New mime company to perform, raise money for Poland trip
Alithea Mime Theatre, a new mime theater company at WSU, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, May 26-27, in Miller Concert Hall to raise money for a trip to Warsaw, Poland. The company will perform at the International Mime Art Festival May 31-June 3.
"This places our university as one of the few learning and performing centers for the art of mime theater in the United States," says Nicholas Johnson, director of dance and artistic director for the WSU mime company. WSU's theater, dance and opera programs already have benefited from the skills acquired through this art form."
The International Mime Art Festival is a first-time festival directed and organized by Stefan Niedzialkowski, artistic director of Studio Mimow at Teatr na Woli, Warsaw. Korean and French mime companies have also been invited to perform.
Johnson was a member in Niedzialkowski’s New York company Mimedance Theatre from 1980-83, which launched the creation of The Goldston & Johnson School for Mimes in 1980 at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio. Johnson is associate artistic director for the summer residency school.
Johnson, a faculty technical director and a guest lecturer will travel with 11 performers, including five WSU students and alumni and four guest artists. Greg Matthias, manager of TV services at WSU’s Media Resources Center, will produce a documentary of the tour. The video will be developed for recruitment and development purposes and for TV broadcast. The MRC is donating the equipment, labor and cameraman services.
To date $9,000 has been raised partly from a summer research grant; however, an additional $36,000 is needed for travel, lodging and expenses, as well as a small stipend for each performer.
Beyond attending the performance, anyone who would like to help may make donations to WSU Dance, the Poland tour. For further information, contact Johnson, 978-3645.
