It all started with a footnote, says director, collaborative artist and educator Annie Levy. "When I was an undergraduate doing some research for a paper, I found a note that in Latvia the sun god is female, and the moon god is male. It's the reverse of the usual, and for some reason it stuck with me."
Years later, Levy began to wonder about her identity through her family and found that grandparents on both sides had lived in Riga, Latvia. "It happened that as I was searching for my cultural heritage, Latvia was searching also. Latvia has existed for thousands of years, but it was occupied and controlled by various groups. It's only been an independent nation since 1991. So they are looking to older images and mythologies as they craft an identity."
Levy, along with educator, actor, and dramatist Frannie Silverman, are on the IU campus through the Borns Jewish Studies Program's Dorit & Gerald Paul Artist-in-Residence Program. They are teaching an intensive class on theatre-making at IU's Collins Living and Learning Center. "It's really been nice to be there," says Silverman. "Everyone that we've met or talked with is very friendly, and they seem to have created their own culture within the university."
While not teaching, the two are working on the script of The Latvia Project for a performance in the Rose Firebay of the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center on Saturday, January 21 at seven.