Irish Culture and Language discussed on Kojo Nnamdi show for WAMU radio!

On the lead up to St. Patrick’s Day, our Fashion and Music Coordinator, Jenny McFarlane, contributes to a panel discussion with Ronan Connolly and Kevin O’Shea about Irish Culture and Language on WAMU Radio’s Kojo Nnamdi show! Check it out here!

@jennykmac interviews the talented N.I. musician, Stephen Scullion of Malojian for the éist blog. Check it out! http://tinyurl.com/6wup2w3

@jennykmac interviews the talented Northern Irish musician, Stephen Scullion of Malojian for the éist new music blog. Check it out! http://tinyurl.com/6wup2w3

How you can help Solas Nua without spending a penny

We know that times are hard and that many of you can’t afford to make a donation to us. You’re still in school, you’re out of work or you’re just plain broke. We can relate.

If you can make a financial contribution to Solas Nua this year we would very much appreciate it, but if your enthusiasm to help outstrips your means you can still make a difference by getting involved in our end of year social media campaign. Bonus; participation costs nothing!

Here are six practical ways to help us in the New Year. Commit to one or all six and let us know how you got on so that we can say thanks!

FACEBOOK
Ask five people you know to friend us on Facebook.
facebook.com/solasnua or facebook.com/capitalirishfilm

TWITTER
Commit to retweeting two tweets per month for 2012.
twitter.com/solasnuacht

YOUTUBE
Subscribe to us and share our videos on Youtube.
youtube.com/solasnua

FOURSQUARE
Do you come to lots of our events? Make sure you sign in so your friends know where you are!
foursquare.com/solasnuacht

BLOG
Sign up for our blogs and share them with your friends. solasnuacht.wordpress.com.

Or do you blog? Then consider writing about our events and sharing it with your audience.

CRAICHEADS
Are you 18 – 30 years old? Want free tickets, priority access to all our artists and fabulous swag? Consider becoming a Craichead, our street team that spreads the word about Solas Nua and its events. DM us on Twitter for more info.

Thanks to all our friends and followers for your support. We hope to see you in 2012!

It’s Awards Season

It’s been a busy week for us at Solas Nua.  We’ve got The Performance Corporation in town and they are hard at work rehearsing Swampoodle which will run for 1 week only in mid-May, tomorrow is our Capital Irish Film Festival Fundraiser The 20th Anniversary Party for The Commitments, and in the midst of all of that we have been making appearances at all the most prestigious awards ceremonies around town.  It’s been quite a run this year and it’s just so amazing to be recognized for all the hard work that everyone puts into Solas Nua productions.

First up on DC Awards tour was the Mayor’s Arts Awards, presented by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.  As per Linda’s instructions we began to congregate, dressed in our very best and looking ever so elegant, around Kennedy’s Bust in the always beautiful Kennedy Center; Donors, Staff, Board Members and Friends of Solas.  We were nominated for an “Innovation in the Arts” award along with Contemporary Music Forum/VERGE Ensemble, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh Company, The Double Nickels Theatre Company, Inc., FotoWeekDC, and The Studio Theatre.

We waited with baited breath, As Deirdre Burke (Cultural Attaché for the Irish Embassy) and Dr. Paul Virander came out to announce winner of the “Innovation in the Arts” award.  We took home the award that night, and Linda Murray, our ever brilliant Artistic Director, took the stage to accept it.  The Solas Nua afterparty was held at Mie N Yu in Georgetown where we rehashed the evenings events.  We are so very proud and grateful to have been given this award and congratulate all of those who were nominated and those who won in their categories.  We have a truly unique and innovative arts community here in Washington and are so privileged to work alongside of you all.

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Last night saw us once again dressed to the nines for what we affectionately call Theatre Prom.  It’s the night when all the hard work that our amazing theatre community puts forth throughout the year is recognized in a ‘Drama Desk’ like atmosphere, the Helen Hayes Awards.  The Solas Nua entourage met at Againn to a pre-awards-ceremony cocktail and then ventured over to Pennsylvania Avenue and the Warner Theatre.  Outside of the theatre were all of DC’s finest theatre in combinations of taffeta, lace, silk and chiffon.  You could feel the energy and excitement as camera crews were interviewing people left and right.  We made our way into the theatre ( which is beautiful), and settled in for the next 2 1/2 hours.

Solas Nua production were nominated for two awards this year:

Outstanding Sound Design, Resident Production
Matt Otto, Johnny Meister and the Stitch, Solas Nua

and Outstanding Choreography, Resident Production
Diane Coburn Bruning, Improbable Frequency, Solas Nua

Each was up against a talented group of nominees, sadly we didn’t take home either award that evening, but we are honored, just the same for being recognized, in the DC theatre community.  

Of course the best part of the Helen Hayes Awards, besides honoring all of the talented artists in DC, is the afterparty at the JW Marriott next door to the theatre.  It was a sea of formalwear as we walked the 2 blocks to the hotel ready to put our dancing shoes on.  The place was ready for us, complete with bite size foods, sweets to keep us going all night long, a dance floor and a photobooth (still waiting for those digital copies to be available online).  The first brave souls on the dance floor were no amateurs and set the tone for the rest of the night of dancing.  Highlight: Synetic Theatre company members showing off their best moves.  Everyone was ready to shake their tale feathers and those Solas Nua ladies sure know how to bust a move (too many dancing clichés, perhaps).  In any case we had a fantastic time and hope to be back next year.  

 

Book Day 2011

Well, we made it.  Another Book Day has come and gone, and we are no worse for the weather, or at least that’s what we keep telling ourselves.  This was my first Irish Book Day so I had no idea what to expect.  I woke up earlier than usual thursday morning in order to commandeer the ZipCar Toyota Takoma that would serve as our supply runner for the early part of the morning.  We had the truck loaded with books, tables, and banner by 7:45 and on our way to the Dupont Circle Metro Stop soon after (New York Avenue Metro station had been up and running since 7am that morning).

As we began setting up our lovely volunteer at the North side entrance we recruited another, waiting patiently for us to set up the books, he asked if we needed a hand and helped us carry the rest of the boxes of books to the table, at which point we had collected a healthy number of folks around the table interested in which titles we were giving away.

We had stations set up at Metro Center and Galleryplace/Chinatown as well.  This year’s titles included:

The Master – Colm Toíbín
The Táin – translated by Ciaran Carson
Benny and Omar - Eoin Colfer
Netherland – Joseph O’Neill
Slammerkin – Emma Donoghue
Breakfast on Pluto – Patrick McCabe

to name a few.

Books went quickly and by 4:30 we were down to or last 60 books, we started the day with 15,000 mind you.  by 5pm we were completely out and packing the last of our Metro Center stations up and heading back to the office to begin preparing for our closing act of the day, Craicdown!

Craicdown, for those who don’t know, is our annual mash-up with Washington Improv Theatre (WIT).  It’s an evening of hilarious improv theatre all with and Irish twist culminating in the esteemed Riverdance competition.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and it was a refreshing change from the typical St. Paddy’s Day festivities happening around the city.

We got a sneak peak at our upcoming performance Swampoodle

So we survived to plan another Book Day, next year maybe we’ll give away 20,000 books, Lord help us all.

Tracing Form

Ever wonder what our Capitol’s monuments and buildings would look like if they were condensed into blocks of concrete and colored glass.  This is the subject of Suzannah Vaughan’s Tracing Form, currently on exhibition at Flashpoint Gallery.  Suzannah has created abstract representations of some of the more iconic structures around DC through the medium of concrete and colored glass.

Creating much of the work in this exhibition before ever reaching Washington DC, she did a significant portion of her research on the buildings through online inquiry, looking at the architectural plans of each structure along with images found on the internet to inspire her works.  In her pieces we see The Hirshorn, The Lincoln Memorial Columns, The Metro and many more Washington staples.

Alongside these concrete, heavy sculptures Suzannah has included an installation piece comprised of strings aligned configurations reminiscent of architectural drawings.  Suzannah is interested in the idea of imagined spaces that exist when architects begin drawing up plans.  Many architect’s designs that will never make it off the cutting room floor, and Vaughan is more interested in these creations than the final building that come to be.  Through her installation she has created a 3-dimensional representation of architectural renderings, segmenting an otherwise “non-existent” space.  What we realize is these spaces that we may not overtly recognize become obvious when broken up by something tangible, like a line of red string.  Suzannah’s installations are developed within the spaces she encounters, so each is different and dependent on the potential for imagining space within the location.

At the moment Suzannah is altering her installation piece to include luminescent string that will further demonstrate this idea of imagined, etherial and natural spaces.

Suzannah will be in Washington DC until the end of February working and researching the subjects of her current exhibition, as well as many others, and will then create new works based on her personal experiences with these structures.

Tracing Form will be at Flashpoint Gallery until February 12, 2011