I’m looking forward to gathering with all of you very soon! Because this event would not have been listed with other programming previews you’ve received, I just wanted to call special attention to an exciting all-conference performance we have added to the ATHE 2016 schedule. Come join us in the Grand Ballroom AFTER the Thursday night opening reception for this event, jointly hosted by ATHE and Black Theatre Network in celebration of their continued relationship and shared 30th anniversary. Feel free to bring your glass of wine from the reception over to the performance!

Both this Thursday night event and our Friday night performance/staged reading event with Naomi Wallace are open to all ATHE attendees, free of additional charge.

All my best,
Kelly Howe
VP Conference 2016

Thursday Late-Night Concert Event

"Colored Love Comes in Many Rhythms"
Ntozake Shange and Kahil El’Zabar in Concert

Thursday, August 11, 2016 at 9:15 PM

Ntozake Shange, one of America's greatest living writers—has given voice to, and embodied, the ongoing struggle of Black and all other women for equality, dignity, and respect as well as the recognition of their enormous contribution to human culture.

In 2016, her best-known theatre piece, for colored girls who have considered suicide/ when the Rainbow Is enuf will mark the 40th Anniversary of its stunningly successful, 2 ½ year run on Broadway beginning September, 1976. for colored girls... remains in continuous print since its publication in 1974, was made into a motion picture by Tyler Perry in 2010, is a staple in the required reading lists of many major school districts, colleges and universities. The play has been recognized by America’s largest dramatic publisher, Samuel French & Co., as one of its most-produced titles, nationally, in 2015.

Ntozake is involved in new productions of her work Lost in Language and Sound ---presented at 651 Arts Center, NYC and Karamu House, Cleveland in 2015--- and an, as yet untitled, longform, music and poetry “song–cycle” for concert presentation in collaboration with famed jazz instrumentalist, Craig Harris. Dr. Shange has been named the 2016 Langston Hughes Medalist, to be conferred in a day-long conference on her work at the City University of NY and a tribute concert in November of this year.

Dr. Shange is engaged in an ongoing schedule of lectures, residencies, and spoken-word performances for which she is available through Global Artists Management of NY, Inc.; 732-991- 9213

Internationally renowned percussionist and composer Kahil El'Zabar, considered one of the most prolific jazz innovators of his generation, has not only played alongside a myriad of jazz greats such as Dizzy Gillespie and Cannonball Adderly, but was in the bands of Stevie Wonder, Nina Simone and Paul Simon, as well as recording with rock bands like Sonia Dada and Poi Dog Pondering and heading up the jazz/house outfit, JUBA Collective.

Kahil El'Zabar was born in Chicago, went to KennedyKing College and later to Malcolm X and Lake Forest colleges. In 1973 while attending Lake Forest College, he joined Chicago's Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM), and by 1975 he was chairman of the organization. El'Zabar was chosen to do the arranging for the stage performances of The Lion King, he has published a book of poetry, Mis'taken Brilliance and from 1996 to 1999, organized Traffic at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. In 1991, El'Zabar was commissioned by Germany's Leverkusen Jazz Festival to present a 20 year retrospective of his work, which showcased Orchestra Infinity - a 25-piece big band formed several years ago.

El'Zabar has served as an associate professor at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He has been on the boards of several organizations, including serving as the chairman of The Sun Drummer, the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression and the National Task Force of Arts Presenting in Education. El'Zabar lives in Chicago. He has six children.

• To promote the ability of new community members to connect with their focus groups right away.
• To avoid—as much as possible—meetings being scheduled across from other panels. That said, people with membership in multiple groups will still likely hop from one meeting to another within a single session, as has always been the case.
• To provide focus groups the chance to meet once at the beginning of the conference AND connect again (for the groups who would like this option) after the all-conference annual ATHE membership meeting. We’ve scheduled an additional half hour after that meeting for focus groups to re-connect to work on other business, discuss ideas for panels for 2017, etc. This second, shorter meeting could be especially well-suited for discussing ideas for next year’s proposals given that members will have just heard a preview of ATHE 2017 at the membership meeting.

As always, processes are subject to revision, and we’ll see how this works this year and then re-visit how these meetings are scheduled.

Here are the group meetings scheduled for those first two concurrent sessions of the conference on Thursday afternoon, August 11, 2016:

Concurrent Session 1 (1:30 PM-3:00 PM):
Acting Program Focus Group Business Meeting
American Theatre and Drama Society Annual Board Meeting
Association of Theatre Movement Educators Business Meeting 1
Black Theatre Association Focus Group Membership Meeting
Directing Program Focus Group Membership Meeting #1
LGBTQ Focus Group Business Meeting
Performance Studies Focus Group Membership Meeting
Theory and Criticism Annual Business Meeting
Women in Theatre Program Business Meeting
Professional Development Committee Meeting
Research and Publications Committee Meeting

Concurrent Session 2 (3:15 PM to 4:45 PM):
American Theatre and Drama Society Membership Meeting
Association for Asian Performance Membership Meeting
Design, Technology, and Management Membership Meeting
Dramaturgy Focus Group Business Meeting
Music Theatre/Dance Membership Meeting
Playwrights and Creative Teams Membership Meeting
Religion and Theatre Focus Group Business Meeting
Senior Theatre Focus Group Meeting
Theatre & Social Change Focus Group Membership Meeting
Theatre as a Liberal Art Business Meeting
Theatre History Focus Group Membership Meeting
VASTA Focus Group Meeting
Latina/o Focus Group Membership Meeting
Electronic Technology Committee Annual Meeting
Finance Committee Meeting
Advocacy Committee Meeting
Membership & Marketing Committee Meeting

All my best,
Kelly Howe
Conference 2016 VP