your own animated short. Bring your portfolio the first day along with ideas and sketches and prepare to jump into the virtual world of 3-D animation.
Kay Christy is a multimedia artist specializing in Flash, QTVR, 3-D animation, aesthetic quality control, and wacky ideas. She has consulted for photographic virtual reality projects, spoken at numerous digital conferences including: the Consumer Electronics Show and Digital Media DC. Formerly chair of the media arts and animation and game design departments at The Art Institute of Washington, she now toils under her own banner, ConceptGirl. Her work ranges from work on animations for Volkswagen to fingernail-constructed necklaces to a full-blown workout of her longstanding
interest with retro rockets: Washington DC’s Rocket Bar. She is a graduate of Savannah
College of Art and Design and Rhode Island School of Design. [back to top]
Creative Writing
Inside/Outside Voices. Do you long to pour your creativity out on paper and create short pieces of fiction or nonfiction essays? We’ll explore a small selection of inspiring writers from Isaac Bashevis Singer to Judy Budnitz, author of the acclaimed short fiction collection, Nice Big American Baby. Then we’ll brainstorm ideas, hone skills with a few exercises, immerse ourselves in our subjects, design plot lines and write! Drafts will be read in progress in a workshop format where everyone masters the art of constructive critiquing. Once stories are complete, writers will prepare for and perform an Author’s Reading. To join this hands-on workshop, participants must love reading and writing and be curious about exploring themselves and intriguing corners of the world.
Nadine Epstein is editor and executive publisher of Moment Magazine, the independent national Jewish magazine founded by Elie Wiesel and Leonard Fein in 1975. She finds the subjects the magazine covers about Jewish life, politics and culture “amazingly and endlessly fascinating” but most of all she enjoys helping writers of all ages find their own voices. “I want to encourage [participants] to open up their creativity and spirituality and pour that into their stories.” Nadine’s articles, essays and op-ed pieces have also appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, Smithsonian, The Christian Science Monitor, Ms., and other publications. She has published three books, contributed to several anthology collections, and co-written a documentary film, which was selected as a semifinalist at the Academy Awards® in 2001. Nadine was an artist-in-residence in Deal, NJ for ArtsFest 2007.
Rebecca Frankel is Moment’s managing editor and director of the Moment Magazine-Karma Foundation Short Fiction Contest. [back to top]
Dance
Move It. Mean It. Sometimes words just aren’t enough. Find your artistic voice. Dance! Collaborate with other teens and professional artists to translate information, images, and insight into innovative performance works. Through daily modern dance technique classes, repertory and composition, you will discover, develop, and deepen your physical capacity, and your personal creativity. We expand our range as movers while investigating whole human selves: mind and muscles. The technique classes will concentrate on intention, focus, athleticism, and nuanced communication, with an emphasis on full physicality and moving with integrity. The composition classes focus on choreographic techniques, using practical methods to develop subject matter through relating dance to text, research, observation, and personal history. Your dances will be performed at the closing event.
“Being my full human self is to engage my mind and every muscle in my body,” says Elizabeth Johnson, a choreographer, dancer, and the director of the Teen Exchange Program at the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange in Washington, D.C. As associate artistic director of the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, Elizabeth has collaboratively created dances in communities from Eastport, Maine to Los Angeles—with Vietnam vets, senior citizens, religious leaders of many faiths, high school teachers, and professional dancers. Her work with teens has been featured across the country as well as at home in the metro-D.C. area. Elizabeth was an artist-in-residence in Deal, NJ at ArtsFest 2007.
Shula Strassfeld has taught and danced in Israel, the US and Canada. With an MA in dance education from Columbia University, she has taught in university dance programs, professional dance schools and recreational dance programs as well.
Ben Wegman received his training at the Joffrey Ballet School and Point Park University. He has performed with the Pillow Project Dance Company of Pittsburgh and Troika Ranch of New York City, as well as others. [back to top]
Jazz/World Music Ensemble
Get in the Groove. Explore world music and a multitude of jazz music genres from across the globe. The main focus will be ensemble performance and establishing a strong sense of rhythm. We will bridge between cultures and musical traditions in a supportive and growth-oriented environment. You will enjoy working individually, but also in sections and as a large ensemble.
Mattan Klein is returning for his third year at JCC Maccabi ArtsFest. He performs extensively on stages across North America, most recently at Carnegie Hall, and is often touring the world as a leader and as a sideman. Mattan’s awards include the 2000 John Lennon Songwriting Contest under the Jazz Composition category and the 2003 USA Songwriting Contest. Mattan’s Composition Itcha (‘with you’) was included in the September 2005 CD edition of Global Rhythm Magazine in New York, the leading world music publication in the USA. Starting September 2007 Mattan will be a faculty member at the New York School of Sacred Music at the Hebrew Union College. [back to top]
Musical Theater
Acting with Music. Work on a wide range of material, including musical pieces interpreted from the standard comedy, drama, and musical theater repertoire as well as non-dramatic sources. Develop semi-original work in collaboration with participants from other specialties. You will study vocal technique, song interpretation, and movement. As with the Acting/Improv specialty, we will also provide an opportunity for participants to discuss the theater business with working artists, taking a look into the professional life of an actor.
Barbara Brandt teaches dance, acting, and stage combat at Wagner College in New York. She has worked for many off-off Broadway, showcase, and regional theaters, and has staged works for Western Illinois University, Wagner College, Alice Lloyd College and Marshall University. Barbara has twice been honored as a semi-finalist in The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers DanceBreak program. She is also an instructor with Swordplay Stage Combat, the longest continually running school of stage combat in New York City. She is on the staff of the YJCC of Bergen County’s Actors’ Workshop, and was the Artist in Residence for Movement and Dance in Musical Theater at ArtsFest 2007 in Deal, NJ. [back to top]
Photography
Open Your Eyes. Learn to see and capture that image. Combine a hands-on approach to the techniques of making compelling new photographs with intensive daily critiques and discussions. There will be photographic field trips to a variety of areas, both urban and rural. You will be exposed to the practice and issues of documentary photojournalism; creative, meaningful portraiture, personal expression; ideas and approaches to landscape and architectural photography, flatbed scanning techniques, digital photo-collage, using the basics of Adobe Photoshop, and general problem-solving. Prepare to learn and do it in a high energy, exciting, enriching environment!
Lloyd Wolf is an award-winning photographer whose widely exhibited work is in international museum collections and has appeared in the Washington Post Magazine, Ms., National Geographic Explorer, Elle, Vogue and many other publications. He received a National Endowment for the Arts Photographic Documentary Grant in 1980, has been a two-time winner of the Simon Rockower Award for excellence in Jewish photojournalism, among numerous other awards. He collaborated with Paula Wolfson on the books Jewish Mothers: Strength Wisdom Compassion, and Jewish Fathers: A Legacy of Love. His first book, Facing the Wall: Americans at the Vietnam Memorial was published in 1986. Currently working on projects on life in Jerusalem, and on Holocaust survivor couples, he has taught photography to college students as well as to homeless youth and to immigrant teenagers. [back to top]
Rock/Pop Bands
Welcome to the School of Rock. We’ll discover what makes a band really rock as we discuss and perform music from a variety of popular artists, styles, and periods. We’ll also examine the art of songwriting, performance techniques, and the changing world of modern Jewish music. ArtsFest 2008 will feature expanded performance opportunities for the rock/pop specialty! Suitable instruments include guitar (electric and acoustic), bass, keyboard/piano, drums & percussion, horns (trumpet, saxophone, trombone), and rock-oriented strings (electric violin, viola, cello). Singer/songwriters are especially welcome.
A recording artist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, Josh Nelson is considered one of the preeminent performers and producers in modern Jewish music and is a favorite at JCC Maccabi ArtsFest since 2006. A wide variety of influences appear in his music, ranging from the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Motown to Ben Folds and Miles Davis. Josh’s music has been integrated into the musical consciousness of congregations, camps, and communities across the U.S. Based in New York City, Josh tours the country with an original band called The Josh Nelson Project. “I want kids to have the time of their lives… to play great music that’s not limited by style or genre; to play music that speaks to them as individuals,” says Josh, “and to play music that helps them learn about who they are and who they might become, both as musicians and as people.” [back to top]
Visual Arts
Pencil/Paint/Paper. Work under the tutelage of a world-renowned artist. Sharpen your technique while using a variety of art materials to design a series of projects for your portfolio that reflect your creative energy. The focus will be primarily on drawing and painting, but who knows where the creative process will take us? You will have the unique opportunity to spend a full day at Phillip Ratner’s studio. If you choose, you can make a copy of your work and contribute the original to be displayed at the new Israel Bible Museum. On the final night of ArtsFest there will be a prominently displayed gallery for all the university and local community to see.
A multi-media artist, Washington, D.C. native Phillip Ratner has spent many years working in sculpture, painting, glass, tapestry, drawing, and the graphic arts. Five of his bronze sculptures stand at the base of the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York, and 37 of his pieces are in the National Museum at Ellis Island. His work is in the Library of Congress, Supreme Court, Vatican, and White House. With degrees from the Pratt Institute and American University, Phillip taught school in the Washington, DC area for 23 years. In 1984, Phillip and Ellen Ratner moved to Safed, Israel and began the creation of a museum devoted to the stories of the Bible. The museum was named the Israel Bible Museum. Its new location in Be’er Sheva will open in the spring of 2008.
Fran and Eddie Garfinkle administer and teach the outreach program of the Dennis and Phillip Ratner Museum in Bethesda, Maryland. [back to top]
Vocal Music
Artists in Song. Calling all singers! Spend time enhancing your on-stage performance skills, as a soloist as well as part of an ensemble or choir. We’ll examine song styles and how they reflect the identity of the vocal artist, the crafting of performance techniques, as well as emotional authenticity during a performance. We will work on your rhythmic skills, your pitch, and your ability to harmonize. We will also do some songwriting and talk about recording Technique, “working the mic,” and professional conduct in the music world. All will culminate in a final performance event on Thursday night.
Beth Schafer is an award-winning songwriter whose contemporary Jewish music shows blend first-class musicianship with a little teaching and a little theater into a high-impact experience. Beth has been a guitarist since the age of six and attended the University of Miami School of Music on a jazz scholarship. Beth’s infectious energy, well-crafted songs, and intelligent lyrics, coupled with a great band, have made her a leading act in the Jewish music world. Her audiences are no longer just Jewish; she has many fans of all faiths who have found that her messages and music touch them. It is her universality that placed her at center-court for the half-time show at an Orlando Magic game, and won her the faith-based competition on American Idol Underground. She has been the guitarist-in-residence for the Union for Reform Judaism’s national conferences for the past six years. She is frequently a featured artist at folk festivals and conferences nationwide. [back to top]
