This week, we're taking a look at an exciting dance company that's been making an impact in Charm City (and a group that certainly has our hearts!) - Effervescent Collective.

Our own Liz Galuardi got the chance to work with Effervescent during their March production of "Dirty Dancing" - yep, the one where the guy played Baby and a gal played Johnny - and she enjoyed the entire experience immensely. Checking out the show, we couldn't help but notice the sheer amount of fun and excitement that was generated in the room.

And that kind of accessibility is exactly what Effervescent is striving for. Their website lays it out - check it out and get a feel for what this group is:

effervescentcollective.org

They've done dance for smelling (seriously). They've done the aforementioned gender flipping of famous movie roles. They rocked it out at Whartscape. Odds are, they have some amazing future plans lined up for Baltimore, and we couldn't be more excited.

So if you've seen them, maybe they might like a donation through Fractured Atlas (Hey! Just like us!) And who knows, one day maybe GMT will get a chance to collab with them. Who likes the sound of that?

Looking Glass Thursday: Tenement St. Workshop

GMT's Alex Scally checks in with this week's feature, which looks at the Brooklyn, NY-based artists collective, Tenement Street Workshop. Looking Glass 8.12: Tenement St. Workshop from GlassMind Theatre on Vimeo. During our production of Antartica, GMT was approached by fellow Baltimore artist (and Looking Glass alum) Philip Edward Laubner to participate in his July multimedia event, Instant Gratification. Phil expressed great interest in adding more performance art to the bill, namely spoken-word and slam poety. Without hesitation, one group came to mind: Tenement Street Workshop. In early June, I contacted Patrick Letterii, a former classmate and founding member of TSW. I knew that they were currently touring their newest original, God On The Roof, a coming-of-age story told through slam poetry and visual media. I explained Instant Gratification and proposed creating or expanding a slam poetry work as a collaborative project for the event. The entire group embraced the opportunity by not only staging the Baltimore premiere God On The Roof, but also writing a piece for Glass Mind's members and associate artists. It was a real pleasure that, despite the long-distance relationship, we were able to build something together and showcase the strength of our companies for one audience. Whether it be a concert on the roof of a Bushwick warehouse, a festival at Carnegie Mellon University, or a hybrid performance in a Pigtown art gallery (see video), Tenement Street Workshop continue to build a strong following as innovative and resourceful liaisons of the East Coast arts scene. For more information and upcoming performances, please see www.tenementsteet.org.

Looking Glass Thursday: Philip Laubner Photography

This week, Britt checks in with our next entry for Looking Glass Thursday, where we'll be taking a look at photographer Philip Laubner:

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My wonderful friend, the photographer Philip Laubner

I met Phil Laubner long before I actually “met” him.

Yeah, I know it’s cheesy.

I did “The Lacy Project” at the Strand Theater back in February, and during the run of the show, we had a gallery of portraits of women. Jayme Kilburn, the artistic director of the theater, knew Phil and asked him to hang some of his portraits in the exhibit. I was immediately drawn to one of his pictures, entitled “Lauren Lakis Head” (Lauren was actually in the production with me, and the title role of the show). I was looking forward to meeting him, hoping he would come to the show.

He indeed came and stayed to meet me after one of my performances. I told him what a big fan of his I was, and he told me what a big fan of mine he was (I also had some portraits of women up in our makeshift gallery). I told Phil about Glass Mind Theatre, and he became one of our biggest supporters.

Phil is a very talented photographer, among other things. Him and I are in the early stages of creating a folk band, him on guitar, me on vocals! He has a lovely voice himself, though he will never admit it. He was also kind enough to photograph Glass Mind’s “Prom Night” as part of our Antarctica run. The photos were amazing.

Check out Phil's Facebook fan page HERE

What I love about Phil’s photography is that it is honest and beautiful work. He takes seemingly ordinary people and creates something beautiful with his portraiture – without a ton of Photoshop or editing. His techniques with lighting are also something out of this world. Whether he uses his flash, or just the light that surrounds the subject, he manages to find something divine. There is a particular picture of me from Antarctica’s Prom Night where I am looking up toward this light on stage, and I am in my sequined dress, and there is a blue balloon at my feet. It is just one of the coolest pictures of me that I have. You best believe it was my Facebook profile picture for a little while.

It’s strange to think that I have known Phil Laubner only since the beginning of 2010, because we have become so close. I don’t see as much of him as I’d like to, because our schedules are so busy. However, I know we’ll get together soon, and you’ll see us on the streets of Baltimore. We’ll be busking around town with our folk band. Be sure to drop us a few bucks, or take our picture.

Looking Glass Thursday: CHUCKLESTORM

One of our main goals with Glass Mind is – in the simplest terms – reach out to all kinds of Baltimore artists and help strengthen the bonds in the arts scene here. How can we do our part to help that? Why not blog about people we think are awesome and tell you more about them? Oh, hell yeah.

So this officially marks a new weekly feature here on the blog which we’d like to call “Looking Glass” (Alec Lawson earns a GMT merit badge for helping come up with that one). Each Thursday, we’ll give you the scoop on an artist we happen to think is doing some great stuff here in Charm City. Whether they’ve worked with us directly or not, these are the folks that Glass Mind feels is making movement.

And yes, it’s possible to make movement in blazers and running shorts.

Today we’re showcasing two guys who worked with us in the first Brainstorm festival. Dan Friedman and Alex Braslavsky have been heading up a monthly event they dub “Chucklestorm” for the last few months - whether “Chucklestorm” and “Brainstorm” are related by blood is all speculation at this point.

They recently had a successful showing of CHUCKLESTORM at the Ottobar this past month, and their videos leading up to the event were pretty stellar. And wouldn't you know it, another one of our associate artists worked on ‘em (Hey, Jaron Lopez!). The one above, entitled “Frisbee”, is a personal favorite.

Ladies, please calm yourselves. I know all of those knees and ankles are getting you worked up.

Dan and Alex also show appreciation to their idols when they can. Their last Chucklestorm took place on Forest Whitaker’s birthday, which they advertised in order to maintain proper Forest Whitaker birthday awareness (Word on our street is, he showed up backstage, made Alex cry, and left in a fury, but no one can actually confirm or deny this).

SO! How can you follow these guys and check out Chucklestorm? Well, it’s looking to become a monthly event at the Ottobar (huzzah!) and for now, you can check them out on their Facebook group. Here’s the link:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/group.php?gid=133904556636226&ref=ts

They have some videos from their last event, and of course, plenty of pictures of their knees and ankles. Whew.

UPCOMING LOOKING GLASS FEATURES:

8.5 – Phil Laubner, Photographer/Host of ‘Instant Gratification’/All Around Swell Guy

8.12 – Tenement St. Workshop / Theatre Collective – featuring video from our collab at Instant Gratification in July!

SEASON ONE: It has arrived!

Hey everyone! Great news - Glass Mind's SEASON ONE has finally be announced, and its looking to be a pretty packed first season. Featuring three world premiere projects (one of which is the return and 'remix' of our BRAINSTORM festival) and a Baltimore premiere of a play that debuted at Humana, we're really excited to connect with Baltimore this coming year.


And speaking of "connection", that's a huge buzzword you'll be hearing a lot of this year. One of the most important aspects of our season planning was using all of our main productions to create a yearly dialogue based on a related theme or idea. This season's theme revolves around how we choose to build these connections, and how we may not be able to. Whether its through machines or (gasp!) actual human contact, this struggle to identify with one another (or even ourselves) is something that we feel each of these productions will showcase.


We look forward to seeing you and starting this discussion up in person! Hope to see you around for SEASON ONE!


For more details and to check out the season, check out www.glassmindtheatre.com!

Tuesday Viewsday!: April 13

We are about three days from the opening of Glass Mind Theatre's Baltimore Debut of "ANTARCTICA" by Carolyn Raship, and this thankfully coincides with another addition of TUESDAY VIEWS-DAY! Magda and Winnie have another Video Log up, but it looks like things are getting a bit more difficult than expected -- wait, what's that sound?

Check it out below:

Antarctica Video Log Pt. 3 from GlassMind Theatre on Vimeo.

"Antarctica" opens THIS FRIDAY, April 16th, at 8pm at Mobtown Theater. You can buy your tickets on our website at www.glassmindtheatre.com - just follow the Brown Paper Tickets icon and it'll take you right to the events page!

We hope to see you there!

Tuesday Viewsday!: March 30

It's another Tuesday and we've got another Antarctica Video Log for ya! Check it out...

Antarctica Video Log Pt. 2 from GlassMind Theatre on Vimeo.