Synetic Theater Hosts Panel for Women's Voices Theater Festival

On Sunday, October 11, Synetic Theater will host a one-of-a-kind panel for the�Women's Voices Theater Festival�of Washington, D.C. The panel will follow that afternoon's 2 p.m. matinee of�"Alice in Wonderland." The panel is free and open to the public.

Alice's story takes a sharp turn as she falls down the rabbit hole into the dark and mysterious Wonderland. The Tsikurishvilis will combine their signature cinematic style with a script by recent Helen Hayes Award nominee Lloyd Rose ("The Island of Dr. Moreauz"), that promises to be a fresh take on Lewis Carroll's fairy tale of the absurd. Synetic's famously physical ensemble will bring new life to favorite characters such as the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, and murderous Queen of Hearts, throughout Alice's fantastical adventure.�

Synetic co-founder Irina Tsikurishvili will be joined by female physical theater leaders from around the Northeast for a discussion�with journalist Rebecca J. Ritzel about the role of women in physical theater, particularly as choreographers and creators of physical vocabulary.

Moderator Rebecca J. Ritzel is a freelance arts journalist whose theater column, Backstage, appears in The Washington Post each�Wednesday. She also�serves as a dance critic for the Post and as a theater critic for City�Paper. Given her interest in both art forms, plus an academic�background in musicology, she's an enthusiastic supporter of physical�theater in Washington, D.C., and beyond. Other news outlets that have�published her cultural reporting this year include Slate and The New�York Times. Rebecca teaches Writing for the Arts at the University of�Maryland and earned her master's degree in arts journalism from�Syracuse University.

Panelist Kelly King makes dances for theatre, film, stage, and street... and all the places people go in-between. Playing in several artistic sandboxes at once, while teasing the line between art & entertainment, Kelly brings a collage of interests to each endeavor. For over 10 years she has worked with teachers and students on adaptive movement bringing dance to all types of students. She has founded three danced schools, including the CityDance Center at Strathmore (2004) and Contradiction Dance (2007), led countless professional development workshops for educators nationwide, consulted for the DC Collaborative for the Arts and Humanities (2006-2008), and served St. Mary's College of Maryland teaching all levels of improvisation, composition, jazz and modern dance (2006-2009).

Fay Simpson�is the Founder of a physical process for actors called the Lucid Body. She is an Associate Arts Professor at NYU's Graduate Acting Program, and has been the Artistic Director and co-founder of Impact Theatre since its creation in 1990. The Lucid Body House opened in March of 2013 in Manhattan where she coaches privately for stage, TV, and film. Fay has taught at The Yale School of Drama, The Studio/NY, The New School, Michael Howard Studios, and Marymount Manhattan College, as well as abroad in London, Berlin and Paris. She is a member of the Actor's Center.

Heather R. Stevenson, a New Jersey native, is a performer, choreographer, and teaching artist. After studying at the Center Conservatory of the Arts (St. Louis) and the Goldston & Johnson School for Mimes at Kenyon College, she and husband Darren Stevenson co-founded Studio School of the Arts in Atlanta, Georgia. Upon relocating to Rochester, NY in 2000 with their two children, the couple created PUSH Physical Theatre, which has grown to a five-member, international touring company.

In 2009, Stevenson and her husband received the Performing Artist of the Year Award from the Arts & Cultural Council for Greater Rochester, as well as the Anton Germano Dance Award.�Throughout the past 22 years, Stevenson has also choreographed for school theatre programs as well as professional companies such as Rochester Children's Theatre. In 2014, PUSH Physical Theatre was chosen as one of ten teams from around the world to compete in truTV's debut season of "Fake Off," and proudly finished in second place.

Irina Tsikurishvili is the co-founder and Resident Choreographer at Synetic Theater. She is a 27-time Helen Hayes Award Nominee and has won the award seven times for her choreography of "The Idiot," "Faust," "Hamlet...the rest is silence," "The Master and Margarita," "Frankenstein," "Macbeth" and "Carmen," which won over her other nomination in 2009, "Romeo and Juliet." For acting, she received Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Ensemble in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "Hamlet...the rest is silence" and was nominated for Outstanding Leading Actress for her leading roles in "Macbeth" and "Twelfth Night." Her choreography was also featured in the 2013 film "Swan Song."

Founded in 2001 by the husband and wife team of Paata and Irina Tsikurishvili, Synetic Theater is a center for American Physical Theater, fusing dynamic art forms-such as text, drama, movement, acrobatics, dance, and original music. Synetic has received a total of 116 Helen Hayes Award nominations and 27 Awards for directing, choreography, acting, costume design, and best play.

"Alice in Wonderland" runs through Nov. 8 at Synetic Theater, 1800 S. Bell St., Arlington (Crystal City) VA 22202. Tickets: $35 and up. Student tickets start at $15. Senior citizens and military receive $5 off. Group discounts are available.

This panel will take place on Sunday, October 11 at 4 p.m. at Synetic Theater, 1800 S. Bell St. in Crystal City. The panel will follow that afternoon's 2 p.m. matinee of "Alice in Wonderland." The panel is free and open to the public.