Dear Friend,
I am writing to extend my immense gratitude for your support of Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama over these last 15 years!
The silver lining of 2021 was a burst of bracing energy that propelled us into creative adventures in film! From home, my husband and I have been collaborating non-stop from one project to the next, and are very proud of the reception of these films and the outstanding reviews in the NYTimes, The Dance Enthusiast, Danceviewtimes, ARTS INDEPENDENT, ThinkingDance and Culturebot.
We screened our 5 films in over 60 festivals both nationally (TX, MA, LA, NYC, CO, WA, Chicago, CT and NJ), and internationally, including London, Ireland, Norway, Switzerland, Poland, Serbia, India, Indonesia, Cyprus, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
The films won the following awards: Honorable Mention at Video Art and Experimental Film Festival, (“Out of the Folds of Women”), NYC, US; Indie Fest Colorado Springs, Colorado, US; Honorable Mention at LoudSoulMusic Festival & Dance Movement, (“Out of the Folds of Women”), Belgrade, Serbia; The Top 10 dance films at Florence Dance On Screen (”heart beats”), Italy; Honorable Mention (“Out of the Folds of Women”) at London International Monthly Film Festival, London & BEST SOUND & MUSIC 2021 at Experimental, Dance, Music Film Festival in Los Angeles & Toronto.
Over these 15 years, your sustained support has helped me create outstanding performances & high caliber educational programs, exploring my artistic voice as a Latina artist living in New York. It comes from a deep examination of my motivations as a woman, mother, and immigrant.
With Love and Gratitude, Anabella
Here is a deeper look at what happened in 2021:
As a Choreographer/Dancer…
- PREMIERED: “THE NIGHT THAT YOU STOPPED ACTING/ LA NOCHE QUE DEJASTE DE ACTUAR” (2021) Presented at La MaMa Moves! Online, NYC, US
Choreographer and Dancer: Anabella Lenzu, Direction: Daniel Pettrow
Videographer and Technology advisor: Todd Carroll, Dramaturgy: Naoko Maeshiba
- PREMIERED: “heart beats” (2021)
Director and Choreographer: Anabella Lenzu
Videographer & Editor: Todd Carroll
Composer: Geoff Gersh
Dancers: Fiamma Lenzu-Carroll and Anabella Lenzu
- 15TH ANNIVERSARY VIRTUAL CELEBRATION:
The online evening highlighted four important dance film works and an intimate interview of Anabella Lenzu by Celia Ipiotis, dance historian, educator, and creator of the nationally recognized EYE ON DANCE educational TV archive. Admission was FREE and supported by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs through the generous support of the #cityartistcorpsgrant.
LIVE SHOWS: I had the pleasure and honor to choreograph a new 30-minute outdoor performance for Lulu Lolo Productions entitled “Dante, Opera, and Shining Shoes: Rituals of my Italian Immigrant Grandpa’s Life” at Dante Park/Lincoln Center in September. It was a delightful presentation including Lulu Lolo as performance artist, 3 dancers, 1 actor, and an opera singer.
As a Teacher…
- In June 2020, I created the Online Choreographic Mentorship Program. In 2021, I offered 10 monthly Dance Composition workshops, with more than 80 International artists participating!
- I also offered an International Online Workshop in Choreography for Australian Dancers Project in Melbourne, Australia, as well as Danssabeel Contemporary Dance in Cairo Egypt, in Italy, and Chile as well. I plan to continue to offer this successful program in 2022 and beyond.
- I’ve taught Dance Theater at NYU Gallatin, as well as a number of other courses at Wagner College, Joffrey School of Ballet and School of Visual Arts.
- Guest teacher at Heifetz International Music Institute, and at Sphinx Music Organization, Detroit, MI, for Dancio (Online Platform in Dance), USA; International Walking Arts Encounters/Conference in Prespa, University of Western Macedonia, Greece. I also taught a workshop for La Mama Theater (Online Outreach Kids Program), NY.
- Instructor for Peridance’s Certificate Program, and Open Classes.
- I served on the Selection Panel, Mentor Panel and was a Mentor for Emerging Choreographer Series at LaGuardia Performing Art Center, New York
As a Member/Panelist/Speaker, I was…
- Selected as Selection Committee Member for The Bessies Awards, New York
- Selected as Board Member for American Dance Guild, New York
- Selected as Artist Council Member, The Field – New York
- Invited to be part as Member of New Yorkers for Culture & Arts, NY
- Speaker at Modes of Capture Symposium 2021 in Ireland.
- Speaker at Radical Movement, Canada/USA, Educating for Justice through Peace webinar Series ONLINE, and offered a presentation about Dance Activism.
- Featured in the following podcasts, Instagram Live and publications: Dance Enthusiast online magazine, The DancePreneuring Studio Podcast, LA; The DancerCitizen, US; Coctelito de videodanza, Mexico; New LatinX Art Collective, NYC; MicroVersos Online, Mexico, Danza Informa, Chile; Cafe Cantante, Italy.
As a writer…
• I wrote the article: “Mentors & Mirrors / Fake and True,” published in: Viceversa Magazine (NY), Paso a Paso (Colombia) and Revista ODÁ (Iberoamérica/ Américalatina) and The Dancer Citizen (USA)
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Your tax-deductible* contributions will help cover the cost of artists & collaborators fees, costumes, videos, marketing & publicity.
If your company has a Matching Gift program, your donation can go twice as far!
Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama is made possible ONLY with your help!
Without the support of you artists, family, friends, and audience… we would not exist.
Sincerely yours,
Anabella Lenzu
or
Please make checks payable to The Field.
In the Memo line, write Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama.
Please mail all checks toAnabella Lenzu /DanceDrama,
233 Devoe Street, 1BBrooklyn, NY 11211
*Donations are tax-deductible through our fiscal sponsor, The Field, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization
2021 Press Quotes
“What dominates, though, is her self-satisfied persona, which bursts out in wagging eyebrows and crazed smirks. The video seems inadvertently to be the portrait of someone who can’t stop acting. Is this a response to the times or is she always like this?” New York Times/ Brian Seibert
“Even if you are eager to return to live performances, and are tired of watching dance at home on your computer, you might want to consider taking in one more virtual dance event, especially if you are a fan of Anabella Lenzu. An enthralling performer, whose autobiographical dance-theatre solos never fail to provoke, Lenzu proves just as captivating virtually as she is in person. Lenzu’s two most appealing traits as a performer are her willingness to boldly expose her inner landscape and her constant acknowledgment of the important presence of her audience. Surprisingly, in this virtual, filmed in black-and-white, text-driven work, perhaps best described as a monologue-with-movement, both of these qualities register as forcefully as they do onstage” The Dance Enthusiast/ Lisa Jo Sagolla
“Anabella Lenzu’s piece is also just one shot in one take from a stationary camera, but it is a half-hour tour de force…Lenzu is a rubber-faced comic with eyes full of mischief” Danceviewtimes/Tom Phillips
“An engaging storyteller, Lenzu manipulates movement, spoken word, music, video projections, and props, to take us on a tour of her life as a performer. She speaks to us directly as if we are old friends, sharing personal perspectives that touch on the universal.” “The candid humor evident on her face, in herraised eyebrows, and her self-satisfied smirks daresus to challenge her identity. Raising a wine glass full of water to the camera, she laughs, ” I am an artist and this is me.” The Dance Enthusiast/Cecly Placenti
“Out of the Folds of Women (Dance Film), immediately confronts the perception of the viewer…is an urgent cry speaking through the screen and into the silence of our own still-quarantined bodies at home.” ARTS INDEPENDENT/ Brendan McCall
“Lenzu’s movements become a campy exorcism of technique and mastery. She resists ballet’s external control by controlling—and losing control of—herself, on her own terms.” Culturebot/Dot Amstrong from from LUCKY START Theater Production at The Exponential festival, NYC
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