(Posted March 8, 2010)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- One of the unique features of Juniata College Theatre is its collaboration with the professional artists of The Gravity Project. Theatergoers will get the chance to see vignettes from works in progress by members of the professional troupe as part of "Gravity Hothouse" at 7:30 p.m., Friday, March 19 and Saturday, March 20 in the von Liebig Theatre in the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts.

Admission to the production is $7 for adults and $4 for students. To inquire about tickets and other information, please call (814) 641-3000.

The lineup for the "Hothouse" production includes the work "Two Huts," conceived and performed by Stephanie Skura and Kate Clarke. Stephanie Skura is associate artistic director for The Gravity Project. She also runs her own dance company and has toured in 27 of the United States and 13 countries.

Kate Clarke, assistant professor of theatre at Juniata College, has performed on regional stages in New York, Seattle, Edinburgh, San Francisco, Jacksonville, New Orleans and Denver. Clarke has taught acting, movement and voice at The University of Washington, Tulane University, and CUNY Hunter College. At Juniata, Clarke directed "Pippin," "Angels in America" and "Twelfth Night."

"Annelle," is a piece written and performed by Jennifer Peterman, a New York-based writer-performer. "Annelle" is a character vignette that is part of a larger solo work "Admit One," also written by Peterman. She recently performed "Annelle," at The Peoples Improv Theater and the piece was selected for the " Women at Work Festival" this fall. She earned a bachelor's degree in drama from Syracuse University.

"Mental Open Mind," a theatre work by Kennedy Brown, will explore unique ways for exploring the voice, movement, and text in performance. Brown works as head of speech and dialects at the Stella Adler Studio in Los Angeles, Calif., He also is an instructor of voice and movement at Cal State University-Fullerton.

Two vignettes, "Fractured Spheres" and "Schtick," will be performed by Gravity Project member Rick Wamer. Wamer co-directs Theatrical Mime Theatre in Tucson, Ariz., and the School for Mime Theatre at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.

"Untitled" is a work incorporating a choreographed trapeze duet with Gravity Project performers Nathan Dryden and Katie Rutterer. Dryden is a performing artist-choreographer specializing in aerial dance, improvisation, and the Skinner Releasing Technique. At Juniata he created and directed "airstonewater" with Erica Kauffman, a member of The Gravity Project, and "...and they lay, not awake, yet dreaming without sleep." Rutterer is a dancer/choreographer based in Tucson, Ariz. She runs her own dance company, Zuzi.

The final piece is "Untitled," a dance performance conceived and performed by Erica Kaufman. Kaufman Erica Kaufman is a dancer, choreographer and founder of the Lîla Yoga Institute. Kaufman has toured as a performer and teacher in Germany, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Hungary with Mark Taylor's Dance Alloy and the Jewish German Dance Theatre. She has taught at Point Park College Dance Conservatory, Penn State University and the University of Denver.




Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.