Production Media Contact: Mara Neimanis 410 800 8685
Email: [email protected]
UNEXPECTED PLACES 4 UNEXPECTED AERIALS FLY OVER CHARM CITY
Unexpected Places 4 Unexpected Aerials is a series of four aerial performances, over four months, in four urban settings celebrating the texture and geographical stories of Baltimore. Each site specific performance attempts to integrate geographic stories with daring, risk taking aerial acrobatics, with in depth if not light hearted perspectives on place, space, time and people in Baltimore
The performance series runs August till November, is free to the public, and is made possible by The Creative Alliance and The 2015 Ruby Artist Awards, Unexpected 4 is the latest creation of In-Flight Theater and combines the talent of 2015 Ruby Award recipient Mara Neimanis with aerialist Mark Harding, singer songwriter Ellen Cherry (also 2015 Ruby Award recipient) and features the sculptures of Tim Scofield.
Performance line up includes
#1. East & Eastern; A Clown Duet In Praise of Pizza, Aug 15 at 10pm on The Creative Alliance Marquee and BUS, 3134 Eastern Ave Mara Neimanis with Mark Harding
#2. While U Wait Sept 19 at 7:30pm on BUS at The Creative Alliance, 3134 Eastern Ave, Mara Neimanis with ellen cherry
#3. A Sail Still Flies, Oct 10 & 11 (Open Studios Baltimore) 2pm & 6pm, the outside industrial corridor of Parkdale Ave at Clipper Park Rd, 3500 Parkdale Ave Baltimore 21211, Mara Neimanis with Mark Harding
#4. November Homage, November 19, 6-8pm, Mingle at The Mill, Clipper Mill Campus, Clipper Park Rd, Mara Neimanis
In-Flight’s Theater’s brand of aerial theater performed sometimes inches above the floor or on suspended steel sculptures and now on 20 foot letters (B U S,) creates a physical context to turn what could be mere spectacle into a moving, or frolicking, or uninhibited narrative about the nature of Baltimore past and present.
Mara is the founder, artistic director and principle performer of In-Flight Theater where she has developed a unique style of theatre that combines sculpture, text, and aerial elements together in solo performances as well as in collaborations with theatre, dance, and aerial companies. Mara tours and teaches through out the United States and internationally in Latvia, Israel, Costa Rica., U.K. and runs In-Flight Theater studios in Baltimore where she also creates new work. Mara has served as a resident artist at The Creative Alliance, The Studios of Key West, Cal Arts, University of Moussouri Kansas City, with Teatro Abya Yala,, Universita National, and for Dementia Care Matters in Brighton England. Solo work includes Air Heart, Naomi’s Flight, Out Of The Blue. Aerial collaborations include, Vacio with Teatro Abya Yala Costa Rica, Paraffin with Naoko Mashieba, Homo Poe for Iron Crow Theatre, and For That Which Returns with Arachne Aerial Arts. . Mara received the 2008, and 2014 Maryland State Arts Council award for solo performance for Naomi’s Flight. and Air Heart, and best of the DC Fringe 2007 for Air Heart. She is a recipient of the 2010 Baker Artist Award, 2015 Rubies Artist Grant and The Clarice Smith Next Look Grant. Her work has been described; “ Neimanis makes the impossible look supremely easy” –The Washington Post, “Naomi’s Flight is a bold new fusion in performance art that will shake you to the core with understanding, compassion and empathy.” --DC Metro Arts. “Naomi’s Flight is something truly unique and significant in the scope of physical performance” Maryland Theatre Guide
For Immediate Release
July 1, 2015
Baltimore, MD- Creative Alliance presents Unexpected Places 4/For Unexpected Aerials, an outdoor, free to the public aerial performance series celebrating the texture of urban Baltimore performed by aerialist Mara Neimanis and guests. Evening performances will take place August 15th and September 19th. All performances are FREE and will take place on and around the unique Creative Alliance BUS sculpture. Each performance will be approx 30 minutes long.
On August 15th, Mara Neimanis, along with co-aerialist Mark Harding, will present the first work in this series, East & Eastern; A Clown Duet In Praise of Pizza at 10PM. Incorporating elements of clowning, both artists will playfully interact with and on the physical structures of the Creative Alliance, including the Patterson Marquee, before descending onto BUS. This work was created after Mara and Mark interviewed Creative Alliance staff and learned of the recent, humorous issue where stacks of uneaten pizzas were being left on BUS overnight. Audience should expect equal parts whimsy, beauty, extreme athleticism --- and pizza! This beautifully illuminated evening event will be more intimate and unique than other outdoor summer performances. This event will immediately following a show inside Creative Alliance with Baltimore based dance company, The Collective, who will present “Tailor-Made Shorts,” an event of short movement commissions.
On September 19th at 7:30PM, Mara Neimanis, along with Baltimore-based cellist Ellen Cherry, will tackle the communality and necessity of public transportation with the piece While U Wait. They will explore the outsized nature of the 14ft tall BUS sculpture in this piece. Ellen will be hoisted inside the top of the letter B in BUS and present the musical component of this piece while Mara performs in and around the structure.
Waiting for the bus on BUS has become part of the daily routine of Highlandtown residents and this piece will expound on the unique nature of space and gravity that can be felt the first time a commuter steps onto one of these giant letters or off these letters and onto an MTA vehicle. Immediately following this performance, Richmond-based brass powerhouse band, No BS! Brass Band will provide music for a dance party.
These performances mark the one year anniversary of the completion of BUS. Conceived by the Spanish artists mmmm…. and fabricated by Baltimore sculptors Kyle Miller and Tim Scofield in collaboration with Creative Alliance and the Southeast Community Development Corporation, this project was supported by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts, the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), and SPAIN arts & culture as part of the initiative TRANSIT – Creative Placemaking with Europe in Baltimore. This structure has garnered international attention for its inventive take on creative place making. Or, as Baltimore Magazine said, it is “The Coolest Bus Stop Ever.”
About the Artist: Mara Neimanis is a recent Ruby award winning artist and former resident of Creative Alliance. She is the founder and principal performer of In-Flight Theater in Baltimore. Her work comprises original solo and ensemble aerial plays as well as on-site installation/performances Drawing on traditions of mask performance, clown, and commedia dell arte, her work integrates circus arts with physical acting to create stories, text, and characters which explore the rich interplay of imagination between air and ground. She, along with her co-performers, will be rehearsing on BUS throughout the summer. The near daily interactions on the structure and with Creative Alliance neighbors has provided a new perspective on city living and has made her “fall in love with Baltimore all over again.”
Unexpected Places 4/For Unexpected Aerials is a creation of In-Flight Theater, made possible by the kind support of The Klipper Family, Creative Alliance and The Rubys Artists Grant.
###
About Creative Alliance: Located in Highlandtown, East Baltimore, Creative Alliance builds communities by bringing together artists and audiences from diverse backgrounds to experience spectacular arts and education programs and engage in the creative process. We provide support to area artists, promote Baltimore as a center for creative production, act as a positive force in our community, and advocate for cultural expression rooted in a sense of place.
