O Beautiful Moon... ☽O☾ O Beautiful Star..

O Beautiful Moon... 

☽O☾ 

O Beautiful Star..

A million stars light up the sky

but one shines brighter I can't deny

A love so precious & A love so true

A love that comes from me to you

The Angels sing whenever you're near

Within your arms I have no fear

You always know just what to say 

Just talking to you makes my day

I love you, Dear Moon, With all my heart

Together we're forever, & Never apart...

By 

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

P.S ~ *Next Full Moon December 13, 2016 (in Gemini) 4:06 pm PST 

*Winter Solstice 2016 December 21st, 2016 2:44 am PST

A Hymn to Diana

A Hymn to Diana

☽O☾

Statue of Diana as "The Spirit of Progress" atop a former Montgomery Ward administration building in Chicago, 
silhouetted against the second night of a Harvest Moon

Queene, and Huntresse, chaste, and faire, 

..Now the Sunne is laid to sleepe, 

Seated, in thy silver chaire, 

..State in wonted manner keepe: 

Hesperus intreats thy light, 

Goddesse, excellently bright.

  

Earth, let not thy envious shade 

..Dare it selfe to interpose; 

Cynthias shining orbe was made 

..Heaven to cleere, when day did close: 

Blesse us then with wishèd sight, 

Goddesse, excellently bright.

  

Lay thy bow of pearle apart, 

..And thy crystall-shining quiver; 

Give unto the flying hart 

..Space to breathe, how short soever: 

Thou that mak'st a day of night, 

Goddesse, excellently bright.

~Written by Ben Jonson (1572-1617): 

Hymn to <3 Diana❣ 

From Cynthias Revells (1601), Act V, Scene vi

Samhain blessings

☽O☾

The Rest We Seek

We bless you, Dear Mother

Loving & Loved.

We bless you, Dear Father

Our keeper of Heavens,

Seeds and Harvest.

As we bless each other

Brothers & Sisters, near & far.

May the beauty of this world

The endless love that created it

Be expressed though our lives

As a blessing to others

& As we reap this harvest

May we then find the rest we seek 

In your blossoming bosom

Now and always

May we love as you love

Deeply... time and time again

May we see this world 

& The light it holds 

Through your eyes this night.

Ushering in a Master of the Divine

Shaping this world among the infinite

May we meet you there,

As you meet us here 

halfway through the night

As the veil grows thin

& we look deep into your eyes

To see that unfading beauty within

We welcome your light

As you awaken our Souls

& blaze through the darkness(of this world)

Now & forever more

Blessed be!!!

~ Jai Krishna Ponnapan

☽☸☾ What is an Actor Warrior?

☽☸☾

“I can truthfully say it was only the Group that gave me again what I experienced in my youth—a vision beyond personal success. A conception of the actor’s art as an expression of the highest human principals, the highest human aspirations. These are the values I brought my students as a teacher. For me they can never change. Those principals, those aspirations, will always remain for me the best, the surest, the only way for the actor.”

~ Stella Adler  On What is an Actor Warrior?

P.S ~ Something so deep, spiritual, organic and innate does not form overnight. It can not be manufactured, dramatized, taught or mimicked, but has to be cultivated and refined from deep within... over an Eternity.

Now in 2016, I have grown to understand and like this quote just as much,

 “There must be those among whom we can sit down and weep and still be counted as warriors.”  

~ Adrienne Rich

☽☸☾

What is an Actor Warrior?

☽☸☾

Actor Warriors understand their role as the voice of the people.

Actor Warriors use their craft and art in service to communities.

Actor Warriors recognize the power of craft to contribute to positive social transformation.

Actor Warriors write and perform powerful, socially relevant plays.

Actor Warriors empower themselves by creating their own work.

Actor Warriors seek for ways and means to make use of the industry without being used by the industry.

Actor Warriors refuse to be defined as an actor or a person by external forces such as money or status but rather by the richness of their humanity, creativity and sense of fulfillment.

☽☸☾

In early 2013 Tom Oppenheim (Stella Adler Studio) and Teresa Eyring (Executive Director, Theater Communications Group) met and the idea of Actor Warrior was born.

The studio believes that the New York community and the theater community at large are ripe for a conversation about actors, art, craft, social engagement and service. Gone are the days of actors passively going to auditions and sending out headshots. Now is the time for actors to identify active ways that they can use craft to affect social transformation and/or create work with strong socially relevant themes.

In September 2013 Tom created a discussion moderated by Teresa with Lemon Andersen (County of Kings) and Michael Milligan (Mercy Killers). This occasion provided the first public forum for the Actor Warrior conversation. In January 2014, in collaboration with The Working Theater, the studio provided a platform to continue the discussion. Teresa moderated a discussion with Heather Raffo (9 Parts of Desire), Lisa Ramirez (Exit Cuckoo) and Michael Milligan.

The studio is interested in continuing the Actor Warrior discussion and turning it into a movement. 

The studio aims to continue the vital discussion that began in 2013 and invite more artists and audiences into the discussion through a series of performances, talks and events.

☽☸☾

Refer - http://www.stellaadler.com/about/actor-warrior/

A Beautiful Moon-rise

Dedicating this to...

'A Beautiful Moon-rise... '

☽O☾

True & just my Lady fair

Her beauty does unfold tonight

As secret whispers part Her lips

Her Mysteries wait to kiss our hearts

Charging high atop the clouds

Before our Goddess shining bright

...We dance around making sound!

With Circles left open... that stay unbroken

Her love and praises guard it this night

Lovely, round, bright, & sound

Dearest Full Moon shine your beauty down

& Wrap us warm in your silken gown

Love to you, My Dear Mother Moon

Guide us, & Nourish us

With your gentle rays

Goddess of mine, 

Goddess of yours

Goddess of ours...

Blessed be!!!

~ Jai Krishna Ponnappan

In the Garden of My Dreams by Jai Krishna Ponnapan

☽O☾

In the Garden of My Dreams 
by Jai Krishna Ponnapan

Awake in a dream of a quiet night I stood

Alone in the light, I dream in my dream,

Floating through this magical wood.

Soul deep visions that gently sprang,

Were seen every moment, In the actions of men.

Spirits of Truth rose, When My birds first sang,

In all their looks, & In all their words,

Spirits of Love reached down, With warm stars that glow.

As Spirits of Peace gather where the streams always flow,
In that magical wood, In the Garden of my Dreams.

P.S ~ Such Dreams never end, & My hope never withers!

Diana of Versailles, A Closer Look | The Mythology of Greece and Rome

Versailles and Antiquity exhibition at the Palace of Versailles

Versailles and Antiquity presents the relationship between the palace and Greek and Roman mythology and history, bringing together over 200 works of art.

Diana of Versailles, A Closer Look

H. 2 m (6 ft. 6 ½ in.)

The Diana of Versailles is a slightly over lifesize marble statue of the Greek goddess Artemis, with a deer, located in the Musée du Louvre, Paris. It is a Roman copy of a lost Greek bronze original attributed to Leochares, c. 325 BC. Wikipedia

Artist: Barthélemy Prieur

Location: The Louvre

In this statue the goddess does not appear as a huntress, but rather as the protectress of a wild animal. She is conceived as having just come to the rescue of a hunted deer, and is in the act of turning with angry mien on the pursuers. With her right hand she grasps an arrow from the quiver that hangs at her back, and in her left she holds the bow.

The great barometer of Louis XV and Louis XVI.

Sickness

This dramatic sculpture was originally placed at the top of a fountain in the gardens of the Palace. It depicts Latona with her children Diane and Apollo imploring help from their father Jupiter.

Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love, beauty and pleasure

HER CUP IS ALWAYS FULL ;)

Kim Davies' Stet | At the Abingdon Theatre Company

Abingdon Theatre Company will present the world premiere of Kim Davies' Stet in collaboration with the Muse Project, with previews beginning in June for a limited off-Broadway engagement. Tony Speciale is set to direct the play, which marks his inaugural programming as artistic director.

Conceived by Davies, Speciale, and Jocelyn Kuritsky, Stet is a new play inspired by true events. The plot follows a young reporter who is assigned to write about sexual assault on college campuses and must also find a unique angle for the story that will sell. During her investigation, an encounter with a student alerts her to what looks like the cover-up of a terrible crime — and a perfect cover story for her magazine.

Cast and creative team:

written by Kim Davies
directed by Tony Speciale
developed by Kim Davies, Jocelyn Kuritsky & Tony Speciale

featuring
Jack Fellows
Déa Julien
Jocelyn Kuritsky
Lexi Lapp
Bruce McKenzie

scenic design Jo Winiarski
costume design Hunter Kaczorowski
lighting design Daisy Long
sound design Christian Frederickson
projection design Katherine Freer
casting Karie Koppel
production stage manager Deidre Works
assistant director Chad Austin
associate producer Emma Feiwel
produced/presented at Abingdon Theatre Company

The Muse Project is a curated salon series in which a selected female actor is invited to take on a project of her own design. The 2015-16 season is the first, experimental year of the Muse Project. Selected actors will be provided with resources, money, and time to develop, rehearse, and present. Jocelyn Kuritsky is the conceiver/founder of the Muse Project.

Tickets - https://web.ovationtix.com/trs/cal/34152
Ref.- http://www.themuseprojectnyc.com/next/

Erased | Available on Amazon Videos - Film

Synopsis

Michelle was happily married to a man in the military until he was killed over seas in battle. While struggling to pay rent she resorts to prostitution and a heroin addiction. She gets lost in a dark world among the Los Angeles underground.

Off Minor Films

Produced by Ace Fillmore

Written by James Sadeghi
Directed by Ace Fillmore
Starring Gina Violante
Narration - Dora Madison Burge
Aj Johnson - Husband
Jai Krishna Ponnappan - Landlord 
Ryan Spencer - Drug Dealer
Ryan Yodice - Guy #2
Paul Green - Guy #3
Date Night Couple -Steve Spicer & Maria Rivera
Director of Photography - Ace Fillmore
Edited by Marcus Mcdammit
Foley and Compositions by Spencer Mcneil
Make up Artist - Stacy Marie
Set Photography - Byron Miller 

Watch on Amazon Videos: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G60JC8I/
On IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4158482/?ref_=nm_knf_t2

Beltane 2016 - The Festival in Edinburgh

At the Beltane 2016 after party. To the sound of drums. Enjoy!