PAST PERFORMANCES and teaching experience
Dr. Ross's extensive background in performance history and praxis spans several decades. She studied the Sufi (mystical Islamic) mask performance (topeng) with Dasih binti Wentar in Java, Indonesia. She also trained with Spalding Gray and Elizabeth LeCompte (Wooster Group) at New York University’s Experimental Theatre Wing. Laurie studied mask making with Uwe Krieger and movement theatre with Mel Gordon and Leonard Pitt. She has taught, directed, choreographed, and performed in Austria, Germany, Canada, Indonesia, and throughout the United States.
select APPEARANCES
Akademi Seni Tari Indonesia, Bandung, West Java
Atrium at Citicorp Center, New York City
Chicago International Art Exposition
College for Creative Studies, Detroit
Cranbrook Art Museum, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
Detroit Institute of Arts
Hochschule der Künste Berlin (Universität der Künste Berlin), Germany
Kulturforum der Universtät Bonn, Germany
La Mama, E.T.C., New York City
Performance Network, Ann Arbor, Michigan
PBS, WNET, New York
Prop Theater, Chicago
Spectrum, Villach, Austria
Toledo Museum of Art
United Nations
Pulse. Photos by Eric R. Smith.
TESTIMONIALS
“From a minimum of movement Ross derives maximum expression.””
“Ross’ performance must have been the highlight of the series…to see [her] noiselessly lay down and retrieve objects heightens our appreciation of sound. The performance can be compared to a Japanese tea ceremony where the scraping of utensils or the sound of pouring water become integral parts of the whole ritual experience…..[Her] choice of a neutral mask leaves all expression to her mastery of body language.””
“[Ross’s] pure aesthetic of stillness was potently communicated.””
“[During her lecture] Ross demonstrated a strong, extroverted character type with a red devilish mask from Java, and next an introverted man with a large, swollen, deformed face. Her skill was clear when a frightened child in the audience shouted [to the deformed masked character] “It’s okay, take the mask off!”
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