The Media is Buzzing about Art as Action's Performances

BEAUTIFUL MISTAKE INTERVIEWS / REVIEWS November 2011

KGNU RADIO INTERVIEW
Listen to Artistic Director Sarah Leversee talking about beautiful mistake and the evolution of Art as Action
Click here to listen

"Imagination is good...Imagination is what the Art as Action troupe embodies with a passion. But, what they do...what they share...what happens at one of their performances, is something you don't hear about much...It's the experience of being in the art, part of the art, with the art. It's allowing the art to be you; the whisper becomes a song, a shout, a full-blown body connection, invading your heart, your mind, your soul with a sense of being that's hard to put in words.

In the dark, I crept down to the stage and became a performer; silent and invisible, but part of the joy that was happening there. I felt the energy and the sweat, as it touched my skin and tingled in my muscles. I moved slowly around the performers to see them from all sides - to experience the message they wanted me to hear. Understand that the message is not 'their message'... it's my message, gleaned from how the performance spoke to me as an individual." - What is this thing called "Art"? by Yvonne DiVita, The Lipsticking Blog Read more...

HOLDING PATTERN REVIEWS August 2010

"Here’s the reality: when it comes to innovation, there is no more powerful group than those who perform their art live...Art as Action exists because one amazing woman, Sarah Leversee, the Artistic Director, saw the opportunity to create art and embrace action. She says on the website, “Art can change the world.” She calls her work an “artivist movement.” The people who support her know what it means. They know that the human condition requires the act of producing change; the kind of change that gets people thinking, talking, moving. Change that is innovative.

The experience of watching those amazing performers bend reality, stir memories, defy gravity, and actually bring the audience into each experience as no movie or TV show ever could, changed me. I was me, but not me. I was part of them. And happy for it." - Innovation on a Sunday Afternoon by Yvonne DiVita, Open Forum Read more...

"Last week, I experienced an awakening of innovation in my soul...The dancers, muscians, poets, and narrators were everyday people, like you and me. And, they were not everyday people, like you and me. They were beings from another dimension - crafted to look human, but endowed with such talent, energy, and originality in movement, that I was in awe throughout the afternoon performance...I was so moved, during those performances, I felt as if I stood outside of my body and entered a new place of existence...It was a world where arms and legs were props, where the only reality was in being alive...

It was, to me, an awakening. I couldn't help but wonder, if this is true innovation [and it is]... what is happening in boardrooms around the country? The world? Not this! This kind of creativity, this ability to bend reality, is what innovation is really about. It's not about the next 'new' thing, or the next 'big' thing... it's about letting go of the ordinary, embracing the extraordinary. It's stepping out of yourself into the unknown... with eagerness and anticipation. It's the suspense of not knowing, of being happy not to know. It's...artivism...art as action." - Think YOU Know Innovation? Think Again by Yvonne DiVita, The Lipsticking Blog Read more...

THE IDENTITY CRISIS REVIEWS January 2009
"Preview: Boulder-based artist troupe, Art as Action, challenges audience members to analyze themselves"
"Review: The more you know, the less you understand"

KGNU RADIO INTERVIEW July 2009
Interview with Artistic Director Sarah Leversee
Click here to listen

FAMILY: RE-EVALUATED REVIEWS February 2005
"You can choose your friends, but as the saying goes, you can't choose your family. On a Sunday evening just five days prior to opening night, Art as Action (the brainchild of dancer/choreographer Sarah Leversee) proves that by choosing friends who share your passions, you can in fact have both......The contributors feed off of one another and nothing is out of bounds for the artists of Art as Action, except the failure to recognize art as a vehicle for social change." - Company's Variety Show Explores Idea of Family by Cari Cunningham, The Daily Camera Read more...

CITIZEN OF THE EARTH REVIEWS March 2004

"Art as Action is a local version of Cirque du Soleil that focuses less on circus theatrics and more on traditional performance genres such as dance, music, film, poetry and visual art. Local and national artists bend the rules reaching toward one collective goal: widespread compassion, hope and peace for humanity. Witness the breaking down of social boundaries and the understanding and unity that ensues." -Vince Darcangelo, Boulder Weekly

"'In this show, we wanted to express the idea that too often we seperate ourselves into categories...but we are all human beings', explains founder and executive director Sarah Leversee, 'This show symbolizes our wish for the world - that people cross boundaries to come together and challenge each other to try something new.'" - Art Reach: Citizen of the Earth Seeks to Bridge Cultures by Julie Dunn, Westword Read more...

ART IS WHY I GET UP IN THE MORNING PREVIEW October 2004

"In keeping with its mission of combining art and activism, Art as Action will present Art is why I get up in the Morning, a series of works inspired by folk musician and activist Ani DiFranco, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

The evening of poetry, music and movement (including several dance premieres from executive director Sarah Leversee) takes place in the intimate East Theatre at the Dairy Center for the Arts." -Inspired by Ani Cari Cunningham, Daily Camera

ARTICLE December 2002
Lights, Camera, Art as Action: Local Artists Dedicated to Social Change Within the Community in the Colorado Daily

LEARN/HEAL/ACT REVIEW July, 2002
"Active Art Addresses Sexual Assault" in the Colorado Daily