Notes

Dear Bread and Puppet Theatre,

I write to you with the background of Cicadas frolicking all around. I have just graduated from Bennington College, where I studied too many things to name, and have had wonderous experiences i am endlesly greatful for, one of which was meeting Maura Gahan, who taught the Cheap Art Dance Circus. In it, she shared with us many things, among whihc were practices of Bread and Puppet art making, and I was incredibly awakened, inspired, and infused with imagination. Marua's teaching has opened up to me the possibility that I can be performign all the time, that I can be making socially active and life-giving art anywhere, and I am so thankful for that.

Why am I writing all of this to you?

I woul dlove to volunteer for you this summer, and serve and support your community in any way possible, whether it be in performing, in building, in simply breathing and sharing space, in cooking, cleaning, dancing, mourning, yearning, crying, driving, or flying. It would be an honor to serve in any capacity, and to learn together through doing!

A little bit about me:
I am a queer Jewish second-generation refugee from Ukraine. I was born in Baltimore, and grew up speaking Russian! I studied theatre at a conservatory for four years where I worked and played in an ensemble, and one of the most important moments to my early years was a clowning workshop I took with a visiting troupe. Those four hours were one of those moments which change your life forever, as I was made to perform instantaneously, not having a single clue of what I was doing, failing almost every step of the way, but rising up again to become that which I did not know but that which awakened every nerve of my body.

And then came Bennington! Where I could Dance, make music, perform, act, sing, and study translation, sciences, and most importantly, work with many extraordinary people. I was fortunate enough to spend two winters in NYC, where I danced and performed all around, and one winter in Russia, a special sort of comming-home and working with performance artists and choreographers. At Bennington, borrowed from Dance that which theatre did not give me, and took from theatre that which Dance did not allow. I found great pleasure in transforming into unimaginable characters, in speaking and reciting directly to an audience, and I realized that nothing is fully planned, that there is always room to listen and to follow the callings of the body, of the space.

Other trainings include piano (14 years), a little marimba and clarinet, and a willingness to learn badly any instrument out there! As a singer, I have only recenlty felt liberated from technique and have enjoyed singing to the heavens around me in pure joy and gratitude. What else is there to say? I am a traied street medic, and hope to use my skills in protests all the time. Mostly, I want to be performing all the time, because it is truly a necessity of life, and to share this life with everyone.

I also have lived communally!!! And would love to live communally again!


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