The Persians

People's Light

2008

$110,000

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Melanye Finister in The Persians. Photo by Mark Garvin.

People's Light produced the Philadelphia premiere of The Persians, Ellen McLaughlin's adaptation of the ancient Greek tragedy by Aeschylus, with original music by sound designer Daniel Kluger. A tale of war and national grief, this production reinterprets the classic play that tells the story of the Athenian defeat of the powerful Persian Empire in 480 BC.

Recipients

People's Light

Performance

Theater

Grants & Grantees

Firebird: Reimagined

Russian folktales and South African music and puppetry united in a multidisciplinary interpretation of Igor Stravinsky's composition for the 1910 ballet The Firebird, featuring The Philadelphia Orchestra, Grammy Award-winning South African vocal ensemble Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and larger-than-life puppets by Janni Younge of South Africa's renowned Handspring Puppet Company.

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Event

The Quiet Circus: River Charrette 1

As part of its year-long project, Headlong presents a series of River Charrettes—performances and participatory conversations—at various sites along Philadelphia's waterfronts.

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Event

In Plain Air

The world premiere of a new composition from Phyllis Chen and Nathan Davis inaugurates the newly installed pipe organ at the historic Christ Church.

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Collaborators & Colleagues

John McLaughlin Williams

John McLaughlin Williams is an award-winning orchestral conductor, composer, arranger, and violinist.

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Grants & Grantees

ALIAS

Theater artist Thaddeus Phillips, a 2002 Pew Fellow, will create a new bilingual performance work for theater, inspired by his experience working on Colombian telenovela Alias El Mexicano.

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Collaborators & Colleagues

Reggie Wilson

Reggie Wilson is the artistic director of Reggie Wilson/Fist & Heel Performance Group, where he presents his unique blend of African and post-modern dance styles.

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News

Center-Funded Projects from Madhusmita Bora, Al-Bustan Seeds of Culture, Orchestra 2001, Penn Museum in The New York Times, NPR, Hyperallergic & More

A number of Center grantees have recently garnered national and regional media attention for their performances and exhibitions.

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Grants & Grantees

Room 21

A performance and newly commissioned album-length musical composition by Jace Clayton will take its inspiration from the artwork and record collection of Albert Barnes—including a recording which is credited with introducing African American spirituals to the wider world—offering audiences a way to reconnect with and to reimagine the Barnes Foundation collection through sound.

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Collaborators & Colleagues

Whit MacLaughlin

Whit MacLaughlin is a theater artist, the founder of New Paradise Laboratories, and a 2002 Pew Fellow.

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Collaborators & Colleagues

Richard Schechner

Richard Schechner is a legendary downtown theater artist, currently on faculty at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he was one of the founders of the Performance Studies department.

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Collaborators & Colleagues

Roger LaMay

Roger LaMay is general manager at WXPN (88.5 FM), a public radio station operated by the University of Pennsylvania.

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Questions of Practice

Fellows Friday: Q&A with Saxophonist and Composer Matthew Levy

Saxophonist and Pew Fellow Matthew Levy on what motivates his multi-faceted practice as a musician, composer, and commissioner/producer of new music, his daily art-making routine, and more.

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News

Center’s Latest Book, The Sentient Archive: Bodies, Performance, and Memory, Now in Print

The Center’s latest publication, The Sentient Archive: Bodies, Performance, and Memory, is available June 26, 2018.

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Collaborators & Colleagues

Edisa Weeks

Edisa Weeks is a choreographer, educator, and director of DELIRIOUS Dances, a performance group that creates intimate environments that merge theater with dance.

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GRANTS & GRANTEES

Lembit Beecher

Praised by The New York Times for his "alluring, emotive" work, composer Lembit Beecher creates intimate and dramatically potent musical experiences.

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GRANTS & GRANTEES

FringeArts

FringeArts presents, develops, and commissions a range of high-quality contemporary performing and visual arts in Philadelphia.

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News

What Inspired in 2017? Our Network Responds

As 2017 draws to a close, we asked Center colleagues, panelists, grantees, and staff to reflect on the year in art.

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Event

Ars Nova's New Paths Festival Presents the William Parker / Muhammad Ali Duo

Free jazz artists William Parker and Muhammad Ali will perform over four nights at the First Unitarian Church Side Chapel, with guest Philadelphia musicians Dave Burrell, Marshall Allen, Bobby Zankel, and Odean Pope.

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Event

Performance Lecture by Malavika Sarukkai at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Bhratanatyam dancer and choreographer Malavika Sarukkai will present a performance lecture that ties the language of Indian classical dance to its interpretation in the visual arts.

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Collaborators & Colleagues

Judy Hussie-Taylor

Judy Hussie-Taylor has served as executive director and chief curator of Danspace Project since 2008, where her theme-based Platform series has mobilized artists as advocates and curators within the field.

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