The Experimental Education Theatre Department was actively involved in the Fall Festival under the coordination of Tim Toothman. Preparations for major productions scheduled for the winter and spring were already underway.
The Fall Performing Arts Festival was a vibrant showcase featuring performances by exceptionally talented groups and individuals in areas such as mime, acrobatics, and comedy. The festival also offered workshops on mime, dance, clowning, mask-making, acrobatics, drama, music, and puppetry.
Schedule of Events:
Flip Reade appeared as a guest performer on several national television shows, including The Man from Atlantis, The Diana Ross Show, The Chuck Barris Show, and The Gong Show. He was a regular performer on CBS's 1978 winter replacement series, The Shield & Yarnell Show, where he played the "Golden Athlete." Reade’s performances seamlessly blended witty dialogue with astonishing physical feats and body control. Sylvia Drake, a critic for The Los Angeles Times, described his work as "a unique combination of yoga, martial arts, superior acrobatics, and deeply American humor."
Reade's wife and collaborator, Barbie Reade, also performed in selected sketches. Mrs. Reade was an expert in sign language and an associate professor at California State University, Northridge.
Tim Settimi was a professional mim who was sponsored by College Activities Board (CAB). Tim was very energetic and gave a good workshop. His performance was a rather standard mime show with the exception of one very fine, original piece.
The National Theatre of the Deaf, honored with the 1977 Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence, will perform Volpone, Ben Jonson’s renowned comedy about greed, along with Quite Early One Morning and other works by Dylan Thomas. These performances will take place at 8 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, October 1 and 2, at the NTID Theatre on the campus of Rochester Institute of Technology.
Volpone is widely regarded as the greatest satirical comedy about greed. Set in Venice, the play features a cast of tricksters and schemers who are consumed by their desire to inherit Volpone’s wealth. Through witty and outrageous plots, the characters—ranging from crafty foxes to predatory vultures—engage in elaborate deceptions to gain riches. As their greed escalates, Jonson’s sharp satire uncovers the darker aspects of human nature.
In the second part of the performance, the company will present Quite Early One Morning and other works by Dylan Thomas, capturing the poet at his most passionate and lyrical. Renowned as one of the most beloved poets of the 20th century, Thomas paints vivid pictures of life’s joys, filled with moments of tenderness, humor, conflict, sorrow, reflection, and imagination.
Founded in 1967 by Broadway stage designer David Hays, the National Theatre of the Deaf has enjoyed a distinguished history, including 21 national tours, two Broadway engagements, 10 European tours, and tours in Asia and Australia. In addition, the company has produced three films and made numerous television appearances, including regular spots on Sesame Street and on PBS’s NOVA.
Bottom of the Bucket, But...Dance Theatre originated as an extension of dance classes started by Garth Fagan at Rochester's Educational Opportunities Center during the summer of 1970. This small group of young students formed the foundation of what has since grown into a nationally renowned dance company.
The Bucket has performed at prestigious venues such as Jacob's Pillow, the Harlem Dancemobile, and the Delacorte Theatre in New York City. They have also toured Jamaica, the eastern United States, and even performed at the State Correctional Facility in Attica. Additionally, the company has worked extensively within the school systems of Rochester, Syracuse, and Brooklyn.
In 1975, the Bucket was one of only six dance companies selected to represent the United States at the World Festival of Black Arts in Lagos, Nigeria. The group celebrates the rich cultural heritage of Africa, the West Indies, Mississippi, and Harlem. Known for its contemporary style, the company stands out for its discipline, innovative research, and experimental approach to dance.
Gale LaJoye began his first season with the Blue Unit of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus during the 1974–75 season. As a "First of May" clown—a term for a first-season performer—LaJoye quickly distinguished himself within the clown alley.
Gale LaJoye, a former advance clown with the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus and an instructor at the circus' Clown College, performed as "the classic clown and mime" at 8 p.m. on Friday at the NTID Theatre.
LaJoye's performance featured a variety of routines, including slapstick comedy, sight gags, and balancing tricks. As a professor of "clownology" at Ringling's Clown College in Venice, Florida, LaJoye taught an intensive eight-week curriculum that encompassed mime, acrobatics, slapstick, juggling, makeup, costume and prop design, as well as the development of individual clown characters and gags.
During the 1976 circus season, LaJoye served as an "advance clown," traveling across the country ahead of The Greatest Show on Earth. He later became the director of operations at Ringling's Circus World Theme Park in Orlando, Florida.
Cheryl McFadden, an assistant professor of theatre at Brandeis University, gave a lecture-demonstration on mask, mime, and clowning in the Chaplin/Keaton tradition. Ms. McFadden instructed actors on how movement, mime, and mask techniques could enhance the development of their characters.
She conducted workshops in acting, mime, masks, clowning, and commedia dell'arte in New York and Boston. Additionally, she served as a faculty member and guest artist at numerous institutions, including Harvard University, George Washington University, and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Ms. McFadden was also an accomplished writer and director, working on directing her own feature film.
The Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company was a major highlight of NTID's Fall Performing Arts Festival. The group, part of the emerging organization SPECTRUM: Focus on Deaf Artists, a national organization based in Austin, Texas, was rapidly gaining national recognition. The American Deaf Dance Company was selected as one of only four new dance groups in the nation to participate in the National Endowment for the Arts Dance Touring Program for 1979–1980.
The Austin-based company, which gave its premiere performance in August 1977, presented Interactions, a full-length ballet. The production captured the intensity of deaf expression, showcasing the ability of deaf artists to convey deep emotions through facial expressions, hand movements, and body gestures.
Members of the Spectrum American Deaf Dance Company in an exercise.
Children’s Theatre of The Open Eye from New York City presented Twilight Crane, a captivating tale about a kind-hearted cloth weaver who saves the life of a crane. In gratitude, the crane’s spirit takes the form of a beautiful woman and becomes his wife. This enchanting Japanese folk tale is brought to life through the artistry of hand puppets, rod puppets, and Bunraku-style puppets, complemented by a dancer, narrator, and musician.
Annabelle Gamson, a nationally acclaimed dancer-actress of commanding energy, performed dance solos by early 20th-century modern dance pioneers Isadora Duncan and Mary Wigman, along with her own choreographed works. Ms. Gamson meticulously researched the works of Duncan and Wigman—world-renowned dance choreographers—and, with the help of films and individuals closely associated with them, reconstructed many of their classic solo pieces, which had been absent from the stage for decades. Ms. Gamson's dance performances were sensual and earthy; they preserved the ecstasy as well as the steps of Duncan and Wigman’s choreography.
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