CCR is proud to introduce the Catalyst Arts Roster.
A project of the Addition Research and Treatment Corporation (ARTC) and the Urban Research Institute (URI) in New York, the Artcurian Mural Project is believed to be the largest group of mural-sized paintings ever created by African Diaspora Artists. On display at an ARTC treatment facility in Brooklyn, the collection is dramatic evidence of a unique collaboration to position artists and great art at the heart of ARTC’s services to the community. Through the vision and with the support of Dr. Beny Primm, the CEO of ARTC and URI, forty African, African American, Caribbean and Latin American artists formed a creative collective to articulate this new approach to community healthcare and creative entrepreneurship, using art. www.artcurian.org
Arawana Hayashi brings her background in performing arts into leadership training for organizational and social change. A dancer, choreographer, and movement teacher with roots in Asian and Western arts, Arawana is a co-founder of the Presencing Institute, where she developed the Social Presencing Theater. She has been on the Creative Process faculty of ALIA’s Shambhala Institute for Authentic Leadership in Halifax, Nova Scotia and teaches in the Authentic Leadership Program at Naropa University in Boulder, CO. Arawana’s workshop in creative process, The Art of Making a True Move, has been presented in educational institutions, meditation centers, and organizational settings throughout the world. Arawana invites individuals and groups to discover their natural creativity, paying attention to their own physicality and environment. www.arawanahayashi.com
A highly regarded musician, visionary and spiritual teacher, Fred Johnson inspires people to be conduits of justice, joy, truth and creative potential. Having studied the West African natural healing indigenous music traditions, he brings to the contemporary world a fusion of ancient sound traditions coupled with 21st century science on the power of the vibration universe. Fred has been involved in the development of global programs in America, Europe and the Middle East, bringing people together from diversified spiritual and cultural backgrounds to create artistic forums for learning, sharing, reconciliation, vision and hope. A founding member of the Transformational Leadership Council, Fred is Artistic Director for Creative Content at Intersections International and is the author of Quiet Callings: A Spirit Guided Journey. www.frejon.org
Dancer/Choreographer Heidi Latsky is a moving force in the dance world as a choreographer for stage, theater and film. She received national recognition as a celebrated principal dancer for Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance and in the critically-acclaimed duo Goldhuber & Latsky. In 2001 she founded her own company, Heidi Latsky Dance. Essential to her exploration of the human condition through movement, Heidi regularly collaborates with various social service and humanitarian organizations. Her work with various marginalized communities has led to groundbreaking outreach programs that use the transforming power of movement to help people heal and find their voice. Her stunningly original GIMP project features trained dancers and performers who have physical disabilities. www.heidilatskydance.net
Created by former dancer Edward Henkel, MovementTalks is a series of dialogues about the power of dance to act as a catalyst for personal and social change. Henkel explains “This idea grew out of the convergence of two ideas. First, my growing awareness of the delicate balance we find ourselves in as a global community that is exponentially using up and destroying its natural resources. And secondly, my awareness that for most people, dance is something we do socially or enjoy as an entertainment. I realized that few people comprehend how dance can act as a tool for social awareness and change.” The inaugural program titled “Escape Velocity/The Dancing Earth” features choreographers Christopher Caines, Hilary Easton and Jill Sigman in a discussion about dance and the environment.
Founded by Radha Kramer, The TE’A Project uses interactive theatre to inspire young people to build peace by crossing the barriers of race, class, culture and religion in America’s communities. TE’A combines story collection, theatrical performance, and facilitated dialogue in a process that makes it possible for people to engage imaginatively with the barriers of social and cultural differences that divide us. The process combines time-tested techniques of interactive, documentary-style theatre with the Insight Approach – a new breakthrough in the theory and practice of conflict resolution. Its current production, Under the Veil: Being Muslim (and non-Muslim) in America, post 9/11, was written and developed by the TE’A Company/NYC in 2009 and has been performed at schools, churches and public assembly spaces throughout the Northeast. www.teaproject.com
A unique multi-cultural hybrid, the TA KA DI MI Project is comprised of four-time Grammy Award-winning percussion legend Glen Velez and rhythm voice master Lori Cotler performing original compositions derived from music of the Mid-East, Central Asia and the Mediterranean region. TA KA DI MI represents the primal rhythm cycle of four beats, which leads the mind from the mystical realm of numbers and into the sublime world of music and sound. A multifarious array of frame drums, bird calls and exotic noisemakers blend with South Indian Konnakol drum language, soulful melodies and jazz-inflected scat, to deliver a breathtaking performance of pure rhythm and pulse, melding ancient cultures with a modern day aesthetic.
For ARTISTS and ARTS ORGANIZATIONS that want to be considered for the CATALYST ARTISTS’ ROSTER, please contact Victor Gotesman at 212.864.7827 or gotesman@ccr-arts.org.