ASU Gammage kicks off 2019–20 Beyond season

September 19, 2019

ASU Gammage is gearing up for its 2019–20 Beyond season with a mix of internationally acclaimed artists, world premieres and performances like no other. For more than 25 years, Beyond has brought world-class artists into the community by presenting compelling work while connecting with Valley residents through artist residency programs, master classes and public performances.

ASU Gammage recently hosted an evening reception for the performance series to highlight the upcoming season, with a presentation from Michael Reed, senior director of programs and organizational initiative for ASU Gammage. Photo from Dancing Earth - Indigenous Futurities Dancing Earth. Download Full Image

Reed described what each show has to offer and introduced a special guest of the night, artistic founding director of “Dancing Earth,” Rulan Tangen.

Artists are invited from all over the world to be a part of Beyond from Tempe to Egypt; the ASU Symphony Orchestra will open the season with “Toward a More Perfect Union” and satirical comedian Bassem Youssef will close it.

Reed says the focus of ASU Gammage’s artistic approach aligns itself with the message of the university’s commitment to inclusion.

“The Beyond series is in philosophical alignment with ASU Gammage’s mission of Connecting Communities. We want to include everyone in everything that we do. Beyond artists are devoted to establishing belonging within the audiences, that ASU is a place for everyone,” Reed said.

“Beyond is a powerful experience unique in the Southwest with amazing, diverse performing artists engaged in our communities. They speak a compelling common language that celebrates us all,” Reed continued.

Tangen is one of the Beyond artists who shares that message and is also part of the ASU Gammage artist residency program. “It’s much more than showing up and doing a dance. It’s about honoring and respecting the lifeways that are here in this land already,” Tangen said.

Tangen said the process and invention of “Dancing Earth — Between Underground and Skyworld,” set to perform Jan. 25 at ASU Gammage, provides a moment she felt “born for” and one she wanted community support to engage in.

“I felt like I needed to have the supportive communities and indigenous native communities behind me to do this work. And soon after, we started to do our work, elders took note, and they started to share with us stories that they thought would be relevant and appropriate to share with the world,” Tangen said.

You can see Tangen and the other mix of artists this season. Tickets are available at asugammage.com.

The ASU Gammage 2019-20 Beyond season

ASU Symphony Concert/Toward a More Perfect Union

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019
Where: ASU Gammage
Tickets: $20

ASU Gammage in collaboration with the ASU Symphony invites you to a special evening of music, film and spoken word featuring work from a broad array of talented composers of color with arrangements by Tamar-kali (Academy Award nominee for "Mudbound"), Daniel Bernard Roumain (New York Times top 10 classical new works for "We Shall Not Be Moved") renowned spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, with co-musical direction by Jeffery Meyer of the ASU Symphony.

"Home"

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 19, 2019
Where: ASU Gammage
Tickets: $20

Created by Geoff Sobelle, "Home" is a large-scale performance project that revolves around the life cycle of a house. Created through a mix of illusion, choreography, construction and live documentary, "Home" illuminates the messiness of life that transforms a house into a home. "Home" aims to awaken us to the current landscape of housing. The universal and timely themes of gentrification and migration are rendered in the choreography of ordinary people inhabiting and leaving a structure.

Kealoha: "The Story of Everything"

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019
Where: ASU Gammage
Tickets: $20

"The Story of Everything" is a creation story in epic poem format that traces our origins from the big bang to now, using science, poetry, storytelling, visual art, music, ‘oli (chant) and dancing. It explores the question “Where do we come from?” not only for us as human beings but also our Earth and universe, and takes us on a whirlwind of science, story and culture on a journey to the present — humans today and our stewardship of Earth and of each other.

A.I.M

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019
Where: ASU Gammage
Tickets: $20

Internationally recognized dancer, artistic director and MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Kyle Abraham returns with his company A.I.M to the ASU Gammage stage this November. A.I.M intertwines sensual and provocative vocabulary with a strong emphasis on sound, human behavior and all things visual to create an avenue for personal investigation and exposing that on stage. Representing dancers from various disciplines and diverse personal backgrounds, the performers of A.I.M create fresh and unique movement.

"Flight"

When: Jan. 17-Feb. 1, 2020
Where: Tempe Center for the Arts
Tickets: $20

Two young orphaned brothers embark on a desperate odyssey to freedom and safety. With their small inheritance stitched into their clothes, they set off on an epic journey across Europe, in a heart-wrenching road story of terror, hope and survival. Mixing graphic novel with exquisite diorama, "Flight" draws you into its fragile miniature world and allows you to contemplate its gripping story of two children lost in dangerous lands.

Dancing Earth: "Between Underground and Skyworld"

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020
Where: ASU Gammage
Tickets: $20

"Between Underground and Skyworld" is a multimedia dance theater work that will illuminate the practical, spiritual and cultural aspects of renewable energy, combining diverse intertribal perspectives with indigenous futurities. Fusing tradition with technology, indigenous interdisciplinary artists engage creation and constellation stories in tandem with geosensitive new media to conjure visions for a more sustainable future.

Contra-Tiempo: "joyUS justUS"

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020
Where: ASU Gammage
Tickets: $20

Contra-Tiempo returns to ASU Gammage with "joyUS justUS." This urban Latin dance theater experience takes on joy as the ultimate expression of resistance. Whenever humans have survived immense hardship and injustice, prevailing with their humanity intact, the presence of joy has always been at the root. "joyUS justUS" reclaims the dominant deficit-based narrative of people of color in this country as being underprivileged, voiceless, powerless and victimized, and flips it on its head by embodying stories of joy.

Bassem Youssef

When: 7 p.m. Saturday, April 11, 2020.
Where: ASU Gammage
Tickets: $35

Bassem Youssef, dubbed the Jon Stewart of the Arab World, was the host of popular TV show "AlBernameg" — which was the first-of-its-kind political satire show in the Middle East. Throughout its three seasons, "AlBernameg" became the most popular television show in Egypt’s history, with an average of 30 million viewers every week. Currently living in the U.S., Youssef was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people, under the “Pioneers” category, and continues to challenge power with one of the most powerful weapons: humor.

"Toward a More Perfect Union" — Jeffery Meyer.

"Toward a More Perfect Union" — Martha Gonzalez.

"Toward a More Perfect Union" — Tamar-kali.

"Toward a More Perfect Union" — Marc Bamuthi Joseph.

"Toward a More Perfect Union" — Joel Thompson.

"Toward a More Perfect Union" — Carlos Simon.

"Toward a More Perfect Union" — Daniel Bernard Roumain.

"Home."

Kealoha — "The Story of Everything."

A.I.M.

"Flight."

"Dancing Earth."

Contra-Tiempo — "joyUS justUS."

Bassem Yousef.

Noah Guzman

student worker, ASU Gammage

mnguzma2@asu.edu

ASU students, faculty recognized for outstanding work in planning

From a project focused on mobile home parks to work with indigenous communities, members from the Arizona State University School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning were recognized for their work at the annual meeting for the American Planning Association’s Arizona Chapter. Held on Sept. 12 in Tucson, the meeting brought together planners and researchers from across Arizona and included...

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ASU students, faculty recognized for outstanding work in planning

Members from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning awarded for their work with cities, indigenous communities

September 19, 2019

Among the winners this year was Maggie Dellow, a recent graduate of the Master of Urban and Environmental Planning program, who was selected as the winner for the student project category. Her project, “Mobile Home Parks and the Future of Affordable Housing in Apache Junction,” was the capstone that she completed as part of her master’s degree program. Mobile home communities in Apache Junction, much like the one pictured, were the focus of Maggie Dellow's work that was recognized for outstanding work by a student by the American Planning Association’s Arizona Chapter. Download Full Image

For her project, Dellow teamed up with the city of Apache Junction, located east of Phoenix along the border between Maricopa and Pinal County. The city is known for its picturesque views of the Superstition Mountains, but is also home to a community of winter-only visitors and 125 mobile home and recreational parks and subdivisions, which create approximately 50% of the city’s affordable housing. Many of these communities have found themselves in disrepair over the years, especially considering many were developed prior to the city’s incorporation in 1978. This has led to some communities being in floodplains or with site plans that wouldn’t be approved under today’s standards.

In her project, Dellow researched 28 different parks that were identified as high-priority. For each park, she analyzed its demographic trends, amenity access and site conditions, and she spoke with affordable housing developers and property owners within the parks to gain perspective of the needs of the community. As a result of her work, Dellow was able compile a comprehensive report she was able to provide to the city of Apache Junction to help shape upcoming decisions related to these communities.

“Maggie’s scholarly work provided extremely relevant data and concrete examples for the city to consider for the reuse or revitalization of these parks,” said Bryan Powell, city manager for Apache Junction, in his letter nominating Dellow for the award.

As a result of her outstanding work, the American Planning Association’s Arizona Chapter selected Dellow for the award for student project category. She also was hired by the city of Glendale as a full-time intern to help develop a mobile-home transition project. Staff from the city of Glendale were on hand in April 2019 when Dellow presented her project as part of the ASU Project Cities showcase.

Maggie Dellow, who graduated in May 2019 with her Master of Urban and Environmental Planning degree, was selected as winner of the student project category at the 2019 American Planning Association’s Arizona Chapter annual meeting.

Jonathan Davis, David Pijawka and Elizabeth Larson joined members from the Sif-Oidak District of the Tohono O'odham Nation to accept the award for public outreach at the 2019 American Planning Association’s Arizona Chapter annual meeting.

Dellow wasn’t the only winner from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning at this year’s meeting. She was joined by David Pijawka, professor of planning; Elizabeth Larson, senior lecturer of geography; and Jonathan Davis, PhD in geography student, who were selected as winners of the public outreach award for their work with an indigenous community to create a visioning report.

In April 2018, the team from the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning hosted a workshop to work alongside the Sif-Oidak District of the Tohono O’odham Nation. The focus was to create a visioning report that will be used in future planning efforts of the community that embraces the community’s values, including the unique physical, emotional and spiritual relationship the community has with the land.

The Sif-Oidak District of the Tohono O’odham Nation is comprised of nine communities located in the northern district of the Papago Reservation that spreads out over 700 square miles of the Sonoran Desert south of Casa Grande and southwest of Eloy. No district within the Papago Reservation has developed a land-use plan nor conducted a visioning workshop to develop a plan, making this effort with the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning the first of its kind for the Tohono O’odham Nation. This effort provided the technical and professional support to assist the communities in developing short- and long-term goals.

“It was an empowering planning experience for our community members that pushed the communities to work together and consider the needs within our community and think critically on how to meet those needs and achieve our district objectives,” said Alex Cruz, Sif-Oidak district chairman, in his nomination letter for the group’s efforts.

“We are optimistic for the future and will work to use this report as a guiding document for the future of Sif-Oidak District and its communities.”

This wasn’t the first time that Davis and Pijawka have been recognized for their work with tribal communities. They have also been recognized for a project where they worked alongside the Navajo Nation’s Dilkon Chapter to complete a community land-use plan.