Úumbal: Nomadic Choreography for Inhabitants

Notes for Experiencing Úumbal

Thank you for coming to Úumbal: Nomadic Choreography for Inhabitants! A few things to consider:

Many of us are guests in this neighborhood. Thank you for helping us keep Whitman clean, beautiful, and safe by picking up trash if you see it and staying on the sidewalks and streets during the performance. Let’s be mindful of where public space ends and a neighbor’s property begins. Please join us in respecting our neighbors by not leaning on any of the parked cars.

Plan on walking and moving with the dancers through the neighborhood for the duration of the performance. If this presents a challenge to you or a member of your party, please check in with one of the Fringe Festival staff members, who are wearing purple Fringe Festival t-shirts.

There will be moments where you are welcome to join the dancers in their joyful performance! Don’t be afraid to groove along with them!

Following the conclusion of the performance, we invite you to join us for a block party in Mifflin Square Park (on 5th and Ritner). There will be music, dancing, free swag and treats, as well as Burmese food from the SoPhiE food truck and tacos for purchase.

Enjoy this joyful dance performance!

About the Show

Úumbal is an ambulatory dance performance wholly created and enacted by the people of Philadelphia. Conceived as a pilot project of collective choreography proposing walking and dancing together as a political act, the work is an artistic manifestation to defend the collective encounter, to insist on being visible, and not to disappear.

First performed in Mexico City in response to increased surveillance and government suppression of protests in the wake of the disappearance of 43 students, makes its U.S. premiere as part of the 2019 Fringe Festival. Choreographer Mariana Arteaga and her local collaborators set up collection points in various neighborhoods to solicit dance steps from residents of this city. A group of local volunteers helped mold these contributions into a communal performance that includes movement, choreography, and choreographic actions performed entirely by everyday Philadelphians in public spaces along the streets, parks, and sidewalks of South Philly.

Creative and Production Team

​​Phase One Participants: Adán Gonzales, Alexander Nowak, Alma Tlacopilca Romero, Andrea Castro, Andria Yondura, Anna Basile, Bohasha Perto, Brianna Borouchoff, Cadence Carmichael, Chelsey Webber-Brandis, Cheyenne Banks, Christopher Munden, Chris Scruggs, Cleonice Da Fonseca, Diana Sherwood, Dyenzel Rivera, Eileen Fisher, Greg Loring-Albright, Heather Loring-Albright, Hydie Miller, Hugh Wilikofsky, Ida Rhoads, Janete Silva, Janis Moore-Campbell, Jennifer Shorstein, Jonathan Forstater, Judy Williams, Karl Surkan, Katie Samson, Katy Dammers, Laura Naden, Leslie Hamilton, Lid Reilly, Marion Ramirez, Mary Fran Madden, Mary Menchel, Michael Atkinson, Michael Moss, Nelia Diaz, Pamela Selle, Patricia Way, Porsche Murray, Raina Searles, Rebecca Schmitt, Roz Pichardo, Sabrina Carter, Shaemyra Parks, Sydney Camp, Tenara Calem, Terri Ticacs, Virginia Hedges, Zach Blackwood

Phase Two Participants: Anita Nicholson, Bella Gibson, Beverly Agard, Bobbi Block, Catherine Schmitt, Chelsey Webber-Brandis, Cherese Verdi, David Calloway, Debbie DiGiaccobe, Eileen Fisher, Elizabeth Pierson-Schmidt, Emma Bedoukian, Fran Melmed, Hannah Brannau, Heather Loring-Albright, Hydie Miller, James Lemma Jr., Janis Moore-Campbell, Jen Marvelous, Judy Williams, Kat Linden, Kat Sullivan, Kate Feather, Katie Scheuer, Lauren Brown, Lauren Gretz, Lexi DiFilippo, Lid Reilly, Liz Baldwin, Mark Thompson, Nijah Famous, Raina Searles, Reiko Drake-Cortes, Roseanne Sarkissian, Ruth Chapman, Sarah Adeyinko-Skold, Senaka Peter, Stephanie Malsbury, Patricia Way, Virginia Hedges, Zanna Yoshida

Phase Three Participants: Andrea Giraldo, Anita Nicholson, Ann Ehrich, Anna Beresin, Bobbi Block, Catherine Schmitt, Cherese Verdi, Christine Mantey, Claire Frisbie, David Baldwin, David Calloway, Debbie Schuman, Deborah Ford, Ed Nace, Ellen Dunkel, Felice Schwartz, Grisel Garate, Ione Avila, Janis Moore-Campbell, Jeff Bullard, Jenna McLaughlin, Julia Hinckley, Karyl Webber, Kathryn Kono, Kevin Brown, Kimiko Doherty, Lauren Brown, Leila Hanzel, Lid Reilly, Liz Baldwin, Louisiane Verger, Mallory Deptola, Mariana Hernandez Rojas, Melissa Shapiro, Mud Forte, Nanda Ramanathan, Nani Manion, Netera Brickle, Nikki Hudgins, Pamela Draper, Rebecca Rummelt, Renee Kalandar, Samantha Jeune, Sarah Tebbe, Savannah Garrison, Sheri Utain, Suzanne Baldwin, Taylor Frome, Tobie Hoffman, Patricia Way, the dancers of Hip Hop Fundamentals, and the SEAMAAC Neighborhood Elders

Conceived by Mariana Arteaga Assistant Director Sarah Gladwin Camp Choreographic Team Katrina Atkin, Clyde Evans, Meg Foley, Rhonda Moore, Sophiann Moore, and Jumatatu Poe Stage Manager Raven Buck Assistant Stage Manager Anastassia Vertjanova Audio Technician Aram Mouradian Deckhands Corinne Presti, Jeffrey Glenn, and Jack Thomas Audience Engagement Coordinator Tenara Calem

About the Artists

Mariana Arteaga studied Social Communication at the Metropolitan Autonomous University Xochimilco in Mexico. She has worked internationally creating, directing and producing artistic projects, festivals, curatorships, and choreographies. She has also worked as a performer for various national and international choreographers. She has been invited as a curator and speaker at the Performing Arts Meeting in Yokohama, Japan, the Festival Cena Contemporânea in Brasilia to the Encounters of Cena, and the Tanzplattform in Germany.

She is the first Latin American to win the Visiting Fellows Program Grant awarded by the prestigious Saison Foundation in the category artistic director–curator, to promote the exchange, dissemination and collaboration in contemporary dance between Mexico and Japan. In recent years she has explored the choreographic work with citizenship. In 2015 she was invited by the Chopo University Museum to develop Úumbal: Nomadic Choreography for Inhabitants, a collective choreographic exploration in public space constructed for and by citizenship. Úumbal was selected by the prestigious art magazine La Tempestad as the best performing arts piece of that year. In 2017, she launched the #Uumbalenlared platform to share the artistic experience of this project and so it can be replicated. Her most recent works are Maravatío, Choreographic Score for Collective Care, Encounter and Play and her participation as a performer for the retrospective exhibition by Xavier Le Roy at the Jumex Museum. She continues working independently as an artistic director, choreographer, curator and as advisor for national and international developing contemporary dance and live arts projects for many independent and institutional initiatives, national and internationally. For more info see her website.

Nerd Out

Happy Hour on the Fringe
Tune in to hear from Mexican public practice artist Mariana Arteaga, the artistic force behind Úumbal, as she shares the original inspiration for the piece when it premiered in Mexico City, the political and geographical considerations that have gone into this Philadelphia iteration, and how she is using dance to make a public statement to the world. Listen below or read the full transcript on the FringeArts Blog.

Fringe Festival Bookstore
Join us on Sunday, Sept 8 at 4pm at Cherry Street Pier where artist Mariana Arteaga and Úumbal participants will discuss their performance in the streets of South Philadelphia with Fringe Arts Community Engagement Coordinator Tenara Calem. Learn more here.

Supporters

Thank you to our project partners: SEAMAAC, Friends of Mifflin Square Park, Bok, Consulado de Carrera de México en Filadelfia, Mighty Writers El Futuro, Esperanza, The Kensington Storefront, Office of Parks and Recreation, Office of Special Events, Office of Art, Culture, and the Creative Economy, Office of Adult Education, School District of Philadelphia’s Office for Multilingual Curriculum & Programs, Edgar Ramirez, Sarah Anton and the Passyunk Square Civic Association, Lower Moyamensing Civic Association, Dickinson Square West Association, Bella Vista Neighbors Association, Friends of Jefferson Square, Murphy Recreation Center, Margaret Selby, Jordan Peimer, Atsuko Hisano, Úumbal México, Museo Universitario del Chopo, Mariana Gándara, José Luis Paredes “Pacho”, Jonathan Delgado-Melendez, Mexican Consulate, and Philly residents!

Major support for Úumbal: Nomadic Choreography for Inhabitants has been provided by William Penn Foundation.

Festival Executive Producers: Salem Schuchman & Barbara Klock
Festival Co-Producer: Jane G. Pepper

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The Fringe Festival is sponsored by The Durst Organization, the University of Pennsylvania, M&T Bank, Getaround, and Parx Casino.

Learn more about our Fringe Festival Neighborhood Partners here.

About FringeArts

FringeArts is Philadelphia’s home for contemporary performance, presenting progressive, world-class art that expands the imagination and boldly defies expectation. Our programming exposes audiences to genre-defying dance, theater, and music performances by accomplished and emerging innovators who push the boundaries of art-making and redefine the artistic landscape worldwide.

Now in its 23rd year, the Fringe Festival is a three-week, Philadelphia-wide celebration of innovation and creativity through performance, visual, and digital art. With more than 1,000 artistically daring performances, the Fringe Festival explodes into every nook and cranny of neighborhoods across Philadelphia. See the full lineup of events here.

Support independent artists participating in the 2019 Fringe Festival by donating to the Independent Artist FestiFund of CultureTrust. This scholarship fund will become grants for artists who need our support to continue their important work! More information on how to donate at: FringeArts.com/festifund.

The Independent Artist FestiFund is a project of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia

FringeArts Staff + Board

FRINGEARTS STAFF

Nick Stuccio, President + Producing Director
Carolyn Schlecker, Senior Adviser Operations
Amy Kurzban, General Manager

Zach Blackwood, Artistic Producer
Melissa Bridge, Director of Finance
Katherine Borden, Finance Associate
Tenara Calem, Audience Engagement Coordinator
Katy Dammers, Artistic Producer
Patrick Derrickson, Institutional Giving Coordinator
Claire Frisbie, Director of Marketing + Communications
Keighty McLallen, Director of Production
Mary Menchel, Client Services Manager
Porsche Murray, Office Manager + HR Assistant
Christopher Munden, Information Manager + Guide Editor
Kelly Orenshaw, Associate Production Manager
Rachel Swartz Robinson, Director of Development
April Rose, Fringe Festival Coordinator
Georgia Schlessman, Technical Director
Raina Searles, Marketing Manager
Jennifer Shorstein, Development Manager
Evelyn Swift Shuker, Master Electrician

FRINGE FESTIVAL STAFF

Marissa Both, Festival Box Office Manager
Rebecca Hartman, Front of House Coordinator
Kevin Hoover, Festival Technical Director
Sydney Justice, Superterranean
Jacks Katz, Venue Manager, Cartography, Un Poyo Rojo
Megan Schumacher, Festival Volunteer Coordinator
Eddie Smith, FringeArts Head of Audio
Row Walters, Venue Manager, Pursuit of Happiness

INTERNS

Sean Andrade, Graphic Design
Seth Boyce, Marketing Information Management
Carolyn Carrier, Development
Greer Cohen, Programming
Charisse De Los Santos, Patron Services
Sophie Don, Programming
Faith Flynn, Programming
Madena Kusi, Development
Jordan Landy, Finance
Bria Lee, Marketing and Communications
Laura Lizcano, Marketing and Communications
Calder McNeil, Marketing/Programming
Ellie Moonan, Production
Corinne Mastrella Presti, Production
Jacqueline Pothier, Programming
Emma Rogers, Programming
Stephanie Seymour, Podcast
Jack Yang, Finance
Julienne Jordan, Development
Laura Storck, Communications
Helly Manson, Programming

BOARD

Richard Vague, Chair
Jennifer Bohnenberger, Vice Chair/Secretary
Lisa P. Young, Treasurer
Emily L. Bittenbender
Mark Dichter
Denise DiSimone
Anthony P. Forte
David Grasso
David R. Hoffman
Kevin Kleinschmidt
Kathy Lentini
David Lipson
Tom Lussenhop
Clement D. Pappas
Salem Shuchman
Michael Solomonov
Stephen Starr
Nick Stuccio
Audrey Claire Taichman
Max Tuttleman
Paul Wright