The Mark Of The Muse: Theater, Dance & Performance Art At The Bucktown Arts Fest 2000

The Bucktown Arts Fest takes place annually in Chicago's Holstein Park, also referred to as Senior Citizens' Park. It's located at 2300 N. Oakley and 2300 W. Lyndale (2300 N & 2300 W). Admission is always free.

This year's line-up of theater and dance events at the Bucktown Arts Fest on August 26-27 is chockful of wonderful performances--comedy revue and improv dance counterpointed by union protest drama, scenes from Shakespeare interpreted in words and movement in three separate productions, light-hearted performance art balanced by work inspired by the Middle Passage, and much more. Mark your calendars now to attend, in between browsing and buying at the visual art tent exhibits.

THEATER

UNION TRAIN is a lively, interactive play complete with songs, music and sound effects about Chicago's own women labor leaders. Originally commissioned for the Women and Labor History Project, based on oral histories of Chicago trade union women collected by the WLHP Oral History Project, the story is set in Chicago's Union Station on the day of the settlement of the 1997 Teamsters' Union UPS strike. The passengers recount their stories to a young street musician, who depicts them in songs such as "Working Women's Blues" and "Union Train." In Act I, Vicky Starr, a lifelong labor activist, recounts struggles organizing the Chicago Stockyards and the role women played in the formation of the CIO Packinghouse Workers. It next fast forwards to a union meeting at the University of Chicago during the 1970s when clerical workers at the University of Chicago were organized by Regina Polk of the Teamsters' union. Audience members participate in the vote to form the union. In Act II, strikers take the audience from UPS picket line struggles to the settlement of the historic strike in August 1997. In the words of striking participants, today's issues of part time work, equal pay for equal work and promotion opportunities for women workers are addressed. The book and lyrics are by Joan McGann Morris, and the music by Joan Morris and Ken Morris, performed live by Ken Morris. The section that will be seen by Bucktown Arts Fest audiences is set during the successful 1997 UPS strike. CAST: Cassandra Riemer, Micaela Mastierra, Ken Morris and Mary Wehrle.

BIOS

JOAN MCGANN MORRIS (Playwright/Songwriter) has been a working writer, performer and playwright for the past fifteen years. This winter's performance of their score for Realism Update Theatre's "Much Ado About Nothing" represents only the latest in a string of collaborations with husband and composer Ken Morris, which has included writing the full-length "Come on Board the Union Train," a play with music commissioned by the Women and Labor History Project. Joan is also an instructor at Harold Washington College, the DeVry Institute of Technology and the Institute for Clinical Social Work, and the proud stepmother of Chris and Steve Morris. Most recently she had some of her writing published in the Garland Court Review.

KEN MORRIS (Songwriter/Arranger/Performer) In the longer version, "Come on Board the Union Train," Ken played three roles, including the street musician. Ken also scored and performed music for the plays "Last Dance," "Much Ado About Nothing," and Joan's futurist rock play, "The Fear of God." Ken and Joan are both graduates of Northeastern Illinois University, where they studied literature, creative writing and music. They have also worked with the New Tuners play and songwriting workshops. Ken and Joan are veterans of the Chicago area music, poetry and art scenes, and wish to thank each other and their family and friends for their love and support. They both performed with the Logan Square Lonestars at the Logan Square Library. Ken is a regular book reviewer for chicagopoetry.com.

ELIZABETH MARINO (Director) is an actor/director/writer who has directed for Bailiwick's Directors Fest, Chameleon Productions, and Realism Update Theatre ("Much Ado About Nothing"), where she first teamed up with Ken & Joan Morris. She appears as an actor here and elsewhere under her stage name of Micaela Mastierra. Forthcoming poetry publications include MARCH/Abrazo Press's Midwestern Latina poets anthology, as well as in La Onda Negra Press's "Dark Waters Speaking," an anthology of poetry by Midwestern Women of Color. Elizabeth holds an MA from UIC's Writers Program, a BA in English and Humanities from Barat College, and spent a year as an undergraduate at Oxford University. She is a member of Poets on Pedestals, and has performed with them for the last few years at the Bucktown Arts Fest.

OLOMIDUN

OLOMIDUN is a music and storytelling performance company run by ORISEGUN BENNETT-OLOMIDUN. The focus of his work has been the spiritual essence of aesthetics and its ability to inspire, heighten and transform the personal and collective consciousness of the audience and the artist. They appeared recently at College Chicago's Herman D. Conaway Performance Space complete with a dancing stiltwalker, who improvised with the installation pieces suspended from the ceiling as the others (ZAHRA GLENDA BAKER, ORPHEUS GRANT, YOAB ISRAEL, NUNULU LATRAM, AJI BENNETT, AAJANI, AJIBAWO, MESHACK SILAS, DWAYNE GILES, STEVE MURRAY) drummed, spoke and played percussion.

SHAKESPEARE, SANDBURG, ELIOT & ME

SHAKESPEARE, SANDBURG, ELIOT & ME is the title of a compendium of material that Chicago playwright JEFF HELGESON will present. Putting together this one man theatrical excursion through Western literature from the Renaissance to the new Millennium was no doubt inspired by his new critically-acclaimed novel, THRESHOLDS, set at the turning point between the new and the old millenniums. This short novel combines a sense of dramatic action with an introspective review of life issues, both personal and global in scope. Set in Rome at the end of the millennium, the novel follows several different characters as they go through the final day of the century. The publisher of Collage Press, which has just produced a second edition of poetry slam founder Marc Smith's CROWD PLEASER, Jeff is also the faculty advisor to OYEZ REVIEW, Roosevelt's venerable literary publication.. Jeff Helgeson has for over 20 years been the Director of the Learning Resource Center at Roosevelt University. He also teaches a thesis writing class at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

THE NAUGHTY GODDESS REVUE

THE NAUGHTY GODDESS REVUE was founded by poet and visual artist JOSEPHINE LIPUMA. The core group of spoken-word artists incorporates her work and that of EFFIE MIHOPOULOS and GABRIELE STROHSCHEN. They perform with various guest artists (sometimes with "the men that serve them") every eight weeks at The Hungry Brain (where Count Leonard de Montbrun hosts a reading series on Wednesdays). They have also been seen in Chicago at Roby's, the Mad Bar's Sister Sense Reading Series, the Peter Jones Gallery, Around the Coyote, and at Cat's Impetuous Books in Kent, Ohio, as well as at the Bucktown Arts Fest. The Naughty Goddess Revue is a floating poetry venue which inhabits special places in the Chicago Poetry Scene.

BIOS
GABRIELE STROHSCHEN has shared her own words on various stages, porches, living rooms, and the streets of Chicago, the Midwest, and throughout Germany. She is a 1994 and 1996 recipient of Community Arts Assistance Program grants from the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs. Most of the time, she is simply fascinated by other poets and life in general.

EFFIE MIHOPOULOS has been published in over 200 small press magazines and anthologies, and is the author of a chapbook, Pastel Words, and two books of poetry The Moon Cycle and Languid Love Lyrics. Her performance pieces have been seen at the Cultural Center, the Harold Washington Library Center's Winter Garden, The Howard Theater, DePaul University, and various galleries throughout Chicago. She has received numerous Community Arts Assistance Program grants, Neighborhood Arts grants and Special Assistance grants from the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Illinois Arts Council, most recently for her conceptual city-wide poetry reading series featuring three poets with the same first name, Threebies: Triple Poetry Plays. She currently works in the Real Estate Advertising Department of the Chicago Sun-Times.

JOSEPHINE LIPUMA is a poet, new-media artist/writer & a maker of limited edition artists' books. Her artwork is in many private and corporate collections, including The Fuji Corp in Japan and Columbia College in Chicago. She has exhibited at numerous galleries both in Chicago and out of town, most recently at the Peter Jones Gallery, which represents her. Her lucid dreams are her philosophy. As a child, she lived very close to Lake Michigan on Peoria Street. From her childhood window, she often saw cinder piles of her industrial smokestack sky neighborhood: ashes which have been transformed into the fabric of her images and words today.

MASKS

MASKS, a play written and directed by the multi-talented actor/director/playwright BRIAN GARY KIRST, is a one-woman show performed by MELISSA LAWSON. It revolves around the story of Deni, a young woman who overcomes a small town assault by becoming a female wrestler. Its evocative description for its original production at the now-shuttered Caf� Voltaire reads: While growing up escaping and wrestling gorillas in fruit pies, she wore magnificent masks." Reviewing it for the Chicago Reader, Mary Shen Barnidge wrote that it "produces an elation to which those of us wearing the necessary masks of civilization can only aspire." It was also performed at Mary Arrchie, Around the Coyote and The Rhinoceros Theatre Festival.

BIOS

BRIAN KIRST (Director/Playwright) is an Artistic Associate at Bailiwick, where his recent directing credits include the local and touring production of Homme Fatale. Most recently, his piece Child, Fly Away was produced at Stage Left for their DownStage Left program. Kirst coordinates and hosts Bailiwick's Poetry Cabaret Series, and has just released a chapbook of poetry titled Slant. As an actor, he has appeared in Romeo & Juliet (with X Files' Jillian Anderson) and Die Fledermaus (with Broadway's Judy Kaye and Guiding Light's Ron Raines). As founder of Theatre Wyrzuc, he created a dozen plays, including Perished, The Moon Cycle, Slumber Party in a Dangerous Land, Jumping at 65 Miles Per Hour (starring Drew Carrey's Kate Walsh) and Masks.

MELISSA LAWSON recently closed Bare at Bailiwick Rep and Child, Fly Away in the DownStage Left Series, both directed by Brian Kirst. This fall she will be in the independent feature Shortcut to Thinking�a Love Story and the play If Only in LA. Chicago theatre credits include: Anastasia Krupnik, Northlight Theatre; Bus Stop, Stage Center Theatre; In Perpetuity�, Frump Tucker Theatre Co.; Portrait of the Virgin Mary Feeding the Dinosaurs, Dolphinback; and Girl Theatre at National Pastime, and is portraying a Southern Belle in the Indie film Hell's Belle.. Last summer she was in Architect in the Dust for Lincoln Center's Director's Lab in NYC. In Miami, she was a member of the New World Rep where she played in Genet's The Balcony and Masha in Three Sisters, which took her to Moscow as a guest of the television station TPF 50/50. Other roles include Carol in Oleanna and Nastya in The Mandate. She was also a founding member of Akropolis Acting Co. She has a BFA in performance from New World School of the Arts.

FAMOUS IN THE FUTURE
FAMOUS IN THE FUTURE , a Chicago-area comedy troupe, has been making people laugh at them for over 10 years. What keeps them together is a common goal to bring comedy to the people. All their material is original, written exclusively by the cast. While they appreciate the improv routines other people do (and see its value in developing new material), they themselves prefer to perform scripted skits. They see themselves as a group that performs "scripted comedy in the improv-mad city of Chicago." Many company members have come and gone over the years; they now have more alumni than Notre Dame. The current cast (Desiree Burcum, Terry Flamm, Guy Schingoethe, Karen Yashon, Frank Carr, and Dave Drazin) has been together for over two years, and features the high-powered musical talents of Drazin and Schingoethe. They have done shows at Sweet Corn Theatre, Beat Kitchen, and Breadline Theatre. They are an annual treat each August at the Mary-Arrchie's "Abbie Hoffman Died for Our Sins" festival, a three-day, twenty-four-hour performance extravaganza. All 6 cast members played an active role in shaping their most recent revue, "The Maalox Intellect, A Brioschi Moron," featuring original skits and songs devoted to the ways men and women make each other nauseous (and presented both from a male and female point of view).

BIOS
DAVID DRAZIN (Pianist/Actor) Actor/Pianist David Drazin's keyboard command and flair for musical accompaniment of moving images enhance performances of film, theater and dance. An adventurous improviser with a solid foundation in musical structure, he can shift with ease from dramatic classical style to lively jazz. In concert, his repertoire ranges from modern and traditional jazz to adaptations of classical selections and original jazz and novelty compositions. He has a strong flair for Harlem stride piano style.

Dave's instrumental ensemble work has ranged from six years with Van Kelly's trio at the Como Inn, Chicago, to his current appearances playing ballroom dance music with the Steve Anthony Society Orchestra and blues/rock with Jesse Scinto and the Dignitaries. Mr. Drazin received his Bachelor of Music degree from Ohio State University, excelling in music theory. He teaches piano and directs a jazz band workshop for the Chicago Park District.

A motion-picture and music historian and archivist whose collection includes 78 r.p.m. records (emphasizing acoustic era piano solos, and eight- and sixteen-millimeter sound and silent films), he operates projectors and cameras and has made short films. He has played live improvised piano accompaniment for silent film screenings at the Film Center of the Art Institute, Chicago; Cinevent Film Festival, Columbus, Ohio; Arts at Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, Illinois; University of Wisconsin, Madison and the Northbrook Public Library, Northbrook, Illinois. He has been selected to accompany two screenings of the 1924 film classic "Peter Pan" at the North Carolina Museum of Art, Raleigh, North Carolina. He accompanied live performances of classic and contemporary radio dramas and recorded his music for cable television, as well as ballet and modern dance classes for Evanston School of Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company and its Lou Conte School of Dance and Ballet Metropolitan of Columbus, Ohio.

Dave has produced a number of recordings, his most recent being "Dave Drazin and Friends � Fifteen Years of Jazz, 1981-1996," released in 1997.

In the theater world, Dave has acted in comedy revue sketches and directed performances of his original work. For three years, he was a performing member of OUTABOUNDS Ensemble at the Chicago Cultural Center, where for a long period of time, the company presented a monthly hour-long improvised show that often stunned audiences with its originality.

TRAP DOOR THEATRE

Local Bucktown favorite TRAP DOOR THEATRE returns to the Fest once again with another play adapted from the world's most famous British bard himself. One of the feistiest and most fearless of the small local theater troupes, Trap Door often chooses to present intriguing and intensely original material. Trap Door Theatre's A MIDSUMMER AFTERNOON'S DREAM is as unique a performance as most of the company's other productions. The men from Beaver Bush, Nebraska-Moose Lodge Troop 69 are back to do their half hour rendition of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. You might remember them from their last two tours of Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet. They present Shakespeare's script in their own hilarious, outrageous fashion. Written and directed by Michael S. Pieper (Artistic Associate/Resident Director of Trap Door Theatre and the head of the acting program at Second City) and featuring company staples DANNY BELROSE, KEVIN BYRNE, ALEX PRESENT, LYLE AKER, PATRICK BRENNAN, AARON BOUCHER, TROY LINSEY, BOB ROKOS and MYLES LEEVY, A MIDSUMMER AFTERNOON'S DREAM should be lots of fun for the whole family! He has directed over 50 plays in his career, many of them Jeff Recommended (White Whore and the Bit Player, Dutchman, Orpheus Descending) and the 3 Jeff-award winning production of Lebensraum. Other plays include, The Importance of Being Earnest, Desire Under the Elms, Road to Nirvana, Squat, Troy Women, Antigone, Talking With, Feedlot, Sugar Down Billy Hoak, Boys of the Peggy August Club and his current production of Forty-Deuce. Michael has an MFA in Directing from the United States International University of San Diego.

STIR-FRIDAY NIGHT

STIR-FRIDAY NIGHT!, Chicago's premier Asian American sketch comedy group, will appear for the second year in a row at the Bucktown Arts Fest. Quick and hilarious, they have been producing a unique brand of comedy for five and a half years that is guaranteed to tickle your funny bone. Hailed by the reader as a troupe "with a genuine sense of humor (that) both motivates laughter and provokes thought," Stir-Friday Night will stir up the Bucktown audience on a variety of levels."We try to write and perform material that will educate as well as entertain our audiences," says troupe member Jennifer Liu, "Some of the material is based on Asian American themes and some are not. We want to show in our work that being Asian American does not necessarily mean that we are geeky, computer programming,kung-fu black belts who are good at math and laundry, but that we have an artistic voice as well. We want our audience to be able to identify with our work and see a part of themselves and their own cultures in it as well." Stir-Friday Night! recently teamed up with the Second City Training Center to encourage aspiring Asian American performers to exercise their artistic voices. Second City's, "Improvising New Voices" program was the first minority outreach program Second City has ever offered. Ensemble members Liu and Joe Yau (along with a resident Second City instructor) taught an intensive improvisation workshop which allowed its students to learn and perform on the Second City stage. "This was a great experience for both organizations," says Liu. "It allowed us to inspire other Asian American performers and to mainstream our work, and it allowed Second City to introduce its work to a minority group that rarely steps foot in the Second City doors. It really was a great honor to be able to work with such a well known, respected theater that inspired many of us to do the work that we do."

This year has been particularly busy for Stir-Friday Night! They spent most of it touring to colleges and universities throughout the Midwest and East Coast. They will be touring the West Coast this fall and performing their second run in Los Angeles, California, where they previously performed to sold-out houses last May. While their plate is full, they still find time to perform for the wonderful Bucktown community, "It's important for us to keep ties with the community," says Liu "because no matter how big we get or where we end up, Chicago is where it all began. We have a loyal following that has been supporting us through years of growing pains." To contact Stir-Friday Night! email them at: stirfridaynight@hotmail.com.

BIOS
DAISY CASTRO has worked with Stir-Friday Night! for four and a half years. She's been involved in Chicago theatre since 1991 either onstage, or behind as a costumer, hair/make-up artist, props person and/or scenic painter. With her background in dance and music, she broke into underground performance art. After attending some improvisation/scene classes, she became interested in the concept of "playing." The curiosity for playing grew and her need to explore it was insatiable. The only obstacle was finding venues to express this. SFN! found a spot to fit her in. It's been an interesting journey into comedy thus far. She hopes it can continue without too many other obstacles ahead.

WAYNE EJI made his professional stage debut in Angel Island Theatre Company's 1995 production of "Jade Monkey King." He is one of the original members of "Stir-Friday Night" and has also performed with "Three Non-Blondes." Wayne most recently participated in North Avenue Productions' "Asians In America."

When MARIA FAELNAR was a child, she was told she was a princess in her parents' homeland. Still unable to believe it isn't true, she practices "princessing" in her bedroom, preparing for the time when she can go back in glory to the homeland. Until then, she thoroughly enjoys being a part of Stir-Friday Night! where no one treats her like royalty and ensemble is key. Maria has performed in and around the Chicago area. Favorite roles include Leann in "A Piece of My Heart,"Agnes in "The Apollo of Bellac," and Carol Ann Lassiter in "The Harvesting."

CHOKY LIM'S career as an actor skyrocketed after a female classmate in his high school acting class remarked, "He's not as sucky as Olivier." Last year he starred in the film "Saranghae," which won first prize at the Black Cinema Society Film Festival in L.A. He's worked in a number of films in between his work with Stir Friday Night! His latest is the title role of "Super Kamada", working with director Masahiro Sugano. Choky is most proud of his work with Stir- Friday Night! He is currently working on writing the new SFN! show and producing his next film this year. Choky wishes to thank God and Buddha and Allah and Zeus and Odin and the name of the guy who is the sun god.

JENNIFER LIU has been having a blast touring and performing with Stir-Friday Night! these past five years. She most recently performed with Pegasus Players, Studio Z, and the National Theatre For Children. A native Chicagoan, Jennifer studied improvisation at The Second City Training Center and majored in theatre at Columbia College. She is now the theater director at Holstein Park Theater, where she directs plays and teaches acting/improv classes to people of all ages.

RON MOK is best known for his emcee work, which has included The Miss Chicago Chinatown Pageants, New Year's parties, and local and national conventions. Ron made his stage debut in Angel Island Theatre Company's "Jade Monkey King." He made his screen debut as an Asian businessman in "Home Alone 3." He is proud to be one of the original cast members of Stir-Friday Night! When not performing, Ron works as a CPA specializing in financial consulting.

QUINCY WONG is the co-creator of Stir-Friday Night!, a founding member and Artistic Director of Angel Island Theatre Company, and also the creator of 3 Non-Blondes, an original three person show. He has been featured in the movie "Mo' Money," the BBC movie of the week "March In Windy City," "Unsolved Mysteries," and two episodes of "Early Edition." He was also a featured news story reporter for the local TV news program "Asia Today," and can be seen in the upcoming Steve Martin movie, "Novocaine." Quincy most recently understudied the role of Chief in the Steppenwolf Theatre production of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" starring Gary Sinise both here and in London.

JOE YAU has been a member of Stir-Friday Night! since its inception. Joe fell into acting by accident. He studied really hard to earn a B.S. in Psychology from Loyola University in Chicago and after realizing that he wasn't cut out for grad school, he started taking improv classes at The ImprovOlympic, where he studied with the legendary Del Close. Joe is a graduate of The Second City Training Center. He is proud to have also co-starred opposite George Takei in the 1998 season premiere of the CBS television show "Early Edition" starring Kyle Chandler. Joe would like to make Stir-Friday Night! into a household name and is willing to knock on doors to do that.

MICHAEL STEVENSON (Technical Director) has been working behind the scenes of Chicago theatres for ten years. He is a head rigger for Grand Stage and has worked for such notable companies as Lookingglass, Piven, and The Goodman Theatre. Michael loves being a part of Stir-Friday Night! and dreams of the day when they can afford a really awesome set that he can build.

THE HOLSTEIN PARK YOUTH THEATER COMPANY

THE HOLSTEIN PARK YOUTH THEATER COMPANY is made up of kids aged 8-14 who have spent the entire summer studying acting, dance, stage combat, and magic in Holstein Park's intensive 9-week training program, the Performing Arts Camp. Once again, this year, the Bucktown Arts Fest will be featuring Holstein Park's very own Youth Theater Company . For some of the kids, this will be their second performance at the Bucktown Arts Fest. They recently performed at YTCC and Steppenwolf Theatre's Production of the Youth Theatre Festival at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre where they received a standing ovation for their performance. Last year, the Performing Arts Camp ensemble wowed audiences of the Bucktown Arts Fest with their "Showcase," which featured short plays, monologues, poetry, dance, and stage combat. This year's performances are sure to dazzle audiences as well. There are thirteen kids in this summer's Performing Arts Camp: BIANCA AARONS (age 13), MELISSA CORREA (9), B.J. ELIAS (9), CAITLYN GRAY (11), KIRSTEN HOFFER (8), BRANDON HUMMER (9), JUSTIN HUMMER (age 14), EDDIE KIRBY (age 10), HENRY KIRBY (9), BEN LOPATA ( 10), NICOLETTE MEDINA (11), MEDAS NEKROKIUS (9) and RAQUEL ZAYAS (12). Each child auditioned and was selected to participate in this special program. The kids gave up regular day camp activities and focused all of their energies in learning the performing arts. Armed with only a water bottle and a notebook, they learned how to use their bodies and voices in performance. They also learned improvisation & acting techniques, modern dance and choreography, scene study, stage combat, and magic. The acting classes, improv classes, & stage combat classes were taught by professional actor and theater director of Holstein Park, Jennifer Liu; dance was taught by Michelle Kranicke, the artistic director of Zephyr Dance. Magic was taught by Tom Hill, "The Youngest Side-Show Entertainer of Modern Time," (as quoted by the American Museum of Magic.) Although it took a lot of work to put up the shows, the kids found it very rewarding. At the end of last year's camp, surveys were handed out to the participants. Every child said that they preferred Performing Arts Camp over the regular day camp program. "The kids really enjoyed exploring new concepts and learning new things," says Liu, "they were making new discoveries about themselves and accomplishing things they thought were impossible. It's really amazing to be able to initiate that sort of thing and see it happen."

Last but not least, SIDE KICK, a play written and directed by CATHLEEN SCHANDELMEIER (the former curator for theater and dance for the Bucktown Arts Fest for the past few years) features the talented singer/musician PETER BARTELS, Cathleen's new husband. Teo, her new baby, keeps her busy these days, as well as curating and hosting her Beach Poets series (now at a new location), currently celebrating its 10th-year anniversary. SIDEKICK is the story of Tony, "The Tin Foil Man's" adventures as he tries to find his way home after having crashed his Dad's spaceship here on earth. All the while, he has to conceal his "sidekick (who is Tony's conscience)," a tiny person growing from his left shoulder. The play is a delightful combination of puppetry and performance art.

BIOS

CATHLEEN SCHANDELMEIER is an award-winning playwright, storyteller, poet, puppeteer and teacher. Produced plays she has penned include: "Kooky Keaton The Cat," "Sandy & The Circus" and "Santa Girl." She has also authored, produced and starred in a one-woman show titled "Mmm...Tattoo Screams of Love". She wrote and starred in "Beached", a two person show featuring original music by Peter C. Bartels last year at the Abbie Hoffman Died For Our Sins Festival, and at the Bucktown Arts Fest. Her original monologue "Visions From John Lennon" was included with an interactive audio exhibit by internationally known artist Miroslaw Rogala titled "Divided We Speak"at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. As a poet, Cathleen has been featured on the cover page of the Tempo section of the Chicago Tribune, in Colorado's "The Aspen Times", and "The Boulder Daily Camera"; on radio with WBEZ's "Metropolis" and on TV with WTTW's "Wild Chicago." She has organized the North Avenue "Beach Poets" series since 1990, and authored a critically acclaimed book of poetry titled "Scream and I'll Believe You". She also is a S.T.A.R. grant recipient from the Illinois Arts Council for her work teaching performance poetry for the adult literacy program at Alpha B. Temple in Englewood where they published a book from the class titled "B.E.S.T. Chants". She has taught for the Chicago Historical Society, the Old Town School of Folk Music, Facets Multimedia, the Chicago Park District's "Arts in the Parks" Mini-Festivals, The Evanston Arts Camp, and through the Illinois Arts Council's Artist in Education roster. In the summer of 1998, Cathleen taught on-camera acting for Facets Multimedia's Day Camp that included a special seminar she developed titled "Broadcast News". She is the coordinator of the Video for the International Society to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect's (ISPCAN) World Congress which was held in Dublin, Ireland in 1996, and is being distributed globally. She has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in theater from Northeastern Illinois University. Cathleen can be found in "Who's Who in the Midwest" and "Who's Who in Entertainment," published by Marquis. She can also be found in the World's Who's Who of Women"' and the International Who's Who of Intellectuals," published by the International Biographical Centre out of Cambridge, England.

PETER C. BARTELS teaches trumpet lessons and composes original music. He has acted in many plays, including "Sandy & The Circus", and "Beached" (written by Cathleen Schandelmeier) which he also wrote original music for. He has appeared in live performances and television productions as far away as New York, New York. Beyond being a dedicated and driven educator, Peter is an award-winning musician with a Master's Degree in Music from Baylor University in Texas. His Bachelor of Music is from Lawrence University in Wisconsin. He has played trumpet, flute, saxophone and trombone with bands such as Dietra Farr, Johnny Rawls, the Connexion Band, Jazzambo, Zoogenic, the Smoking Jackets, the Penthouse Playboys, and Hot Rod, the powerhouse southside blues band. Peter's music has brought him all over the world with performances in Austria, Germany, Italy, Canada, Mexico, 30 states in the USA, and all over the Caribbean. He has played trumpet with circuses such as the Great Wallenda Circus, the Franzen Brothers Circus, and the Royal Hanneford Circus. He has been in dozens of musicals and played in a rodeo band in Texas. On Celebrity Cruises, where Peter worked as shipboard musician, he played combo jazz, big band jazz, Dixieland and Brazilian music.

DANCE

WINIFRED HAUN & DANCERS
WINIFRED HAUN & DANCERS, under the inspired vision of its artistic director WINI HAUN, has been gracing modern dance stages across the city of Chicago since its inception-- to rave reviews. Wini is that rare breed of dancer/choreographer who also knows how to do budgets so that the phrase "starving artist" doesn't need to apply to her performers as often as it does to others. She does long range planning and arranges for performance opportunities for her dancers�as well as others. With the inception of the NEXTDance Festival to give performance opportunities to emerging and seasoned choreographers, she instigated a Chicago dance institution that gains more attention yearly�and runs in the black, a rare feat for any dance festival. But more than her efficient business sense, what has made her such an audience favorite over the years is her elegant dancing and inventive choreography. Wini is not a new face to Bucktown Arts Fest audiences, having brought her company to dance at the fieldhouse last summer. For 2000, she will perform a 10-minute solo herself, Offer Void, as well as bringing Bucktown audiences a group work, In the First Place, that she has choreographed for her company.

BIOS
WINIFRED HAUN (Founder, artistic director, choreographer, dancer) performed as a soloist with the Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre (JHCDT) from 1985 to 1991, leaving JHCDT to form Winifred Haun & Dancers and pursue choreographic projects. Ms. Haun has been choreographing professionally since 1988, when she founded the Joseph Holmes Pilsen Dance Ensemble as a training company for JHCDT. Ms. Haun has been nominated three times for the Chicago Dance Coalition's prestigious Ruth Page Award. In 1999, she won the Ruth Page Award for Outstanding Contribution to Dance in Chicago. Wini's choreography has been commissioned by Zephyr Dance, Without Shoes Modern Dance Co., Patchwork Dance Co., Barrington Youth Dance Ensemble, Esande Dance Co. and other Midwest and national groups. She has taught modern dance and dance composition at the Chicago Academy for the Arts, Columbia College Chicago, University of Nevada, Illinois Wesleyan University and at numerous festivals and workshops worldwide. During the summer of 1992, Wini taught modern dance at the Beijing National Dance Academy. Wini began her dance training with the Ellis-DuBoulay School of Ballet. She holds a B.A. degree in theatre/ dance from Southern Illinois University.

MATTHEW HOLLIS (Dancer) a native of the Chicagoland area, recently began his dancing career. Pursuing acting and improvisation, he began his study of dance at Columbia College. His teachers have included Jan Erkert, Deborah Siegel, and Dardi McGinley Gallivan. Matthew's choreography will be produced as part of the Motivity Festival in May. This is his first season with WH&D.

MEGAN MILLS (Dancer) is originally from Indianapolis. She graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio with a BS in Business and performed with Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre in 1997 and 1999. Megan also attended two summers at the American Dance Festival in Durham, North Carolina. This is Megan's first season with WH &D.

KAREN MOSES (Dancer) is presently split between dancing in the city and dancing in the corn fields. She holds a BFA degree in dance from Northern Illinois University. Karen is co-artistic director of her own company," Animus," featuring musicians and dancers. They have most recently been seen at Around the Coyote Festival 2000. This is Karen's first season with WH&D.

SHANNON PRETO (Dancer) has been living and dancing in Chicago since 1996. His Chicago career finishes its circular path with his dancing for Winifred Haun, who he first danced for when he arrived in Chicago four years ago. Shannon will be attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, working on his MFA in the Dance/Teaching program. Shannon has also performed with Hedwig Dances, and Sheldon Smith. This is Shannon's 3rd season with WH&D.

KATIE SAIFUKU (Dancer) received a BFA in dance from SUNY-Purchase and studied abroad at Rotterdamse Dansacademie in the Netherlands. She received full scholarships from Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre and Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in New York. Katie is a founding member of Same Planet/Different World. She was a member of Melissa Thodos and Dancers for two years. This is Katie's first season with WH&D.

TORI JANE TAYLOR (Dancer) is a native of Springfield, IL. She danced with the Springfield Ballet Company before moving to Chicago and receiving a BA in dance from Barat College in Lake Forest. While at Barat, Tori studied with Rory Foster, Eileen Cropley, Julie Cartier, Harriet Ross and others. She has danced with TJ & Company Dance Theatre and she currently studies with Brian Jeffrey and other artists. This is Tori's first season with WH&D.

TERESA Y LOS PREFERIDOS

Under the artistic direction of TERESA CULLEN, TERESA Y LOS PREFERIDOS is a Spanish dance repertory company founded in 1981. Members of the troupe, its apprentices and students are residents of the greater Chicago area and suburbs who originally come from all parts of the globe, including the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, and the US. All have a strong background in ballet, modern or both. The company has a repertoire of over 100 neo-classical, regional, and flamenco dances from noted flamenco dance choreographers such as Ciro, Manolo Marin, Luis Montero, Manolo Rivera, Nana Lorca (wife of Jose Lorca) and the late Maria Alba (for whom an annual study scholarship is given in her name by Teresa y los Preferidos).

The artistic mission of Teresa y Los Preferidos is to bring Spanish dance to the widest audience possible, especially to those of Spanish heritage. They have performed at colleges (Wright College, University of Illinois), museums, festivals (Celtic Fest, Taste of Chicago, the Petrillo Bandshell), special events (the Mayor's Millennium Dinner), and restaurants (La Tasca in Arlington Heights and Cafe Baba-Reeba in Chicago). The company's Community Outreach and Education Program includes residency programs in schools and specially tailored school programs and workshops. Each year in the fall, a performance-lecture concert series for schoolchildren is held at the Harold Washington Library.

Teresa y Los Preferidos also brings the best instruction from the world of Spanish dance to Chicago by sponsoring master classes and workshops open to all dancers, and ongoing classes at all levels. Jaleo Magazine said of the company: "The training and experience of the entire company, combined with the excitement of the live flamenco guitar music and brilliantly colorful costumes results in a show that satisfied the eyes, the ears and the soul!" Performing for Bucktown 2000 audiences in excerpts from the company's newest dance, De Amor y Muerte, a flamenco fable set after Shakespeare's OTHELLO, will be lead dancers Juan "El Polaco" Kowalski as Othello and Corinne Marschke as Desdemona.

BIOS

TERESA CULLEN (Director) is the founder and artistic director of Teresa y Los Preferidos. She began ballet studies with Edna McRae, continuing with Larry Long, Anna Baker, and Barbara Abrams DuBosq. She studied jazz with Michael Frederics and Joel Hall, and modern dance with Frederics and at Columbia College. Teresa's love of Spanish dance has led her to extensive study of the regional, classical and flamenco dance forms in both Spain and the US. In Spain, she has studied with Ciro, Paco Romero, La Tati, and Carmela Greco. In this country, she has studied under well known master teachers Maria Alba, Jose Marin, Luis Montero and Manolo Rivera. Teresa's performance list goes on to include an extensive number of performances, including over four hundred school shows at Daley Plaza, the Aurora Festival of Lights, Grant Park, Museum of Science and Industry, The Field Museum, The Milwaukee Museum and the festival of the Zarzuela in El Paso.

CIRO (De Amor y Muerte creator, choreographer) was born into a Castillian family of flamenco aficionados. He followed his family's wishes to study law, but never lost sight of his childhood dream of becoming a dancer. As a student, he secretly took dance lessons and finally made the move to Madrid, where his skills were honed by such masters as La Quica, Antonio Marin, Maria Obard, Antonio Ruiz, Hector Zaraspa, and Ana Ivanova. When noted Russian choreographer and artistic director Igor Moiseyev saw Ciro perform, he invited him to New York to meet the great impresario Sol Hurok. Ciro danced for Hurok and was hired on the spot, right in Manhattan's fabled Rainbow Room, signed to an exclusive contract. Ciro set up his own company in New York. He traveled world-wide and founded two tablaos in San Francisco and New Orleans. Ciro collaborated with such greats as Sabicas and the Cordoba guitarist Juan Serrano, as well as the extraordinary dancer Rosa Montoya. Several times, he performed to full houses and rave reviews at Lincoln Center. In recent years, he has dedicated himself to teaching in Madrid without giving up his work as a choreographer. In 1995, Ciro was honored in an international tribute to his artistry at the Centro Flamenco Puro in Utrecht, Holland. Ciro continues to give master classes at dance schools and universities in Spain, Germany, the US, Israel, The Netherlands and other countries. Among the artists who have been Ciro's students and participated in dances he has choreographed are Lola Greco, Sara Baras, Aida Gomez, Blanca del Rey, Merche Esmeralda, Maria Benitez, Juan Mata, Jose Molina, and Carmen Maura. Teresa y Los Preferidos was proud to premiere Ciro's De Amor y Muerte in Chicago this May at the Harold Washington Library.

JUAN "EL POLACO" KOWALSKI (Othello/Dancer) was introduced to Spanish dance at Northeastern Illinois University by Dame Libby Komaiko, where he later became a member of her company, Ensemble Espa�ol. There he also studied ballet, jazz, and modern dance. El Polaco first joined Teresa y Los Preferidos in 1986, where he continued to study Spanish dance under the direction of Teresa Cullen. He has also participated in workshops with Maria Alba, Manolo Rivera, Luis Montero, Paco Alonso and Ciro. He continued studying ballet at the Bryant Ballet Studio and modern dance at Northwestern University under Brian Jeffery. He has performed with The Reading Circus at the Beverly Library, and with Poets on Pedestals in BABEL: THE VOICES OF LANGUAGE in the Winter Garden of the Harold Washington Library, STAGED SILENCES at the Chicago Cultural Center and in IDENTITIES: LOST & FOUND at the Logan Square Branch of the Chicago Public Library. El Polaco has guest starred with companies throughout the Midwest, and has been a member of many Spanish dance companies run by such luminaries as flamenco master guitarist Tomas de Utrera's Manteca Colora and the fiery flamenco dancer Azucena Vega's Soul and Duende.

CORINNE MARSCHKE joined Teresa y Los Preferidos in 1997, and has studied Spanish dance with Teresa, Vida Peral, Omayra Amays, Marija Temo, and Gloria de Jerez (and in workshops at Teresa's with Ciro, Manolo Rivera, Luis Montero, and Christian Almodovar). She recently returned from Spain ,where she worked with Ciro, Yolanda Heredia, Paco Romero, and Manuel Reyes. Corinne grew up in New Jersey, studying ballet and tap with Olia Balch, and performing professionally Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Philippine dance with Carmencita Wood. Her dance experience since moving to Illinois also includes studying ballroom dance with Richard Dodge, modern dance with Christina Ernst and Brian Jeffery, and ballet with Barbara Abrams DuBosq.

POETS ON PEDESTALS presents THE HULA GIRLS in GRASS SKIRTS MADE OF LEAVES, A TRIBUTE TO WALT WHITMAN.

This year folk dancer RHONDA FEREN (who for the last few years has portrayed "The Book" in the POETS ON PEDESTALS performances of THE BOOK OF LIVING POETS at the Bucktown Arts Fest) will be joined by poet and painter LILY GAINES (another member of Poets on Pedestals who was seen at former Bucktown Arts Fests in IMAGES FOR THE MARIMBA MUSE and RONDEL) and (yours truly) poet, artistic director and the Bucktown Arts Fest Theater and Dance curator EFFIE MIHOPOULOS in a portable poetry performance event. The three HULA GIRLS will move throughout the Fest in grass skirts made of poetry leaves with Walt Whitman quotes attached. Bucktown Arts Fest attendees are welcome to pluck a leaf and take it home with them as a souvenir once they have read the poetry quote. The performance will continue until all the leaves have been distributed to Whitman bibliophiles�but don't worry, denuding the performing "trees" of their leafy accoutrements won't leave them "bare": the costume skirts will be worn over other "festive" clothes.

NANA SHINEFLUG

NANA SHINEFLUG, the august artistic director of the CHICAGO MOVING COMPANY, one of the city's first modern dance companies that still continues, miraculously, to flourish, will perform an improvisational solo. Nana is one of the dance community's favored dance teachers because of her rigorous teaching technique and her avid sense of humor. She is a stalwart survivor: after her highly successful dance studio above the Biograph was shut down (because the thud of dancers' feet made too much noise for the retail space renters below), her next studio was flooded out, The whole building burned down when lightening struck the space that housed the next studio she operated. Currently she is a faculty member of the Interdisciplinary Arts Department of Columbia College Chicago, but she has taught almost everywhere throughout the city and elsewhere. Even though she tours many places with her company, she also travels avidly herself, having just returned from a trip to Brazil.

-- Effie Mihopoulos