2012 Fringe Awards Winners

Artist(s) that challenged and/or pushed the boundaries between Art forms:
Birth of Kali, by Claire Dima, Sean Mabe, Organic Armor

Artist(s) that challenged and/or pushed the boundaries between  Time and Space:
Wicked Geisha and Flying Yugas

Artist(s) that challenged and/or pushed the boundaries with the human body:
Suites for the bittersweet, by Viscera Dance Theatre

Artists that challenged and/or pushed the boundaries between Everyday life and Art
Now and Then, by Red Herring Puppets

Artists that challenged and/or pushed the boundaries between Liquids and Solids:
Offensive Things, by Lonely Goat Dance Company (eggs and lots of them!)

Artist(s) who Followed no Rules:
Monsters under the Bed, By Keith Shubert, Madison Cripps, Julie Vann, Valerie Meiss

Artist whose work Surprised me the most:
Hand to Mouth, by Amy Hamilton

Artist(s) whose work made me the most uncomfortable: A TIE!
Worms, by Julian Vorus, Peter Brezny and Sean David Robinson
Monsters under the Bed, By Keith Shubert, Madison Cripps, Julie Vann, Valerie Meiss

Artist(s) whose work inspired me the most: AN ANOTHER FRINGY TIE!
Bathed in perception: impact, by John David and Lindsey Kelley
Trail, installation by Moving Women

Here are some of the 2012 Fringe Artist Bios:

Founded in 2010, the Brooklyn-based Lonely Goat Dance Company includes the works of choreographers Sophie Maguire and Liz Young.  Alumni of the Connecticut College dance department, Maguire and Young studied with and performed works by David Dorfman, Lisa Race, Heidi Henderson, Adele Myers, Monica Bill Barnes, Colleen Thomas, and Nicholas Leichter.  During the company's first year, the lonely goats have performed at The Rooftop Dance Performance Series (Brooklyn), Galapagos Dance Space (Brooklyn, NY), Triskelion Arts (Brooklyn), Art Cart NYC's TRUCK YEAH! (Brooklyn), The Construction Company (Manhattan),  Green Space Dance (Queens), and enjoyed two residencies at The Dragon's Egg (Mystic, CT). Upcoming appearances include Marya Ursin's showcase at the Hygienic Art Gallery (New London, CT) and the NYC10 Festival at Dixon Place (Manhattan). Special thanks to the Asheville Fringe Festival for welcoming the goats to Asheville's artistic community.  To learn more about the company, visit www.lonelygoatdance.com <http://www.lonelygoatdance.com/>  
and like us on facebook.

Kathy Meyers Leiner has been dancing, teaching and choreographing over the past 25 years. Currently she is director of The Asheville School’s Dance Program, an adjunct instructor in the UNCA dance program and is a member of Moving Women Dance Performance Ensemble (www.movingwomen.org). Kathy has performed each year in the Fringe Festival and continues to be inspired by collaborative work. Moving Women includes Erin Braasch and Jennie Cockrell.

Alexis Miller grew up in Nantucket, Massachusetts where she started dancing as a bun-head at the age of four, and found that modern dance was her passion at age 13. After graduating with a BA in Dance and French from Connecticut College, she moved to San Francisco where she danced with local company RAWdance for 5 years before relocating to Asheville. A certified Classical Pilates instructor, she has her own business in Asheville called Cisco Pilates.

(Viscera Dance Theatre)
Jack Kirven, a recovering native of rural Georgia, attended Coker College where he completed B.A. degrees in both Dance and French simultaneously in 1998 (while systematically driving Dr. Bolden nearly insane in the process). He was valedictorian of his class (mostly because everyone else at Coker was drunk all the time). Jack completed his MFA in 2002 at the Department of World Arts and Cultures (WAC, re: "wack") at UCLA. While working on his advanced degree he studied, taught, choreographed and performed across the USA (Ooooh!) and Europe (Aaaah!). As a professional Jack has worked with several artists and companies, most of whom you'll have never heard of and don't care about. He was a founding artistic director of the Royal Corkscrew Dance Theatre in New York City, which never did anything and is included here to make him sound more important than he is. Jack was a high school teacher for two excruciatingly long years, and then a college professor at six universities. He realized he wouldn't wish the American education system on his worst enemies, and is happy to admit his life is far less complicated now that he's a stripper. He still wants to be Janet Jackson when he grows up.

(Viscera Dance Theatre)
Annie Vereen, another victim of rural Georgia, attended Winthrop University for a B.A. in Dance Education, but decided she'd rather be homeless than put up with the public schools in South Carolina. Since graduation, she has moved to the big city to teach, choreograph, and contribute to a stronger artistic community in Charlotte (as she leaps tall buildings in a single bound… in stiletto pumps with rhinestones). She became an instructor for The Art of Exotic Dancing For Everyday Women in 2004, has taught at several exotic dance studios in the region, created AFV Exotic Arts to develop her original curriculum, and completely rocks the short shorts. She is a lead activist for Greenpeace, looking for ways to involve everyone in environmentally conscious activities and organization to shut down coal plants and end mountain top removal. Annie is a trained singer, and totally shreds the Tori Amos jams. She has worked with many innovative photographers as a model, and she plays the violin as well as four years of practice and instruction can give her. Recently, Annie blew everyone's minds in her floral design classes (where she avoided baby's breath at all costs, and to good effect), and her impromptu faerie houses improve the lawns of the children she cares for.

Amy Hamilton is an Asheville-based performing artist and dance educator who has taught in various schools and studios including LEAF Schools and Streets, the New Studio of Dance, and her Girls Rock! program. She has worked with internationally known choreographers Vera Mantero, Ronald K. Brown and Nicholas Leichter. In 1996, Amy received a B.A. in Dance from Connecticut College.

Amy is the founder/director of Pipsissewa Movement Project, which creates
experimental dance theater through various collaborations. She has performed
her original choreography in the US and South America at venues including
Dixon Place, the Angel Orensanz Center, El Centro Cultural de Espana de Lima,
Takiwasi, and locally at the Asheville Fringe Festival, Lake Eden Arts
Festival and other venues.

Wicked Geisha & the Flying Yugas

Our Mythological Tale is about the Kali Yuga of Human Kind over Four distinct Ages. The idea of the Kali Yuga we are representing in our story is taken from the Hindus Philosophy that Human Civilization Degenerates Spiritually during this Period of Time. After the Four Ages pass, the Earth itself is Bursting from over-capacity. The Demon Kali-Yuga is Angry and She decides it is Time to Cleanse the Earth's Palette, to Make Way for the New Golden Age…

The Cycles of Human Kind move from: Unified Connectedness and Holistic Philosophy – "Ancient Egypt" to; Ancient China – "War"; the Victorian Age – "Beginning of Invention & Industrialization"; to the Technological Age – Instant Satisfaction & Technophilia.

Keith Shubert is the founder, creator, principal artist at toybox theatre.

Madison J. Cripps became a professional puppeteer in 2006 while working on a small farm in the Berkshire Mtns. of Western Mass. Supporting his puppetry is a diverse and intense history of fine art, construction, environmentalism and theatre. He moved to Ahseville, NC in 2009 and is an active member of the performing arts community and the Asheville Puppetry Alliance. Madison has a puppet workshop at Phil Mechanic Studios in Asheville's River Arts District where he constructs all his puppets and teaches workshops. As a performer his unique hand carved marionettes come to life with song, improvised interaction and pun. Madison is a gueilla composter.

Stina Andersen, Designer of ARTeries,her clothingline of contemporary fashion that is built from vintage and recently recycled textiles, is sewn and surged into wearable art garments and commissioned clothing.Vivacious varieties of fabrics line the walls of the space in a rainbow of textures and patterns.

Whimzik provides a mask and music performance that stimulates the emotional spectrum. The husband and wife team recently moved to Cullowhee, NC from New Zealand, where they performed at festivals and venues. Kjelsty Hanson wears masks that she sculpts while Glenn Kastrinos improvises to her movements that bring the characters to life. Glenn plays a variety of traditional flutes and finger style guitar. His music is influenced by his mother whom was a classical pianist, various Celtic and Scandinavian musicians, all the vibrant characters he has met in his travels, and his son Dorian's mantra life should always be "playful". Kjelsty received her MFA from University of Idaho. Her influences include sculptors from Oregon and New Zealand and mask makers from Costa Rica to Sitka Alaska where she worked at a summer arts camp and studied with Beverly Mann. In her spare time, Kjelsty plays music, chases Dorian, and makes ceramic sculptures and hats.

Human Energy Field is a new improvisational ensemble that formed after the meeting of many like-minded experimental musicians that are members of various other projects such as Balloon Animal Farm, Endless Haze, and PLAENS. The group utilizes synthesizers, electronic effects, samples, guitar, and live drumming as well as numerous other variables to craft a unique sonic experience that can only be projected from the Ingrown hearts and minds of these noisy Asheville musicians.

Human Energy Field on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Human-Energy-Field/166051193460504
Ingrown Records http://ingrown.wordpress.com

Aerial Ambiance
Heather Poole began her aerial arts training with Zay Weaver of the Aerial Angels. She currently resides in Asheville, North Carolina where she is a performing artist with Asheville Aerial Arts and The Aerial Space Cadets. Heather teaches both children's and adult aerial classes at Aerial space where she also diligently continues her training. She is known for her straddle over split and incredible back bends. Some of her favorite things are aerial silks, lyra, contortion, dark chocolate, and being outside.

Julian Vorus is a local performer and playwright.
His most recent work, Rock Saber was premiered by the Magnetic Theatre this past November. Julian is the manager of Downtown Books & News.

Jim Julien has doing performance-based artwork since 1972 while he was attending Carnegie-Mellon University. He has been part of the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival since its inception. He has used movement, puppetry, multimedia and lots of pudding in his work. He also has proudly performed as part of Asheville Vaudeville and in Rock Saber by Julian Vorus at Magnetic Field.

Lola York was born deep in the Appalachian mountains of Southwestern Virginia. She is the daughter of an ex-coal miner and inventor (father), and of an opera singer and wine list author (mother). She is a visual and performing artist, and has exhibited her paintings throughout the Southeast, choreographed and produced numerous dances for both stage and film, and performed the work of over 18 choreographers across the United States and abroad. She is a member of Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre and teaches throughout the Southeast. Outside of the studio, Lola can be found chanting, drinking tea, having long talks, playing dress up, eating chocolate, and publicly displaying her affections. She blogs about her life at http://lolayork.com.

Red Herring Puppets is an full time professional puppet company delighting young audiences with curriculum based “edutainment”. Red Herring also specializes in large-scale collaborations with orchestras, opera companies, aquariums, and museums.

MountainsPlain is an independent film & performance group based in Asheville, NC. Directors Lucas Baumann & Megan Ransmeier work with local artists in collaborative productions.

"We work to embody a broad range of emotional states in order to discover & share our full experience of living. You will find work that is very playful, but also intense & dark. Costumes & landscapes are inhabited to assist this exploration."

We are are pleased to have the opportunity to work with Kima Moore in the making of Pin.

www.MountainsPlain.com

Kimathi Moore was born in Paris, France in 1966 amidst a multicultural environment where his parents were strongly involved in music, social awareness, art, writing and philosophy. It is within this cultural environment that Kimathi naturally developed a passion for the arts and creative expression. An experimental electronic artist and percussionist by trade, Kima's music is strongly inspired by paintings (Impressionism, Surrealism, Magic Realism), mixed media art and his childhood themes. Within Kima's music there are countless influences ranging from Free Jazz, Modern Classical, West and East African music, Asian and experimental electronic music. The overarching theme in his music deals with his private inner worlds – for that reason he considers his pieces to be more like sound "paintings".

Lindsey Kelley, a native of the Florida Panhandle, holds a BFA in Dance Performance from the University of South Florida. Lindsey is a former member of Contemporary Ballet Theatre, The Human Institution, Naganuma Dance and STEPS on Broadway's Repertory Ensemble, and has worked with many independent choreographers throughout NC and NY. Her work has been presented at the Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre's 48-Hour Dance Festival, Danspace Project, Goucher College, North Carolina Dance Festival and the Triskelion Arts Festival in NYC. She is currently the dance program director of the Asheville Performing Arts Academy and teacher/choreographer for the Asheville Ballet. Please visit www.lindseykelleydance.com

freedom
I have been playing percussion for 41 years. The way I learned in the beginning is how I teach at my website--http://freedomsong.homestead.com/PercussionEvaluation.html
My only style is improvisational. My training has mostly been from freelance in my travels around the United States. "On the job" training is a good way to express it. Improvisational drumming comes from an intuitive feeling of what and who is around me and what needs to be played. I also learn from other players. I intuitively continue to learn from any good player.

Our Fringe Founders:
Susan Collard has been dancing all her life. Her first love was classical ballet, but she discovered, through a graduate student at Temple University, that modern dance was better suited to her body type and her desire to improvise. Susan has been a choreographer since the age of twenty five, and most recently choreographed for the Asheville Art Museum, the Thomas Wolfe Society, Co Danza of Cuba, and for her own company, Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre. She also choreographed movement for Jodie Foster in the film Nell. Susan has been creating festivals in Asheville and abroad - Asheville Fringe Arts Festival, the White Dog ProjectX, to name a few, and has continued her international collaborations in Mexico, France and Cuba.

Giles Collard is co-director of Asheville Contemporary Dance Theatre. He has lived abroad in France and Israel, and has performed internationally. Giles currently teaches modern and boy’s dance at the New Studio of Dance in Asheville. In addition to dance, Giles is a fencer and instructs students in foil and saber technique. He has performed with ACDT since 1986, and most recently premiered his work at the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival and Men Dancing IV.