tell me what’s happening..!
October 1, 2021
Moving to New Jersey and Expanding my #CreativeAging practice
I’m so happy to share that I’ve been selected by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts as a Teaching Artist member of the innaugural cohort for the Creative Aging Learning Laboratory (CALLab), a collaborative network of creative aging service providers and teaching artists to provide additional opportunities for New Jersey senior citizens to be engaged in creative aging activities, to develop artistic skills and creative techniques, and to deepen community social engagement. It will also help the state’s teaching artists learn new skills and access new opportunities working with New Jersey senior citizens.
“The goals of the Creative Aging Communities of Practice are to bring senior-focused art programs and practitioners together, align understanding of best practices, and provide training for teaching artists and service providers.“
— The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies
I’m looking forward to continue the virtual (and in person!) bi-monthly training and reflection sessions from September 2021 through August 2022. Together we will pair up and meet to plan details and collaborate on lesson plans and the creation of a new Creative Aging class or workshop. This yearlong cohort will culminate in a multi-day residency beginning in August 2022.
As a teaching artist with the Parkinson’s community since 2014, I’m so glad to be able to continue my work as a Teaching Artist and start to bridge the gap between dance, theatre, improvisation, and creative writing classes for older adults throughout New York and New Jersey.
October 12-19, 2020
Accepted into the National Organization for Arts in Health conference
Thanks to a scholarship sponsored by the Tisch Illumination Fund, I was able to participate in the 2020 National Organization for Arts in Health (NOAH) conference.
NOAH is a catalyst for the collective voices of arts in health; coordinating, advocating, and amplifying the impacts of the arts on health and wellbeing. I was so happy to participate and discover a renewed passion for this work. I’m looking forward to the journey ahead, blazing new trails where needed, and riding the waves on the currents created by others.
February 13, 2020
The Creative Center Training Institute
for Artists and Administrators
in Healthcare and Creative Aging
2020
I am so happy to announce that I was selected as a trainee for the NEA-sponsored Creative Center Training Institute for Artists and Administrators, March 23 -March 27, 2020. I look forward to joining a great group of people from NY and around the globe who are devoted to bringing best practices in art-making, program development and implementation to older adults across the aging spectrum and people living with illness.
Looking forward to soaking up this experience and growing as a teaching artist and theatre-maker in community.
November 22, 2019
by Winslow Homer
So excited to be a part of this tremendous production,
based off of one my favorite characters in Russian Literature:
Levin in Anna Karenina by Tolstoy.
Notch Theatre Company presents
Anna Karenina: a riff
By Gwen Kingston | Directed by Ashley Teague
November 22 – December 20, 2019
Tickets are $35**The Pete 2 hours w/ intermission
BUY TICKETS
Russians in track suits play melodicas to an original, folk-punk score in this fresh adaptation of Anna Karenina. Set in 1880s Russia and dripping with Eastern European ennui, our comedic reimagining of the classic tale moves at the speed of a runaway train as it examines the consequences of female rebellion and its echoes today.
CAST
Quinn Franzen*
Sam Khazai
Gwen Kingston*
Louis Reyes McWilliams*
Marina Morrissey*
Aleca Piper
Michael Vitaly Sazonov*
Portland Thomas*
Erikka Walsh*
*These actors are appearing courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association.
This production is an “Equity Approved Showcase”.
CREATIVE TEAM
by Gwen Kingston
Created with Notch Theatre Company
Based on the novel by Leo Tolstoy
Directed by Ashley Teague
Music Composition by Will Turner, Teresa Lotz & Christie Baugher
Music Direction by Yan Li
Scenic and Costume Design by Susanne Houstle
Lighting Design by Megan Lang
Producer: Annie Middleton
Creative Producer: Marina Morrissey
Production Stage Manager: Jenny Kennedy*
Assistant Stage Manager: Julia Perez*
Casting by Eisenberg/Beans Casting
Marketing & Community Engagement: Jessica Kahkoska
Artwork: Rachel Birnbaum
November 15, 2019
Honored and excited to flex some freestyle muscles tonight for a great cause… I met some beautiful souls during our time at Freestyle Love Supreme-Academy this past summer… and we were thrilled to play together again for Save The Children
Join us at Art Cake for an evening of music, poetry, video projections by the talented folks at Nowloops and performances by Maraca Bruja and Mary Spencer Knapp + The Academy (that’s us!).
At the event they will be selling copies of Separated-Separados (Separated.Site) a catalog of posters made in response to the separation of children from their families at the border. Everything from the sale of this publication is donated to Save the Children US.
This is a fundraiser to support the migrant children detained at the border.
August 20, 2019
- This summer, during my trips to the museum, I learned of great artists who worked diligently in a daily practice, On Kawara was one of them.
- I have a friend who is constantly uploading dance content, inspiring me this summer to do the same.
- Here is a 2 minute clip that culminates in interesting images as a surprise ending.. (Scaffolding ended up being a nea backdrop.)
- Check out my friend Mei Yamanaka and her daily dose of freestyle dance.
April 8, 2019
The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge gives filmmakers—with and without disabilities—the opportunity to collaborate to tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms.
The film challenge is a weekend-long film-making contest, open to all, that provides a platform for new voices in the entertainment industry. Each year, aspiring storytellers are prompted to creatively write, produce and complete a short film. Challenge winners receive invaluable access to entertainment professionals, opening the door to an industry notoriously difficult to enter.
March 20, 2019
The PD Crane Dance Project
I was able to collaborate on a pretty sweet little dance with Jennifer Delac we’ve called “Winging It” — in the hopes to inspire what it might demand to get by together in this world with a disability. As Parkinson’s is near and dear to my own story through my Dad, and through my work, I wanted to share an expression of yearning and hope in a dance inspired by cranes.
March 13, 2019
Breathing life into my choreography during Brain Awareness Week!
Looking forward to being a part of this developing neuroscience series entitled
“A Lot on The Mind” curated by Stephanie Rogers.
Dancers: Rusty Riegelman, David Buffam,
Alison Stearns Hilario, Michael Vitaly Sazonov
Poetry by Leonore Gordon
Book by Joel Shatzky
Music by Michael Vitaly Sazonov after a poem by James Kavanaugh
A Lot on the Mind: Parkinson’s, Movement, and Dance
at NYU School of Medicine (Langone Medical Center)
550 1st Ave Alumni Hall B, New York, NY 10016
RSVP here
– A clinical overview by Dr. Andrew Feigin, Director of the Fresco Institute
– An update on some of the cutting edge PD research by Dr. Margaret Rice
– A dance and poetry performance choreographed by Michael Vitaly Sazonov about the transition a family makes when a loved one has a diagnosis
– A conversation with Manny Torrijos about how PD changed his life and how dance helped him come to terms with his diagnosis and dispelling stigmas.
July 17, 2018
The Bridge Residency: Experiments in Science & Art, a cross disciplinary residency program, is a four-month long virtual residency program that runs from September through December.
I am so excited to share that I was chosen as a 2018 Bridge Resident with the SciArt Center, that aims to provide support and promote cross-disciplinary approaches and interactions between artists and scientists. I was paired with a scientist named Devika Nair, whose background is in psychology & neuroscience. She is currently pursuing a master’s in genomics, while working at UCSF.
April 28, 2018
Parkinson’s Unity Walk.
Dance for PD representing, and sharing some love with
the Brooklyn Parkinson Group.
I love every opportunity I get to dance for this brilliant artist.
January 3, 2018
2018 Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program: Social Practice
Through the support of The Shelley & Donald Rubin Foundation, with the New York Foundation for the Arts I was 1 in 12 artists to be chosen for the 2018 NYFA Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program: Social Practice. I’m so proud to share my heritage in this way. I’m so blessed to be steeped in the cultures of my parents and ancestors. I feel that I am a cumulative compound mixture of their hard work and talents.
This program is designed as a professional development program for immigrant and 1st-generation artists working in all forms of socially engaged art (including, but not limited to, public and community engagement and advocacy around issues of environment and climate change, immigration, race, gender, and social justice).
An outgrowth and expansion of NYFA’s Immigrant Artist Mentoring Program, this program provides selected participants with guidance through experienced mentors, who, with NYFA’s support, will provide a platform for articulating current issues and concerns that are impacting our society and it will seek ways to create catalysts for change through their artistic practice.
This year, immigrant artist participants come from Argentina, Austrian, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Nepal, Republic Democratic of Congo, Serbia, Trinidad & Tobago.
Here’s more information on the program. I’m very excited to delve deeper into my theatre-making practice, taking my documentary style approach to the realms of immersive and engaging theatre through the communicative art forms of the spoken word, music, and movement.
October 6, 2017
A Smashing Music Video!
Here’s to the beautiful work I was able to be a part of… Kudos to our imaginative director, Michael Joseph McQuilken, who pursued Chopin’s real life love affair, though unrequited, in this emotionally palpable tale. Daniil Trifonov and his music were inspiring, and this album is divine. As a kid I loved listening to Chopin… What a dream come true to be a part of this music video!
Michael Vitaly Sazonov 