[CI-Announce] Dance Theatre -- Phffft Co, NYC, and Pisorrojo from Venezuela

[Maida Withers]

The Phffft! Dance Theater Company performs at the Innovators Festival

The Performance
The Phffft! Company, under the artistic direction of native 
Arlingtonian, Cyrus Khambatta, will present Charlie and the Red 
Balloon (in the Wizard's Wonderland) on April 17th at the Gunston 
Arts Center in Theater One as part of the Innovators Festival 
produced by The Arlington County Cultural Affairs Division. The 
Theater is located at 2700 South Lang Street in Arlington.  Special 
guests from the Pisorrojo Company of Venezuela collaborated with 
Phffft! on this production and will be performing with the company on 
the premiere of this new work which will be presented this Fall at 
The Central University of Venezuela. This cross-cultural artistic 
endeavor is the product of an on-going cultural exhange between the 
two companies.
	An after-performance benefit will follow the show at 10p.m. 
at the Gunston Arts Center. Tickets for the performance are $15 and 
can be reserved through the Arlington Cultural AffairsDivision  at 
(703) 228-6960. Priority seating for the performance and post-
performance benefit tickets can also be purchased through Phffft!. 
For information call (703) 998-5489 Ext. 2. Tickets for the 
performance and benefit may also be purchased at Gunston.
	Charlie and The Red Balloon (in the Wizard's Wonderland) is a 
contemporary fable inspired by well-known children's parables such as 
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Wizard of Oz, Alice and 
Wonderland and The Red Balloon. The piece, which incorporates video 
technology, is about Charlie, a journalist living on the moon in a 
colony conspicuously made to look like a New York City replica .  He 
is retelling the story of his life as one of the moon's first 
pioneers through a futuristic interactive videophone. As we see 
Charlie's life events unfold in this fantastic nether-world, Charlie 
discovers that his life is being controlled by a faceless corporation 
called Wizard, Inc. Charlie can't see it, but it sees Charlie... In 
order to save himself he must escape the technological clutches of 
Wizard, Inc., calling to mind the Wizard in the story of The Wizard 
of Oz. In this same manner, each of the characters in Charlie and the 
Red Balloon conger images of archetypes from the well-known 
children's parables mentioned. It is for the audience to discern who 
is who and which are the forces of good and evil.

Mr. Khambatta and The Company
	Since leaving Arlington in 1985 to study at New York 
University's Tisch School of the Arts where Mr. Khambatta founded his 
company, he has since performed with his troupe throughout Europe, 
the U.S., Russia, and Latin America at such venues as The Spoleto 
Festival USA, The World Expo'98 in Lisbon, and a French goveernment-
sponsored residency in Rouen, France. The company's work has also 
been seen here in the U.S. on CBS Sunday Morning, and on French 
national TV station FR3, as well as others, both here and abroad. 
	None the less, Cyrus has always had a strong affinity for his 
native town and fond memories of Arlington, and has continually 
sought ways to stay connected to, and give back to, the community 
that spawned his creative beginnings.
    For this reason, he has always maintained a presence in the area. 
He has in the past conducted workshops at Galludet College and for 
Penn visions, a D.C. based sight-impaired dance comany for children. 
Working as a family-team with his mother, every summer for over ten 
years, he has provided workshops to children in dance, theater and 
music at The Capitol Hill Arts Workshop in Washington, D.C. 
    This year, beginning with the presentation at Gunston, he is 
initiating a new level of interaction with the local community. He is 
inaugurating a series of workshops on the cooperatively-owned Wild 
Meadows farm in nearby Pennsylvania designed to serve area 
residents.  Cyrus will bring his many years of experience in the 
creative field, helping both artists and non-artists access their 
creative potential through creative counseling, personal coaching, 
workshops, and general guidance to a quiet 200-acre retreat just 
outside the city. Already planned for this summer are a contact 
improvisation dance workshop (June 11-28), as well as a creativity 
retreat for non-artist adults (May 22-23 with others forming) where 
participants will spend a weekend in a supportive environment 
learning ways to access their creativity to enrich their everyday 
lives or to achieve personal projects. For children there will be a 
workshop in creative movement, theater and art and The Field, a dance-
service organization based in New York City, will 
conduct two artists retreats (July 21-31, Aug. 20-30). Information 
concerning workshops can be obtained by emailing the company at 
PHFFFT@hotmail.com, or by calling (703) 998-5489 Ext.3.Maida Withers
Professor, The Department of Theatre and Dance
The George Washington University
Artistic Director, The Dance Construction Company