Dance New Amsterdam Space Grant: A one year lease at Dance New Amsterdam as a part of DNA's Subsidized Administrative Space program (SAS). Avodah is among 11 dance companies who will be supported by this program.
J Walton Bissell Foundation --
has awarded Avodah a grant of $10,000 for the continuation and expansion of our program at York Correction Institution for 2005-2006 and 2006-2007.
--The Chester W. Kitchings Foundation-- of New London,CT for a grant of $5,000 for the continuation and expansion of our program at York Correctional Institution in 2003 - 2004!
--Pacem in Terris--
a community-based peace education organization - has facilitated grants for Avodah through the Marshall Reynolds Foundation. For the 2007 season we received a grant for $15,000.
--The Bodenwein Public Benevolent Foundation-- has provided support for Avodah's residencies at York Correctional Institution for the past three years.
-- George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation --
has been funding residencies at York Correctional Institution since the beginning of the program at York.
--The Best Buy Children's Foundation(BBCF) has awarded the Avodah Dance Ensemble a grant of $10,000 to continue presenting workshops in schools close to Ground Zero. The award is part of a $1 million commitment from the BBCF to support the specific needs of youth programs in the New York Tri-State area.
The Avodah Dance Ensemble based in New York City with a business office in Jersey City will be conducting a series of 10 workshops, made possible by this award, at P.S. 6/ The Jotham W. Wakeman Elementary School in Jersey City beginning October 22.
Two classes at the school will work intensively with the dance company developing a piece that uses movement, percussion and story telling on the theme of "Keeping Our Balance". The piece will be performed for other students at the school during culminating events on November 21. There will also be an after school dance workshop for students in grades fourth through eighth that want an intensive dance experience.
This program is a continuation of work that Avodah began in the Spring of 2002 Continued on Page 2
-- Nathan Cummings Foundation -- given in support of "The Forgiveness Project."
The Avodah Dance Ensemble was awarded a grant in October 2001 of $25,000 from The
Nathan Cummings Foundation to support "The Forgiveness Project," a
community-based initiative that explores forgiveness through dance and
sacred texts. As part of the grant Avodah will be creating a dance work on
the theme of forgiveness from a variety of perspectives: forgiveness of
self; forgiveness between individuals; forgiveness between God and self; and
forgiveness between communities.
Avodah is also designing community workshops with experiential activities on
the theme of forgiveness that will be part of four weeklong residencies that
will be held beginning in February 2002. Each residency provides movement
activities and a performance on the theme of forgiveness. Residencies will
be held at: The Episcopal Church of Saints Andrew and Matthew in Wilmington,
Delaware; Westchester Reform Temple in Scarsdale, New York; Hebrew Union
College - Jewish Institute of Religion in New York City; and at York
Correctional Institution, an all women's prison facility in Niantic,
Connecticut.
The project is under the artistic direction of JoAnne Tucker, Avodah's
founder. Tucker will be the choreographer and long time Avodah associate,
Newman Taylor Baker, will compose music for the performance piece.
While Avodah's calendar does not allow for any additional week long
residencies this winter and spring, it is possible to schedule a one- to two-day residency in communities surrounding New York between February and May
of 2002. Avodah is accepting bookings for both day and weeklong residencies
for fall 2002 through spring 2003.
-- The Irving Caesar Lifetime Trust -
The late songwriter and lyricist Irving Caesar (1895- 1996) was perhaps best known for his lyrics to "Tea for Two," "Swanee" and the show "No, No Nanette," a smiling and substantial legacy. We are honored to have received an additional legacy a $10,000 grant from the Designating Committee of the Irving Caesar Lifetime Trust in support of our dance/music educational project based on our works "Let My People Go" and "Make a Change." The grant will enable us to conduct a series of six workshops at each of two New York City public high schools, culminating in the students' joining the company in a performance at their school. The workshops will draw upon "Let My People Go," including attention to the relationship between words and rhythm/music in formats ranging from chanting to oral history/poetry to sermon to songs of protest. The students will write their own lyrics related to social action and improvise related movement that will be incorporated in their performance as part of "Make a Change."
Knowing of Irving Caesar's fond attachment to New York's Lower East Side and the Henry Street Settlement, we hope he would find it fitting that both "Let My People Go" and "Make a Change" were co-choreographed by Avodah's director JoAnne Tucker and Louis Johnson, director of the dance program at the Henry Street Settlement, and further, that one of the participating schools is Murry Bergtraum High School on the Lower East Side. We look forward to collaborating with our student lyricists there and at the High School of Environmental Studies on Manhattan's West Side.
-- The Jaqua Foundation -- The Jaqua Foundation has honored us with a $10,000 grant for Holocaust education programs in New Jersey public high schools. We are working with a consultant recommended by the State of New Jersey Commission on Holocaust Education who is designing pre- and post-curriculum materials to accompany our residencies. Three schools will be selected by the Commission for the first residencies, to take place between March 20 and April 14, 2000. Included in the grant is also an April 16 performance at The Daughters of Israel Geriatric Center.
-- The Harkness Foundation for Dance -- We are most grateful for the steadfast support the Harkness Foundation for Dance. It has provided for our dance education programming.
-- The Gloria and Sidney Danziger Foundation -- with thanks to Jamie Kreitman and Rabbi Benjamin Kretiman for their special efforts of our Holocaust programming.
--Laura Jane Musser Foundation-- grant of $5,000 to support cross-cultural
activities for youth in New York City living below 14th Street and a grant of $10,000 to support Avodah's teacher training multicultural workshops in May and August of 2004.
We thank all of our contributors for their enthusiastic response.
If you would like to support Avodah mail your tax-deductible contribution to:
Avodah, c/o HUC-JIR, 1 West Fourth Street, New York, NY 10012.
Thank you.