ALIVE, presented by Hibernian Hall and VLA Dance, is a dance theater experience with immersive elements, live music, dance, theater, awe-inspiring visuals and costumes. Meet the featured collaborators who've brought this world to life!
ALIVE premieres October 29, 2022 and November 4-6, 2022 at Hibernian Hall.
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Aaron Brown, Composer
Aaron Brown is an audiovisual artist based out of Jamaica Plain Massachusetts. He graduated with a BFA from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, TUFTS in 2014 working primarily in sound design, printmaking, and sculpture. He currently focuses his efforts toward his sound art project Baron, as well as highlighting the work of his peers via his independent cassette label Dead Pet Tapes. Aaron has begun to push his compositional work into a more physical direction, mostly composing for contemporary dance works such as VLA's "In the Space Between," as well as two projects in collaboration with Iyun Harrison at Duke University.
Cornell Coley, Live Musician
Cornell Coley is an award-winning percussionist, dancer, recording artist, teacher and producer. Mr. Coley has won numerous local and national grants and awards,including from the Mass Cultural Council, New England Foundation for the Arts, The Boston Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. He has taught Afro-Latin dance at 10 major colleges. His current, long-term drumming clients have included Friendship Works with elders, Hyde Square Task Force with teens and Tewksbury Hospital with patients. His band Afrika Gente, started 12 years ago, has evolved into a Latin jazz performance project encompassing some of the top musicians in New England. Please visit his web site at www.afrolatin.net.
Ciera-Sadé Wade, Stage Manager
Ciera-Sadé Wade is an actor, director, dramaturg, writer, singer, dancer, and stage manager in Boston. She graduated in 2013 with a BFA in Acting. Since graduating, Ciera-Sadé's acting credits include For Colored Girls (BU & Praxis Stage Company); The Weird (Off the Grid Theatre Company); Top Eye Open (Madison Park Development Corporation @ Hibernian Hall); The Love of the Nightingale (Open Theatre Project); & Mary Shelley* (Nora Theatre Company). Dramaturgical credits include Splendor, FUFU & Oreos (Company One Theatre); Saturday Night/Sunday Morning (Lyric Stage Company); Little Women (The Longwood Players); A Long Day's Journey Into Night (Fort Point Theatre). She made her directorial debut in 2019 with Stick Fly (Madison Park Development Corporation @ Hibernian Hall). Ciera-Sadé contributed a QFlAl, presented by Hibernian Hall and WorkSpeak (Mission Hill Arts Festival).
Desiré Graham, Singer and Lead Actor
Desiré Graham (she/her) is a performer, director, dramaturg and arts administrator from Harlem, New York. She graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts and African American Studies, focusing on how the sociology of race has and continues to influence the american theatre scene, while unearthing the universality of ‘the black artist.’ Over the past few years, she’s had the pleasure of working in various productions with Speakeasy Stage, New Repertory Theatre and Yo Soy Lola in Boston, MA. She has also participated in a residency with Double Edge Theatre as part of their Artistic Internship Program, specializing in music and technical production. She was a company member at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards from 2019-2021 in Tuscany, Italy, performing in The Underground and Songs of Tradition, as well as facilitating workshops and mentoring visiting artists. She continues to collaborate with former colleagues on the development team of On the Table, a theater practice that has held residencies in Newton, NJ, Albany, WI and San Miniato, Tuscany, Italy. Currently based in New Haven, CT, Desiré is looking to develop her performance work and make ground in the cultural equity movement, committing to aid BIPOC artists in gaining work across all artistic disciplines.
Lena Borovici, Costume Designer
Lena Borovci is a Boston-based costume designer for film, theatre, and opera. She started her career at the National Theater of Kosovo in 2008 and came to the U.S. to continue her education at Carnegie Mellon University - School of Drama. Some of her design credits include Mnemonic (Quantum Theatre), Sila (Central Square Theatre), The New Adventures of Don Quixote (National Theatre of Kosovo), The Hypocrites or The English Patient (Multimedia Center), Waterway/Lightway/Greenway (Public Display of Motion), Svadba (Boston Lyric Opera). Lena received the USITT's prestigious Zelma H. Weisfeld Costume Design & Technology Award in 2013. In the same year, her work was recognized by the Costume Society of America with the Early Career Award of Excellence in Costume Design & Technology. Lena is inspired and honored to work with the talented team at VLA DANCE and Hibernian for the production of Alive!
Haris Lefteri, Writer
HARIS LEFTERI joined Hibernian Hall as the Artistic Director (AD) in 2021. She graduated from Boston College with a degree in Political Science and Theater Arts where she specialized in Directing. She has served as a director since 2011 and has received various DASH Awards nominations. Some credits include Wilderness (The Players’ Ring); Jesus Hopped The ‘A’ Train (Hovey Players); Fake News (Stanford Calderwood Pavilion-BCA); Roboteacher (Boston Playwrights’ Theater); Thirsty (The Rockwell). Haris’ involvement in every aspect of production, from directing to costume and set design, has given her a well-rounded perspective as a producer and an artist. From 2021 to currently, Haris has collaborated with over 40 artists to create and produce original work at Hibernian Hall. Some projects include: The Master Playwright Series, Roxbury Roots, Move For Charity and MINDSHIFT. As a writer, her work has been produced into a short film titled “The Checkbook” (starring Larry David Eudene) as well as youth film projects for Boston Latin School. “ALIVE” is Haris’ first multidisciplinary work that combines dance, theater and music to tell a story in a non-traditional way. It was inspired from her experience growing up in Albania during the war and it shares the journey of self-discovery that each one of us goes through. As an artist, Haris’ goal is to break down the division between spectator and performer. In her work, you will experience a harmony of abstract entertainment and creativity. As a leader, Haris’ mission is to continue building a community of artists that stimulate cultural, spiritual and financial wealth.
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