The Ume Group
  • HOME
  • BLOG
  • THE COMPANY
    • The Ensemble >
      • Keelie
      • Yokko
      • Annie
      • Efrén
      • Fiamma
      • Jennifer
      • Jorge
      • Laura
      • Miles
      • Raphael
      • Samantha
    • Productions >
      • by wing, fin, hoof or foot
      • Social Action Project
      • Lysistrata Project
      • Dream Dances
      • Isis Variations
      • Facet
      • Butoh Electra
    • Press
    • Booking Info
    • Alumni
  • THE SCHOOL
  • OPPORTUNITIES
    • Audition
    • The Lab @ GSTP
    • Internships
  • CONTACT
  • DONATE
  • THE STORE

Hibernation

1/16/2019

0 Comments

 
We're taking a brief winter slumber to meditate on our future endeavors. Stay tuned for new projects by joining our mailing list below!
0 Comments

Meet the 2017 Guest Artists for 'by wing, fin, hoof or foot'

3/1/2017

2 Comments

 
We're thrilled to announce the following Guest Artists, who will be joining our ensemble for our upcoming production of 'by wing, fin, hoof or foot.'

Picture
Raphael Anastas is a current senior at New York University, pursuing a degree in Vocal Performance with a minor in Media, Culture, and Communications. Hailing from Toronto, Canada, Raphael is a versatile performer with a passion for theatre, social justice activism, health and wellness, and youth development. He believes in using his education in the performing arts to drive sustainable positive impact and is very grateful for his opportunities to travel to Europe, Africa, and Central America to engage in various volunteer and leadership programs. Favorite past NYU Steinhardt performances include Men with Money (Frenchy), The Boys From Syracuse (Duke/Tailor), The Secret Garden (Major Shelley), Grand Hotel (Rohna), The Drowsy Chaperone (Aldolpho), and Man of La Mancha (Juan). He has also been featured in New York Lyric Opera Theatre’s L’incoronazione di Poppea (Valletto), and Loft Opera’s Il Barbiere di Siviglia (Chorus). When not on stage, Raphael enjoys practicing yoga, watching Seinfeld, and eating all types of delicious foods.

Picture
Fiamma Piacentini is a New York City based Actress, Performance Artist, Director and Photographer from Mexico City, Mexico. She received her core ​​acting training at the prestigious Maggie Flanigan Studio in NYC under Maggie Flanigan and Charles Sandlan, and trained in Lloyd Williamson Movement Technique under Nate Flower and Julia Crockett. She has appeared on stage in various Off Broadway productions, including Through the Looking Glass, Symphony of the Fourth Dimension, Andromache, and The Insanity of Mary Girard. She has also appeared in various short and feature length independent film projects. Fiamma is thrilled and grateful to be a new Guest Artist at the Ume Group! ​

Picture
Samantha DeSimone is a graduate of Wagner College with a BA in theatre and speech.  While in college Samantha studied commedia dell’arte and masque work with Teatro Punto and established a relationship with Broadway Cares Equity Fights Aids through the production and direction of cabarets on behalf of the school.  Post-graduation Samantha has done work with the Rising Sun Performance ensemble, performing in numerous devised works all over Manhattan, one that won her a best supporting actress award at the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity.  In addition, Samantha also works with abunDANCE with Keo, a brooklyn based "twerk out" company that promotes self love and empowerment across the boroughs.

Picture
Angela Bilkić is so excited to join the Ume Group as a Guest Artist this season. Angela is an acclaimed theatre and film actress and has recently moved to NYC to have a go at it. Selected regional credits: Masha in Three Sisters (Independent Reviewers of New England Nomination for Best Actress in a Play), Myra Arundel in Hay Fever (IRNE Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Play), and Linda Seton in Holiday (IRNE Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Play). Angela is originally from northern Serbia and grew up in Boston, MA. She received her B.A. from Wellesley College in Theatre Studies and Anthropology.

Picture
Andrea Aranguren has recently joined The Ume Group as a Guest Artist. Andrea’s theater career includes, in New York, Marisol and Suburban Motel, both Brooklyn College productions; in Washington DC, As If It Were Tonight, Teatro de la Luna; in Buenos Aires, Yerma, Enrique Larreta Museum, The Moon is Looking for Him, tribute to Federico Garcia Lorca, Teatro Picadilly, The Future is in the Eggs, Escuela Municipal de Artes Dramaticos; Rise and Shine, solo performance, Universidad de Belgrano; Death and The Blacksmith, Universidad de Belgrano. Andrea graduated as a Master in Fine Arts in Theater/Acting at CUNY, Brooklyn College. She is also a Teaching Artist devoted to youth empowerment through education and arts, utilizing drama methods to bridge compassion, understanding, self-confidence, respect and authenticity. Andrea teaches Acting, Theater and Theater for Social Change to undergraduate students at Brooklyn College. She is also a teaching artist at ENACT INC., facilitating workshops through a unique method that combines drama therapy and interactive theater. Andrea has over fifteen years of management experience, leading international social initiatives in non-profits in education. She holds a B.A. in Finance from Universidad de Belgrano, a M.B.A. in Social Enterprises/Non-Profit Management from the University of Cape Town/New York University.

2 Comments

Meet the 2016-2017 Core Ensemble and Audition Announcement

8/31/2016

0 Comments

 
We are thrilled to announce The Ume Group's Core Ensemble for the 2016-2017 season. This year's company includes a mix of Ume-veterans and previous performance apprentices, with backgrounds ranging from martial arts to puppetry, clown to Irish dance, butoh to Lecoq and lots in between. We can't wait to see what we'll create together.
From top left: Miles Butler, Karina Sindicich, Clara Kundin, Fabio Motta, Laura Aristovulos, Yokko, Brantley Ivey, Jennifer Marinelli, Jorge Luna, Annie McCoy, Keelie Sheridan. 
​
The Core Ensemble will be the driving force behind our performance and educational initiatives this season, but we are currently on the lookout for more rockstars to join our ranks. We'll be holding auditions for Guest Artists for the upcoming season on September 27th. We're looking for physical performers with a willingness to share their skills, learn new techniques and create big, bold new works.

​Email: keelie@theumegroup.org with a headshot and resume to request an audition appointment, no later than September 21st. 
0 Comments

The Ume Group's 5 Year Anniversary photos by Chris Carlone

8/29/2016

0 Comments

 
Enjoy this sampling of photos by Chris Carlone from our 5 Year Anniversary Season at The Irondale Center in Brooklyn. 
0 Comments

A Changing of the Guard: The Ume Group Announces New Producing Artistic Director

8/1/2016

0 Comments

 

A New Direction

Picture
Keelie Sheridan in The Ume Group's "DREAM DANCES" (2015), photo by Jorge Luna.
The Ume Group is excited to announce a very special landmark in our 5-year history as a physical theatre ensemble working in New York City.  Effective August 19, after five exciting years of butoh and acrobatics-driven creative work and teaching, our beloved Producing Artistic Director, Jordan Rosin is stepping down from the helm to further pursue his teaching career with graduate studies at Dell'Arte International in Blue Lake, CA.  Stepping up to replace him in this pivotal leadership role is the incredibly talented Ume Group veteran, Keelie Sheridan.  Ms. Sheridan will be supported by a newly appointed team of leaders from among the Core Ensemble, including Yokko (Associate Artistic Director), Clara Kundin (Associate Director of Education), and Karina Sindicich (Opening Training Coordinator).

Keelie was a member of The Ume Group's Core Ensemble from 2014 - 2015 during which time she helped to create the original production of The Ume Group’s Dream Dances and led the Winter/Spring 2015 Training Ensemble centered on ceili dance.  This past year, she has spent pursuing an MFA in Theatre Directing at the Lir / Trinity College, Dublin as part of the George J. Mitchell Scholarship program sponsored by the US Ireland Alliance.  She is tremendously excited to take on the mantle of Producing Artistic Director and is particularly excited to expand on the company’s level of community engagement and social action, while continuing to push the boundaries of dance and theatre through daring performative experiments.

Jordan’s credits with The Ume Group over the course of the past five years include performer/co-creator of Facet (Hollywood Fringe Festival, WAVE RISING SERIES), co-choreographer of Isis Variations (CoolNY 2014 Dance Festival, FringeNYC), director of Dream Dances and Lysistrata Project, and creator of Butoh Electra, The Ume Group's inaugural martial arts / butoh dance epic.

To see Jordan perform one last time, come see The Ume Group’s 5-Year Anniversary NY Season, playing August 10 - 13 at the Irondale Center, in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.  If you come on closing night, August 13, and stay after the performance, you'll also be able to participate in the special Closing Night Party and hear Keelie Sheridan's announcement of The Ume Group's 2016 - 2017 season of educational programs and events.  (For more info and tickets, click here.)
Picture
Incoming Producing Artistic Director, Keelie Sheridan (left) and current Producing Artistic Director, Jordan Rosin (right) at The Ume Group's fundraising launch party on April 2, 2016.
Tickets are now on sale for The Ume Group's 5-Year Anniversary NY Season at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn, NY, August 10 - 13! Learn more >>>
0 Comments

Styles of Butoh - A Brief Overview of Temputenshiki, Subbody Method, Space Dance, and Body-Ritual-Movement

7/2/2016

0 Comments

 
​By Jordan Rosin
Picture
Sankai Juku. Photo by Carlos de las Piedras. Creative Commons license. https://www.flickr.com/photos/delaspiedras/263678424/in/photolist-piqpJ-piqpa-piqrm-piqqz-zJUEuF
One of the things that I find most fascinating about butoh, which if you’re not already familiar with, you need to check out, is the sheer diversity of approaches that exist to create it.  Over the past 6 years, I have taken classes and workshops with at least a dozen different teachers of butoh, all of which were incredibly different.  In this article, I’ve attempted to give a brief overview of a few of the founding principles and key exercises in each of four contemporary butoh styles: temputenshiki, subbody method, space dance, and body-ritual-movement.

1. Temputenshiki

Name:
Dairakudakan / Temputenshiki
Founder:
​Akaji Maro
Core Idea:
A student of Hijikata’s and former actor, Akaji Maro founded Dairakudakan in 1972.  “Temputenshiki”, one of the company’s guiding principles and a category of work they create which means: All bodies are talented, precious, and beautiful.  They believe your dance should be a way of showcasing your body's natural beauty.  Dairakudakan proposes 3 main methods for creating dance, 1) space body, 2) mold body, 3) capturing unusual movement.
Sample
​Exercise: 
​
​"Capturing Unusual Movement" - Notice the way your body naturally reacts when you are surprised in every day life.  It's probably a little strange and possibly beautiful!  Instead of returning to normal from minor accidents and surprises, Dairakudakan dancers practice sustaining and staying with a moment of surprise, layering in additional imagery to create truly unique and rich and extraordinary movement.
Website:
http://www.dairakudakan.com

2. Subbody Butoh Method

Name:
Subbody Butoh Method
Founder:
Rhizome Lee
Core Idea:
Codified into the "Subbody Butoh Method" around the turn of the 21st century, Rhizome Lee's technique is expanded from the work of Motofuji Akiko (Hijikata's wife) and centers on creating pathways into the subconscious through meditation, resonance touch, sen shin hitsu, “edge work” and many other interesting techniques.
Sample
​Exercise: 
​
“Swaying Meditation” - Begin by sitting comfortably, breathing through mouth or nose.  With each inhalation, imagine yourself being pulled up by a thread through the crown of your head.  With each exhalation, imagine all your cells slowly falling towards the earth.  Then imagine that you are sitting on a boat and the boat begins to sway your pelvis forward, backward, and side to side.  Eventually you are swaying in random directions.  Segment and amplify any strange sensations you have in the body.  This is a technique for quieting the daily mind and activating “subbody mode."
Website:
http://www.subbody.net/

3. Tokyo Space Dance

Name:
Tokyo Space Dance
Founder:
Tetsuro Fukahara
Core Idea:
Inside a tube made of fabric, suspended by 6 points we experience a new way of gathering information about the world.  Our senses are heightened and ordinary movement is obstructed.  Through the experience of the tube as well as training in 6 “themes” (body foundation, walking dance, contact, spiritual journey, paradise in the little moving, and space dance composition) we discover a beautiful new way of moving.
Sample
​Exercise: 
​
“Walking Dance” - Hold yourself like an objective body.  Look forward and walk very slowly.  Allow yourself to be affected by memories and sensations.  Some interesting movement may arise.  Hold onto your intention to move forward.
Website:
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/tokyo/sd/index_e.html

4. Body-Ritual-Movement

Name:
Butoh Ritual Mexicano / Body-Ritual-Movement (BRM)
Founder:
Diego Pinon
Core Idea:
By transforming our dance, we can transform our daily life and give more creative energy to our community.
Sample
​Exercise: 
​
“The Life Becoming” - Prepare a spiral-style labyrinth or path on which to walk.  Begin to slowly walk towards the center.  On every inhale, rise up slightly and on every exhale, sink down.  Settle into the ground with every step.  Periodically change your arm position higher until the arms are straight overhead.  As you walk, allow yourself to consider your entire life up until this point.  Don’t force anything.  Allow the memory to float, to linger if it wants, or to transform.
Website:
http://butohritualmexicano.com/
Tags: butoh, butoh dance, ankoku butoh, dance of darkness, Japanese butoh dance, contemporary butoh, butoh styles, physical theatre, dance, dance-theatre

Discussion Questions

What other approaches to butoh have you found interesting?  
Have you tried any of the exercises described above?  What was your experience?
Leave a comment below.

About the Author

Picture
Jordan Rosin is physical theatre artist, teacher, and movement coach. Based primarily in butoh, he also draws on yoga, clowning, and acrobatics to create choreography & movements which he hopes have universal resonance. He received his BFA in Drama from Syracuse University. His main butoh teachers are Joan Laage, Vangeline, & Tetsuro Fukuhara, though he has trained with numerous others. He is the Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director of The Ume Group, a NY-based physical theatre / dance ensemble. 
​
www.jordanrosin.com / www.theumegroup.org


​Tickets are now on sale for The Ume Group's 5-Year Anniversary NY Season at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn, NY, August 10 - 13, 2016! Learn more >>>
0 Comments

Jordan Rosin on the Collision Structure of "The Lysistrata Project"

6/15/2016

0 Comments

 
Tickets are now on sale for The Ume Group's 5-Year Anniversary NY Season at the Irondale Center in Brooklyn, NY, August 10 - 13! Learn more >>>
0 Comments

Sponsor a Costume for the 5-Year Anniversary NY Season!

6/14/2016

0 Comments

 
Dear Supporters, Friends, & Fans,
As you know, we didn't quite make our fundraising goal on IndieGogo.  With the money we raised, we have, however, rented an awesome venue, got some great insurance, and hired an incredible tech team.  But the money is almost out.  Therefore, you have an opportunity to...

turn this hot mess...

Picture

into this sexiness...

That's right! We're trying to buy uniform dance wear as costumes for our incredible ensemble of 12 physical theatre artists participating in The Ume Group's 5-Year Anniversary NY Season this summer.  The total cost is about $600, or $50 per costume.

To help us out and sponsor a costume, use the PayPal widget below:

Give Now via PayPal

Contribution Options
Acknowledgement
Name of the Acknowledged:
Your Name:
Don't let our actors go unclothed!  There's been enough naked theatre in NY for one summer.  *wink wink
And don't forget to book your tickets for August 10 - 13 before they sell out.​

with fond & loving resonance,
Jordan Rosin
Producing Artistic Director, The Ume Group
0 Comments

Rediscovering My Roots, and Growing New Ones

6/3/2016

0 Comments

 

by Jennifer Marinelli

Picture
Jennifer Marinelli (far right) in The Ume Group's 10/48 Physical Festival. Photo by Jordan Rosin.
Movement has always been my primary form of expression. I grew up dancing. If you were to flip open a picture book from my childhood, you would be blinded with spandex and sparkle from the dance recital costumes that I wore year in and year out. But by the time I left high school, I had become distracted by other things and had left dance behind. Fast forward to a few years ago when I came to New York City to become an actor, and more importantly, to train as one. That’s when I discovered The Ume Group.

Read More
0 Comments

ANNOUNCING: Summer 2016 Performance Apprentices!

5/13/2016

0 Comments

 
This May, The Ume Group is pleased to announce the second-ever class of Performance Apprentices to join the ranks of The Ume Group Ensemble.  Chosen from a round of competitive workshop-style auditions last month, these 6 artists will work alongside The Ume Group's Core Ensemble to create new works and perform the company's repertoire while also participating in the classes at The Ume Group School.  At the end of their 15-week Apprenticeship some of them may even be selected to join The Ume Group's permanent Core Ensemble, which - besides creating & performing together, teaches and learns together at The Ume Group School.

Sponsor an Apprentice!

Just $170 covers all the staffing, space rental, and other fees necessary for a single student to join the Apprenticeship Program in Summer 2016.
Contribution Options
Acknowledgement
Name of the Acknowledged:
Your Name:

Meet the Apprentices

Miles Butler

​Edgar Eguia

Picture
Miles Butler is a baseball-loving Virginia boy. He's ecstatic to be sharing his artistry with this special group of physical storytellers. Recent: Alexander Who's Not... Not Going to Move (National Tour), enter the garden (The Motor Company), #serials@theflea, The Blind (The Flea), Shape of Things (The Secret Theatre), Micro Shrimp (NJPC), The Dream Exchange (Rising Sun Performance Company). DC: Studio Theatre, Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth Theatre and various. Alumnus of Brooklyn College. Thanks to Jordan and the entire Ume family for this wonderful opportunity.
​www.milesbutler.com

Julia Karis

Picture
​Julia Karis is and actor, dancer and singer from San Diego, California. She is thrilled to have this opportunity to work with the Ume Group. Previous credits include Lucy in "Three Penny Opera", Diwata in "Speech and Debate, and Marcy in "Dog Sees God". She has a BA in Theater Performance from Wagner College. In addition she traveled to Amsterdam to study Commedia Dell'arte with Teatro Punto under the training of Carlos Garcia Estevez and Katrien Van Beurden. Julia is also an experienced acrobat and has been teaching gymnastics for 6 years.

​Jorge Luna

Picture

​Jorge Luna was born into a family of artists- his mother wrote children’s stories and his father was a requinto player. At the age of seven he was inspired by a virtuoso circus performance by a troop called Círcolo. Later on he discovered his addiction to live performance when he started off as a nightclub DJ. TV: One Life to Live, Basile, Psychosis, Detour. FILM: All The Beautiful Things (Sundance 2014), The Last Frankenstein, Catching Fireflies, Angelo, Bronx 3M, The Ward, Awake. THEATRE: Starry Messenger; Theatre For The New City, Confesión en el barrio chino; PRTT, Cymbeline; Chashama. The Tempest, Julius Caesar, Romeo & Juliet, Twelfth Night, The Learned Ladies, Iphigenia at Aulis, The Promise, The Laramie Project. FLORIDITA, My Love, Barceloneta, de noche; IATI. Don Gil of the Green Breeches; PRTT. The Death of Kings; RADA. TRAINING: Shakespeare Intensive; Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. MFA Acting; Brooklyn College. www.jorgeluna.net ​


Picture
​Edgar Eguia is affiliated with a number of NY-based theatre companies, mainly The Flea Theater, The Amoralists Theatre Company and Poetic Theater Productions. He received his acting training at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and is looking forward to explore the physical aspects of theatre with the Ume Group!

​​Kaitlin Kaufmann

Picture
Kaitlin Kaufman is a clown, movement artist and actress from Long Island, NY. She started studying theater while attending Barnard College. After attaining her B.A. in Comparative Literature in 2012, she moved to Silkeborg, Denmark where she was introduced to the Lecoq pedagogy. In 2014, she moved to Florence, Italy to continue her Lecoq training with Giovanni Fusetti, Matteo Destro, and Liz Baron at the Helikos International School for Theater Creation. Now, she's back in New York and thrilled to play, create and share with the Ume Group! ​

​Annie McCoy

Picture
Annie McCoy is excited to be a part of the Ume group. She was last seen as Katy Fox in Splitfoot which premiered in Edinburgh. Previous credits include Anna in Gageing Noel, Masha in the Seagull and Little Red in Into the Woods. She is a graduate of Circle in the Square. ​

0 Comments
<<Previous

    Blog

    RSS Feed


    Picture
    E-mail
    Subscribe!
    Subscribe to our mailing list:

    Archives

    January 2019
    March 2017
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Tags

    All
    12 Week Physical Theatre Course
    12-Week Physical Theatre Course
    5 Year Anniversary
    Article
    Auditions
    Behind The Scenes
    Brantley Ivey
    Brooklyn
    Butoh
    Butoh Electra
    Casting
    Christian Leadley
    Clara Kundin
    Core Ensemble
    Dance
    Dave Herigstad
    Dream Dances
    Events
    Fabio Motta
    Facet
    Fallen
    Gymnastics
    Hannah Scott
    Irondale Center
    Isis Variations
    Isis Variations
    Jennifer Marinelli
    Jobs
    Jordan Rosin
    Jordan & The Human
    Jorge Luna
    Karina Sindicich
    Keelie Sheridan
    Kickin
    Laura Aristovulos
    Lysistrata Project
    Marie Putko
    Miles Butler
    Mo Geiger
    Open Training
    Performances
    Photos
    Physical Theater
    Physical Theatre
    Physical Training
    Social Action Project
    Theatre For One
    The Ume Group School
    Training Ensemble
    Tutorial
    Video
    Yoga
    Yokko


Contact

The Ume Group
theumegroup@gmail.com

Contact Us

Submit