2016, Bilingual, Education, Film, Past, Screenings, Storytelling, Visual Art, Workshops

TV Pilot Workshop

Posted on by Alejandro
Loisaida Inc. presents:

TV Pilot Workshop

Dates: July 9, 16, 23, 30

Time: 11:00am-2:00pm

Register: here.

Location: 710 East Ninth Street New York NY 10009

Workshop provided by WEPA (Workshops, Entertainment and  Professional Artists) Composed of three young Latino leaders in which are Arilyn I. Martinez Cora, Andres Lopez and Anoushka Medina. Their objective is to create expand and develop the visual arts within the community of Loisaida.

Overview:
In this workshop we will teach participants how to make a TV pilot for  TV and all the internet platforms. The components of the workshop are:
• Acting
• Writing
• Directing
• Production
• The use of the camera and sound gear
• Also a general class about wardrobe, make up and set-design

Acting
In this workshop we will touch the theory and practice of acting for camera. We start with the origin and development of acting. In the workshop the community will be able to experiment and develop acting skills.
• The principal idea is to educate through acting games and developing the ability of acting for a scripted show.
• Example: Alert, Concentration and teamwork.
In this game the class will gain confidence and let go their insecurities in the space as a group.

Writing
In this workshop we will teach and explain the parts of the script. The first setup is where we describe the characters life, how characters relate to each other and what specific event changes the life of the character. The second step is to develop the obstacle of this story. The third is to resolve, which we will cover the moral of the story. The scripted final of the pilot will be a collaboration of the group of the class adapting everyone’s stories.

Directing
In this workshop we will be teaching the necessaries skills to direct actors for camera. Understanding the motivation and obstacle of why the actors should move in the space through the story.
• One of the exercises will be using the stories of the community and see it come to life through improvisation.

Camera & Sound
The use of the camera and sound gear HANDS ON. In this workshop we will teach the mechanics of the camera, basic lighting and what it is a good composition for the story on camera. In terms of sound we will teach how to position the microphone and how to use the sound recorder.

Production
This final workshop creates a plan to shoot the story. We will teach how to breakdown the script, planning a production timeline, and how to organize the departments (cast, crew, equipment, locations).
• Briefly, we will go over wardrobe, makeup and set-design; explaining with the importance of this department with videos and pictures.

 

tv pilot workshop loisaida

2016, Bilingual, Education, Past, Poetry, Residencies, Storytelling, Workshops

#LaSoPA 2016

Posted on by Alejandro

The Loisaida Center is proud to announce

2016 Summer Loisaida Artists in Residence:

The School of Poetic Arts

#LaSopaNYC: Summer 2016

Summer Session: Saturdays, June 18th to July 16th from 11:00am to 3:30pm.

June 11th (online- film response), June 18th, June 25th, July 2nd, July 9th and July 16th (digital office hours on Wednesday evenings plus an online social media capstone class)
Accepted members must pay a membership fee of $150 which provides access to all offline and offline material during the length of the Summer Session I series. Deposit due Friday June 17th.

Ages: 17 and over.
Please send 3 samples of your work & Submit your application here!

Any questions or concerns to LaSopaNYC@gmail.com or info@loisaida.org

Eventbrite - La Sopa Bookcase

Overview:

La Sopa is facilitated by established members of the arts community who are seasoned teaching artists. The founders, as poets began the series with poetry workshops, and have plans to expand the series to include many more artistic disciplines. With their finger on the pulse of the arts movement throughout the tri-state area, they have access to professors and teaching artists who are knowledgeable in many different arenas. Their pedagogy is that of a Community S.T.E.A.M. program with a special focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics, as it pertains to adult innovators seeking mastery of arts or entrepreneurship.

Full rollout includes coursework in:

S cience: The use of social sciences in identity and influence, reader/ audience perception, interaction, understanding of community needs, and the development of approaches by which these needs might be fulfilled. * (which will include traditional and social media marketing)

T echnology: The use of cutting edge phone/computer apps and tools for writers and artists along with best practices in use of Social Media engagement.

E ngineering: Sound and Stage Engineering for Theatrical classes and/or Music Production as well as App creation.

A rts: Prose and Poetry Writing, Performance, Acting, Screenplay, Vocal, Live Paint, Comic Book/Graphic Novel art, Web Design.

M athematics: Financial Education Classes with a focus on ground level issues such as credit, saving for retirement, and real estate for first home/condo/co-op.

The School of Poetic Arts (La SoPA NYC) is an educational workshop series from Capicu Culture that provides a communal space dedicated to the development of artistic skill and exploring the core principles of theatrical and literary expression. Join us as the first official class of our Artist residency at The Loisaida Center, Inc! As artists and scholars from historically marginalized communities, we feel that it is important to create opportunities for our stories to be seen, read, and heard. La Sopa provides a platform for those voices to be supported and uplifted, increasing the proliferation of creative works across the artistic spectrum. Our time together, generating and editing works, launching new ideas and projects, is an inspirational way to end each week and begin anew. We look forward to the return of our previous participants, as well as the addition of new voices that will enrich the experience.

The Capicu School of Poetic Arts (La SoPA)

Writers of all levels of experience are welcome to join us for this new Summer 2016 season of La Sopa, at the Loisaida Center, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC.

This multi-level educational workshop series provides a communal space dedicated to the development of artistic skill, while exploring the core principles of theatrical and literary expression. We look forward to collaborating with the Loisaida Center, an organization aspiring to build a connection between community learners, artists, and scholars through affordable education opportunities in cultural fields. As artists and scholars from historically marginalized communities, we feel that it is important to create opportunities for our stories to be seen, read, and heard. La Sopa provides a platform for those voices to be supported and uplifted, increasing the proliferation of creative works across the artistic spectrum.

Our time together, generating and editing works, launching new ideas and projects, is an inspirational way to end each week and begin anew. We look forward to the return of our previous participants, as well as the addition of new voices that will enrich the experience.

Outcomes:

La Sopa is rooted in a vision of the artist as cultural worker, in the longstanding tradition of the creative community of the Lower East Side. La Sopa’s founders, administrators, and faculty all believe strongly in the power of creativity to affect change in society. This program is the result of their shared commitment to provide a dynamic environment for diverse communities of artists to convene, work on craft, develop their voices within community, and publicly promote that work through the use of social media and other technologies. A strong familial dynamic underpins the program’s dedication to quality of content, as well as the reversal of destructive forces within our creative community. As the program expands its support base and builds its community, La Sopa will engage faculty and students similarly rooted in cultural work and community betterment.

Profile:

La Sopa (School of Poetic Arts): is a community-based arts program with its intellectual roots in the poetics of the Nuyorican, Black Arts, and Beat movements. From its home base at Loisaida Inc., a historic enclave for artists and people of color on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, La Sopa serves as an incubator for poets, performers, and other creatives to explore and expand their artistic selves, develop their voices, distribute the works in live performance and exhibition, and promote their works in various media. La Sopa (School of Poetic Arts) is a program of Capicu Poetry & Cultural Showcase, led by Juan “Papo Swiggity” Santiago (Director of Operations), Jani Rose (Director of Education) and George Torres (Director of Engagement), with pedagogical contributions by author Rich Villar.

 

2016, Bilingual, Caribbean, Events, Film, Music, Past, Screenings, Visual Art

Bori-Queer-Chichos and Joy Film Screening

Posted on by Alejandro

Saturday, June 4th 2016, at The Loisaida Center

Description

Macha Colón, a character created by the multidisciplinary artist Gisela Rosario Ramos, will headline this event with a screening of the documentary film “El Hijo De Ruby”. Macha Colón y Los Okapi was in the line up of Loisaida Festival, and will perform at the New Museum on Thursday in conjunction with art work by resident Beatriz Santiago Muñoz. We are lucky to feature her in an intimate setting at the Loisaida Center along with one of the subjects of her film, Lionel Villahermoso, who will also perform.

This event is a run-up to a short film festival at the end of the month Comi/Cine which fuses culinary arts with film-making. In line with the themes of the Loisaida Festival, refreshments will be served.

2016, Bilingual, Children Friendly, Dance/Movement, Education, Events, Family Activities, Festival, Music, Partnerships, Past, Performance, Plena, Puppetry, Residencies, Senior, Theater, Visual Art, Workshops, Youth

The 29th Loisaida Festival

Posted on by Alejandro

The largest community pride event in Manhattan’s most historic neighborhood.

Sunday, May 29th 2016. Avenue C – The Lower East Side.

Background

Since 1987 the Loisaida Festival has been celebrated the Sunday before Memorial Day weekend in the Manhattan neighborhood known as the Lower East Side, the East Village, or Loisaida. This event is the largest community pride festival in the neighborhood and grows annually in size, excitement, and impact. It is presented in the Avenue C commercial corridor-renamed Loisaida Avenue since 1989.

The Loisaida Festival includes diverse manifestations of the Puerto Rican and Latino cultures expressed through music, cuisine and arts. Although it began as a community event to celebrate the culture, heritage and accomplishments of Loisaida’s Puerto Rican/Hispanic community, the event has created a multi-cultural spirit where people from all races and backgrounds descend from all parts on the city into this historic and eclectic neighborhood.The Loisaida Festival has also created a platform for Loisaida’s Latino and, now growing, non-Latino neighborhood residents and families that come together on the day of the event to share and celebrate the Memorial Day Holiday as well as their social and cultural differences.

The program includes musical concerts, dance performances, folkloric musical presentations, and arts and crafts exhibitions that showcase the work of artisans that represent diverse ethnic groups and nationalities. It also serves as a vehicle to disseminate critical community information distributed by employees and volunteers of many local and city-wide health and human services organizations.The Loisaida Festival is sponsored by Loisaida Inc., the oldest Puerto Rican non-for-profit organization in the neighborhood.

Loisaida, Inc. was founded in 1979 to address the problem of social and economic disenfranchisement of poor, low income and working class residents of the Lower East Side. Over the years, Loisaida has provided comprehensive education, training and employment opportunities that have targeted young adults. It has also worked with local businesses in neighborhood economic development activities as a means to promote entrepreneurship and help create jobs for local residents.

The festival weekend attracts over 15,000 participants every year.

The festival will become an even more significant Loisaida community event and venue as a signature citywide and tourist destination.

Event Objectives

  • Contribute to the preservation and promotion of the Latin American culture of the Lower East Side neighborhood.
  • Enhance, promote and support the artistic-cultural expressions of the Latino and other artists that reside in this community and/or working in the Lower East Side.
  • Provide culturally-relevant, first-class entertainment and educational opportunities for the entire family, neighborhood residents and visitors.
  • In the tradition of this historic New York City neighborhood, known as the “America’s Gateway”, expose non-Latino community residents and visitors to the rich and diverse Latin culture as expressed thorough its music, arts, cuisine and folklore, and promote multi-ethnic understanding and harmony.
  • Provide a platform to disseminate educational, health-specific information and public interest information to community residents, and special needs populations.
  • Remember and recognize Puerto Ricans/Latinos who, through their advocacy and leadership, helped establish and strengthen local institutions, and worked to help improve the economic, educational and social conditions of the Latino community of the Lower East Side.

Location

  • The Festival is held on Avenue C (Loisaida Avenue) from East 12th to East 6th Streets. Parking around the neighborhood is extremely limited, so the best way to get to the festival is Subway.

The closest stations are:

  • L train to First Avenue and 14th Streets
  • Lexington (green line) to Union Square; at Union Station you can transfer to the Eastbound L train to First Avenue
  • F Train to Delancey Street. (free shuttle bus service from this location to festival)

Transportation

  • The First Avenue and 14th Street stop of the L Train is at walking distance from the festival site–Avenue C and 12th Street. Commuters on the Lexington Line [4, 5, and 6] at Union Square can transfer to L, to reach the East Side, or transfer to the Avenue A or D 14th Street cross-town buses and get off on Avenue B and 14th Street.

Visitor’s Tips List

  • This event is free to the public and family-oriented, therefore, no sale or promotion of alcohol and tobacco will be allowed.
  • Pick up a Festival Program and Guide at the Official Loisaida Festival information booth to be stationed on the Southeast corner of Avenue C and 9thh Street.
  • Keep your children engaged and excited with hands-on activities offered at the Children’s Pavilion.
  • Reunite with old friends and relatives at The Placita-Under the Willow Trees, located on the Southwest corner of 9th Street.

2016, Bilingual, Dance/Movement, Education, Events, Partnerships, Past, Senior

Senior Day

Posted on by Alejandro

‘SENIOR DAY’

PROGRAMA

2 DE MAYO, 2016

12:00-12:30pm:

REGISTRO

12:30-1:30pm:

1ra Sesión de Talleres

-ETIQUETAS NUTRICIONALES (IPRO) – Teatro

-ZUMBA – Salón 1

1:30-2:30pm:

COFFEE BREAK

2:30-3:30pm:

2da Sesión de Talleres

-REIKI (sanación y energía) con Malín Falú -Teatro

-TAI CHÍ (ejercicio chino) – Salón 1

3:30-4:30pm:

BOHEMIA con Wally Ruíz – Teatro

2016, Bilingual, Caribbean, Education, Events, Festival, Partners, Puppetry, Residencies, Storytelling, Theater, Visual Art, Workshops

Low Tech High Magic

Posted on by Alejandro

Loisaida Inc. and Casa Múcaro presents:

LOW TECH HIGH MAGIC – FREE COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

Schedule: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:00 pm – 8:00 pm. Starting Monday, May 9th through Sunday, May 29th.

Eventbrite - Low Tech High Magic

Overview:

Create puppets out of recycled and upcycled trash, waste and discarded found materials. Learn how to transform junk into beauty! Spin straw into gold! Art with an ecological, green twist. Create your own wondrous puppet or assist in larger collaborative group puppet project.

Making art with trash is one way of reusing everyday found objects and instead of seen as a nuance, if used right, it could become an object of beautification. The purpose behind this workshop is to create a group of community members, or volunteers, interested in working together to be part of a parade happening on the 25th of May and be part of a pageant, happening right after. As a way of bringing people together with under a similar motif, centered around the Loisaida community’s societal impact as pioneers of urban ecology creative innovation.

We’ll be making masks and big puppets, with “upcycled,” or reused materials and full body masks and costumes, made with reusable and recyclable materials. We’ll be reliving the lives of those that made this neighborhood alive, with those that are present today. Be part of this event and help us exalt the creativity of the Loisaida community towards an ecological mindset. Trash, or daily found objects, will be our best friend for this workshop, as they are a cost-effective material filled with endless applications.

Outcomes:

1. A new contingent will be added to the opening Carnival Procession (Parade) of the Loisaida Festival. An exuberant celebration of Caribbean solidarity, drawing inspiration from Afro-Caribbean mythological symbols, and the resilient creative spirit of looking backwards and forwards: a recognition of all the lives of those that made this neighborhood alive, with those that are present today. (Featuring the collaboration of: Braata Productions, Semi-Upright Cultural Workers Collective,and RMO)

2. Join our Giant Puppet making community workshop Low Tech, High Magic. Learn how to create masks! Parade costumes! Larger-than-life Puppets! Colourful parade floats!

3. Beyond the Parade, join the amazing outdoor street-theatre puppet-pageant that follows as part of the Theater Lab inside La Plaza Cultural!  Be part of this homage to the legacy of Latino community builders from the Young Lords forward in celebration of all lives that make this neighborhood alive.

Workshop is led by Pablo Varona of CASA MUCARO.

Profile:

Casa Mucaro Logo F BlackCasa Múcaro is a collaborative project on a forested mountaintop near Las Marias, Puerto Rico. We are multidisciplinary artists in pursuit of self-sufficiency for ourselves and others, through “the sharing of tools, materials, and know-how.” We envision “termitopia” cities, like termite mounds, in which by means of re-use, or recycling of materials, their citizens understand the benefits of self-managing “waste” generated by their neighborhood and can actively participate in the construction and maintenance of their own city.

Collaborative Practices: Casa Múcaro’s project will feature a collaboration of with Braata Productions, Semi-Upright Cultural Workers Collective, and the Rude Mechanical Orchestra (RMO) with the goal of joining the talents, resources and visions of multiple theater, music, arts and culture collectives working on projects related to the people and culture of Caribbean Islands living in NYC.  It will produce a collection of different works to be presented at the 29th edition of Loisiada Festival and Braata Production’s Caribbean Folk Festival in Jamaica, Queens the following weekend.

Individual Bios:

Bill Birdsall is an artist refugee from Los Angels, with about 40 years of residence now in backwoods Puerto Rico.  Bill went from airplanes to coffee farmers, learning survival skills along the way. He built his own home out of free, discarded fishnet and cement, using a technique he calls nylon-cement.  Bill invents things and posts his inventions on Instructables.com under the name “Thinkenstein”. Search for his “nylon-cement”, PVC, and “tootophone” instructables there, among other things. See his website: http://thinkenstein.info for other things Bill do, like paintings, sculpture and music.

Pablo Varona or “Pablillo José, spends most his time living close to the forested mountaintops of Puerto Rico. At the time, he is a puppeteer, street performer and a supreme believer of juggling as his way through every corner he visits. He is amazed by the immeasurable value that the reuse, recycling and/or “forgotten” objects do when it comes to the transformation of urban contexts. His interests revolve around making these issues relevant and accessible to the general audience, with the hopes that some day we will all learn from its potential uses and collaborate in the creative process of experimenting with the most abundant material out there: Trash. To see more of his work, go to http://www.diminuto.info.

Daniel Polnau has created puppet parades, circuses, and outdoor theatre spectacles for over 30 years. He specializes in creating larger than life puppets out of recycled junk and up-cycled materials making the mundane become extraordinary. Projects and residencies have spanned the globe from Moscow to Bali to Juneau, Alaska to Puerto Rico. Highly collaborative, at the heart of each project he strives to demystify the creative process and quicken the innate creative abilities in all – regardless of age, abilities or arts experience. He is committed to respectfully embracing underserved and marginalized populations.

2016, Bilingual, Books, Children Friendly, Education, Events, Family Activities, Festival, New York History, Partners, Past, Residencies, Storytelling, Visual Art

GUARDIANS OF LOISAIDA

Posted on by Alejandro

Loisaida Inc. is proud to present:

Marvel writer Edgardo Miranda-Rodriguez

Opening Saturday, May 28th 2015 from 1:00PM to 5:00PM.

Miranda-Rodriguez brings an exhibition of original artwork from his best-selling debut comic book Guardians of the Lower East Side from the anthology series Marvel’s Guardians of Infinity.

Guardians of Infinity by MARVEL
Guardians of Infinity by MARVEL

Join Edgardo for a book signing and art talk. Miranda-Rodriguez and his Marvel team will discuss comic book making and how traditional art techniques and digital technologies come together to create today’s comic world heroes. The art talk is part of El LOOP, Loisaida Inc.’s new fair for Latinos in Innovation.

*Exhibition dates are May 31st, 2016 through July 28th, 2016. Gallery is open to the public by appointment and for special tours Monday to Friday 12:00PM – 5:00PM.

Follow Edgardo on Twitter: @MrEdgardoNYC

GuardiansOfLoisaid_KeyArt (2)

2016, Bilingual, Education, Family Activities, New York History, Past, Visual Art, Workshops, Youth

Arts Path to Leadership

Posted on by Alejandro

Loisaida Inc. presents

Arts Path to Leadership with Maria Dominguez

FREE for Ages 15-19

When: 4 Thursdays, April 7, 14, 21, and 28 from 6:30PM – 8:00PM (4 days, 1.5 hours)

Eventbrite - Arts Path to Leadership

Overview:

Maria Dominguez (visual artist, muralist, educator) will use Object Based learning with Loisaida, Inc’s 2015 acclaimed !Presente! Exhibit. While adhering The New York States Department of Education Standards the workshop will lead students to gain access into the contribution of the Puerto Rican community’s cultural, political history while engaging them in a hands-on art project. This exposure can lead students to make global community connections. One that is imperative to the development of young students as they form their character and identity.

ADRIAN_VIAJERO_PRESENTE_03Pedagogy of Object Based Learning:

1. Provides a direct link with a topic or ‘the past’ and can really enhance young people’s interest
in and understanding of a good topic/subject.

2. Encourage learners to use all their senses – especially touch, sight and smell.

3. Helps to develop the important skill of drawing conclusions based on an examination of evidence, together with an understanding of the limitations and reliability of evidence.

4. Ideal for generating group and class discussion.

5. Promote the value of museums and encourage young people to visit museums and galleries with their families to further their learning.

About Maria:

Dominguez Is a Loisaida native who graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 1985 and went on to establish her career as a muralist by achieving an internship with CITYarts Org., a public art organization. This 30 year trajectory in public art making lead to her commission by The Metropolitan Transportation Authority in NYC with a permanent glass installation “El –Views”in 2002. She has exhibited locally, nationally and internationally in numerous solo and group shows, and has received awards from The National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts and New York Foundation for the Arts. Currently, scholars are surveying her early murals and personal professional documents are being archived by The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in NYC.

WHERE
The Loisaida Inc. Center – 710 East 9th Street, New York, NY 10009 – View Map
2016, Bilingual, Books, Education, Partners, Past, Poetry, Politics, Storytelling, Theater, Workshops, X-Change Express, Youth

How to Self Publish Your First Book

Posted on by Alejandro
La SoPA NYC and Loisaida Inc. presents

How To Self Publish Your First Book

A free workshop talking about the process of publishing, editing and promoting your first book using low cost digital tools.
Speakers: Elisabet Velasquez & George Torres

The School of Poetic Arts aka La S.O.P.A. is a producer of diverse poetry and performing arts events in New York City, formed using the philosophies of the most progressive intellectual and artistic movements of the last century (i.e. The Harlem Renaissance, the Beat Poets, Black Arts Movement & most notably the Nuyorican Movement). We were founded in Brooklyn in March 2007 as an Open Mic & made our presence felt immediately by featuring both veterans as well as up-and-coming performers of spoken word, prominent visual artists, comedians, and select musical guests covering the genres of salsa, bomba y plena, progressive hip hop, and more. We have taken our brand to major academic institutions like New York University, Hunter College and Long Island University, and we have also taken our brand to major international corporations like National Grid Energy and Pepsi.

3/30 – 6pm -8pm

2016, Bilingual, Education, Past, Performance, Poetry, Residencies, Storytelling, Theater, Workshops, Youth

Words & Images – Intensive Workshop for Youth

Posted on by Alejandro

Loisaida Inc. presents:

WORDS & IMAGES

FREE Intensive two day workshop with Casa Cruz de la Luna Theater Company

Saturday, April 16 and Sunday, April 17:  1:00P.M.-5:00P.M

Eventbrite - WORDS & IMAGES

Ages 15 – 18

Come and explore how bodies in space create theatrical pictures that can be linked in many ways to spoken and projected words. This workshop combines Brazilian director Augusto Boal´s notions of image theatre with “escritura acto” (computerized writing projected live), a practice we have developed at Casa Cruz de la Luna Theatre. Using the texts generated by the participants some of the exercises will take the form of individual poetry presentations or collective performative sketches.

Instruction will be conducted in English but participants can work in whatever language they choose.

Saturday April 16 and Sunday April 17: 1:00P.M.-5:00P.M.

Facilitated by Casa Cruz de la Luna Company members: Aravind E. Adyanthaya, Alejandra Maldonado and Christopher Cancel.

Requisites:

-Targeted for ages 15-18 years old

-Participants should be able to attend the full two sessions

-Wear clothes comfortable for movement. Bring pen or pencil and notebook.

This workshop is free, but space is limited. Register Today!