Mask Makers Web

Spiderwoman is the Creatrix Goddess among Native Americans of the Southwest. She is, according to their legends, at the center of the Web of Life, the great Spinner. To visit Spiderwoman is to visit the Web that links us to the lives of all Beings - and to see the fragile strands that weave together our own lives. I have enjoyed presenting SPIDERWOMAN'S WEB as participatory Theatre. It is a gathering of Voices. Some are primal powers that urge us to reclaim them. Some are contemporary, voices that tell stories about mending the Web within. At the conclusion of the performance, the audience is invited to weave, tying strands of rope together. As each names a broken link, a torn strand, he or she re-ties it, adding their own voices. At last a Web is spun from illuminated posts. At its center is Spiderwoman, just as She has always been, with Her many faces. As I developed my website, I remembered a Navajo legend. They say that when Spiderwoman returns, the world will enter a new age. It occurred to me that the World Wide Web is probably Her latest appearance.

Added on: Jan 16, 2001 | Hits: 2892

Transported back to a medieval world of theatre and music in moments. The Ophaboom Theatre's half mask interpretation of the classic,Victor Hugo novel is both refreshingly different ( in a very familiar way?) and totally absorbing. This performance illustrates the difference between stage and screen most emphatically. The dialogue is crisp, witty and spontaneous. The performance dynamic, explosive and passionate.

Added on: May 01, 2001 | Hits: 2616

the play

Added on: May 19, 2002 | Hits: 2826

PART OF WEBSITE - See " Maskensembles"

Added on: Dec 30, 2000 | Hits: 2712

Won Ldy Paye was a talented leader in the Dan tribal masquerade tradition of Liberia before emigrating to Seattle in the 1990s. Won performs as a storyteller, dancer, musician, and organizer of masquerades for audiences in the Pacific Northwest. He constantly expresses his hope that masquerading will not deteriorate, as it "seems to work for people." In the course of the 20th Century, masks have worked to spawn artistic discoveries, judge misconduct, resolve disputes, and order societies in ways that leaders alone now seem unable to do.

Added on: Jun 04, 2002 | Hits: 4017

+ Workshops, books, cd`s. Won-Ldy Paye is a multi-talented folk artist from Tapita, in the northeastern region of Liberia, West Africa. He is a member of the Tlo Ker Mehn, the class of professional Dan entertainers who are keepers of the oral tradition. He was trained by his grandmother to remember and retell the stories of the Dan people. Village Drum and Masquerade performs with masks that are appropriate for all audiences and in the context of entertainment and education. The masks and masquerades are physical representations of the ancestral spirits. They link the people to the wisdom of the past. Masks and masquerades promote law and order and provide balance and direction to the Liberian people.

Added on: Jun 04, 2002 | Hits: 4402