ARDEN 2 ARTISTIC DIRECTOR JOANNA KLASS TO BRING UNESCO-DECLARED GROTOWSKI YEAR TO LOS ANGELES
Joanna Klass, Artistic Director of Arden 2 (Costa Mesa), will present a rich array of Polish arts and culture events in Los Angeles this fall, as well as bring L.A. theatre directors to Poland this June, as part of festivities for the UNESCO-declared Grotowski Year 2009.By invitation of the Grotowski Institute in Wroclaw, Poland, Klass is serving as Director for The Grotowski Year, coordinating performances, exhibitions, conferences, workshops, film screenings, and special events in 23 countries.
Under the auspices of UNESCO, The Grotowski Year 2009 was initiated to honor life and work of Polish theatre revolutionary Jerzy Grotowski (1933-1999) during this 50th anniversary of his groundbreaking Laboratory Theatre’s founding and the 10th anniversary of his death. Widely regarded as one of the most important theatre practitioners of the 20th century, Grotowski taught at the University of California, Irvine in the 1980s and had a transformative impact on the L.A. arts community. UC Irvine is also where Grotowski met Thomas Richards, the young director with whom he worked extensively in both Southern California and Pontedera, Italy and to whom he eventually bequeathed his life-long arsenal of research.
Last spring, the Grotowski Institute invited Klass to direct worldwide events for The Grotowski Year. Supported in part by a travel grant from Theatre Communications Group and the International Theatre Institute, funded by the Trust for Mutual Understanding, Klass took a sabbatical from Arden 2’s main activities and relocated to Poland for the year. In partnership with the Consul General of Poland in Los Angeles, Klass looks forward to bringing the Grotowski Year full-circle back to Southern California this November through a wide range of events, including: Performer: Twenty Years After, a conference at the University of Calfornia, Irvine that will echo a gathering led by Grotowski in the same location 20 years prior; the U.S. premiere of Polish experimental theatre ensemble Association Teatr ZAR’s full Triptych at UCLA Live, featuring three pieces devised over a multiyear rehearsal period, crafted through a series of cultural research expeditions and vigorous musical and physical training; a literary event in the Central Library’s ALOUD series; and exhibitions, film screenings, lectures, and workshops at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television; University of California, Irvine Drama Department; Pomona College Department of Theater and Dance, Loyola Marymount University Theatre Arts Department, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, and Helena Modjeska Art and Culture Club of Los Angeles.
Klass is also firmly dedicated to creating opportunities for L.A. artists to participate in international Grotowski Year events. Most notably, she will bring a strong contingency of L.A. theatre directors to Poland this June to be special guests of the Grotowski Year’s peak event, The World as a Place of Truth international theatre festival and explore possibilities for the future of American theatre as part of a unique U.S. Artists Initiative which Klass conceived and will host.The festival will take place June 14-30 in Wroclaw and feature productions directed by a rare constellation of world master theatre directors, including Eugenio Barba, Pina Bausch, Peter Brook, Richard Schechner, and Tadashi Suzuki, as well as public conversations with each director, a special meeting with Ludwik Flaszen (co-founder of the Laboratory Theatre with Grotowski), film screenings, and performances by “The Eastern Line,” a collection of Eastern Europe’s most cutting-edge experimental theatre companies. More information available at www.grotowskiyear.pl.
Participants for the U.S. Artists Initiative were selected by a national advisory committee of leaders from the field and will include both seasoned professionals and emerging artists from multiple generations and backgrounds. Confirmed L.A. participants include Bryan Brown and Olya Petrakova (American Russian Theatre Ensemble Laboratory/ARTEL), Martha Demson (Open Fist), Talli Pressman (Cornerstone Theater Company), Beth Hogan and Ron Sossi(KOAN Ensemble, Odyssey Theatre), Jennifer Li (Independent Director/Choreographer), Katharine Noon and Mark Seldis (The Ghost Road Company), Jon Lawrence Rivera (Playwrights’ Arena), Mark Valdez (Network of Ensemble Theatres), and Guy Zimmerman (Padua Playwrights).
Born in Legnica, Poland and educated in Wroclaw (M.A. in American Literature), Joanna Klass moved to Los Angeles in 1984 and initially worked as a facilitator and interpreter for the Polish immigrant community. In 1996, she founded Arden 2, a non-profit interdisciplinary arts organization in Costa Mesa that facilitates cultural and artistic exchanges between Eastern European and U.S. artists. Focusing largely on theatre, Klass has introduced a broad spectrum of contemporary Polish companies to the United States, including Gardzienice, Song of the Goat, Teatr Provisorium, Modjeska Theatre Company, Kana Theatre, Wroclaw Puppet Theatre, and Association Teatr ZAR. Her work in Southern California is characterized by partnerships with a wide variety of institutions, including the Getty Center, UCLA Live, REDCAT, Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, City Garage, Skirball Center, Museum of Contemporary Art, Orange County Museum of Art, and many universities.