(HACKENSACK, NJ) -- Join members of the arts community, municipal and community leaders and business owners at the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's (NNJCF) ArtsBergen initiative's Connect the Dots event, Open Mouth Insert Foot, a comedic word and movement workshop. The experiential networking event takes place on Wednesday, September 25, 2019 at the Hackensack Performing Arts Center (HACPAC) in the Downstairs Gallery, located at 102 State Street in Hackensack, New Jersey from 6:00pm to 8:00pm. Parking is available on Warren Street and the Atlantic Street Garage. The event is free and open to the public. Good-will donations are welcome.
Explore, Connect and Network - Participants explore creative ways to work collaboratively. They mix writing, spoken word and movement with a dash of humor added. The 'recipe' of movement, writing and spoken word comes together at the end with a mini-performance. The workshop is open to adults of all abilities and skill levels. Attendees may participate in the exercise or just observe.
Award Winning Choreographer to Facilitate - Noted choreographer Claire Porter, a National Endowment for the Arts grant recipient, leads and facilitates the interactive, hands-on experience. Known for her comedic text and movement work and her skilled teaching, Porter received commissions and honors from The Guggenheim Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Live Music for Dance Commissioning project, Rockefeller Foundation and The Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation.
She performed in Mikhail Baryshnikov’s Gala and has been in residence at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. During the past two years, Porter performed her work at The American Dance Festival, The Yard on Martha’s Vineyard, and the Bates Dance Festival and also appeared at the Modern Language Association Conference with her grammar piece, Falling for Prepositions. She holds a Master of Arts degree in Dance from Ohio State University, a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics, and is a Laban Movement Analyst. Currently, she holds several positions, including Artistic Director of Claire Porter/PORTABLES, teaches at Montclair State University and Fairleigh Dickinson University and conducts Claire’s Dance Workouts in Tenafly, New Jersey.
“The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation's ArtsBergen initiative is proud to offer this unique networking event led by such a renowned local dancer and choreographer for free. We hope artists and performers of all disciplines, and anyone interested in using their creativity, will take advantage of this opportunity to meet like-minded people, identify potential resources for their creative projects, and have fun," said Danielle De Laurentis, Associate Director, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation.
Register - Space is limited. Pre-registration is required and may be done online.
The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF), a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, focuses primarily on civic engagement, education, the environment, public health, and the arts. NNJCF works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups in Northern New Jersey to improve community life. The Foundation's partners identify and resolve regional problems and opportunities by talking and learning from each other, by sharing ideas, best practices, services, and resources.
ArtsBergen, an initiative of the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, is an emerging arts alliance in Bergen County, New Jersey that supports and encourages creative placemaking, the practice of integrating arts and culture into a neighborhood, town, or region to build community and livability and boost local economy. The initiative's mission is to energize and unify artists and arts organizations and connect the Bergen County community to the arts.
