Anabella Lenzu

Ticket/Festival Pass: $25.

RSVP strongly suggested at info@ AnabellaLenzu.com or 678-634-3162

     

3rd Annual Ciao Italy Performance Art Festival program:

 

6:00pm: Doors open to the public. Exhibition by photographers Todd Carroll and Robert Forlini. Mr. Carroll’s documentary work focuses on Italian folk dance festivals from southern Italy, and Mr. Forlini will show a body of work documenting Italian street festivals in New York.

6:30pm: Domenico D'Erasmo – (music) A trombone player originally from Bari, Italy, Mr. D’Erasmo has lived in Williamsburg since immigrating to the US in 1967.

6:45pm: Luciano Lamonarca – (opera) Originally from Southern Italy, Mr. Lamonarca is an acclaimed singer who has performed nationally and internationally. He will be performing “Nessun Dorma” among other favorites.

7:05 pm: Lauren LoGuidice – (theater) An actor who seamlessly works in feature films, television and the stage, Ms. LoGuidice presents an honest amusing story centered around a family dinner that will make you feel like you are digesting a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs.

7:25 pm: Annabella Gonzalez Dance Theater –  (dance) Since 1977, AGDT has been performing to critical acclaim, appearing at BAM and Carnegie Hall among many other locations nationally and internationally. Ms. Gonzalez will be presenting the solo "Amore."

7:45 pm: Paolo Buffagni – (opera) Originally from Modena, Italy, Mr. Buffagni has sung professionally with Amato Opera and Amici Opera Company (Philadelphia) among others and will be presenting selections from Puccini, Donizetti and others.  

8:05 pm: LuLu LoLo – (theater) Actor/playwright/performance and multi-disciplinary artist has written and performed six one-person plays Off-Broadway highlighting her Italian immigrant family heritage. Lulu Lolo presents a poignant, exhilarating, and heartwarming show called “Macaroni and Mal Occhio (Evil Eye): Food, Faith and Family – Growing up Italian-American.

8:25 pm: Marta Sanders – (singer) An original Broadway company member of "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas." Ms. Sanders is an award winning Cabaret singer and has sung nationally and internationally.

8:45 pm: Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama – (dance) Italian-Argentinean choreographer, performer and teacher presenting new multimedia dance-theater piece that explores themes of immigration, roots, and memory. Collaborator Todd Carroll shows photographic projections of interpreted historical

photographs from Ellis Island.

9:05 pm: Jenna Esposito – (singer) Ms. Esposito made her New York nightclub debut in August 2004 and has since performed shows at many of the city’s finest clubs. She is currently performing her acclaimed tribute to Connie Francis for appreciative audiences in and around Manhattan.

9:25 pm: Reception

 

 

Artists’ Biographies & Background

Paolo Buffagni, born in Modena, Italy, was an actor in the beginning of his career. He moved in New York in 2003. Paolo had the opportunity to sing with the following companies such as: Amato Opera, Regina Opera Company, Amici Opera Company (Philadelphia). Currently he is singining with Dicapo Opera. He will present AMOR TI VIETA (from Fedora /Umberto Giordano), E LUCEVAN LE STELLE(from Tosca/Giacomo Puccini), UNA FURTIVA LAGRIMA(from L'Elisir d'amore/Gaetano Donizetti).

Todd Carroll: Professional photographer with over 15 years experience, presently maintains a photo studio in New York, where he works freelance for various international magazines and publications, as well as his personally driven projects. He is also an educator, teaching at School of Visual Arts, where he recently received his Masters in Professional Studies in Digital Photography. Mr. Carroll shows Nel Cerchio Magico (Inside the Magic Circle), a body of work made throughout 2004, during the popular festivals of Madonna dell"Arco, Madonna delle Galline and Materdomini, and show the folk dances and some of the surrounding traditions that have survived through hundreds of years and are still part of the daily life today in the small southern Italian towns and villages including Pomigliano d'Arco, Pagani, Sessa Arunca, Sant'Anastasia and Nocera, Italy. More information and work can be seen at www.ToddCarrollPhotography.com.

Domenico D'Erasmo: Musican born in Grumo Appula, Bari, Italy. As a young man he studied trombone and played in a popular small band. In 1967, he immigrated to the United States and stopped playing music.   When possible, he practiced trombone quietly -perfecting his craft- never disturbing the neighbors. Domenico exemplifies a member of the community with deep Italian roots who shares his experiences with the new generation.

Jenna Esposito made her New York nightclub debut in August 2004 and has since performed shows at many of the city’s finest clubs.  Most recently, she’s been performing her critically acclaimed tribute to Connie Francis to appreciative audiences in and around Manhattan, and she is looking forward to touring with this show in the coming year.  Jenna’s two CDs, To Connie…Love, Jenna (a live recording of her Connie Francis tribute) and 13 Men…and Me! are both available on CDBaby.com and iTunes.  For more about Jenna, please visit www.jennaesposito.com.

Robert Forlini holds an MFA in Photography from Pratt Institute, and has worked as a professional photographer and teacher of photography. His work has been widely published and exhibited. Mr. Forlini shows La Festa: Italian Festivals in America The feste that Mr. Forlini depicts have grown into a unique grafting of both Italian and American cultures. Part solemn religious ceremony, part carnival, part bacchanal, the sights and sounds of these events have drawn me back to re-explore this heritage. These feste were certainly transferred to America by Italian immigrants wishing to hold on to the traditions of the old land and in order to build community in the new, but they have continued to be sustained by younger generations of Italian-Americans. The second, third and fourth generations carry on this legacy with ethnic pride; however, they also must sometimes endure the contradictions and conflicts inherent in existing between two disparate cultural influences, of living in two worlds. For more information, please visit his web site at www.robertforlini.com.

Annabella Gonzalez Dance Theater (AGDT), founded in 1977, has a 69-dance repertoire.  Critically acclaimed, it has appeared on stages such as the BAM and Carnegie Hall and performed in prestigious festivals including Joseph Papp’s Latin Festival in NY and Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors.  It was sponsored by the State Department for a seminar in the Dominican Republic and appeared at the 2009 Palomar International Festival in Chihuahau, Mexico.   Its DVD’s can be seen at Lincoln Center’s Performing Arts Library.  Grantors include the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs, the NYS Council on the Arts, and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. AGDT will present ”Amore,” Choreography by Annabella Gonzalez, performed by Lucia Campoy. More information at www.agdt.org.

   Luciano Lamonarca is one of the most acclaimed tenors of his generation. He performed under the patronage of the highest national and international institutions: United Nations, European Union, the Italian Republic, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Youth, the Italian Consulate in New York, Italian Cultural Institute in New York, Regions of Puglia and Sicily. He had the honor and opportunity to perform in many countries around the world, with preponderance in the United States and Europe. In March 2009 he released his first CD entitled "MAMMA". In May 2009, he created the musical tour "Lamonarca & Friends – United for Abruzzo" with the goal to help the victims of the Abruzzo earthquake. Originally from Puglia, southern region of Italy, he studied first with the famous tenor Gino Lorusso-Toma and subsequently with the soprano Carmen Sensaud and tenor Ignazio Campisi. www.lucianolamonarca.com

Anabella Lenzu: Dancer, choreographer and teacher with over 20 years experience working in Argentina, Chile, Italy and the USA. Artistic Director of Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama. Lenzu completed her classical Ballet dance training at the renown Teatro Colòn in Buenos Aires, Argentina Her studies also include Tango and the Folkdances and traditional dances of Argentina, Spain and Italy. In 1994, she founded and directed L’Atelier Centro Creativo de Danza, her own dance school in Argentina (directed by her sister Pamela since 2001). Since arriving in New York in 2005, Lenzu conducts classes at Dance New Amsterdam, New Dance Group, Peridance, Mark Morris Dance Center & Sarah Lawrence College, while also giving lectures, master-classes and residencies at Universities throughout the US and abroad. Lenzu is also a published author for various dance and arts magazines. “The Grass is always Greener…” dance/theater performance is a multi-media work, which explores themes of immigration, roots, and memory. This new collaborative piece choreographed by Anabella Lenzu, with photographic projections created by Todd Carroll, explores one woman as she travels with her suitcase. She carries with her memorabilia, images of her home, and hopes of her new life. www.AnabellaLenzu.com

Lauren LoGiudice: A graduate of Wesleyan University, Lauren has studied acting at several of the most prestigious schools in her hometown of New York City and continues to study with Lynn Singer. Lauren has earned roles that span "All My Children" to experimental theater. Recently, Lauren has starred in several shorts and co-starred in “Flick’s Chicks" and had a supporting role in "When Harry Tries to Marry," both feature films. Last year, Lauren branched out to producing with the short film “Bridal Party,” in which she starred, and that recently premiered at NY’s Gotham Screen Film Festival. She also wrote and produced her own solo show entitled, "Queens Girl", which has toured worldwide to acclaim. www.laurenlogiudice.com

LuLu LoLo Actor/Playwright/Performance and multi-disciplinary artist has written and performed six one-person plays Off-Broadway highlighting her Italian immigrant family heritage and the dramatic struggle of women in New York City’s past. LuLu’s Italian-American heritage inspired her large scale installations at the Garibaldi-Meucci Museum, Staten Island; her series on Italian superstitions for the Italian American Network; and her 2009 lecture “Return to Italy as Artistic Performance”, John D. Calandra Italian American Institute, NY. She recently performed in LeMans, France and as “14th Street NewsBoy”. LuLu’s next performance project is returning to her grandparents’ hometowns in Melfi and San Fele in Basilicata, Italy. She will present MACARONI AND MAL OCCHIO (EVIL EYE) FOOD, FAITH, AND FAMILY—GROWING UP ITALIAN-AMERICAN. Recapturing the love, laughter, and tears of her Italian-American childhood in East Harlem’s Little Italy, LuLu LoLo fills the stage with a non-stop parade of eleven family characters and vignettes such as Making Macaroni with Grandma LuLu, Great Aunt Lena Warding off the Evil Eye (Mal Occhio), The Seven Fishes of Christmas Eve Dinner and other scenes which take the audience back to the tenement life of her Italian immigrant grandparents. Theatergoers from all backgrounds will recognize themselves and their families in this poignant, exhilarating, and heartwarming show. More information at www.lululolo.com.

Marta Sanders was in the original Broadway company of "The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas". Marta is an award winning Cabaret singer and has sung nationally and internationally. She just returned from a very successful engagement in Bogota, Colombia. www.martasanders.com