OFF-LEASH AREA: CONTEMPORARY PERFORMANCE WORKS





HISTORY - MISSION - VISION
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    • History - Mission - Vision >
      • OLA INTERACTIVE TIMELINE
    • Directors
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  • support
    • connect the dots
  • our work
    • COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
    • Mainstage >
      • The Time Is (2018/2019)
      • "Paws & Effect" (2018/2019)
      • "Dancing on the Belly of the Beast" (2017)
      • "AfterWind" (2016)
      • Maggie's Brain - revival (2006/2014)
      • Psst! - revival (2005/2013)
      • Rip Romp & Howl (new short works) (2012)
      • Now Eye See You, Now Eye Don't (2011)
      • Expedition of Coat (and me) (2010)
      • The Jury (2009)
      • Our Town (after T. Wilder) (2009)
      • Ivan the Drunk and His Terrible Tale of Woe (2008)
      • Border Crossing (2007)
      • Our Perfectly Wonderful Lives (2006)
      • Crimes & Whispers (2006)
      • Predator Prey (2004)
      • The Sunrise Cafe (2002)
      • Archy & Mehitabel (2001)
      • ZAP Kunst! or PRESTO It's Art! (2001/2003)
      • The Gryphon: Ancient Tragedy, Modern Myth (2000)
      • The Bellman's Song (1999)
    • Micro-Stage >
      • S.A.M.O. (2015)
      • Le Squat (2010/2011)
      • A Cupboard Full of Hate (2005/2006)
      • Philip Guston Standing On His Head, Standing Philip Guston On His Head (2004/2006)
    • Neighborhood Garage Tour >
      • About the Neighborhood Garage Tour
      • Stripe & Spot (learn to) Get Along (2014/15)
      • The Picnic (2012/2013)
      • A Gift for Planet BX63 (2006/2010/2011)
  • ON STAGE now
  • Off-Leash Art Box
    • About the Off-Leash Art Box
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about
​

​ OFF-LEASH AREA
​

MISSION & VISION

MISSION
Off-Leash Area’s mission is to create and present original cross-disciplinary and risk-taking productions and programming,  throughout the Twin Cities metro area, and at our Off-Leash Art Box venue, through which we enrich our local community and nurture independent voices within the performing arts.

VISION
OLA’s vision is to continue to push artistic boundaries and expand its capacity to guide, nurture, and sustain independent, often marginalized local artists throughout their careers. OLA is committed to sowing unity within our community by providing a platform for artistic inclusivity and ingenuity, building a stronger, and more sustainable arts community. 

HISTORY

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Off-Leash Area  was founded in Minneapolis in 1999 and creates original interdisciplinary performance work.

​Named after the public parks where dogs run untethered, OLA’s creative approach is likewise playful, crosses boundaries, and takes risks. The company is led by co-artistic directors Paul Herwig, visual and theater artist, and Jennifer Ilse, director and dance artist.

In its 20 years OLA has created 27 original evening-length performance works, many short-form works, taught classes in Inverted Dance, workshops in Performance & Scenic Design, been commissioned by the Walker Art Center, the O’Shaughnessey, and collaborated with an ever growing community of the Twin Cities’ most exciting performance makers. Current OLA programs include: presenting its Main-stage Productions in Minneapolis venues,
Micro-stage Productions in their own home/studio Our Garage, the Neighborhood Garage Tour which brings performance work directly into neighborhoods, and co-director Paul Herwig’s The Right Here Showcase, an annual mini-festival of independent mid-career Minnesota-based performance makers. 

OLA’s organic interdisciplinary approach was born out of the co-artistic directors’ desire to work together, and with each new production the collaboration between dance and theater begins anew. Once the Artistic Directors have developed a visual storyboard, designers are commissioned to contribute to the project, and performers are integral to developing material for the production.

OLA is committed to uphold the transformative power of the live performance experience, trusting in the intelligence and capability of its audience to follow them on each new journey of the imagination.

Our work often centers on a central character who resides in a marginalized place in society – a combat veteran, an immigrant child, a young woman suffering the onset of mental illness – and builds an experiential visual journey around this character that is uniquely presented, and universally recognizable. The focus on the individual in face of societal and life obstacles creates an intensely compressed emotional space between artist and audience. This is a space where artistic creativity is maximized in order to venture into unique performative dimensions where anything is possible, and a naturalistic presentation of everyday reality and the normal passage of time gives way to an out of body experience, which many audiences have described as contemplative, dreamy, otherworldly, and even spiritual.

If there is any one theme that runs through all our work it is a belief in the resilience of the individual human spirit as it seeks to achieve growth and fulfillment in the face of personal and societal barriers.



HERE ARE ALL THE COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS AND ARTS SUPPORTERS WHO HAVE WORKED WITH US OVER OUR FIRST 20 YEARS:
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* - indicates multiple times we've worked together

89 PERFORMERS, DANCERS & ACTORS
Jeffrey Bleam
Alison Preston
Adena Brumer
Adri Mehra
Amber Ellison
Andi Cheney
Ashleigh Penrod
Becky Heist
Brently Micheal Davis
Bryan Gerber
Carla Murphy
Cathy Oman
Choulette Evers
Citlalitl De Leon
Dana Buchwald
David P Schneider
Delta Giordano
*Diane Aldis
Emily Randa
Erin Ditmarson
Erin Drummond
Erin Liebhard
*Esther Ouray
Evelyn Digirolamo
*Heather Bunch
Isabelle Morris
Jaime Kleiman
James Kennedy
*Jennifer Mack
Jerome Barnes
*Jesse Neumann Peterson
*Jim Lieberthal
*Jodi Hodgeson
Jody Blindauer
John C. Heimbuch
John Zeiler
Jordan Klitzke
*Judith Howard
*Karla Grotting
Katherine Griffis
Katherine Sullivan
Kathryn Andersom
Kisha Richburg
Larry Pontius
Laurie White
Lindsey Cacich Samples
Lisa Conlin
Marian Kimball Eichinger
Megan O'Dell
Mimi Holland 
Misty Bremmer
Morgen Chang
*Kym Longhi
Non Edwards
Pat McManus
Paulino Brenner
Pedro Fonseca
Raymond Terrill
Rebecca Surmont
Rhoda Bloch
Sally Rousse
Sher Demeter
Sophie Breitag
Taja Will
*Taous Claire Khazem
Teresa Mock
Virginia Krubsack
*Zeb Henderson Shreve
*Brian Evans
*Christine Maginnis
Darrius Strong
Gregory Parks
*Jesse Schmitz Boyd
John Munger
Joseph Bryan Crook
Josh Scrimshaw
*Kaori Kenmotsu
*Katie Kaufmann
Larissa Shea
Michelle DiMeo
Nancy Nair
Nina Ebbighausen
Penelope Freeh
Renee Howard
Vanessa Voskuil
Michael Cohn
Gerry Girouard
Parisha Rajbhandari
Rachel Lieberman
Gemma Isaacson
Heather Klopchin
Julie Warder

5 - COMPOSERS
(Jennifer often uses composers, Paul does not)
*Ben Siems
*Criag Harris
*Marc Doty
Phil Kalar
*Reid Kruger

6 - LIGHTING DESIGNERS
Julia Carlis
Kevin Jones
*Mike Grogan
Tom Barrett
*Paul Epton
Heidi Eckwall

4 - WRITERS
(we don't always have text)
*Dominic Orlando
Coco Mault
*Marcie Rendon
*Max Sparber

3 COSTUMERS
(we've often done our own costumes)
*Kym Longhi
Sonja Berlovitz
Jeanne Artzen

SET DESIGN CONTRIBUTORS
Jeffrey Morrison
Shari Nyman
Jerrod Grohs

23 BOARD MEMBERS AND SPECIAL ADVISORS
* denotes current
David O’Fallon
Polly Carl
Barb Spies
Chaim Teitelbaum
*Chris Hoppe
Dave Sheppard
Douglas DeMers
Gwen Vahl
Jenell Jacobson
Justin Bausch
Laura Taken Holtz
*Mary White
Mike Gottschalk
*Michael Cohn
Nancy Haberdank
Pat McManus
*Ray Terrill
Robert Borman
Scott Pakudaitis
Sears Eldgredge
*Sheila Path McMahon (Chair)
Siana Goodwin
Stefanie Galey
Torre Erdahl
​
DIRECTORS, OUTSIDE-EYES
*Kym Longhi
*Sears Eldgredge
*Gerry Giroaurd
Christine Maginnis


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Office/Mailing Address:
3540 34th Avenue South, Minneapolis, MN 55406
​Contact Us: 612-724-7372, offleash@offleasharea.org

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  • HOME
  • About
    • History - Mission - Vision >
      • OLA INTERACTIVE TIMELINE
    • Directors
    • Awards
  • support
    • connect the dots
  • our work
    • COMPLETE LIST OF WORKS
    • Mainstage >
      • The Time Is (2018/2019)
      • "Paws & Effect" (2018/2019)
      • "Dancing on the Belly of the Beast" (2017)
      • "AfterWind" (2016)
      • Maggie's Brain - revival (2006/2014)
      • Psst! - revival (2005/2013)
      • Rip Romp & Howl (new short works) (2012)
      • Now Eye See You, Now Eye Don't (2011)
      • Expedition of Coat (and me) (2010)
      • The Jury (2009)
      • Our Town (after T. Wilder) (2009)
      • Ivan the Drunk and His Terrible Tale of Woe (2008)
      • Border Crossing (2007)
      • Our Perfectly Wonderful Lives (2006)
      • Crimes & Whispers (2006)
      • Predator Prey (2004)
      • The Sunrise Cafe (2002)
      • Archy & Mehitabel (2001)
      • ZAP Kunst! or PRESTO It's Art! (2001/2003)
      • The Gryphon: Ancient Tragedy, Modern Myth (2000)
      • The Bellman's Song (1999)
    • Micro-Stage >
      • S.A.M.O. (2015)
      • Le Squat (2010/2011)
      • A Cupboard Full of Hate (2005/2006)
      • Philip Guston Standing On His Head, Standing Philip Guston On His Head (2004/2006)
    • Neighborhood Garage Tour >
      • About the Neighborhood Garage Tour
      • Stripe & Spot (learn to) Get Along (2014/15)
      • The Picnic (2012/2013)
      • A Gift for Planet BX63 (2006/2010/2011)
  • ON STAGE now
  • Off-Leash Art Box
    • About the Off-Leash Art Box
  • Connect
    • Contact Us
    • Map & Directions
    • Accessibility
  • Job Opportunities