Saturday, 5/19 2007

Repeat Performance!

The Hidden Life of Trees
with Katja Esser and Ricardo Frota

Art, Nature and Spirit unite in this performance
of sound, movement, poetry, costume and mask
For ages 9 to adults!
Adults: $15, Teenagers: $8, Kids under 12 free
Doors open at 7:45pm

www.ritualexpressions.com/re/performance_002.asp
www.ritualexpressions.com/re/ricardoFrota.asp
 
The costume is in part funded by the Watertown Cultural Council
For more info, please contact: katjacreates@ritualexpressions.com
Welcome to the magical forest, a world of color, sound, form and shapes. You will be transported into the imaginative state of mind by experiencing sound colors of insects, rattles, leaves, rain, birds, earth, fruit and bark. Listen carefully. Do you hear the rhythm of the woodpecker, the gnawing of bugs, the moaning of trees? There is a constant sound of life expressing itself in the woods. The forest is an amazing place full of activity and excitement. It has its stories of interconnectedness, survival, and the eternal cycles of life and death. There is magic, mystery and power. The focus is on the tree, which appears to be self-sufficient, but upon looking closer, we see that it depends on a myriad of beings that help to make sure that the nutrients get to the tree. There are many fascinating relationships in the hidden world of trees and earth that reveal the amazing intricate designs of nature.


Katja Esser and Ricardo Frota, with their unique inspirational skills, bring a deeper appreciation to nature. Through the use of sound, movement, poetry, costume and mask, they create powerful visual and sound imageries. The audience is transported into another realm. Katja works with images that imitate and transform nature. Through her mask and costume, she gives shape to the spirit of the tree, and she becomes the tree. The poetry provides clues about the life of a tree. Ricardo works with the actual pieces of trees as well as natural and recycled objects. He lets their spirit speak by giving them voice. The audience is invited to contribute in imaginative ways to the complex sounds and life of the forest.
Let yourself to be taken on this journey and to be awed by the wonders and wisdom of our planet.

Katja Esser (www.ritualexpressions.com/) is a visual and performance artist who uses her masks, song, dance and ritual to awaken the deep story we carry in our bones. She studied art in her native country, the Netherlands. She has exhibited her artwork in New York City, Boston, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Katja's work has been greatly inspired by nature. Her numerous month long trips to Utah's wild canyon country, her travels to Burkino Faso and Mali, and her involvement in ritual, sound, and movement have put a strong mark on her work as well as her life.

Ricardo Frota (www.ritualexpressions.com/re/ricardoFrota.asp) is a musician, music educator, violinist, percussionist, performer, improviser, and a graduate from the New England Conservatory, in Boston. He has performed in Europe, the USA, and South America. He is the founder of Sound Play Productions, a music program that brings multicultural music making to school children. Ricardo has presented numerous workshops and created school assemblies and artist in residence programs, to private and public schools throughout the US and Boston area. Currently Ricardo is working to create a free accessible Art Center in Minas Gerais, Brasil, to children of small villages, presenting a program entitled Ecology of Sound, creating Sound Sculptures from recycled and nature made objects.

Photos by: Delwood Richardson