Workshop of Dance On Bones at Chesapeake Arts Center in March

Dance on Bones

a theatre experience for actors and jazz musicians

by Dave White

Directed by Yury Urnov

Chesapeake Arts Center, Brooklyn Park, Maryland

March 8, 2015

3:00 P.M.

Sea levels are rising, trees are being ravaged, and jazz may be the only thing that can save our humanity from the Man of Steel. Dance On Bones is inspired by and structured around jazz music, riffing off of the folklore of the jazz scenes in St. Petersburg, Russia and New Orleans, Louisiana; creation myths; flooding cities; and the current environmental circumstances washing away our shores.

The Facts

• Full length poetic drama for actors and jazz musicians
• Actors:  Ren Marie, Kelsey Painter, Elizabeth Scollan
• Musicians:  Victoria Banos (trumpet), Mel Brown (saxaphone)

Development

• Workshop Production, Ilkhom Theater of Mark Weil, Tashkent, Uzbekistan (April/May 2014).  Featuring actors from The Seagull Project and Uzbek jazz quartet Jazzirama. Directed by Tyler Polumsky and Gavin Reub
• Towson Theatre Lab Readings (November 2013 & March 2014)
• Generous Company Readings (October 2013)

Fellowships and Support

• Generous Company/Dramatists Guild Fund Grant (June 2013)
• Cultural Fellowships in Russia, a program of the Likhachev Foundation, funded by The Foundation of the First President of Russia Boris N. Yeltsin and the Committee of External Relations of St. Petersburg  (May 2013)

Artist Bios

Dave White (Playwright) lives in Baltimore, Maryland and is an Associate Professor at Towson University. His work has taken him on several fellowships to Slovakia, Poland, and Russia with the Center for International Theatre Development (dir. Philip Arnoult) and a Likhachev Cultural Fellowship in St. Petersburg, Russia for Dance On Bones.  Dave’s plays have been presented by theaters in Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, New York, South Carolina, Texas, West Virginia; ArtFaq in Moscow, Russia; and the Ilkhom Theatre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

Yury Urnov (Director) Born in Moscow, Russia, Yury graduated from the Russian Academy of Theater Art (GITIS) in 2000, and has directed over 40 productions in his home country, Europe, and Africa. Yury translated plays of Martin McDonagh, Sarah Ruhl, and Edward Albee into Russian, as well as contemporary Russian plays into English. Since 2002, he has worked closely with the Center for International Theater Development (dir. Philip Arnoult) on a number of Russia – US cultural projects. In 2009-2011 he was a Fulbright Scholar in Residence at Towson University. His recent directing credits in the US include Ubu Roi at Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco, Marie Antoinette and You for Me for You at Woolly Mammoth Theater Company in DC, of which Yury is a member.

Ren Marie (Actor) is a performer and technician in Baltimore, Maryland. Graduate of Towson University. Recent work includes Kaspar (Acme Corporation), Where the Whangdoodle Sings and The Beholder’s Share (Generous Company), Herculine and Lola (WordBRIDGE Playwrights Laboratory), The Goat or Who is Sylvia? and The Glass Menagerie (Towson University).

Kelsey Painter (Actor) is pleased to be working on Dance on Bones. A company member at Chesapeake Shakespeare, previous productions include the 2014 and 2011 productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Merchant of Venice, and Our Town. Kelsey has also worked locally with Pumpkin Theatre, Live Action Theatre, Stillpointe Theatre Initiative, Pallas Theatre, Venus Theatre, and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Co. She holds a Bachelor’s degree from Towson University’s Theatre Department.

Elizabeth Scollan (Actor) has a BFA in acting from Towson University. Some of her favorite roles include the titular characters in both Lysistrata at Towson University and Small Batch’s production of Lucretia Borgia; Ella in Towson University’s Curse of the Starving Class and an ensemble member in Machinal. Elizabeth is a full time yoga instructor in Baltimore. She is thrilled to be working with the talented people who are making Dance on Bones possible.

Victoria Banos  (Musician) is a trumpet player from Odenton, Maryland. She has been playing for nine years. Victoria has toured Canada with the Maryland Youth Orchestra in 2012, and performed with the Peabody Youth Orchestra in 2013.  She is currently studying under jazz trumpeter Dave Ballou and is attending Towson University to pursue a degree in Jazz Performance.