Category Archives: Featured actors

World Poetry Celebrates Nick Grinder!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ariadne’s Notes:  On May 9 at 1:30 PM PST, hosts Ariadne Sawyer and Diego Bastinutti welcomed the talented composer and musician, Nick Grinder to the show. Victor Swartzman , our super tech kept us on the air from two locations and also three phone calls. Nick Grinder was celebrating his new second album Farallon, was released in February 2019 on Outside In music. The CD captures the beautiful island seascapes with his music. For links go to https://www.nickgrinder.com/

When I was going to the University of California at Berkeley, I remember seeing the island from a distance and the sense of mystery that it portrayed,  

LISTEN TO THE SHOW RIGHT HERE! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nick Grinder is a trombonist and composer based in New York City.

Hailed by Slide Hampton as “an important future voice in jazz trombone” and “the best blend of saxophone-like technique with the expressive nuances of the trombone” by Alan Ferber, Nick Grinder began playing professionally at age 15 in the Bay Area, California. He was a member of many in regional bands during his teenage years, including the SF JAZZ All-Stars, the All State Band, and the Marin and Santa Rosa Symphony Youth Orchestras.

The child of two San Francisco artists – a former ballet dancer and visual effects engineer – he was encouraged to perform outside of school as much as possible. As a high schooler, he gigged frequently on both trombone and upright bass throughout the San Francisco Bay area.

From 2007-2011, Nick studied at Cal State Northridge in Los Angeles with Bob McChesney, and was offered scholarship to NYU in 2011. At NYU he was an adjunct faculty member during his pursuit of a master’s degree.

Nick currently works as a sideman and leader in a number of diverse projects in New York City, and has appeared at venues such as Small’s, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, The Jazz Gallery, Lincoln Center, The Jazz Standard, Rose Hall, and many other venues. He has performed internationally in Egypt, Quatar, the Netherlands, and Canada.

Nick has performed in the big bands of Alan Ferber, Darcy James Argue, Arturo O’Farrill, John Daversa, Bobby Sanabria, and the Mambo Legends Orchestra, as well as with Wycliffe Gordon, Jimmy Owens, Ralph Alessi, Donny McCaslin, Marcus Printup and many others.

He is also very active in the commercial world, where he has played in the pit orchestras of nearly two dozen Broadway and Off-Broadway shows, and has performed and/or recorded with artists such as Lorde, Lin-Manuel Miranda, St Vincent, Patti LaBelle, DMX, and Deltron 3030.

Nick’s original music aims to achieve a familiarity without adhering to a status quo. Many pieces are simple head charts, with open improvised sections for the band, others are sectioned ensemble writing.

Nick self-released Ten Minutes, an album of original compositions in 2014, and his second album Farallon, was released in February 2019 on Outside In music.

Reviewed by Daniel Lehner for All About Jazz June 8th, 2014

“Grinder’s music, as well as the compatriots he chose for the record date, seem to have been tailor made to subvert boring virtuosity in favor of making music.
His attacks, sustains and phrasings touch the surrounding musical environment like sunbursts, as if he were dabbing with a large brush dipped in red watercolor.
He’s an intriguing addition to the language of the instrument, and his first effort gives a great deal of promise for his development.”

Another wonderful musician brought to us by Braitwaite and Katz. Source: Braitwaite and Katz.

More Advice for Young Actors by Sebastien Heins!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ariadne’s Notes: Calling into an earlier World Poetry Café Radio Show, (https://worldpoetry.ca/?)   CFRO, 100.5 FM at 1:25 PM PST, was young Jamaican , German actor Sebastien Heins stars in the Tempest opening across Canada on the big screen (Cineplex) on April 13th. Heins is now back with more advice for young actors which will be published in the Afro News. See link: https://worldpoetry.ca/?p=14263

Due to a strong response from around the world , Sebastien kindly sent additional answers to young actors, generously sharing his method and ideas below: 

“The best advice I can think of is to consider three different fronts on which you’re fighting, as an artist. Then quietly obsess over all the ways you can improve on these three fronts.

They are:

– Your Input
– Your Output
– Your Community.

Your Input is what you take in, whether you read, see plays, take classes/workshops, watch quality films, read the news, work on new skills, educate yourself, and experience life through travelling, seeing friends and family, and just living. It’s feeding the flames of your imagination, and literally nourishing the quality of the work you hope to express in your art. What you put in is what comes out…

Your Output is what you give to the world, in terms of the artistic service you provide to writers, directors, your audience, and whoever else you seek to affect with your creative energy. It’s not how good you look, or how flashy you can act. It’s how you change other people’s lives. It’s the first table read for your new cast, it’s the 45 second commercial audition for the client, it’s the script draft for your dramaturg, it’s the performance you’ve built for your opening night audience (and the performance you’ve built for your rainy Sunday matinee audience). It’s what you give that fulfills others in their lives…

Your Community is the relationship you build with all the people who make up your network. No network, no work. Your network is likely made up of people on all sides of the equation — audience members, reporters, directors, writers, other actors (lots of other actors…). When you’re down and out, your network is there for you, and when you’re riding high, you’re there for your network. The work you put into your community includes scheduling coffee dates with mentors, mentoring less experienced artists, passing along contact details to other people, going to festivals, awards shows, openings, memorials, birthdays, announcements, and basically everything that ties you to a group of people. Everything that shows them, with actions, that you’re not just in it for the money or the status, but that you’ve invested in being a part of the fabric that holds your industry together. Community is deeply important, and helps guide you to build better input and output habits.

Master one, and you’ll have something good going on. Master two, and you’ll find some real success. Master all three and you’ll find a deep trifecta that provides for you and everyone around you as you grow your career and reach for your potential in life.

2. Fresh after each performance?

This is something I’m working on, personally. So far, I’ve discovered that finishing your days at 11pm on-stage in front of a thousand people isn’t the best way to get consistent sleep at night and wake up fresh the next day. It’s challenging because I think that much of our best work is done when we first wake up, and even better so when no one else is up (so, between 5am-8am). But you’ll burn out if you’re only getting 5 hours a night.

So try this.

If you’re doing a show, and it’s taking a lot out of you, and you aren’t getting enough sleep, try thinking of your sleep quota on a weekly basis, vs on a daily basis. If you aim to get 52 hours of sleep a week (about 7.5 hours per night), then take the hours of rest where you can get them — build in a 90 minute siesta, or take a 90 minute nap after dinner before your show.

You can also use your dark day (usually Monday) to sleep in, and top up on your weekly sleep quota, as well as grabbing 30 minute cat naps around the day. Cat naps can also be useful opportunities to meditate, rest your mind, and consolidate your learning over the course of a day (I find this especially useful when I’m doing a lot of rehearsing during the day and want the work to sink in).

3. Creativity to each performance?

Every show I do demands a different pre-show ritual. Most recently on “Wedding at Aulis” in Toronto, my best pre-show habits were these:

– Work out for 1hr at the YMCA
– Shower in my dressing room
– Show up for fight call
– Get into costume
– Run all my lines, focusing on diaphragm support, and addressing self notes I’d made from the show before

Your role, your rehearsal, and your previews will best reveal what it is that you need to do your best work with your cast and crew. Sometimes what you need is to just chat, be silly, or bounce a ball with a partner. Sometimes you need to go to a dark place and prime the images that you’ll have to summon later in the show. Sometimes you need to do push ups and listen to R&B. But it’s your practice, and you’ll develop what’s best for your artistic output that day.”

Sébastien is  another up and coming Canadian actor who’s rehearsing for Wedding at Aulis at Soulpepper
The Tempest is the 12th film released by the Stratford Festival since 2014, when Executive Director Anita Gaffney embarked on an initiative to capture all of Shakespeare’s plays on film, allowing the Festival’s work to be seen internationally, while also creating an unparalleled educational resource.
Canadian distribution of The Tempest is through Cineplex, one of Canada’s
leading entertainment and media companies, which brings world classes.

Sebastien Heins is a young Jamaican actor who got his first break several years ago as a child star playing ‘Simba’ in the Toronto production of the musical The Lion King, one of the most successful theatrical productions of all time. Several years ago, Heins in New York City night wowed a large audience on Broadway with a sizzling one-man show called Brotherhood: The Hip Hopera, written and performed by him and directed by Adam Lazarus.
Heins’ performance forms part of New York City’s third annual United Solo Festival, a six-week multicultural theatrical event that presents one-person performances in the heart of the city’s theatre district.
This festival describes itself as the largest of its kind in the world.
To top things off, Heins then went on to win an award for Best Emerging Artiste at the festival.
With non-stop, high-energy dancing, miming, rapping, and singing, Brotherhood: The Hip Hopera told a compelling story in rhyme about the unlikely journey of two brothers who were deeply immersed in hip hop and R&B music, about how they were torn from each other and the circumstances that brought them back together again.
The entire show is written in rhyme with cleverly crafted lyrics utilizing the genres of hip hop and R & B as well as elements of reggae and dancehall.
The one-hour production presents like a long music video spanning 60 years, taking the audience from the present to the 1970s, then fast forwarding 30 years into the future.
Heins, of course, plays several roles and is able to successfully pull this off by drawing on all the skills acquired at the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal where he studied.
Immensely helpful, too, is his impeccable dexterity at changing voices.
Heins is the son of a Jamaican mother, Shella Roye Heins from Savanna-la-Mar, and a German father.
The play was inspired by Sebastien’s two cousins in Jamaica and, as the saga unfolds, it feels very much like a love letter to his Jamaican roots. Brotherhood: The Hip Hopera is seasoned with many warm-hearted references to Jamaica. The production is an uncompromisingly bold and supremely entertaining excursion into the often perilous realm of one-man shows.
Also here is his additional bio:
Stratford Festival
January 2016 – Present 3 years 4 months
Stratford, Ontario
2018 Season:
The Tempest
The Comedy of Errors
Napoli Millionaria!
2017 Season:
The School for Scandal
Timon of Athens
2016 Season:
Breath of Kings: Rebellion
Breath of Kings: Redemption
https://www.stratfordfestival.ca/WhatsOn/PlaysAndEvents/Production/The-Tempest
Source TARO PR

World Poetry Celebrates the Talented James Berkowitz!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ariadne’s Notes: At long last World Poetry Canada International welcomes the talented poet and writer James Berkowitz to our participants around the world!

For all of you that are waiting to be featured, I have not forgotten you and will post as soon as I can.

Here are some of his poems:

TEARS FOR PEACE
Tears for peace
Run down the face of humanity
Crying wounds of hate
Seek impossible escape
When the light of the soul
Clenches the darkness of barbaric ways
Tears for peace
Run down the face of humanity
Oh sweet world
Gift of life and mind
Remove evil teachings from the eyes of humankind
Lift us from the dust of earth
Return us from the heavenly skies
Embrace the call to oneness
In the sharing of eternal life
Tears for peace
Run down the face of humanity
Down the face of humanity
Run tears for peace
Tears for peace
Peace for tears
Tears for peace
Peace or tears

THE INNER SUN
The inner sun
rises from deep
within the Soul
bringing all that
comes with the dawn

It shines brightly
through the eyes
while glowing around
the body during its peak

At sunset it
evokes a light beam
of energy that pierces
through the dusk at
an exponential power
and shimmers with ultimate
passion amidst the stars

DOWNPOUR OF THOUGHTS
A downpour of thoughts
Through sheets of rain
Puddles echo from my windowpane
Standing near the howling wind calls
An ever beating heart as gray skies fall

Obscuring the city and mountaintops too
Undressing my eyes to life in hue
Where loneliness and despair dissipate
Through a sudden break in the clouds
And the heavenly light from above
Shone radiant and proud

By James Berkowitz (C) All rights reserved by the author.

 

 

 

 

 

James Berkowitz is a poet, writer, performer, and producing artistic director for the Venice Art Crawl. Recent credits include literary and art journals “Levure Litteraire 14”, “San Francisco Peace and Hope”, and “Edgar Allan Poet Journal # 3”. Anthologies ZZyZx WriterZ “Intersections”, “The Revolutionary Poets Brigade – Los Angeles”, “Men in the Company of Women”, and ”Los Angeles Poetry Society Features” amongst several publications and media where his work is recognized. He is a human camera of observation and loves the magnificence of nature in its many settings as well as the pulse and stimulation of city streets. His greatest reward is connecting with other sentient beings.

http://www.jamesberkowitz.com
www.facebook.com/jamesberkowitzwriter

https://instagram.com/jamesberkowitz