Sessions
“Come Empty” ™: Channeling In The Theatrical Jazz Aesthetic
1:00 PM - 2:50 PM Wed
Opening Celebration
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM Wed
ASPIRE - Roundtable Discussion
10:00 AM - 11:45 AM Thu
Artistic Activism - Facing Our Truth - 10-Minute Plays on Trayvon, Race, and Privilege
11:00 AM - 12:50 PM Thu
Holla: talk to me!
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM Thu
Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions, Final Round
10:00 AM - 12:00 PM Fri
Holla: talk to me!
11:00 AM - 11:50 AM Fri
Holla: talk to me!
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM Fri
Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Auditions, Final Round Response Session
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM Fri
Nat Turner - Talkback
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM Sat
Holla: talk to me!
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM Sat
NAT TURNER - Talk back
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM Sat
Performance Response for NAT TURNER
4:30 PM - 5:30 PM Sat
An accomplished actor/writer/director & educator, Sonja has worked with many notable venues including: The Public Theatre, The Royal Shakespeare Company-London, The Kennedy Center, Playwrights’ Horizon, The Boston Center for the Arts, The Guthrie Theatre, Penumbra Theatre, The Wallis Annenberg Center-Beverly Hills, Links Hall-Chicago & The Children’s Theatre Company of Minneapolis. She trained at The University of Texas, The Dance Theater of Harlem & The National Black Theater under the direct tutelage of the founder and director, the late Dr. Barbara Ann Teer.
An original member of Sharon Bridgforth’s celebrated root wy’mn theatre company, she originated 2 one-woman shows, one of which garnered an Osborn Award nomination by the American Theatre Critics Association. A respected professional in her field, she’s served on many national panels with other distinguished artists and newsmakers including: Kerry Kennedy of The Kennedy Center, journalists Nicholas Kristof & Ann Curry; film producer Julius Tennon of JuVee Productions (a joint venture with his wife, Viola Davis); Swedish actor/director Josette Bushell-Mingo; British Theatre Historian, Nike Jonah & noted American Theatre Historian, Todd London.
Her commitment to Arts Activism has led her to many parts of the world including: Lagos, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana; Berlin, Germany; Reykjavik, Iceland; Havana, Cuba; Cape Town, South Africa and the Movement for Black Lives in Ferguson, MO.
She is an NEA Fellow; a McKnight Artist Fellow; a 2-time Minnesota State Arts Board Fellow; a 2-time Minneapolis Ivey Award winner (Acting-2009 & Directing-2010); a TCG/Fox Distinguished Achievement Resident Acting Fellow; a McCarter Theatre Center-Princeton/Sallie B. Goodman Artist Fellow; has been a featured artist in Time Magazine and named “One to Watch” and one of “Seven Artists You Must See” by American Theatre Magazine. She taught acting and theatre for 6 years as a member of the Theatre Arts faculty at The University of Minnesota/Twin Cities and has been a guest-teaching artist at DePaul University/Chicago, Hampshire College/Amherst, Cornish College of the Arts/Seattle, and the University of Cape Town, South Africa.