Sunday, November 9, 2014

BLOOM in New Orleans


I traveled again with my compatriot, Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith, and a pile of strong-willed women to New Orleans where they mounted a gallery show and performance of BLOOM, Lindsay's performance piece about a woman turning into a plant.  The piece was striking and bold.  I was proud to serve the ALS-stricken star as her assistant.  Not to mention that Halloween and Day of the Dead in NOLA are visually stunning!

Artist Services OCT 2014


I showed up in midtown trying to "fix" people as my construction worker clown.  Some people need to be glued back together.  Some people need to be screwed shut.  Either way my tools were at the ready.  Part of the Garment District Arts Festival.

Dreary Coast OCT 2014


I was proud to assist in the minimal way I did with Dreary Coast.  A theatrical intervention into the heart of the city as I know it. Into Brooklyn landscape.  Created by Jeff Stark with costume design by Sarah McMillan, the immersive play on the Gowanus Canal revealed the kind of life that makes this city shine.

Rite of Spring, OCT 2014


The Rite of Spring by Basil Twist was mounted in its first run outside of its initial commission.  As Asst Technical Director AND performing Puppeteer my hands were full, perhaps overflowing.  I had a great time with my interns, the tech team, the puppeteers, and the crew at Rose Hall Jazz at Lincoln Center.

NY Clown Theater Festival


Clown class with Aitor Basauri was something to behold.  The simple teaches the complex.  And though everything he said was in the grasp of my imagination, a performance of it was NOT!  Ho ho, "I am not funny", was my most successful day! I loved the class.  Then my Pink Lady showed up at the clown cabaret.  Was great to get her out and about in front of an audience, there will be more with her.  Thank you Audrey for your work.

Burning Man August 2014


Burning Man was a bit off for me this year.  Not sure exactly the whys... but I did enjoy the constant comments after i got home… on my patterned suntan caused by a double application of a temporary tattoo at Kostume Kult early in the week.  I also had a grand time randomly volunteering at Arctica where there is a permanent dance party and the ice keeps you chilled.  Highly recommended as a place to volunteer.  And I was dazzled by the infrastructure of Black Rock City when I fell off my bike and got an x-ray in the desert. Amazing.

Chaise Clown Pics

Thanks for hosting me Chashama!!!






Summer 2014: A Beautiful Beast Build and Tour


Summer was busy managing the build of 3 wolves, an enchantress, and a hag for the international touring production of Beauty and the Beast. I hear my wolves are in Turkey now?!  Thanks to a great team at the Tandem Otter studio.

Published!

I'm proud to have authored one of the essays in the new book, The Routledge Companion to Puppetry and Material Performance.  released this June, it features 28 essays of puppetry scholarship considered "from six perspectives: theoretical approaches to the puppet, perspectives from practitioners, revisiting history, negotiating tradition, material performances in contemporary theatre, and hybrid forms."  Thank you for including my essay, Movement is Consciousness.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

Chaise Clown Aug 2 + 3 from 3-6pm FREE

Descending upon a lonely window in the Fashion district is a clown with a vision to build a tower out of this world and into the next... or at least up to the ceiling of this storefront.  Come pass by the imnotlost Performing Installation at Chashama 266 w 37th st on SATURDAY AUG 2 and/or SUNDAY AUG 3 from 3-6pm.  Bring a picnic.  hang out.  walk back and forth.  Free viewing from the street will draw you into the mastermind of this facetious carpenter.  www.imnotlost.net www.Chashama.org



Thursday, June 19, 2014

Kari Margolis: Manifesting the Poetic

I'm back for another two weeks of intensive training in the Margolis Method of actor training.  After 15 years I continue to be amazed and inspired with this work and the daily discoveries it graces me with.  This being my third year in the professor training I am happy to say that Margolis method has merged with my methods for teaching PUPPETRY.    Ah, research, training, devising. YES.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Puppeteering Workshop June 14th, 2014


Puppet and Object Manipulation: Part 1
taught by Kate Brehm

Manipulating puppets requires an understanding not only of how the puppet moves, but how you the performer move in service to that puppet.  I train performers kinesthetic awareness of their own bodies in space and in relation to the puppets and objects outside of them.  Find your vertical core, drop your weight and be ready to move in this movement class for puppeteers.  Working with simple objects we will discover what basic elements can help you transform anything into a puppet.  

You'll learn about rhythm, dynamics and breath.  You'll learn to use your limbs in partnership with one another as opposed to as one block. You'll partner with yourself, your fellow puppeteers, and the very architecture that surrounds you.  This class will make you a more powerful and centered performer onstage, able to direct an audience focus to either your puppet or yourself.

This class is for puppeteers or dancers, actors, performers who would like to add puppetry to their skill set.  Students must be over 18.    Limited to 12 students.

SATURDAY JUNE 14, 1-5 pm $50
at Triskelion Arts Space studio Z
118 N 11th st, 3rd floor Williamsburg
Brooklyn, NY 11249.  

To reserve your spot go to Brown Paper Ticketshttp://puppeteer.bpt.me
Please dress in clothes similar to what you'd wear in a yoga class.    

About the Teacher
Kate Brehm has been a working puppeteer since 1998. In 2003 her company, imnotlost, began producing devised puppetry and immersive events for adults in NYC. Awards include: HERE Artist Residency 2004, One Arm Red residencies 2006, 09, Chashama Performance Residency 2009, NYSCA and Puffin Awards. Festivals: Bangkok Hoontown Puppetry Festival, the London Performance Studies International Conference, the Puppet Rampage Festival, and The Puppetry and Postdramatic Performance Conference. Kate started performing and devising with Basil Twist in 2005 and has since toured the United States, Europe, and Japan with his award-winning puppetry. Kate has twelve years of training in the Margolis Method of Physical Acting and recently completed Clown Conservatory at Circus Center in San Francisco. Kate teaches Moving Objectsand Performing Design, practical and theoretical classes in performative visual thinking. www.katebrehm.com and www.imnotlost.net

Saturday, May 17, 2014

El Nino by John Adams



I am pleased to be puppeteering the Baby Jesus in the first fully staged version of John Adams opera, El Nino at the Spoleto Festival 2014 in Charleston, S.C.  Congrats go out to my puppet family in this show, Steve Tiplady, Sally Todd, and Ewan Hunter.  And to the members of the Westminster Choir who have been so game to try their hand with puppets.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

India



I spent 4 weeks in India with Lindsay Abromaitis-Smith at an ayurvedic hospital this spring.  We ate lots of ghee, drank lots of syrups, and saw many elephants.


Friday, April 25, 2014

Dance Halls









The opening night of the Eye show was followed by a slow dancing
party fundraiser. It went so well my collaborators Mark Krawczuk, Shalin Scupham, and I produced it again in 2014. Twice. (photos by Timothy Murray)








Saturday, March 15, 2014

Clown Conservatory at Circus Center San Francisco


I completed 5 weeks of 5 days a week, 7 hours a day clown training with Joe Deiffenbacher, Dan Griffiths, and Natty Justiniano in Feb-March of 2014.  Warm ups included playing and dancing on octagonal mats.  This led into such things as falling down stairs, running into the wall, and lots of drawing in the audience. Clowns are MORE FUN!


Friday, February 28, 2014

Funeral Show at the Chicken John's



The Puff Angel Snowflake appeared down from heaven to weigh the soul of this poor fellow in the coffin.  February 2014. performed by Kate Brehm. See some video

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Dogugaeshi at Vidy Lausanne


Our theater was on stilts at the Theatre Vidy in Lausanne, Switzerland, one of my favorite spots in the world.  And its all about the people.  What a great staff and exciting artists.  Well that and the great beer in the theater cafe. Thank you for a fabulous run throughout the entire month of January 2014