Residencies

FINDING VOICE

A Workshop

Finding Voice will explore ritual, myth and personal experience as a means to telling stories. This workshop includes, physical and vocal training including elements of Nohgaku (Japanese Ghost Theater), Kung fu fighting fan and Spoken word. We will develop true stories and legends. The workshop will culminate in the samurai tradition of Hyaku Monogatari, a night of one hundred ghost stories. Class is appropriate for anyone wanting to uncover their own personal style of presentation  – students, actors, business people. Express yourself. Find your voice.

Instructor
Brenda Wong Aoki is regarded as one of America’s foremost solo performers. Trained in Noh and Kyogen, modern dance and voice, she continues to entrance audiences throughout the world with her intense, lyrical Obake (ghost stories) and heart-warming street stories of mixed race kids. A playwright and performing artist, Brenda has been honored with Hollywood Dramalogue Awards, Critic Circle Awards, fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, commissions from U. S. Congress, the State of California and the San Francisco Arts Commission. Her recordings garnered Indie awards for Best Spoken Word and are used as curriculum resource materials. She is a founding faculty member of Stanford University’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts, teaches solo performance at University San Francisco and continues to teach and perform internationally.

Purpose:
The objective of this workshop is for each person to leave with the ability to create personal stories using only the body and voice.

Requirements: Large, clean, empty space. A dance studio is good. Must be suitable for 20 people to lie on the floor and move comfortably in barefoot. No rug. No cement.

Book Workshop

email aokizu@firstvoice.org

*Children’s workshops also available

Contact Us

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Phone: 415-221-0601

Address: 43 Parsons St., San Francisco, CA, 94118

Email: aokizu @ firstvoice.org

Upcoming Events

June 4, 2012: Mark Izu and Brenda Wong Aoki perform for the 50th Anniversary of the San Francisco Zen Center. "When the Catfish Dances."

June 16, 2012: Brenda Wong Aoki, Commencement Speaker for the Merrill Graduation at UC Santa Cruz. 9:30, East Field.

July 12-15, 2012 Mark Izu's original composition, performed live, in The San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

July 27-29, 2012 Brenda Wong Aoki, solo performance, Sierra Storytelling Festival.

August 26, 2012 Brenda Wong Aoki, solo performance, Community Asian Theatre of the Sierras, Nevada City. 2pm.

December 21,22, 23, 2012: World Premiere of MU, Jewish Community Center of SF, San Francisco

Watch Videos!

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Click here to watch video clips of Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu's work

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Founded by Brenda Wong Aoki and Mark Izu in 1995, the mission of the non-profit First Voice is to create and develop the stories and music of people living between worlds. Critical to this mission is "personal experience" or "voice" as essential to authentic pan-world culture. Please help support First Voice with a donation.