- This is a lead text and needs your attention.
Ritual4Return (R4R) is a 12-week homecoming project for citizens returning to the community after incarceration. R4R uses theater, mindfulness practices, drumming, movement, mask-making and storytelling to support individuals in addressing and overcoming the dehumanizing effects of incarceration.
On December 8, participants will enact the theatrical rite of passage they created together to formally mark the transition from prison back to their communities and into a new chapter of their lives.
Watch the video – player.vimeo.com/video/992064128?
PROGRAM
WHERE: NJPAC Center for Arts Education, 24 Record Street, Newark, NJ 07102; 973 353 7058; artseducation@njpac.org
WHEN: Sunday, December 8 @ 1 PM
COST: FREE
1PM Pre-event audience workshop and dialogue
3PM Homecoming ritual
5PM Dinner and celebration
To learn more, visit ritual4return.org
What is a ‘Rite of Passage?’
‘A rite of passage’ is a specific type of ritual meant to support a person’s transition from one identity within the community, to another. These transitions can elevate or degrade. When a person is convicted of a crime and sentenced to prison, they undergo a powerful rite of passage. It is a rite of degradation. People are downgraded from the status of “citizen” to the status of “convict,” “prisoner” or “outcast.”
But words like convict and prisoner are more than just legal labels. They become new social identities. They stick to a person. Too often, the broader public defines people by the crimes they’ve committed, and formerly incarcerated men and women can carry feelings of shame and stigma for many years after they are released from prison. Often these feelings last the rest of their lives.
Drawing from more than five decades of literature that point to the power of ritual and rites of passage as tools for helping to welcome people back into society after incarceration, Ritual4Return (R4R) begins with the organizing concept that those closest to the problem are closest to the solution, and ends with a premise — articulated by criminologist Jeremy Travis — that to confront the many crises associated with mass incarceration, we must “close the gap between ‘us’ and them’.”
R4R is a semester-long course through which returning citizens engage with and explore the many aspects of their own experiences getting into, through, and out of prison. Reading from a wide variety of source materials and then trying to understand them through dialogue, writing, movement exercises, and theatrical devising techniques, participants will explore — individually and collectively — themes like Home, Sin, Judgement, Punishment, Exile, Bondage, Trauma, Grief, Freedom, Repair, Forgiveness, Justice, and Homecoming.
The process culminates with a one-time-only public ritual marking and celebrating the end of incarceration and the beginning of an individual’s new identity within the community. This rite of passage is the centerpiece of a one-day gathering that aims to extend the conversation to family members, loved ones, and other community stakeholders who care about the impacts of incarceration.
This Project’s goal, broadly, is to change the narrative around those who have been incarcerated and who are working to lead positive lives after their release. But as a community who has had their story told for them and about them, they must fight, first, to better understand their own stories. Then they must learn how to tell them. Ritual4Return opens a public space to tell their stories, and to position them as catalysts for deeper dialogue between people — “us” and “them” — who often don’t see themselves in the other.
If you or someone you know is ready to tell their own story and announce the next chapter of their life, reach out to find out how to join the next cohort!
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SPEND AN INTIMATE EVENING WITH DAVID FOSTER AND KATHARINE MCPHEE
- By Mabel Pais
Get Ready for an intimate evening with David Foster and Katharine McPhee performing their hits and holiday favorites at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center presents. See the power couple perform live on Thursday, December 12, at 7:30 pm.
Broadway and TV sensation Katharine McPhee joins 16-time GRAMMY® Award-winning musician, composer and producer David Foster for this intimate cabaret-style concert. With David on the keys and Katharine at the mic, this power couple brings undeniable musical chemistry to the stage. The show will be packed with David’s hits from Chicago, Whitney Houston, Celine Dion, Josh Groban and Michael Bublé, as well as Katharine’s biggest hits from ‘American Idol,’ ‘Smash’ and Broadway’s ‘Waitress.’ Plus, some of their favorites that they just love.
DAVID FOSTER
DAVID FOSTER is one of the most illustrious composers of our time. With 16 Grammy Awards, including three for Producer of the Year, an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe, and Three Oscar nominations for “Best Original Songs,” Foster has earned a reputation as a keen spotter of new talent, playing a key role in the discovery and career launches of Celine Dion, Josh Groban, and Michael Bublé.
Few other individuals can claim to have their fingerprints on more major moments in all of popular music than David Foster. He has created hit songs for a diverse array of artists including Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole, Michael Bolton, Seal, Chaka Khan, Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton, Chicago, Hall & Oates, Brandy, ’N Sync, Boz Scaggs, and Gloria Estefan.
Foster is gearing up to take on Broadway with several projects including writing the music for a new musical about the iconic animated character ‘Betty Boop.’ He is also writing the music for a musical based on the Amy Bloom novel and New York Times bestseller ‘Lucky Us.’
KATHARINE MCPHEE
KATHARINE MCPHEE can most recently be seen starring in the Netflix Original Series Country Comfort. Previously she starred as ‘Paige Dineen’ on the CBS’ spy drama Scorpion and was featured in NBC’s award-winning musical series ‘Smash,’ executive produced by Steven Spielberg. Her other television credits include ‘CSI: NY,’ ‘Community,’ and ‘Family Guy.’
Katharine appeared on the big screen in Relativity’s Shark Night 3D and Columbia’s romantic comedy ‘The House Bunny.’ In addition to her acting career, she finds great success in the music space after her turn on Season 5 of ‘American Idol.’ Katharine’s first single debuted at #2 on the Billboard’s Hot Singles Sales chart. Her debut album landed on the Billboard 200 chart and went gold in 2008.
TICKETS
For tickets to see David Foster and Katharine McPhee, visit NJPAC.org or the NJPAC Box Office at 1 Center Street, Newark, New Jersey or call
- GO.NJPAC (888.466.5722).
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC)
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(Mabel Pais writes on Social Issues, The Arts and Entertainment, Spirituality, Health & Wellness, Cuisine, Business, and Education)