The Kennedy Center – a huge success!

The Haus of Sozo was in Washington D.C. for Kennedy Center’s presentation of Bound(less), a large-scale vertical dance piece by BANDALOOP, the latest addition to our roster of boundary-breaking acts. Sozo has been spearheading their business development and marketing efforts, and needless to say it’s been inspiring to work with the visionary founder and choreographer Amelia Rudolph, her dancers, and the administrative and production teams. There’s so much we’re working on now which will be unveiled over time.  This DC op was only the beginning of what we anticipate to be an adventure-filled journey!

This performance on the façade of the beautiful historic Old Post Office in Washington DC presented by the Kennedy Center, was a milestone for BANDALOOP. 4,000 people watched in awe as 6 dancers and 1 musician, our very own Dana Leong, created an hour-long, site-specific vertical performance, which the Washington Post described as “the most daring feat ever performed on a government building”!

View photos here.

From NBC, CBS, Huffington Post, to local going out guides, we enjoyed a great number of press hits as well, and our fans are continuing to share their feedback, photos and videos online. It’s safe to say, we’ve shaken, stirred and activated the DC community, where nothing like this had ever been done before. Not to mention, it was The Kennedy Center’s first ever street festival!

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Save the Date: May 11 in DC

We are extremely excited about our new partnership with the critically acclaimed vertical dance company BANDALOOP.  Details will officially be unveiled in May, but here’s a sneak peak at one of the projects we’re working together on now.

SAVE THE DATE!

The Kennedy Center’s Look Both Ways: Street Arts Across America festival presents

BOUND(LESS)
BY BANDALOOP
LIVE MUSIC BY DANA LEONG

Friday, May 11, 2012 @ 9PM
The Old Post Office
1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
At 12th St NW
Washington, DC

This is a free outdoor performance. Bring a reclining chair or mat to lie down on!

Bandaloop, Dancers
Amelia Rudolph, Artistic Director/Choreographer
Rachael Lincoln, Assistant Director
Dana Leong, Composer/Cellist/Trombonist
Thomas Cavanagh, Technical Director
Hans Florine & Peter Mayfield, Riggers

Presented by The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

BOUND(LESS) is a large-scale vertical dance created by BANDALOOP that explores how we imagine and construct the meaning of our identity as it is forged through human interactions and interactions with our environment. Featuring evocative live music by U.S. Department of State’s Rhythm Road alumni DANA LEONG, BOUND(LESS) looks at our internal and collaborative sense of self through moments that reveal our vulnerability and longing and group choreography that brings to life the tensions and power of communal action.

The creation of BOUND(LESS) was generously funded by the Wattis Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, the Kenneth Rainin Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and BANDALOOP’s Anchor Circle of individual donors.  BANDALOOP is funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. BOUND(LESS) is an original commission by the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

The Order of an Empty Place

World Premiere
THE ORDER OF AN EMPTY PLACE
Written for Rabbi, Violin and Orchestra
Composed by Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR)

A musical setting by Rabbis Joy Levitt and Michael Strassfeld’s haggadah, A Night of Questions
Co-commissioned by The Jewish Community Center of Manhattan and Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at UMD

Composer/Violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) draws inspiration from the Jewish Haggadah to explore the meaning of faith, persecution and personal choice. The composer’s Haitian heritage and his mixed-faith family provide a conceptual foundation for a deeply personal approach to traditional belief.

THUR, MARCH 29, 2012 @ 8:00pm
Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland (UMD)
College Park, MD
Tickets here
See the video trailer here

SAT, MARCH 31, 2012 @ 8:00pm
The Jewish Community Center in Manhattan (JCC)
New York, NY
Tickets here

KOKORO: Rebuilding Through Song

We’re honored to be on the marketing team for this very special, meaningful and necessary event.  Join us.

Kokoro: The Heart of Japan, a public symposium and choral concert will be held on March 6 at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Center (129 W.67^th Street) on the one-year anniversary of the March 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.  The Tokyo Foundation in collaboration with the Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University will host this event.

March 11, 2012, will mark the first anniversary of the magnitude-9.0 Great East Japan Earthquake that devastated northern Japan and caused one of the worst nuclear accidents in human history. On March 6 a symposium and choral concert will be held to reflect on Japan’s response to the disaster, with reference to various aspects of Japan’s traditional culture, particularly haiku, that offer deep insights into the emotional experience of the survivors.

Madoka Mayuzumi, one of Japan’s leading contemporary haiku poets, will introduce poems composed by the survivors themselves, many of whom lost all of their material possessions but nonetheless expressed happiness in reuniting with family members or found solace in simple manifestations of nature, like a fresh spring breeze.  She will elucidate what the haiku form reveals about their perceptions of the unprecedented disaster and the values that permeate and underlie Japan’s culture. Mayuzumi will later be joined by a panel of Japan scholars from Columbia University and the greater NY area to discuss both the unique and universal aspects of Japanese society as reflected in the haiku poems and the response to the March 2011 disaster.

The symposium will be followed by the world premiere of a song for the people of Fukushima—who are unlikely to be able to return home for many years—that fondly recalls the prefecture’s four seasons and natural beauty. The choral piece is a collaborative benefit project by Mayuzumi who penned the lyrics and composer and musical producer Akira Senju and will be performed by the Japan Choral Harmony and the Men’s Glee Club of New York. 

The Year of the Dragon is magical so far

Considered the luckiest year in Chinese Zodiac, the Year of the Dragon promises strength, benevolence, and good luck. And of the 5 dragon years (Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal and Water), this is the Year of the Water Dragon (1992, 1952 and 2012) which is noted for its calm, visionary intelligence, and balance of right brain creativity with left brain logic. Like all Dragons, the Water Dragon is an innovative, fearless leader. But the Water Dragon is also far more sensitive to others’ needs, and is more likely to be progressive and diplomatic, as well as socially and environmentally conscious. Because Water bestows a more peaceful disposition, this Dragon will act wisely and intelligently, and unlike his fellow Dragons, is willing to set aside his ego for the good of all…

Already in the past 4 weeks, we at Sozo have been inspired and guided by the force and brilliance of the Water Dragon. New ideas and projects are being conceived with great momentum, passion and zeal like never before, and we are aligning ourselves with visionary thinkers and doers. Doors are opening up.

However, the challenge always remains the same year after year: how do we keep steering the macro vision and goals of our projects while we fulfill the near-insurmountable, daily administrative needs?

We are constantly impressed and humbled by our artists and partners who all experience this dilemma but somehow come out on top. Nothing stops them, or us, from wanting to move forward, wanting to express and share those expressions with others – as many as posssible - for the good of the 99%.  As marketers and promoters of the arts, we are proud of playing a small role in that.

Speaking of dragons, we had a great opening night last night for TOKIO CONFIDENTIAL. We had a packed house despite the Super Bowl!  The show runs through February 19. Be sure to get tickets now as we’ve already sold out a few nights! And we’re getting press!  Here are a select few. Enjoy!

Timothy Childs’ iBlogBroadway.com Review:
http://www.iblogbroadway.com/cms/index.php/entry/off-broadway-review-tokio-confidential

CAPITAL Magazine Review:
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2012/02/5253706/tokio-confidential-not-typical-broadway-musicals-it-has-human-charac

JapanCulture NYC Review:
http://www.japanculture-nyc.com/2012/02/10/in-the-noh-tokio-confidential/

TDF Exclusive Interview:
http://wp.tdf.org/index.php/2012/02/a-little-bit-noh-a-little-bit-musical-theatre/ 

CHOPSTICKS Feature:
http://www.chopsticksny.com/contents/entertainment

2012 is here!

So the year 2012 has arrived. It’s the 10th year anniversary for Sozo and we sure have a lot going on.  This year started off with some emails from Hong Kong and Mexico, and some emails to Switzerland and Estonia. Yes, those are all the places we’re going to be doing business with this year and we couldn’t be more excited.  We’re also celebrating the successful launch of sozo experiences, our sister company based in Tokyo, a boutique marketing and management consultancy for lifestyle brands. 

But first things first. Back home in New York, we have the annual Arts Presenters Conference (aka APAP) starting this weekend, followed by the Chamber Music America Conference. Our amazing composer/cellist Dana Leong will present his new trio project at APAP on Sat. Jan 7th, and the one-and-only Haitian-American composer/violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) will present a program with the Sphinx musicians on Fri. Jan 13th.  If you are attending either of the conferences, please contact us so we can save you a spot! Details to follow. 

We’re also gearing up for the opening of the new musical TOKIO CONFIDENTIAL (the Lady with the Dragon Tattoo) running at the Atlantic Theater Feb 5-19. Be sure to check out our previous post for more information. You’ll also start to see info about this show around town this month and in magazines like CHOPSTICKS, so pay close attention.

Conference Showcases:

Sat. Jan 7 at 10:20pm
Dana Leong Trio APAP Showcase
Hilton Hotel Regency Parlor Suite
W53rd Street and 6th Avenue NYC
www.danaleong.com

Fri. Jan 13 at 7pm
Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) presents FILTER
feat. Sphinx Artists
CMA Showcaase produced by Opus 3 Artists
The DiMenna Center
450 W37th Street NYC
www.dbrmusic.com

Tokio Confidential, An Original New Musical

We are proud to announce our collaboration with Daryl Roth Theatrical Management and composer Eric Schorr on their new production of TOKIO CONFIDENTIAL, an original musical about love and tattoos, set in 1879 Japan.  We are working closely with their wonderful PR and media teams at Keith Sherman Associates and hofstetter+partners/agency212 to create a marketing campaign for the Japanese/Asian/alternative culture audiences in NYC.

About TOKIO CONFIDNTIAL:
Japan. 1879. A young American woman crosses an ocean in search of a lost love—and crosses a line from which she can never return. On a journey between pleasure and pain, art and artifice, secrets of the flesh and sins of the heart, she becomes an object of unexpected desire—in a realm of unspeakable danger. 

Words and music by Eric Schorr
Directed by Johanna McKeon

February 5 – 19, 2012
ATLANTIC STAGE 2
330 West 16th St. NYC
For performance schedule, tickets and more info visit  www.tokioconfidential.com

DBR launches Kickstarter Campaign

This is going to be an amazing show. And we need your support.  That’s all we have to say!

Acclaimed composer-violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR) returns to BAM with an invigorating new production fueled by DBR’s inimitable mash-up of pop, hip-hop, and classical music. The third and final installment of a multi-year BAM commission that includes One Loss Plus (2007 Next Wave) and Darwin’s Meditation for The People of Lincoln (2008 Next Wave), Symphony for the Dance Floor features hip-hop artist Lord Jamar (founding member of Brand Nubian, HBO’s Oz), photography and video by Jonathan Mannion—best known for his striking portraits of Jay-Z, Lauryn Hill, and Eminem—and choreography by Millicent Johnnie (Urban Bush Women). DBR’s latest work radiates an infectious raw energy, transforming the stage of the Harvey Theater into an ecstatic dance party.

INFO & TICKETS

Lord Jamar and DBR (photo by Leslie Lyons)

A little piece of Hawaii in NYC

We’ve been waiting for this day to come! We first got introduced to MAKANA about 2 years ago when he performed at the Sage Theater in Times Square, and were immediately amazed by his powerful yet intricate blend of Hawaiian slack-key guitar, folk/rock, and beautiful voice. The New York Times gave a great review of this concert and we’ve been following his career ever since.  He is probably one of the hottest, most in-demang young artists from Hawaii right now (and he and Jake Shimabukuro have performed together too) and we’re totally thrilled to have him back in the Big Apple!

Here is a sample of our favorite song, KOI (Current of Life), by MAKANA.

DBR & Leslie Lyons

We’re getting ready for the new fall season…which usually means fresh new photos!  We just finished directing DBR‘s photoshoot with one of our most favorite NY photographers, Leslie Lyons.

This is our 4th photoshoot with Leslie.  Back in 2005, we did our very first shoot with her and ended up with this fabulous and famous “hair flying” image that graced the front page of the New York Times:

Now, 6+ years later, we’re thrilled to launch DBR’s first official publicity photos without his dreadlocks. Stay tuned as we unveil these later this month!