Podcasts about medea project theater

Performer and teacher Rhodessa Jones has said that she’s not interested in art for art’s sake. “It has to be about social change,” she said, “It has to be able to save lives.” Now in her 70’s Jones has been bringing a passion for social justice to her work for decades. She created the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women more than 30 years ago and has continued to work in prisons and on reentry projects and, recently, she performed in a play that took on climate change. We talk to Jones about her ever evolving artistic career and activism.

Rhodessa Jones of The Medea Project and Cultural Odyssey joins us again for this sweet & potent Winter Solstice edition of Women Saving Our Own Lives. Uzo Nwankpa and Lisa Frias, who both performed in The Medea Project's When Did Your Hands Become A Weapon? join host Cat Petru live in the KPFA studios as well. Please note that we discuss rape culture and violence against women in this #metoo moment. The sharing is often intimate. Please take exquisite care of yourself as you listen.GUESTSRhodessa Jones is Co-Artistic Director of the acclaimed San Francisco performance company Cultural Odyssey. She is an actress, teacher, director, and writer. Ms. Jones is also the Director of the award winning Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women and HIV Circle, which is a performance workshop designed to achieve personal and social transformation with incarcerated women and women living with HIV. During fall 2017 and winter 2018 Rhodessa was a Frank H. T. Rhodes Visiting Professor at CORNELL UNIVERSITY and a MONTGOMERY FELLOW at DARTMOUTH COLLEGE conducting lectures and workshops at these prestigious institutions. In December 2016 Rhodessa received a THEATRE BAY AREA LEGACY AWARD presented to individuals that have made “extraordinary contributions to the Bay Area theatre community.” In 2014 she received The Sui Generis Foundation Achievement Award for “one of a kind contributions which benefit society in unique ways.” More at https://themedeaproject.weebly.com/.Lisa Frias started performing with The Medea Project in 1995. She’s a dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer, and teaches middle school dance in Daly City. She’s honored to be working with Medea for over 2 decades. Uzoamaka (Uzo) Nwankpa (performer) is a fourth- generation descendant of women healersfrom Enugu, Nigeria, West Africa. She is a first generation immigrant to the west and dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Igbo culture. She is a performing artist, dance facilitator, choreographer, educator, researcher, registered nurse and an advocate for healing through the use of the arts. As an advocate for communities that use the arts to heal, Uzo is dedicated to creating and exploring diverse ways to combine ancient practices with innovation.LINKSwww.culturalodyssey.org/facebook & insta: @medeaprojectrhodessa@culturalodyssey.org415.292.1850 Cultural Odyssey office

One constellation of guiding lights for We Rise are Toni Cade Bambara’s words: “The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.” Rhodessa Jones is this artist. With her latest show When Did Your Hands Become a Weapon? running thru this weekend at San Francisco’s Brava Theater, to 40 years of Cultural Odyssey and 30 of The Medea Project, we have a lot to dive into - and celebrate.There is also a ticket giveaway!! Email angieinlegal@yahoo.com for a chance to win!You can also connect on IG @the_medea_project and FB @MedeaProjectTICKET INFO https://www.brava.org/all-events/2018/10/25/when-did-your-hands-become-a-weapon ABOUT OUR GUESTSRhodessa Jones is Co-Artistic Director of the acclaimed San Francisco performance company Cultural Odyssey. She is an actress, teacher, director, and writer. Ms. Jones is also the Director of the award winning Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women and HIV Circle, which is a performance workshop designed to achieve personal and social transformation with incarcerated women and women living with HIV. During fall 2017 and winter 2018 Rhodessa was a Frank H. T. Rhodes Visiting Professor at CORNELL UNIVERSITY and a MONTGOMERY FELLOW at DARTMOUTH COLLEGE conducting lectures and workshops at these prestigious institutions. In December 2016 Rhodessa received a THEATRE BAY AREA LEGACY AWARD presented to individuals that have made “extraordinary contributions to the Bay Area theatre community.” In 2014 she received The Sui Generis Foundation Achievement Award for “one of a kind contributions which benefit society in unique ways.” More at https://themedeaproject.weebly.com/.Fe Bongolan (performer, dramaturg) 2018 marks Fe’s 26th year with The Medea Project as core member actor, writer, singer, dramaturg, and musician. Her prior performing experience includes the Asian American Theater Company, Teatro Ng Tanan, and Campo Santo Theater’s “Trail of her Inner Thigh” by Erin Cressida Wilson, which won the Will Glickman Award for best new play in 1999. She currently co-facilitates the Medea Project’s audio theater workshop in San Francisco County Jail.Uzoamaka (Uzo) Nwankpa (performer) is a fourth- generation descendant of women healersfrom Enugu, Nigeria, West Africa. She is a first generation immigrant to the west and dedicated to the preservation and restoration of the Igbo culture. She is a performing artist, dance facilitator, choreographer, educator, researcher, registered nurse and an advocate for healing through the use of the arts. As an advocate for communities that use the arts to heal, Uzo is dedicated to creating and exploring diverse ways to combine ancient practices with innovation.C. Chibueze Crouch (performer) is an actor, writer and teaching artist. She has performedinternationally, across the Eastern US and around the Bay Area using theater, film, movement, and song in her multidisciplinary creative practice. Recent performances include PARADISE: Belly of the Beast at Brava Theater, LIONS at Stanford University and mouth full of sea at the African American Arts & Culture Complex. In her free time, she teaches drama to Oakland youth at Destiny Arts and does freelance grant writing. Chibueze joined the Medea Project in June of 2018.

An interview with Rhodessa Jones, co-artistic director of the performance company Cultural Odyssey and creator of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. Rhodessa Jones was at Pitt for a month-long residency in February, 2018. During her residency, she worked with students to create a theatrical performance, offered performances of her own work, and gave lectures. The interview focuses on Rhodessa's life and career, particularly the social impact of her work.

Rebroadcast MAR 28, 2014:Cultural Odyssey @ 35 with Idris Akamoor, Rhodessa Jones and Lyrika Holmes. Visit http://www.culturalodyssey.org/ Second guest: Joanna Haigood, choreographer, Zaccho Dance Theatre with dancers Antoine Hunter and Travis Santell Rowland speak about Dying while Black and Brown.  Visit http://www.zaccho.org/  Mr. Ackamoor is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, tap dancer, actor, director and producer. He is the founder and Executive/Co-Artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey. Idris curates and produces the Cultural Odyssey Performance Festival, and also records and tours with his acclaimed jazz ensemble. Ms. Jones is an actress, dancer, singer, writer, and teacher, Ms. Jones is Co-artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey and Founder/Director of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. Rhodessa tours her performances and speaks to "Theater for the 21st Century: art which precipitates community transformation.Lyrika Holmes joins us as featured artist at the 35th Anniversary gala. Ms. Holmes is an International performing artist "Lyrika Holmes" is an African-American recording artist, singer, harpist, songwriter and teacher.  Music: Dwight Tribble's Ooh Child; Aar Maanta's Deeqa; Eddie Gale's African Sunrise with Destiny. 

This week: Patricia realized who she wanted to be when she grows up when she sat down with the majestic Rhodessa Jones. They talk about the creation of The Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women, and we learn that the California Arts Council once funded aerobics classes for female inmates. The Medea Project seeks to use the transformative potential of art to stem the recidivism rate for women prisoners. It is dedicated to the power that storytelling—of speaking in the first person—possesses to replace shame with resilience and to bring compassion into extreme circumstances. No allusions to OITNB are made, but Vee wouldn’t stand a chance against Rhodessa.   Performer, teacher, director, Rhodessa Jones is Co-Artistic Director of San Francisco’s performance company Cultural Odyssey. Jones directsThe Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women, an award-winning performance workshop committed to incarcerated women’s personal and social transformation, now in it’s 25th year. As recipient of the U.S. Artist Fellowship, Jones expanded her work in jails and educational institutions internationally. She conducts Medea Projects in South African prisons, working with incarcerated women and training local artists and correctional personnel to embed the Medea process inside these institutions. In 2012, she was named Arts Envoy by the U.S. Embassy in South Africa. Recent U.S. residencies include Brown University and Scripps College Humanities Institute. She also was the Spring 2014 Interdisciplinary Artist in Residence at the University of Wisconsin. Mayor Ed Lee and the San Francisco Art Commission presented the 2013 Mayor's Art Award to Jones, for her "lifetime of artistic achievement and enduring commitment to the role of the arts in civic life.” In addition, she is the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate from the California College of the Arts, SF Bay Guardian’s Lifetime Achievement Award, SF Foundation’s Community Leadership Award, Non-Profit Arts Excellence Award by the SF Business Arts Council, and an Otto Rene Castillo Award for Political Theater.  

Today we rebroadcast Friday, March 28, 2014: We celebrate with Founder and Artistic Directorof Cultural Odyssey 35th Year Celebration Apr. 3-5, 2014,Idris Ackamoor & Rhodessa Jones. Mr. Ackamoor is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, tap dancer, actor, director and producer. He is the founder and Executive/Co-Artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey. Idris curates and produces the Cultural Odyssey Performance Festival, and also records and tours with his acclaimed jazz ensemble. http://www.culturaloydssey  Ms. Jones is an actress, dancer, singer, writer, and teacher, Ms. Jones is Co-artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey and Founder/Director of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. Rhodessa tours her performances and speaks to "Theater for the 21st Century: art which precipitates community transformation.Lyrika Holmes joins us as featured artist at the 35th Anniversary gala. Ms. Holmes is an International performing artist "Lyrika Holmes" is an African-American recording artist, singer, harpist, songwriter and teacher. Lyrika was born and raised by her parents in St. Louis, MO. Lyrika started playing the piano at the age of 5. In junior high her parents encouraged her to step out of the box, and play something different, this is when she made the switch to harp. Since that day, Lyrika has been showing us just how hot the harp can be. We close with Joanna Haigood, Artistic Director and co-founder of Zaccho Performance Dance Company about Dying While Black and Brown, a performance and panel discussion Friday-Saturday, April 4-5, 2014. Friday evening at 8 (the panel follows) and Saturday at 2 p.m.(performance) at Zaccho Studios, 1777 Yosemite Ave #330, in San Francisco's Bayview Hunter's Point. Visit www.zaccho.org We are also joined by dancers Antoine Hunter and Travis Santell Rowland.

We celebrate with Founder and Artistic Directorof Cultural Odyssey 35th Year Celebration Apr. 3-5, 2014,Idris Ackamoor & Rhodessa Jones. Mr. Ackamoor is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, tapdancer, actor, director and producer. He is the founder and Executive/Co-Artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey. Idris curates and produces the Cultural Odyssey Performance Festival, and also records and tours with his acclaimed jazz ensemble. Ms. Jones is an actress, dancer, singer, writer, and teacher, Ms. Jones is Co-artistic Director of Cultural Odyssey and Founder/Director of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. Rhodessa tours her performances and speaks to "Theater for the 21st Century: art which precipitates community transformation.Lyrika Holmes joins us as featured artist at the 35th Anniversary gala. Ms. Holmes is an International performing artist "Lyrika Holmes" is an African-American recording artist, singer, harpist, songwriter and teacher. Lyrika was born and raised by her parents in St. Louis, MO. Lyrika started playing the piano at the age of 5. In junior high her parents encouraged her to step out of the box, and play something different, this is when she made the switch to harp. Since that day, Lyrika has been showing us just how hot the harp can be. We close with Joanna Haigood, Artistic Director and co-founder of Zaccho Performance Dance Company about Dying While Black and Brown, a performance and panel discussion Friday-Saturday, April 4-5, 2014. Friday evening at 8 (the panel follows) and Saturday at 2 p.m.(performance) at Zaccho Studios in San Francisco Bayview Hunter's Point. We are also joined by dancers Antoine Hunter and Travis Santell Rowland.  

Rhodessa Jones joins us to talk about her latest work, The Resurrection of SHE opening at Brava Theatre where she is the current Artist in Residence March 28-April 7, 2013. Ms. Jones is Co-Artistic Director of the critically acclaimed San Francisco performance company Cultural Odyssey. An actress, teacher, singer, and writer, Jones is also the founder and director of the Medea Project: Theater for Incarcerated Women. On January 29, 2013 San Francisco Mayor Lee presented the 2013 Mayor's Art Award to Rhodessa Jones for her “lifetime of artistic achievement and enduring commitment to the role of the arts in civic life”. Rhodessa was selected as an "ARTS ENVOY" by the U.S. Department of State, Educational and Cultural Affairs Bureau in June/July 2012. She received grant support to journey to South Africa to continue her work in collaboration with Urban Voices Festival inside the Naturena Women's Prison in Johannesburg, South Africa and then journey on to participate in the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown, South Africa. She has received many awards for her work including a United States Artist Fellowship to support her work in 2007, an Honorary Doctorate from California College of the Arts, a San Francisco Bay Guardian GOLDIE Lifetime Achievement Award, an Otto Rene Castillo Award for Political Theater, and a San Francisco Foundation Community Leadership Award.  Visit www.brava.org Music: Meklit Hadero's Walls, Ruthie Foster's Truth; Rene Marie's Just My Imagination.