White Night, a film made by student Teresa Lee in the Tisch School of the Arts Open Arts Fundamentals of Filmmaking class, will be screened at the Asian American International Film Festival on Friday, July 16. Director Teresa Lee will be available for a Q & A after the screening.

Fundamentals of Filmmaking is taught by Rosanne Limoncelli, director of production for film and new media in the Maurice Kanbar Institute of Film, Television, and New Media at Tisch School of the Arts.

Presenters:

Nina Berman , Ed Kashi and Larry Towell
Monday, June 21, 6:30-8:30pm
Tisch School of the Arts
721 Broadway (at Waverly)
Dean’s Conference Room, 12th floor
Free and open to the public.
Photo ID required up on entry to the building.

For a photographer, how is it possible to judge the impact of one’s documentary work on society? Do the people in the pictures, or others like them, gain from one’s intervention? To what extent are collaborations with non-governmental organizations effective? Can a photographer manage to work independently? What strategies are being used to alert the public? photography & human rights:

WHAT WORKS?
Larry Towell
Ed Kashi
Nina Berman

These issues will be discussed in tandem with possible pathways, insights and practical advice for young and emerging documentary photographers and human rights activists whose aim it is to work in a changed yet still evolving media environment.

A panel discussion moderated by Peter Lucas.

This panel is presented the Department of Photography & Imaging at Tisch School of the Arts, NYU in collaboration with the Magnum Foundation as a part of the Summer Program in Photography & Human Rights.

Presenters are Nina Berman, documentary photographer with a primary interest in the American political and social landscape; Ed Kashi, photojournalist, filmmaker, and educator dedicated to documenting the social and political issues that define our times; and Larry Towell, documentary photographer, writer, poet, and folk musician.

Tisch School of the Arts Open Arts instructor Aida Shahghasemi will be lending her vocals to the presentation of Persian poets at Zoraspace on June 26.

Aida Shahghasemi recently moved to New York City. She is a traveler between Iran and the States in order to play with individuals and ensembles in Tehran, Minneapolis (where she resided prior to New York), and most recently, New York. She learned the Daf from Amir Samadi and has worked on the Persian Classical Vocal repertoire under the supervision of Parissa.

Aida Shahghasemi will be teaching Iran Arts Activism this fall as part of the Tisch School’s Open Arts curriculum. The course is open to all New York University undergraduate students.

Register on Albert today!

Students at New York University are providing positive feedback about Acting for the Camera Workshop. Academy Award© nominated documentary filmmaker Joan Horvath teaches the popular course in the Open Arts curriculum at Tisch School of the Arts.

Check out what our students have to say about Joan Horvath and her class:

“…one of the most enriching classes I have taken at NYU. The use of a camera in this course reveals to you the inner life of your performance, helping you to accelerate your growth as an actor to an extent that otherwise would not have been possible.”

—Ryan Johnston, B.S. Stern School of Business

“Beyond world class instruction, Joan Horvath’s perspectives and guidance help provoke students into an exploration of self, human nature and the motivations behind human interaction.”

—Carmela Gallace, NYU-Steinhardt/ABT Pedagogy,
Former Professor-American Samoa Community College
Former Soloist-Riverdance and The Moiseyev Ballet

“…I learned how to bring authentic emotion to my screen acting. The scenes, the one-on-one work-shopping sessions, continually challenged me to expand my range. And at the end of it, I had great footage for a reel!”

—Amelia Saul, MFA Studio Art, Performance Artist and Filmmaker.

“…to be inspired, to have that nurturing environment, that moving moment and figure that helps you realize your potential — and experience the motivating forces to pursue it –invaluable! That is what I found in Acting for the Camera…”

—Sinsu Co, Actor: End of Our Lives (Filming), New York I Love You (2009)
Light Years (2008); TV Personality: MTV’s Paris Hilton’s My New BFF (2008)
Guest Appearances: Oxygen’s Tyra Show (2008)

“Without the ability to guide an actor’s performance to a place of emotional truth, the filmmaker will never understand how to bring the story to acceptance by audiences expecting increasingly more realistic portrayals of life on the screen. Acting for the Camera Workshop provides a unique and daring opportunity for the directing student to hone this most crucial part of his or her craft. The Workshop was a game-changer for me not only as a director, but as an actor, a writer, a producer, and most of all, as a storyteller.”

—Asher Goldstein BFA, TSOA Film/TV ’05
Winner 2006 First Run Film Festival, King Screenwriting Award, 2^nd Place Wasserman
Executive, Traction Media (Company credits: Half Nelson, Hard Candy, The Secret in their Eyes)

NYU students can take Acting for the Camera during the fall and spring. It’s open to everyone, including those not part of NYU, during the summer. Register today!

Claire Schmidt, a student in our Spring at Tisch Acting for Stage and Screen 2010 program, shares her thoughts about her semester here in Greenwich Village:

This past year I enrolled in NYU’s Open Arts Studio for acting, and I am so grateful that I did. I was able to push myself in a way that I have never done before. Three days a week I worked closely with fourteen other passionate and supportive students from 9:30AM to 5:30 PM. I studied under five different teachers each week. They opened my eyes to five new aspects of acting (scene study, movement, voice, improvisation, film acting) and unfamiliar styles of teaching. I challenged myself emotionally in scene study and improvisational exercises to be more open and impulsive. In movement class, I was pushed physically as we worked on front handsprings and forward rolls. From this class I have learned to be more comfortable in my own body. I have learned how to relate honestly to others. More importantly, I gained the ability to respond to constructive feedback from my classmates and teachers and apply it later on.

Throughout these fourteen weeks I have witnessed such tremendous growth in my classmates, and even in myself, and to me that is a truly amazing thing. Although I have not mastered the methods that we were taught by any means, I have learned so much that I have been able to apply to my life outside of acting. The things that I was taught in this class have helped me to become a better, more confident person. I am so thankful to have had this wonderful opportunity.

Thanks, Claire!

Open Arts instructor Patricia Beaman will perform a neo-Baroque dance at Solo Dance: Perspectives from South India and Beyond. Distinguished scholars and dance practitioners will gather at this symposium in Ontario, Canada to discuss the history and future of solo dance from South India.

Ms. Beaman will also participate in a roundtable discussion with  dance legends from Canada and India.

The symposium takes place on June 4 and 5 at the Signy and Cléophée Eaton Theatre, Royal Ontario Museum. It is presented by Toronto-based company inDANCE and is produced in collaboration with the Royal Ontario Museum’s Friends of South Asia.

Patricia Beaman teaches History of Dance in the Tisch Open Arts program during the spring semester.

THEATER FOR THE NEW CITY PRESENTS
NEW BOPPING 50′S MUSICAL BY WILLIAM ELECTRIC BLACK,
“MY BOYFRIEND IS A ZOMBIE”
With 13 original, bopping tunes, it’s like Grease with a zombie twist.

WHERE AND WHEN:
June 3 to 27
Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue (at East Tenth Street)
Presented by Theater for the New City.
Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm; Sundays at 3:00 pm
Tickets: Adults $15; Students/Zombie Costume $12
Show info: www.boyfriendzombieonstage.com.
Box office (212) 254-1109, www.theaterforthenewcity.net
Runs 1:40 (without intermission). Recommended for audiences age 10 to 110.

In William Electric Black’s newest musical, two guys are in love with the same girl. One’s a monster and the other’s a wise guy with quick fists. Who’s gonna get to take her to the dance? Sounds like “Oklahoma,” doesn’t it? Fooled ya, it’s “My Boyfriend Is A Zombie.” The year is 1958 and the dance in question is the Springtown High School Halloween Hop. This time, the monster gets the girl. It’s a rockin’, boppin’ family-friendly show, to be presented by Theater for the New City, 155 First Avenue, June 3 to 27. You can buy a discount ticket if you come in a Zombie costume.

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Open Arts ‘Acting for the Camera’ instructor Hannelore Williams will be featured on ABC’s One Life to Live beginning May 7th.

Visit the One Life to Live website for more information.

Brand new this fall as part of our Open Arts curriculum: Iran Arts Activism

H95.1500 – Open to all NYU undergraduate students
Monday, 6:20 – 9:00 pm

The silenced nation does not sit passively quiet and discouraged. Thirty years after the revolution
of 1979, Iran holds a young generation of artist activists from all walks of life expressing
themselves despite censorship, sanctions, injustice, and imposed religious beliefs. Fatigued from
questions that address whether or not one can survive in Iran, this class goes beyond this to
shed a light upon those who have not just survived, but have taken an active stand in living the
lives they want. This course will provide a showcase of classical and modern Iranian music,
architecture, photography, calligraphy, poetry, and theater, and explores how artists throughout
history have struggled for self-expression despite the restrictions and vagaries of politics and
repression. Artistic expression of women’s issues and alternative sexuality will be highlighted.
While no perspective is comprehensive, this course will provide a foundation for understanding
the basic components and contributions of Iranian artists to the field of Art and Activism.

Instructor Bio:

Aida Shahghasemi is a recent graduate from Tisch’s Department of Art and Public Policy with a Masters in Arts Politics. She was born in Tehran, Iran, and moved to the United States in the summer of 2000. As a Persian Classical musician, her research has been geared towards Iran’s diverse music scene, especially the role of women within the realm. The concepts of censorship and the conditionality of right and wrong in a society where government and religion are merged is an emphasis of her posed questions. She travels frequently between Iran and the States and performs with different ensembles in Tehran, New York, and Minneapolis, where she finished her undergraduate degree in anthropology and psychology.

Enroll today!

Event Date and Time:

April 30, 2010 – May 1, 2010
7:30 pm

Location:

LABA Theatre – 14th St Y
344 E 14th St
New York, NY 10001

Traditions In Transition

April 30th – May 1, 2010

The LABA Theater
14th Street Y
344 East 14th Street
New York, New York 10003

Traditions In Transition is a dance festival featuring choreographers with a background in traditional Asian dance forms presenting contemporary works:

A.H. Dance Company
Aly Rose
Anthony Aiu and ‘Avei’a
Jin Ju Song-Begin
Patrick Suzeau
Yoo & Dancers

Free Admission (suggested donation: $10)

For more information, please contact Laura Smith at IADialogue@gmail.com or 607.591.1756.