You can check out highlights from Miro's Lie to Me this month on WHYY TV 12, the Y ARTS digital channel and at whyy.org.

We are happy to extend our gratitude to some new and continued foundation supporters. The William Penn Foundation, has continued their support of Miro for the next three years; the Samuel S. Fels Fund has awarded another year of funding to the company; and we would like to welcome the new support of the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation, which will greatly enhance Miro's outreach offerings and partnership with Girard College in the coming year.

#1 - Ride your bike! it will make you feel good, and the MPG is infinite. For extra fun take the bike path along the Schulkyll River. You can get on at 25th and Locust and take it to the Art Museum and beyond. It is also a great way to get to the Miro Studio when Open Studio is back next month.

#2 - Get a vegan soft serve at B2, corner of Dickinson and Passyunk. Amanda calls it "cold wet icy icing" and its delicious (they have regular soft serve too).

#3 - Eat outside...anywhere...but tapas from Bar Ferdinand at Liberty Walk is mighty nice.(2nd St. south of Girard Ave)

#4 - The 941 Theater at 941 front street. It's not pretty...but that may just be what makes it great. Some brave Phiily souls have got their own thing goin' on--and we applaud that. This is an underground movie theatre in Northern Liberties with lots of soul. Check it out. Can be easily combined with #1 and #3.

Miro has been awarded a Pennpat New Directions Grant in conjunction with the Indiana University of Pennsylvania commisioning of a new company work Spooky Action. The work will premiere at IUP in April 2009. Our "quantum love story" this work tackles quantum entangement and the ties that bind us together. Confused? don't worry... Expect high energy and unexpected turns in this follow up to Principles of Uncertainty. And for all of you who became Pete Wyer fans at Miro's Open Studio, the secretive hinting is over, we are happy to announce that Pete Wyer will be composing the music for Spooky Action.

We would love to know your thoughts. Self Portrait premiered to a record 1108 people at the Philadelphia Museum of Art's After Five program on Friday. We are looking to hear from as many of you who were there as possible with thoughts, comments, reactions and critiques of the show. We are particularly interested in those of you that saw both the Frida exhibit and Self Portrait. We enjoyed talking to some of you after the performance, and would love to hear more from you.

Please click on "add new comment" below, and let us know what you think.

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A Salsa competition, a massive party for the people, and Miro Dance Theatre's 1st Annual Fundraiser! Mucho food, dancing and fun. $25 admission / $5 drinks. Free food and coffee.
THIS Friday, May 9, 6-11PM, Founder's Hall, Girard College @ Girard Ave. and Corinthian Ave in the Art Museum area.

CHECK OUR BLOG FOR VIDEO SNEAK PEEKS!

In May, the World Premiere of Self-Portrait will be presented at the Philadelphia Museum of Art as part of the Art After 5 series. The one-night-only performance will take place on Friday, May 2^nd at 6pm and 7:30pm in the Great Hall of the Museum, located at 26^thStreet and the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia. For additional information about the Museum's Frida Kahlo exhibit and Art After 5, visit www.philamuseum.org.

Self-Portrait is deeply inspired by Frida Kahlo's paintings and diaries, reflecting on both the artist's struggles with illness and her penchant for self-expression. Performed by Miro's co-Artistic Director Amanda Miller, the multi-dimensional "living performance sculpture" combines dance, live animation, elaborate set design, and video.

A constant theme in the work of Frida Kahlo, the idea of self-portrait is timeless and universal. The notion of constantly looking at oneself and continuously exploring ones identity and the ways in which we reinvent and integrate our experiences has become of great interest to Miro Dance Theatre as a company.

"Our intention was to create a performance that, like Frida's paintings and writings, reaches well beyond the canvas and into the hearts of audience members," said Amanda Miller. "There is a great perseverance and rebelliousness in Frida's work, like a dogmatic positioning against theworld, and I hope that Self-Portrait will resonate with and inspire viewers to ask their own questions about identity and history."

To create the visual design, Tobin Rothlein, Miro co-Artistic Director and video artist, used Kahlo's diaries as inspiration for the visual design elements incorporated into the performance.

"I looked closely at Frida's diaries and the way that the ink spreads itself across, and sometimes through, the page. There is that undeniable hand-made urgency present in the drawings," said Rothlein. "Through the use of projected imagery in the performance space and on the dancer's body, we create a multi-dimensional, living performance sculpture that is raw, melodic, and spiritual and captures the essence of Frida's life and work."

Here are three of the fun things we are doing when we are not getting ready for Open Studio or the Self Portrait premiere...

Star Wars exhibit at The Franklin Institute    Nourish your inner geek.  We went and loved it.  Believe me, adults were having as much fun as kids.  Go midweek to avoid the mobs.  The detail and artistry of the original models will leave you crying for the days before CGI, and the medical technology exhibit is...well... you will be telling all your friends about it.  NOTE: They won't let you enter with a lightsaber, toy or not.

http://www2.fi.edu

Lunch at Vientiane Cafe    This is one of our favorite new spots.  Head to West Philadelphia for great Thai/Laotian food and an affordable lunch special.  Beware of the spicy stuff,  the green curry don't play. Delicious.  4728 Baltimore Ave, between S.47th & S.48^th Streets

Watch Autism the Musical on HBO    OK...it's a bad title...but I really liked this documentary about kids with autism making a musical.  The film kept out of its own way and showed in an understated manner the power of the arts to transform and affect the lives of children. If you don't have HBO get your friend to record this one for you. 

David Krensing, PA Ballet principal dancer for 19 years is making a special guest appearance at our Open Studio March 13.  Krensing and Miro director, Amanda Miller are performing a duet, She is Sleeping, to the music of Sharpwire (Matt Sharp and Pete Wyer).  Choreographed by Amanda Miller, the duet was originally performed as part of Adams Apple, which toured through the UK before coming to the states in 2004 where it was performed on Fire Island in New York.
 
David Krensing, joined Pennsylvania Ballet in 1986, was promoted to Soloist in 1988 and elevated to Principal in 1996.  Mr. Krensing has performed numerous leading classical and contemporary roles by choreographers including George Balanchine, Paul Taylor, Peter Martin, Kevin O' Day, Dwight Rhoden, John Butler, Richard Tanner, and William Forsythe. Among the roles he has performed in the classical repertoire are Prince Desire in The Sleeping Beauty, the Prince in Cinderella, Albrecht in Giselle, Franz in Coppelia, Cavalier in The Nutcracker, Petruchio in John Cranko's The Taming of the Shrew and the title role in his Romeo and Juliet. He further demonstrates his diversity in performing such character roles as Herr Drosselmier in The Nutcracker, Dr. Coppelius in Coppelia and Madge in La Sylphide.  Mr. Krensing has toured with Pennsylvania Ballet in the United States and Europe and has been featured internationally with dancers from New York City Ballet and American Ballet Theatre.

David Krensing retired in June 2005 after 19 years with the company. Krensing was one of the original producers and directors of PA Ballet dancers' yearly performance Shut Up and Dance, benefiting Metropolitan AIDS Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance.