Ariel Luckey ~ About Me

Short Bio:
Ariel Luckey is a hip hop theater artist whose community and performance work dances in the crossroads of education, art and activism. Articulate, insightful and passionate, Ariel seamlessly weaves storytelling, spoken word poetry, dance, acting, and hip hop music in compelling narratives of personal and political transformation. Ariel’s lyrical language and political vision have inspired and transformed audiences from the streets of Seattle's WTO demonstration to Café Cantante in Havana, Cuba to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City. He has been a featured artist at the North Bay Hip Hop Theater Festival, La Peña Cultural Center’s Hecho en Califas Festival, the White Privilege Conference, and the Intersection for the Arts’ Hybrid Project and has performed at theaters, conferences, community centers and classrooms across the country.
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Long Bio:
Ariel Luckey is a hip hop theater artist whose community and performance work dances in the crossroads of education, art and activism. Articulate, insightful and passionate, Ariel seamlessly weaves storytelling, spoken word poetry, dance, acting, and hip hop music in compelling narratives of personal and political transformation. Drawing on years of direct experience in social and environmental movements, Ariel offers provocative stories of heart breaking injustice and inspiring examples of resistance.

Born and raised in Oakland, California, the eldest son of author/activist, Paul Kivel, and biochemistry professor, Mary Luckey, Ariel embraced the values of social justice, ecological balance, and respect for life at a young age. Simultaneously he fell in love with the stage and went on to study with master artists such as June Jordan, Patch Adams, Wavy Gravy and Augusto Boal.

Ariel’s lyrical language and political vision have inspired and transformed audiences from the streets of Seattle's WTO demonstration to Café Cantante in Havana, Cuba to the Nuyorican Poets Cafe in New York City. He has been a featured artist at the North Bay Hip Hop Theater Festival, La Peña Cultural Center’s Hecho en Califas Festival, the White Privilege Conference, and the Intersection for the Arts’ Hybrid Project and has performed at theaters, conferences, community centers and classrooms across the country.

Ariel is the founder and director of the Free Land Project. The Free Land Project produces dynamic hip hop theater performance art, keynotes, workshops, forums, educational materials and cultural events throughout the United States. At the heart of its work is Free Land, Ariel’s hip hop theater solo show that explores the personal, political and spiritual cost of white privilege gained by the brutal mistreatment of Native Americans and the theft of their land. Ariel also organizes and emcees the annual cultural arts event Thangs Taken: rethinking thanksgiving in the San Francisco Bay Area. Thangs Taken brings Native and non-Native artists, activists, and communities together to engage in a critical dialogue about the impact of Thanksgiving and the history it represents on our communities through visual and performance art.

Ariel Luckey digs deep into our past and raises critical questions for our present and future, calling on each of us to grapple with who we are, who we stand with, and what we stand for. His performances and presentations masterfully synthesize personal experience, family story, and historical context to highlight the connections between race, class, and land in America.

Ariel sees his community work in the world as an extension of his most precious and important work as father to his two-year-old son.
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Resume:

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Project Director, The Free Land Project Wrote and produced solo hip hop theater show, Free Land, directed by Margo Hall. Produces hip hop theater performances, keynotes, workshops, forums, educational materials and cultural events that explore and highlight the connections between race, class, and land in America at schools, theaters and community centers across the country. Produces and emcees the annual cultural arts event Thangs Taken: rethinking Thanksgiving. (2005-Current)

Actor/Educator Performed as a featured artist at the North Bay Hip Hop Theatre Festival, the White Privilege Conference, La Peña Cultural Center’s Hecho en Califas Festival and the Intersection for the Art’s Hybrid Project. Presentes talks and workshops on performance art, hip hop theater and political education. (2004-Current)

photos 1-3 by Daniel Gonzalez
photo 4 by Amanda Salzman

Consultant/Facilitator, Environmental Justice and Diversity Work. Craft and facilitate anti-oppression workshops and staff trainings, coach staff on professional development and conflict resolution, design and implement organizational development processes. (2005-Current)

Founder/Emcee, The Luckey Brothers, Oakland, CA. Wrote, performed and recorded a full length CD Soul City Sky Lights and an original hip hop theatre piece Rebirth: the first breath.
Performed at a wide array of venues including Project Theatre Artaud, La Peña Cultural Center, UC Berkeley, St. Mary’s College, the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York and Café Cantante in Havana, Cuba. (2004-Current)

Program Director, Jewish Youth for Community Action. Oakland, CA. Coordinated and implemented the administrative and program components of a political education and activism training program for Jewish high school students. (2002-2004)

Project Coordinator, June Jordan’s Poetry for the People, U.C. Berkeley, CA. Developed and facilitated curriculum on various poetic techniques and traditions for college students and coordinated their instruction of the curriculum at Berkeley High School. (2002-2003)

Co-Director, Camp Winnarainbow’s Rainbow Rising Youth Project, Mendocino County, CA. Coordinated fundraising, program development, outreach and facilitation of a series of camps for diverse youth aged 14-17 focusing on performing arts, leadership development, and social justice. (2001-2003)

Counselor and Supervisor, Camp Winnarainbow, Mendocino County, CA. Supervised campers aged 7-14 and teen and adult staff members. Facilitated staff meetings, conflict resolutions, group games, skills workshops and performances. Taught advanced classes in poetry, juggling, dance and political education. (1995-2003)

Co-Director, Inner Fire Youth Program, GreenAction for Health and Environmental Justice, San Francisco, CA. Developed and implemented interdisciplinary arts-based environmental justice curriculum for youth groups, schools and conferences. (2001-2002)

Consultant/Facilitator, The TODOS Institute, Oakland and San Jose, CA. Facilitated anti-oppression diversity trainings and camps for adults and high school students. (1999-2002)

Consultant/Facilitator, Urban Habitat Camps, Youth for Environmental Sanity, Santa Cruz, CA. Organized and facilitated week-long environmental leadership trainings for youth, coordinated toxic tours, restoration projects, demonstrations and creative art activities. (1999-2002)

Student/Teacher, June Jordan’s Poetry for the People, U.C. Berkeley, CA. Collaborated with a team of students and teachers in the instruction of a poetry curriculum at Berkeley High School. (2000)

Environmental Justice Coordinator, East Bay Institute for Urban Arts, Oakland, CA. Collaborated with a staff of visual, literary and performing artists in the development and implementation of a political arts-education program for high schools students. Co-facilitated students in the creation, performance and recording of a full length musical on environmental justice. (1999-2000)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Acting Technique, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Berkeley, CA. (2006)

Afro-Cuban Folkloric Dance Training, Jose Francisco Barroso, Susana Arenas Pedroso, Jose Cheo Rojas, Oakland and San Francisco, CA. (2001-2007)

Instituto de Teatro, Teatro Vision, San Jose, CA. (2005)

Alternative Theater Institute, Intersection for the Arts, San Francisco, CA. (2004)

Theater of the Oppressed Training with Augusto Boal, Pedagogy and Theater of the Oppressed Conference, Los Angeles, CA. (2003)

Bachelor’s of Environmental Science, Lesley University, Cambridge, Mass. (2001)

Education in Revolution, Lesley University, Independent Project, Havana, Cuba. (2001)

Facilitation Training, Youth for Environmental Sanity, Santa Cruz, CA. (2000)

Institute for Social Ecology, Plainfield, Vermont. An intensive ecological studies program. (2000)

Training of Trainers, The TODOS Institute, Oakland, CA. An anti-oppression facilitation training. (1999)

Audubon Expedition Institute, United States. A traveling cultural and environmental studies program that trains students in outdoor and wilderness leadership, community development and consensus decision-making, public policy and political history. (1997-1999)

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Mentor, The Catalyst Project’s Anne Braden Anti-Racist Training Program, San Francisco, CA. (2008)

Advisory Board Member, Y-STEP, San Francisco, CA. An anti-racist political education and activist training program for white youth. (2004-Current)

Actor/Educator, Student Theatre Educators for Peaceful Solutions, Oakland, CA. Presented an original Forum Theatre piece on military recruitment and the Iraq war in Oakland Public high schools and taught students how to use Theatre of the Oppressed techniques to develop peaceful solutions to the issues they face and to educate and empower their communities. (2005)

Member/Dancer, Obakoso Drum and Dance Ensemble, Oakland, CA. (2005-2007)

Member/Volunteer, Progressive Jewish Alliance, Oakland, CA. Performed spoken word poetry and hip hop music at various community events. (2005-Current)

Consultant, Jewish Voice for Peace, Oakland CA. Crafted and facilitated a series of workshops on adultism in social justice movements. (2004)

Volunteer/Organizer, Berkeley Cop Watch, Berkeley, CA. Developed and facilitated Know Your Rights trainings, participated in community accountability and restorative justice programs. (2000)

Organizer, Global Unity Movement, Oakland, CA. Organized affinity groups to participate in demonstrations at the World Trade Organization meetings in Seattle, the World Bank/ International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington D.C. and the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles (1999-2000)

Volunteer/Organizer, Californians for Justice, Oakland, CA. Campaigned against Props. 21, 54, 209, 187 and 184. (1994-2000)

CONFERENCES
White Privilege Conference, Colorado Springs, CO. (2007-2008)
Reverential Ecology Conference, Joshua Tree National Park, CA. (2007)
Teacher for Social Justice Conference, San Francisco, CA. (2007)
Bioneers, San Raphael, CA. (2005-2006)
On the Frontlines, Options for Youth in Times of War, UC Berkeley, CA. (2005)
Central Valley Conference on Environmental Justice, Fresno, CA. (2002)
Health and Environmental Justice Conference, UC Berkeley, CA. (2001)
Upset the Set Up, Oakland, CA. (1999-2001)
COOL, Campus Community Outreach League, Salt Lake City, Utah. (1999)

SKILLS
Performing Arts (spoken word poetry, hip hop lyricism, beat box, percussion, juggling, dance)
Theater (traditional, improvisational, Theatre of the Oppressed, playback and street theatre)
Curriculum development, facilitation and evaluation
Advanced reading, writing and speaking Spanish
Conflict resolution, mediation and non-violent communication
Anti-Oppression, Environmental Justice and Diversity Training
Training of Trainers
Public Speaking

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