Tuesday, May 13, 2008

More Life Festival continues in Fort Worth

By Pegasus News wire

FORT WORTH — The inaugural More Life Festival, a community-wide HIV/AIDS awareness and education event in Fort Worth, will run through June 8, 2008. With more than 45 community partners and 60-plus performances, visual art exhibits, town halls and educational programs, Fort Worth's More Life Festival is the first event of its kind in the United States. More Life (www.morelifetexas.com) is a collaboration of AIDS Outreach Center, the Fort Worth Opera, Samaritan House and Tarrant County AIDS Interfaith Network.

The festival's second week of events, exhibits and performances include: Fort Worth Opera's Angels in America, stage productions by local theatre companies, poetry slams, a special collaborative dance/theatrical work from Contemporary Dance/Stage West and ongoing art exhibits at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center (FWCAC).

"Almost 10,000 people in Tarrant County are infected with the HIV virus, and as many as one in three are not yet aware," said Jan Titsworth, More Life project manager. "Women and people ages 15 to 24 are most at risk. As a community we can change this, but only if we start talking about it."

More than 20 years after the first AIDS case was reported, advances in treatment have prolonged and improved the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS, but there is still no cure for the disease. The More Life Festival provides an important opportunity to touch thousands of lives, with the hope of increasing awareness, improving prevention and early treatment and reducing the stigma still associated with HIV/AIDS.

More Life week two events, exhibits and performances include:

• Fort Worth Opera's Angels in America May 24, 8 p.m. at the Scott Theatre, tickets $17-$52. Opera based on Tony Kushner's Pulitzer-Prize winning play about AIDS (parental discretion advised). Additional performance dates - May 31, June 4 and June 7
• J.P. Elder Middle School performs live mariachi music May 18, 1 p.m. on the FWCAC veranda - Free
• Fort Worth Poetry Slams presents two spoken poetry events 4 p.m. - 6 p.m., An Evening of Poetry & Spoken Word, an open-mic event featuring works focused on HIV/AIDS awareness on May 18 and Poetry Slam Jam presented by the Fort Worth Poetry Slam Team May 25, at the FWCAC, Front Gallery - Free.
• Contemporary Dance Fort Worth and Stage West co-present Conjuring Light, Quilting Life in the Sanders Theatre, a unique collaboration that quilts together music, dance and theatre in a celebration of life and love as they intermingle with sorrow and loss. At the FWCAC, May 23 & 24 Fri. and Sat. at 8 p.m., Sat. at 3 p.m.- $17.50 per ticket (20% of ticket price will be donated to the FW AIDS service organizations)
• Fierce Productions presents You Betta Ask Somebody, about an ex-con who learns that his old cellmate is HIV-positive, filled with drama and spoken-word poetry that will make audiences laugh, cry and think. May 22, 8 p.m. at the Scott Theatre - $20 per ticket
• Vicarious New York presents A Lullaby for Ryan: The History of HIV/AIDS in America. Solo theatre artist Jade Esteban Estrada chronicles the last quarter century of the AIDS epidemic in the US with stories of courage, strength and human triumph. The Southwest Actors Guide calls Estrada "one of the finest solo theatre artists of the 21st century." May 23, 8 p.m. at the Scott Theatre - $10 per ticket.
• Waiting for Oprah, by Roger Dieleman. A southern right-wing senator, a women's libber, a person living with AIDS, his lawyer/lover - all waiting backstage... see what happens. Presented by Texas Wesleyan University May 23 & 24, 7:30 p.m. at the FWCAC, Back Gallery - Free
• Theatre Arlington presents Readings from the Quilt, May 24 - Free
• Ongoing exhibits at the Fort Worth Community Arts Center - Free
• Voices Exhibit and Video, through May 31 in Back Gallery of FWCAC
• The Faces of AIDS Exhibit, through May 31 in Front Gallery of FWCAC
• Horizons - Hope for a Healthy World Exhibit, through May 31in Gallery 6 of FWCAC
• Viewpoint: Kids' Expressions on AIDS Exhibit, through May 31 in Gallery 3 of FWCAC
• Ongoing art exhibit at the Fort Worth Central Library - Free
• A Host of Angels - a charming exhibit of nearly 100 original pieces of art by Fort Worth ISD elementary and middle school students at the Fort Worth Central Library Gallery and 14 area branch libraries. Presented by Fort Worth ISD Art Department through June 8

For more details and a full listing of all More Life Festival events, please visit www.morelifetexas.com/Calendar.htm.

Source: More Life Festival

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