Hartford Stage's BREAKDANCING SHAKESPEARE: AS YOU LIKE IT Adds Benefit Show

Hartford Stage, in conjunction with the Greater Hartford Arts Council's Neighborhood Studios, has announced performance dates for this summer's Breakdancing Shakespeare: As You Like It. Four performances will be held at Hartford Stage Thursday, August 3, through Saturday, August 5, which will include a special benefit performance.

A possible decrease in funding for Breakdancing Shakespeare, which celebrated its tenth anniversary last summer with Romeo & Juliet, would seriously compromise the theatre's ability to carry out this immensely popular teen program next season. A special benefit performance has been added this year for As You Like It, with all proceeds directly supporting the 2018 Breakdancing Shakespeare production. At present, a grant from Neighborhood Studios funds only half of the program.

"With potential cuts in funding, we are being very proactive about raising money this year to ensure that Breakdancing Shakespeare will continue next year," said Michael Stotts, Managing Director of Hartford Stage. "This has become one of Hartford Stage's flagship youth programs that would be terribly missed if we had to cancel it due to lack of funding."

Breakdancing Shakespeare is part of the Greater Hartford Arts Council's award-winning Neighborhood Studios program, a nationally recognized summer arts apprenticeship program for area teenagers between the ages of 14 and 18. Participants are paid a $100 weekly stipend, teaching them the important responsibility of a paying job. Apprentices are selected from across the Arts Council's 34-town service area, providing an opportunity for teenagers to learn from others with different cultural, economic and geographic backgrounds. Breakdancing Shakespeare apprentices also learn breakdancing techniques, physical and vocal characterization, movement, and interpretation of classical text and use these skills to put a modern twist on a classic Shakespearean play.

"We absolutely love this program, as do many families, alumni, and community members who have been in the audience over the past ten years," said Jennifer Roberts, Director of Education at Hartford Stage. "We invite everyone to rally together to help ensure the future of this critical and beloved program."

William Shakespeare's As You Like It is the story of a diverse cast of characters thrown together by misfortune into a desolate place where they find they are nevertheless able to grow friendship, love, and forgiveness. The cast of Breakdancing Shakespeare will create a modern hip-hop telling of this 400-year-old story, complete with Shakespeare's original text and contemporary music and dance.

The full cast and creative team for As You Like It will be announced next month. The production will be directed by Nina Pinchin, Associate Director of Education for Hartford Stage, and choreographed by former Breakdancing Shakespeare cast member Brandon Couloute.

Performances of Breakdancing Shakespeare: As You Like It will be at Hartford Stage on Thursday, August 3, and Friday, August 4, at 7 p.m. and Saturday, August 5, at 2 p.m., with the benefit performance at 7 p.m. on Saturday, August 5. General admission tickets for the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoon performances are $10. Seated tickets for the Saturday evening benefit performance are $30, $50, and $100. Tickets can be purchased through the Hartford Stage Box Office at 860-527-5151 or online at www.hartfordstage.org/education/bds.

To learn more about Breakdancing Shakespeare, visit www.hartfordstage.org/education/bds or contact Robert Reader, Education Programs Manager, at 860-520-7263 or rreader@hartfordstage.org. To learn more about Neighborhood Studios, visit letsgoarts.org/NeighborhoodStudios.

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