Pivot Arts Sets 2016 INCUBATOR PROGRAM

Pivot Arts and Loyola University's Department of Fine and Performing Arts (DFPA) are pleased to announce the fourth year of their performing arts incubator program for artists that includes mentorships for Loyola undergraduates. The program provides ensembles and artists time and space to develop work that is innovative and often blurs the boundaries between music, dance, theater and other disciplines. Students work alongside professional artists on each project.

In other news, Pivot Arts, which presents the annual PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL in Chicago each summer, has been chosen by Theater and Communications Group (TCG) and the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation to serve as a delegate at upcoming performance festivals in New York City and Santiago, Chile.

PIVOT ARTS AND LOYOLA UNIVERSITY INCUBATOR PROGRAM

While there have long been solid development programs for playwrights at established Chicago theaters, Pivot Arts and Loyola's Department of Fine and Performing Arts (DFPA) are teaming up to provide space to ensembles and artistic partners who need time to develop original and collaborative work.

The 2016 incubator program begins this February with Walkabout Theater's ensemble-devised production, The Cure, a spiritual exploration of our cultural relationship with mortality, disease, and violence. Following is Heather Overbeck's dance/theater piece, Azure & Indigo. Overbeck and her ensemble of dancers, actors and musicians will research the history of Jazz in Chicago and create an original performance piece. Finally, playwright Juli Del Prete and director Carina Abbaticchio develop Rumspringa! An American Odyssey with an ensemble of actors. Rumspringa! follows four Amish teens during a pivotal period during which they are free from the rules of their conservative community. When a divine revelation prompts them to drive an RV cross-country, they are forced to grapple with their faith and their lifestyle in unexpected ways.

The incubator program will culminate in a public showing and reception on Monday, March 21, 2016 at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Fine and Performing Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Road, 1st Floor, in Chicago. For reservations, e-mail meg@pivotarts.org. For more information on the incubator visit www.pivotarts.org.

Last year's incubator program artists included: Juan Villa and Terra Nova Collective; Isaac Gomez from Victory Gardens; Laboratory for the Development of Substitute Materials (LSDM) and clowning artist, Vanessa Valliere.

PIVOT ARTS TO REPRESENT CHICAGO AT INTERNATIONAL THEATER FESTIVALS

Pivot Arts will represent Chicago at two international theater festivals in January 2016. Director Julieanne Ehre has been selected by Theater and Communications Group (TCG) to represent the organization as part of a group of U.S. delegates traveling to the Festival Santiago a Mil in Santiago, Chile. Additionally, Pivot Arts received a Professional Development grant from the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation for Ehre to attend the Under the Radar Festival at the Public Theatre in New York City. The festivals provide Pivot Arts with the opportunity to forge national and international collaborations, bringing new work to Chicago.

Each summer, Pivot Arts' presents the PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL featuring dozens of innovative performances and events throughout Chicago's Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods. The dates and line-up for the 4th annual PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL will be announced shortly.

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