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Access to Art, Inc.
A N.J. not for profit
417 E. Pacific Ave.
Cape May Court House, N.J.
Press Release/for immediate release
From: Barbara J. Beitel
Telephone: (609) 465-3963
CAROLYN DORFMAN DANCE COMPANY TO
EXPLORE, JOY, SORROW, THE HOLOCAUST, AND THE 104TH
PSALM AT PROGRAM FOR THE SCHOOLS WITH LIVE MUSIC WITH
THE MONDRIAN ENSEMBLE APRIL 20th
Cape May. Isn’t it wonderful when art
can convey a powerful story telling us so much more that
the mere facts? Access to Art will bring powerful art
to area schools that comments on life, on justice, on
the Holocaust, on joy, on art, on music. They will
present Carolyn Dorfman’s Backstage Pass and Access to
Art’s annual in- school dance residency with the Carolyn
Dorfman Dance Company at a lecture/demonstration
on April 20th in both Cape May and
Atlantic Counties. At 9 a.m., the Lower Cape May
Regional High School PAC will play host to the dance
company.
“We have presented the only concert
dance in the area.” Barbara Beitel, said. “We want to
educate people in this very American form of dance,
modern dance, like Jazz an American invention, peculiar
to our people, beloved in Europe and Asia. We have
presented Martha Graham Dance Company, Miami City
Ballet, Robert Battle’s Battleworks, Paul Taylor’s
Taylor 2, and lots of other dance companies. This is
our l0th weekend of dance coming up May l9th at the
Middle Township PAC and we invite people to join us as
we comment on life with the arts.” Beitel said.
At l:30 p.m., April 20th,
Charter Tech Performing Arts High School will open their
doors to an hour and a half performance, for schools,
with live music from the Mondrian Ensemble. Students
are invited to learn about the structure of modern
dance, the particular dances scheduled for the weekend,
and the creative process that goes into making such
dances. Dorfman is moved by her life; and she is the
daughter of Holocaust survivors, so, often, she reflects
on that. Just as often she reflects on love, on irony,
on humor, on the immigrant experience, on joy, covering
the gamut of human experience, and telling stories in
her dance.
The in school event on April 20th
precedes Access to Art’s dance weekend scheduled for May
l9th at the Middle Township Performing Arts Center
beginning at 7:30 p.m. in which Carolyn Dorfman Dance
Company will present four dances: the Klezmer
Piece, about Jewish community life in Eastern
Europe prior to the Holocaust savoring the life of the
community in its weddings, religious feasts at the
family table, and folk customs before the shadow of the
Holocaust fell on Europe, Pastoral Pause,
about the joys of nature, Cat’s Cradle,
about Teresianstad, featuring dancers who represent her
mothers and aunts who lived through the period of the
Holocaust when the Nazi’s sent the Jews who were
intellectuals and artists to that “model” camp which was
a fraud whose final destination was death. Dorfman
uses songs of an inmate of the camp, who dealt in
irony, and sang about the little man who lost his
suitcase, and lastly, her new work to be premiered in
Middle Township for Access to Art, “He Walks on
the Wings of the Wind,” the l04th
psalm, a work often illustrated by Sam Maitin whom she
will honor with the dance. It will be held at the
Middle Township PAC March l9th starting at 7:30 p.m.
with two films on Maitin, preceding the event, both done
by area film makers, Craig Rinkerman,” Sam Maitin, a
Celebration,” and Susannah Newman, “Sam’s World,” a
dance short with Maitin’s art embedded in the film
through which the dancers dance.
On April 20th, the
Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company will be at the Lower Cape
May Regional Performing Arts Center at 9-l0 a.m. This
event is open to the public and other schools are
cordially invited.. In the afternoon, they will spend
an hour and a half at Charter Tech Performing Arts High
School on New Rd. in Somers Point. Still later, Carolyn
Dorfman will rehearse students who will be on stage in
her final performance. “Sam Maitin always welcomed the
community to anything he did; he was all about
community. So we are including the community in a
celebration of his spirit, and his art.” Barbara Beitel,
founder of Access to Art, Inc. said. “I saw Carolyn
Dorfman down here at the PAC a year ago, when Dance New
Jersey brought down ten dance companies, and I
instinctively knew that she was to one to create a dance
honoring Maitin. They both have that warm, loving
creative spirit, full of joy but a joy that has also
known sorrow. Sam has a fabulous humor. Dorfman’s
parents were Holocaust survivors.
Maitin’s family grew up in Russia
and experienced pograms. They are both first generation
Jews in a new land, and both have a love of liberty, and
a love of life that is exemplary. They take nothing for
granted. Creativity pours out of them. Dorfman is
bringing a new work, Cat’s Cradle, which
received rave reviews by the Newark Star Ledger’s dance
critic. It’s about Teresianstadt, the concentration
camp that they sent artists, intellectuals, etc. to in
Czechoslovakia. Some of the songs were written by
someone in that camp. It’s powerful. It makes us
reflect on the nature of evil and how it occurs when
good men do nothing, and when they get duped by what
they want to believe.” Beitel said. “Maitin knew that
truth had to be pursued, and fought for.” she said.
“Carolyn does know this too.” “Neither of them were
bitter, but both are very vibrant creative people.
Knowing them energizes you about what is important.” she
said.
In the afternoon, at l:30 p.m. they
will present their Backstage Pass program
at Charter Tech Performing Arts High School at New Road
in Somers Point. They will bring Mondrian Ensemble
performers, Aurelia Mika Chang, Juilliard MM, and
Michael Ludwig, formerly associate concertmaster for the
Philadelphia Orchestra, currently serving as
concertmaster for the Philly Pops and the Buffalo
Philharmonic. They will perform live music for the new
piece, He Walks on the Wings of the Wind,
choreographed by Carolyn Dorfman to honor Philadelphia
artist, Sam Maitin, commissioned by Access to Art, Inc.
Dorfman says of her process: “With
premiere and repertory performances, our Backstage Pass
concert offers unique opportunities. As both observers
and participants student and community audiences are
engaged in a dance concert and learn about the artistic
work, and the process by which it is made. They watch,
respond, move and create in a unique art experience.
Backstage Pass ends with audience members joining CDDC
on stage and/or in their seats to create a final dance
together. An artist/audience discussion concludes the
performance.
For Access to Art, Inc., Dorfman
will premiere a new piece, He Walks on the Wings
of the Wind, ending her
performance on May l9th with the choreography which will
include area dance students in the performance, and in
the audience, creating a mood in which the audience will
also participate in celebrating the life of Sam Maitin.
“Maitin was a genius, and his gift, to us, was joy,
color, life, celebration.” Beitel said. “He fought
evil wherever he found it, and marched, in Philadelphia
with the Quakers on civil rights, campaigned with the
Christian Association at Penn against quotas for
students of ethnicity, illustrated works for just
causes, lobbied against warfare and nuclear armaments,
was a member of SANE, and was, in all things, a just and
good man, a mensch.” Beitel said. “I was proud to know
him, proud to have him teach me, happy to see the second
commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” illustrated
by his life. He was never indifferent to the plight of
his fellow human being; he actively supported life in
all its manifestations, and rejected evil. He loved
artists, whom he considered prophets, since they
heralded the issues of the age. He was very alive, and
never boring, and very, very funny,” Beitel said.
For information, or tickets, call
Access to Art, Inc. at (609) 465-3963. |
