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Hemispheric NY call for applications, deadline Feb. 20

EMERGENYC
Hemispheric New York Emerging Performers Program
Call for Applications 2009
Activist Performance Series

The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics at New York University
is now accepting applications for EMERGENYC, its 2009 Hemispheric New York
Emerging Performers Program. This year's theme focuses on Activist
Performance. As a part of the Institute's Hemispheric New York initiative,
the Emerging Performers Program aims to support the development of New
York-based artists between the ages of 18 and 23 through a program of
workshops and events that will take place between April and June 2009. We
seek talented, committed and highly motivated young
activists/artists/performers whose work functions as a vehicle for political
expression and social change, and who examine the broad range of identities,
practices and histories of the Americas (the western hemisphere, thus
"hemispheric") through genres such as spoken word, street performance,
political cabaret, performance art, video performance, movement, and others.

Why Hemispheric New York?

New York City is a space of transformation in which expressive practices
from throughout the Americas come into contact and combine into new artistic
forms. The constant encounters and collisions of African-, Native-, Asian-,
Latino- and European- American cultures that define the City, combined with
the multiple political and counter-cultural movements that have flourished
on its streets, are a key source of the artistic and activist innovation
that has long characterized New York City. Experimental performance, hip-hop
and salsa are powerful examples of the hemispheric fusions that the City's
neighborhoods have incubated. Anti-consumerism activism like Reverend
Billy's Church of Stop Shopping, artistic interventions such as the Guerilla
Girls and Fulana's If You Fear Something, You'll See Something poster
campaign are examples of the innovative conjunction of art and political
protest. Drawing on this vitality, the program will enable young
activists/performers to work with leading practitioners in the field, to
take interdisciplinary leaps, and to develop their own strategies to use
performance for social change.

The Program

Between April and June, the selected participants will take part in weekly
workshops led by George Emilio Sánchez as well as by invited
artists/activists such as Reverend Billy and Savitri D, Guillermo
Gómez-Peña, Fulana, and others. One of the goals of this year's series is to
work in all five boroughs in New York City. We are asking applicants to
define social issues that are important to them (e.g., globalization, the
environment, the economy, racism, gender/sexuality, etc.), and to find a
bridge to communities around those issues.

The program will be divided into three phases. Phase 1: every Saturday from
April 4th to May 9th, participants will work closely with George Emilio
Sánchez in developing performance and activist strategies, such as Boalian
techniques, performance art and site-specific interventions. Phase 2:
intensive daily sessions from May 16- 23, participants will work closely
with leading activists, artists and scholars, and will explore specific
tactics for work in the field (street performance, interviewing,
videotaping, seeing other people's work, etc.). Phase 3: every Saturday from
May 30th to June 13th participants will develop their work with communities
of interest throughout the City (hopefully in the five boroughs), building
on the strategies explored through the workshops. Final event (June 20th):
participants will share their strategies and experiences in a public forum.

This program is free of charge.

Who Is Eligible

EMERGENYC is open to activists/artists/performers between the ages of 18 to
23 who live in New York City. Applicants must have prior experience in
activism and/or various performance genres. The program welcomes
applications from individuals enrolled in the City's colleges and
universities AND from those who are not currently pursuing formal higher
education.

How to Apply

Please send the following materials to hemi.newyork@nyu.edu no later than
February 20th 2009:

a) Completed application form
b) A resume or biographical statement (maximum 500 words) that tells us
about who you are, where you are from, your performance background and your
current projects.
c) A statement of purpose (maximum 750 words) describing the reasons you
want to participate in EMERGENYC. Please also describe the specific issues
you would want to address through the program and any preliminary ideas
about the communities where you would ground this work.
d) 2 letters of recommendation, which your recommenders must send
directly to hemi.newyork@nyu.edu

Selected participants will be notified March 6th and program activities will
begin on April 4th.

The Hemispheric Institute of Performance and Politics is a collaborative,
multilingual and interdisciplinary consortium of institutions, artists,
scholars, and activists throughout the Americas. The organization's mission
is to map new areas of knowledge based on understanding embodied
practice—performance—as a way of creating new meaning and transmitting
cultural values, memory and identity. Through courses, work groups,
conference/festivals, a digital video library, an online scholarly journal,
a tri-lingual website, and public forums, the Institute explores the
relationship between expressive behavior and social and political life in
the Americas.

For more information on the Hemispheric Institute, please visit:
http://hemisphericinstitute.org

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