AMP: Artists' Meeting Place and Resource Collective

Call for Applications 2010
Activist Performance Series

www.emergenyc.org

APPLICATION DEADLINE:
FEBRUARY 17TH, 2010

The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at New York University
is now accepting applications for its third year of EMERGENYC, the
Hemispheric New York Emerging Performers Program. This is the second year of
Activist Performance (“artivism”) series. EMERGENYC aims to support the
development of New York-based artists ages 18 to 28 through a program of
workshops and events between April 3rd and June 18th, 2010 (see “The
Program” section below for details). We seek talented, committed and highly
motivated young activists/artists/performers whose work functions as a
vehicle for political expression and social change, and who examine the
broad range of identities, practices and histories of the Americas (the
western hemisphere, thus “hemispheric”) through genres such as spoken word,
street performance, political cabaret, performance art, video performance,
movement, and others.

Why Hemispheric New York?
New York City is a space of transformation in which expressive practices
from throughout the Americas come into contact and combine into new artistic
forms. The constant encounters and collisions of African-, Native-, Asian-,
Latino- and European- American cultures that define the City, combined with
the multiple political and counter-cultural movements that have flourished
on its streets, are a key source of the artistic and activist innovation
that has long characterized New York City. Experimental performance, hip-hop
and salsa are powerful examples of the hemispheric fusions that the City’s
neighborhoods have incubated. Anti-consumerism activism like Reverend
Billy’s Church of Stop Shopping, artistic interventions such as the Guerilla
Girls and Fulana’s If You Fear Something, You’ll See Something poster
campaign are examples of the innovative conjunction of art and political
protest. Drawing on this vitality, the program will enable young
activists/performers to work with leading practitioners in the field, to
take interdisciplinary leaps, and to develop their own strategies to use
performance for social change.

The Program
Between April and June, the selected participants will take part in weekly
workshops led by George Emilio Sánchez as well as by invited
artists/activists such as Susana Cook, Reverend Billy and Savitri D, Karen
Finley, Anna Deavere Smith, Fulana, Pamela Sneed, Peggy Shaw, Lorie Novak,
and others. One of the goals of this series is to work in all five boroughs
in New York City. We ask applicants to define social issues that are
important to them and to find a bridge to communities around those issues.
Past participants have explored themes of racism and racial stereotypes;
LGBTQ rights; war and human rights; gender and sexual violence; religion;
and gentrification, among others. They have created performance pieces
around these issues, interviewed members of various communities, and led
workshops in community programs (such as GLOBE/Make the Road New York), etc.

The program will be divided into three phases. Phase 1: every Saturday
10am-2pm from April 3rdt to May 8th, participants work closely with George
Emilio Sánchez in developing performance and activist strategies, such as
Boalian techniques, performance art and site-specific interventions. Phase
2: intensive daily sessions from May 15- 22, participants work closely with
leading activists, artists and scholars, and explore specific tactics for
work in the field (street performance, interviewing, videotaping, seeing
other people’s work, etc.). Phase 3: every Saturday from May 29th to June
12th participants develop their work with communities/groups of interest
throughout the City, building on the strategies explored through the
workshops. Final event (June 18th): participants will share their
strategies, performances, and experiences in a public forum at the
Hemispheric Institute.

This program has a fee of $1000. Some financial aid will be available on a
need basis. Program will be contingent on enrollment. Minimum number of
participants: 10. Maximum number of participants: 18.

To see the program schedule for the past two years, visit:
http://www.emergenyc.org

Who Is Eligible

EMERGENYC is now open to activists/artists/performers between the ages of 18
to 28 who live in New York City. Applicants must have prior experience in
activism and/or various performance genres. The program welcomes
applications from individuals enrolled in the City’s colleges and
universities AND from those who are not currently pursuing formal higher
education.

How to Apply

Please send the following materials to hemi.newyork@nyu.edu no later than
February 17th 2010:

Completed application form

A resume or biographical statement (maximum 500 words) that tells us about
who you are, where you are from, your performance background and your
current projects.

A statement of purpose (maximum 750 words) describing the reasons you want
to participate in EMERGENYC. Please also describe the specific issues you
would want to address through the program and any preliminary ideas about
the communities where you would ground this work.

two letters of recommendation, which your recommenders must send directly to
hemi.newyork@nyu.edu

Selected participants will be notified the week of March 1st; registration
payment will be due March 15th; and program activities will begin on
Saturday, April 3rd.

The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics is a collaborative,
multilingual and interdisciplinary consortium of institutions, artists,
scholars, and activists throughout the Americas. The organization’s mission
is to map new areas of knowledge based on understanding embodied
practice—performance—as a way of creating new meaning and transmitting
cultural values, memory and identity. Through courses, work groups,
conference/festivals, a digital video library, an online scholarly journal,
a tri-lingual website, and public forums, the Institute explores the
relationship between expressive behavior and social and political life in
the Americas.

For more information on the Hemispheric Institute, please visit:
http://hemisphericinstitute.org

from Franklin Furnace