is
an autonomous eclectic collective of predominantly local
artists. Our purpose is to sustain and encourage the
opportunity for alternative / experimental artistic expression.
We support local performers, writers, and artists by providing a venue
for presentation of their work. Complete freedom of
expression is essential to artistic creation and our venue and
productions are entirely free of censorship.
The
Participating Artists are professionals, amateurs, and
advanced students. Most of our poets
and writers have been published locally and/or nationally, including
poetry award recipients. Artists have showcased their talents and some
are winners of juried exhibitions. Musicians, songwriters, and dancers
have widely performed locally as well as around the country, and most
have recorded CDs and/or videos. Many of our members also teach.
Visiting performing artists often join in our events.
Artistic director, founder, and producer, Nadia Hava-Robbins, MA,
born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, is a storyteller, puppeteer,
published poet, exhibiting artist, and a life-long dancer. She
has presented performances of dance, music, poetry, and storytelling in
major cities and festivals across the USA and Canada, directed numerous
plays, and appeared in a documentary film produced by the National Film
Board of Canada.
Technical director, Peter S. Robbins, is a
lighting, sound reinforcement, and recoding engineer,
videographer, and photographer, providing technical services to the
theater groups, Redding's Earth Day Festival, Dave Short's Jazz at Old
City Hall, and to local and visiting musicians and performers at the
Loft and outside venues as well.
Gallery Manager
& Assistant Theater Director, David
Alexander Robbins,
artist, actor, and musician, takes charge of procurement,
display, and sales in the gallery, and with 10 years' experience in the
performing arts is a principal in The Theater Lab and serves as
assistant director for theater companies based at The Loft.
About Our Name
Bohemia
is the Latin name for the Czech region of the former
Czechoslovakia. During the Czech national revival in the 1700's
the artists, musicians, writers, composers, and artisans who flourished
in this region became known as "the Bohemians", and thus the terms
"artist" and "bohemian" became synonymous.
The
Traveling Bohemians!
• Create and
Perform unique programs, intertwining and often uniting
dance, poetry, story-telling, art, and music, presenting audiences with
an inventive, cohesive, and colorful collage for the senses.
• Welcome Artists
& Performers to exhibit and perform at our new home,
• Present School
Programs and Private Events of
Storytelling, Puppetry & Marionettes, Dance, and Cultural
Diversity.
• Produce Shows
& Festivals:
Multi-disciplinary, Multicultural Dance Festivals,
Storytelling Festivals, Single Artist Performances at our home and at
other major venues.
• Provide Technical
Support including sound
reinforcement, location recording, lighting, promotional assistance to
local and visiting musicians, songwriters, and a variety of
performances, festivals, and community presentations.
• Support and
Encourage local artists of all disciplines to join the
group for performances and/or
publications and exhibits.
What people are saying about The Traveling
Bohemians and The Loft:
"I just want to tell you how magnificent it was to attend your
performance and to have this in our community.
Thank you!"
"I have attended the Traveling Bohemians' productions, and I just
wanted to laud you all for bringing a touch of real culture and
entertainment to Shasta County... Please continue this venture."
"As a director and performer, Nadia is experimenting, doing something
different, risky, controversial, refreshing, and I think wonderful..."
"Thank you for bringing incredible talent, artistic excellence, and
passion to this community. We thoroughly enjoyed the eve. We laughed
and discussed and thought about it several more times over the weekend."
"Nadia... brought tears to my eyes. You embodied the human positive
live force itself... it was overwhelmingly and simultaneously beautiful
and tragic for me... Thank you."
"Thank you again for participating in our Children's Entertainment
Summer program... We received wonderful feedback from both the children
and their parents... Thank you for taking the time to interact with the
children and show them how the puppets worked... Thank you!"
