Violinist returns from sabbatical to join Motus Theater

NEWS RELEASE
MOTUS THEATER
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Motus Theater is known locally and nationally for performances that open hearts and minds to the stories of people on the frontlines of violence in order to uplift our shared humanity. But what you might not know, is that a part of the “heartistry” Motus offers are opportunities for community improv storytelling, with high volume on laughter, tender on tears, and abundant with musical medicine.

At the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, Colorado, Saturday, Feb. 10 and Saturday, April 6, Motus has a double feature of afternoon music aimed at allowing people to settle their hearts and minds, and an evening of improv theater with the most diverse improv theater company in Colorado. Acclaimed local violinist Athony Salvo, has come back from sabbatical to partner with Motus on this mission.

• Motus Music to Restore the Heart, 1:30-2:45 p.m. Violinist Anthony Salvo, fresh out of sabbatical, serenades the audience with melodious explorations to support them in resting deep within their hearts and spirits. Participants are able to sit or “lie down,” to encourage people to root within themselves as they listen in the dark, with just a few (electric) candles. The event begins and ends with an opportunity to hold individual intentions, of purpose, healing, blessing and gratitude.  

According to Salvo, “this Motus theater performance marks my first public performance in almost two years. This performance will incorporate my deeper intention for my art, to have my music express and support what is most sacred to each of us and offer a space where we can nurture, heal and celebrate the goodness and beauty of our beings. It is no surprise to me that Motus are the key initiators of bringing this performance to reality. Motus is deeply involved in bringing the qualities of compassion, humanity, justice and love into a conversation of living”

• Motus Playback Improv Theater, 7-9 p.m. Motus Theater offers a special adventure in improvisational theater where audience members share a short reflection or a story, and then watch a diverse group of professional improv actors enact THEIR story on the spot using movement, music, and dramatic spoken word. The stories may be funny or sad; memories from long ago or yesterday. The audience and performers co-create a theater event whose subject is the life experiences of the people attending the show. Join Motus for an abundant exchange interconnecting our shared humanity through music, story, poetry, and improv theater. 

Motus Executive Artistic Director Kirsten Wilson, a master teacher and actor in the Playback Theater form, states that “communities are only as strong as the stories they are able to share.” One of the things she loves about Motus playback is that it illustrates, “everyone’s life is the stuff out of which great art can be made.” And, she continues, “it helps us laugh through our heartache, so as Colorado Poet Laureate Andrea Gibson writes, so that even if your heart breaks, ‘your spirit doesn’t.’”

Both performances aim to uplift spirits and remind us of the power of art - and each other - to provide comfort, provoke reflection, build community, and catalyze change during times of social upheaval. The events offer participants an opportunity to reconnect with the power of art, music and each other - to affirm hope and human connection during testing times, and align with their personal truths.

Tickets for both events are available at MotusTheater.org/Events

For more information, please visit www.motustheater.org or contact Motus Theater’s Director of Communications, Cristian Solano-Córdova at [email protected] or (720) 434-4632.

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