FINALLY IT'S SPRING!

How you doin' family?

It's been a while since I last sent out any delicious spam, so I wanted to remedy that while I have a quick sec. Below are links to images and news articles and projects etc.  To learn more just click.  

Feb: The Inquirer ran an awesome story on anonymous bodies, 

Mar: Northfield Mount Hermon Residency It's so beautiful here.

Launched a kickstarter for us. a pop up performance gallery at Christ Church Neighborhood House happening in May/June 2012. Please support us. today. We need you to kick us. hard. 

April: I will be touring other.explicit.body. to Harlem Stage, NYC.  Hope to see you there. Visit www.harlemstage.org for details. I'm in Program A. 

May: I will complete my certification at the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University. (ICPP)  I will also tour to Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburgh and Tokyo, Japan to perform. 

June: anonymous bodies will perform at Christ Church Neighborhood House and Movement Research in NYC. 

July: anonymous bodies will begin research for phase two of MashUp Body

Aug: I will perform in Washington DC at Dance Place.

PS. I'm on TWITTER: @jaamilkosoko  

Much Love

Jaamil 

Hello Friend-

Since my book release in May 2011 I've been busy and I wanted to send you a lil update to let you know what I've been doing lately. 

In May, Jaamil Kosoko & The Philadiction Movement performed in Pittsburgh at the newMoves Festival presented by The Kelly Strayhorn Theater. Great food, really nice folks.  Can't wait to go back.  MORE INFO 

Art Management News

On May 27th I left DC completing a year of studies as a Fellow in The DeVos Institute of Art Management at the Kennedy Center.  I'm at a loss for words for how this program changed me.  I have an amazing network of colleagues now that I continue to collaborate with on projects. MORE INFO

In June, I was invited to speak on a panel at City Hall discussing technology in the arts. I talked about how I use social media and online marketing tools to market my company's activities and grow my cyber-audience. MORE INFO

July was jam packed. I had the pleasure of being THE ARTISTRY FORUM LEADER at the annual Dance USA Conference. A great experience indeed!  I was also in residence at Wesleyan University as an inaugural member of the ICPP, Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance.  

Performance News

In Aug. I was selected as a 2011/12 LAB Fellow at the Live Arts Festival and Philly Fringe.  My new solo work other.explicit.body. was accepted to be presented at Harlem Stage, NYC in April 2012 in their annual E-moves performance series. This is scary for me cause this is my first time making a solo work that is explicitly political dealing with critical race issues, the justice system, and the Troy Davis controversy, among other current topics of discussion.    

September offered me the opportunity to pull out my feathers and become my favorite alter ego  "J-LUV" to host the 2011 Philadelphia Rocky Awards.  I curated and co-produced the annual event. REVIEW October is looking good as I plan projects with David Brick and Amy Smith of Headlong Dance Theater, anonymous bodies, Miro Dance Theatre, University of the Arts/PHL, and Performa 11 in NYC.

Much Love - Jaamil     

Hello Friends-

Thank you for making this project a huge success!  I could not do it without you.

"Been soo long. Missing you baby" (who knows this song?)

The first person to email me will receive two free tix to THE GEMINI SHOW, JUNE 9th and 10th at fidget space featuring some amazing guest artists from PHILLY, NYC, and DC.

I have some exciting news. I have officially been accepted into the ICPP or the Institute for Curatorial Practice in Performance at Wesleyan University. I'm so excited to attend this program. Don't worry, it's a low res program so I will continue to dance and make dances in Philly and NYC. More on ICPP below. http://www.wesleyan.edu/cfa/icpp/

The official launch for Notes on An Urban Kill-Floor will take place in Brooklyn, NY at the Observatory Gallery on May 22 at 7pm. More information below. Hope to see you there. I am also organizing readings in Philly and DC, so if you are interested in learning more about those inbox me. http://observatoryroom.org/2011/04/09/notes-on-an-urban-kill-floor/

In celebration of the new book, here's a free download of Animal in Cyberspace. Hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think. http://issuu.com/philadiction-movement/docs/animal_in_cyberspace?showEmbed=true

Lastly, I'm putting KPG or Kosoko Performance Group to rest. My last show under the KPG moniker will be at the Kelly Strayhorn Theater in Pittsburg, PA on Sat. May 15, 2011. The Philadiction-Movement, my newest incarnation will launch in June 2011 with its inaugural showcase THE GEMINI SHOW: AN EVENING OF DIRTY, DARING DUETS at fidget space in Philly. Details on that show coming soon.

The Philadiction is a platform to house my vision as it strives to create community around writing, teaching, curating, and practicing the art of making live performance without genre limits and contraints.

much love! jaamil

Hello Backers-

I just wanted to let you guys know that the project is 73% funded. 9 days to go. I feel confident that we will make it. A few of you have been advanced readers to the new collection and have sent really beautiful remarks.  Again, please forward this project to your poet friends. Your publisher friends. I want as many people as possible to know about it.

Here's a poem from the collection...  Let me know what you think.  The line breaks are off because of weird formatting on this interface, but you can still read it.  

Entry

Late May and Spring Peepers are making love.  Last night we heard them as we stepped over  fallen twigs, tree roots, and kicked dandelions.  The wind felt like December although we both  knew the season pulled us closer to June.

At the lake we lie in search of the moon—you  in your usual silence and me left wondering  your contemplations: wounds you’ll never  let me heal. But I know you were not  made to feel this anesthesia. The stars, I say,

are where raindrops turn themselves into light,  where time shoots memories into flight. But  our minds know all too well of lost memories,  of unkept reveries like hotel signs that read vacancy.  Know entirely too well about the unmakings

of dreams, the places between what is and what is  not. Or maybe I want to say that we don’t know  enough, that there can be a way to remain for us,  to stay, like this, with our faces facing skyward  and the rest of our lives blazing across our eyes.

Today, Notes on an Urban Kill-Floor reached $900 - almost.  I feel confident that the $1500 goal will be reached by April 4th.  I can't thank you all enough for your gifts.  Especially in this economy, small amounts of philanthropic love mean so much.  I can't wait to send you guys the book this spring.  I'll be mailing them out in mid-May. 

much love!

Oh, check out my videos on vimeo,  http://vimeo.com/20945188