Hopa Tropa Review on ShowBizRadio

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Oct 212009
 

EXCERPT FROM THE REVIEW BY Courtney Ferguson

Hopa Tropa! What is that you ask? It is the latest production written and directed by Bulgarian playwright Lilia Slavova, as part of the Kids Euro Festival taking place in Washington DC. Primarily aimed at children, this show is an experience for audience members of all ages. The show is an exciting look into Bulgarian culture and folklore performed through song, dance, and puppetry. . . .  The puppetry was an element of the show that shone completely on its own. Julia Tasheva . . . Master Puppeteer led her fellow actors in creating an amazing array of characters. Unlike any form of puppetry I’ve ever seen, all four of the actors worked together using various objects such as wooden spoons, gourds and blankets to transform them into a single puppet. One actor would be controlling the hands, the other the foot, another the head, and all the while moving as one. . . . Alex Vernon gave an energetic performance and was given a chance to display his improvisational and comedic chops when he voiced one of the puppets and interacted with the children. Ben Gibson gave a charismatic performance, playing clumsy and cute. Sarah Olmsted Thomas also gave a very charismatic performance….

Read the whole review at: http://www.showbizradio.net/2009/10/19/review-amb-hope-tropa/

 Posted by at 10:36 pm

Hopa Tropa in Washington Post, October 9, 2009

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Oct 112009
 

Festival Brings a Taste of Europe to Area Kids

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Hopa Tropa's Lilia Slavova and Ivan Dimitrov are puppeteers who will perform traditional Bulgarian folk tales as part of the Washington area's Euro Kids Festival.
Hopa Tropa’s Lilia Slavova and Ivan Dimitrov are puppeteers who will perform traditional Bulgarian folk tales as part of the Washington area’s Euro Kids Festival. (Photos From Kids Euro Festival)

 


By Amanda Erickson

 

Special to The Washington Post
Friday, October 9, 2009

Starting Thursday through Nov. 9, the Kids Euro Festival is bringing 150 events to venues across the region. The performances and workshops, for children ages 6 to 12, are designed to showcase the varied theater traditions in the European Union and teach kids about life in countries including France, Ireland, Germany and Greece.

“Children’s culture has a strong position in Europe,” says Mats Widbom of the Swedish Embassy and one of the festival’s lead organizers. “We wanted to celebrate that.”

To Read more:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/08/AR2009100801242.html

Poland the Beautiful: An Imaginary Flight

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Jul 132009
 

Written by Richard P. Poremski Monday, 13 July 2009 21:48

WASHINGTON, D.C. An Imaginary Flight Becomes A Reality. The fully booked imaginary LOT Polish Airline flight to ‘Poland The Beautiful’ became airborne here in the Grand Ballroom at the Embassy of the Republic of Poland on June 6, 2008. Upon ‘landing’ in Poland, a score and more of African-American students, mainly 6th graders at the Anne Beers Elementary School, proceeded to take the many passengers on a very unique and lively cultural tour of Poland.

Polish Embassy Embraces Washington School Children. Students from the Anne Beers Elementary School in Washington, D.C., participating in Embassy Adoption Program, are featured above singing ‘Piekna Nasza Polska Cala’ (Poland The Beautiful) at the Embassy just prior to their departure to Warsaw, Poland.

The student ‘tour guides’ proceeded to entertain and educate the enraptured audience with a stunning presentation of Poland’s song, dance and history, while costumed in the authentic folk dress of Poland. The enthusiastic student body sang many traditional and favorite Polish songs, including Kolendy (Christmas carols). The Grand Polonaise  (led by a fluffy-white-wigged King Zygmunt), Mazurka and Krakowiak were all performed in very fine step.

A living tableau of posed statues representing Tadeusz Kosciuszko meeting with General George Washington, Nicolas Copernicus, Frederick Chopin and Maria Sklodowska-Curie all in turn became animated and spoke of their respective personal profiles. Skits portraying the Christmas allegory and folk tales about the Warsaw Mermaid and the Wawel Castle Dragon were also presented. The several feet long mischievous dragon made quite an impression upon the audience before being dispatched by the young hero.

Prominently on display in the Embassy anterooms was large colorful displays of Poland-themed art and traditional handicrafts skillfully created by the students, as well as collection of whimsical personal portraits painted on glass. The sizable group of Lajkonik figurines attracted a lot of attention.

Upon ‘landing’ back at the Embassy the passengers gave their student guides and aircrew a very well deserved and resounding standing ovation; and then everyone disembarked into the imposing baroque Banquet Room for an enjoyable buffet of delicious Polish foods and desserts.

The Embassy Adoption Program is made possible by a partnership between the D.C. Public Schools and the Washington Performing Arts Society, and the financial support of many generous benefactors. Former Ambassador Janusz Reiter, Mrs. Hanna Reiter, Secretary Anna Barbarzak, with officials and dignitaries at the Polish Embassy, and in Warsaw, all contributed mightily to make this 2006-2007 school year program a huge success. The American Center for Polish Culture also played an important supporting role.

Pani Hanna Bondarewska – Program/Artistic Director and Founder of the Ambassador Theater – was the ‘Belle d’Polonia’ who worked unceasingly with the students and assistants in every single aspect of the complicated and multifaceted program from concept to fruition. The resulting accomplishment has garnered heralded acclaim both here and in Poland.

Bondarewska then led the students and chaperones on a LOT Airline flight to Warsaw, Poland. There, on June 17, 2008 they presented their Poland The Beautiful program to President Lech Kaczynski and a host of other dignitaries at the Presidential Palace. Afterwards, the program was toured to different venues in Poland.

What began as an imaginary cross-culture trip to Poland, in the end, became an unimaginable reality beyond the wildest dreams of its young inner-city participants.

We honor each and every student, and the entire staff, with a very well deserved Sto Lat!!

Below are the photos of students during the art program:

Below are the photos of students during the art program:

 

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Text and Photographs by Richard P. Poremski, contact the author by e-mail.
The article was published originally in Polish-American Journal
July 8, 2008


 

Review of “Out at Sea”

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Jul 032009
 

“…a production that is both haunting and powerful. The intimate space forced awareness to the message of the play. The set seemed to fill up a space that is considerably small, creating a larger than life effect.”
   – Courtney Ferguson

Read the entire review at:
ShowBizRadio2

Anne Beers Elementary School students visit Poland

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Jun 262008
 

Anne Beers Elementary School students visit Poland and perform for the First Lady Maria Kaczyńska

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE WARSAW VOICE
Click the link to Read the entire article:
American Students Visit Poland
Ewa Hancock 2008-06-25

Sixteen children from a school in Washington D.C. visited Poland in June as part of a program that aims to show students from public schools in the United States the culture, customs and history of other countries.

The students’ visit started with an impromptu performance at Warsaw airport upon landing. To the delight and amazement of other passengers, they sang the popular song “Jedzie pociÄ…g z daleka”. On June 17 they performed at the Belweder palace in Warsaw before First Lady Maria KaczyÅ„ska, a patron of the children’s Polish visit, ambassadors’ wives and many other people who had supported them. The young Americans danced a polonaise and portrayed famous Poles.

In 2006, Hanna Reiter, wife of the Polish ambassador to Washington, Janusz Reiter, oversaw a collaboration project between the Polish embassy and the Anne Beers school. During a year-long educational program the children learned about Poland and prepared a show called Poland the Beautiful, an Imaginary Flight according to a script written and directed by a Polish actress living in the United States, Hanna Bondarewska.

The culmination of their efforts came with a 2007 visit to the Polish embassy in Washington and a performance for KaczyÅ„ska. This was when the idea was born that the children should see the country they had learned about, helped by KaczyÅ„ska, Reiter, Bondarewska and Marek Michalak, who heads the International Committee of the Order of the Smile, which was also a patron of the children’s Polish visit. All of them worked on making the trip come true. The Order of the Smile is an international award given to adults for efforts in caring for and helping children.

“This program helps develop children’s talents and skills,” said Reiter. “Learning about another culture broadens their horizons and builds a special bond between them and the country they learn about. Thanks to this project children can start feeling like citizens of the world.”
(The Warsaw Voice)

 Posted by at 10:30 am

Anne Beers E.S. Students Perform for Poland's First Lady at Polish Embassy in D.C.

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Aug 182007
 
Lifestyle By Gail Scott
The Washington Diplomat
August 1, 2007

Poland’s First Lady Experiences Embassy Adoption Program

Front page: From left, Polish first lady Maria Kaczyńska, wife of the Polish ambassador Hanna Reiter, and Artistic Director Hanna Bondarewska attend a program by children from the Anne Beers Elementary School to celebrate the Polish Embassy’s participation in the Embassy Adoption Program.

The culmination of Poland’s yearlong participation in the Washington Performing Arts Society’s (WPAS) Embassy Adoption Program, which partnered the Polish Embassy with the D.C. Public School System, was presented to Poland’s first lady, Maria Kaczyńska, in mid-July during her husband’s official visit to the White House.

Throughout the year, Hanna Reiter, wife of Polish Ambassador Janusz Reiter, along with Monika Król, director of the American Center of Polish Culture, have been visiting and working with the sixth-grade classes at Anne Beers Elementary School in Southeast Washington.

With underwriting from IBM, the group created a special play project and a “Polish Summer Camp” from June 25 to July 17, which also included Randle Highlands Elementary. Artistic Director Hanna Bondarewska created the program, which turned into a very colorful learning adventure that would surely delight any first lady.

Close to 30 very excited sixth-graders and their parents traveled up 16th Street to the handsome Polish Embassy to present “Poland the Beautiful, an Imaginary Flight.” This colorful and educational play about a sleeping bear not only impressed Mrs. Kaczyńska but also WPAS, which heralded this Polish partnership as one of the best and most inventive in their 33 years of doing the Embassy Adoption Program.

The Embassy Adoption Program provides teachers and students with the opportunity to increase their knowledge and appreciation of the culture, government and geography of other nations. Each year, schools and embassies are paired to share and participate in multicultural experiences.

With the encouragement of Gwendolyn Payton, Anne Beers’s new principal, the Embassy Adoption Program was re-instated at the elementary school this year. This presentation was the grand finale to a year in which the children learned about Poland’s history and culture. One of the most successful segments was having the students learn which Poles made major contributions to the world, including scholar Nicolas Copernicus, scientist Marie Curie and the legendary composer Frederic Chopin.

Along with the play, Polish artist Inna Slutskaya nurtured the artistic skills of the students as they created tiled artwork, portraits, cityscapes and puppets.

During her visit with the children, Poland’s first lady was presented with the Children’s Heart Award, a unique decoration given by children that was presented to Pope John Paul II in 1997.

“Of course,” Hanna Reiter said, “we are hoping that our imaginary trip to Poland will one day become a reality for these children who learned so much about our country.”
Children from the Anne Beers Elementary School—which joined with the Polish Embassy at part of the Embassy Adoption Program—performed a show called “Poland the Beautiful, an Imaginary Flight” for Polish first lady Maria Kaczyńska, pictured center, with Artistic Director Hanna Bondarewska to her left and wife of the Polish ambassador Hanna Reiter to her right.

 Posted by at 10:52 am
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