Performances at The Savage Wonder Festival
Oct. 11th features Jesus Daniel Hernandez, Michael Bard, and Exit12 Dance Co.
The Savage Wonder Festival will feature two evening performances by veteran artists. Oct.11th will include NYC’s Exit12 Dance Company, opera singer Jesus Daniel Hernandez with Michael Bard. The performance starts at 5pm, and tickets are free!
Exit12 Dance Company and founder, Román Baca
Exit12 started in 2007 as a way for Artistic Director Román Baca to investigate his personal military service through choreography. This choreographic process became a place of healing as Román was able to work through his military experiences through the safety of dance as a non-literal art form. Román went on to create multiple critically acclaimed works about his service in the Iraq War. After several platoon mates took their own lives in 2011, Román realized that his fellow veterans also needed a way to process their own experiences. He also acknowledged that the military experience is extremely diverse, as is the population that serves. Upon this realization, Exit12 started working with veterans and military families to foster healing across the veteran and military family communities and tell diverse stories that might not otherwise be told through the arts.
Exit12’s model is simple yet powerful: bring together a group of people affected by war. Often these people are veterans or military family members. Lead the group through Exit12’s writing and movement workshops. With the group, craft the movement into a performance work that contains themes that are important for the group to communicate to the public. This might be part of their military service, their homecoming, their struggles to adjust to civilian life, or their hopes for the future. The group then performs this work in front of a public audience alongside several pieces of Exit12's professional dance repertoire. After the performance, Exit12 invites the audience to engage in a dialogue about the themes presented. This model has had incredible impacts around the world, demonstrated by the vital discussions held around service, sacrifice, family impacts, war, peace, and responsibility, and hope.
Opera Tenor, Jesús Daniel Hernández
Tenor Jesús Daniel Hernández was born and raised in the lovely town of Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, México. As a child his biggest dream was to be a singer. He wanted to sing like Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete, two big idols of Mexico. It was during that time that he saw on tv a concert with the Three Tenors and his interest for classical music was born. He bought his first guitar at the age of 14, and learned how to accompany himself. When he was 16 years old he immigrated to United States where he finished his high school and for a brief moment sang with a Mariachi band.
Even though life took him down different paths, taking different types of jobs to sustain his family, his dream to be a singer never disappeared from his mind. In 2003 Jesus enlisted in the U.S ARMY in 2003. At the end of that same year he volunteered to go to Iraq to serve in OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom). Even though he enjoyed his job as a soldier, he felt that something was missing in his life, and that was his desire to sing. In 2007, while stationed in Texas, the tenor learned that one of his child idols was going to perform in San Antonio, TX. Upon seeing the price of the tickets he wrote an email to the then director of the San Antonio Opera, Mark Richter, asking him if they offered a military discount, so he could see his idol Placido Domingo. The opera director graciously told him not to worry about it, that the ticket was free for him for serving his country.
At the end of the concert the young tenor went backstage to ask his idol for an autograph. While Maestro Domingo was signing his program he asked him if he liked his concert and his music, to which he responded, he always wanted to sing like him. Maestro Domingo invited him to sing for him in his dressing room in an impromptu audition, and after listening, Maestro Domingo invited him to be part of his prestigious Domingo-Cafritz young artist program in Washington, DC in 2008.
While in the program, Jesús participated in different concerts and operas with Placido Domingo. Since then the Tenor Jesús Daniel Hernández has been dedicated to singing to all kinds of audiences with his beautiful, sweet, and powerful voice all over the world.
Michael Bard
Michael Bard is an active musician, composer and teacher who resides near Washington, D.C. He has performed as a soloist and with various musical ensembles throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, North Africa, South America, Central America and the Middle East. He has also been featured on various radio and television programs around the world. He has served as Vice President of the Dayton Classical Guitar Society as well as Vice President of the Washington Guitar Society.
As a performer, Michael was chosen by the U.S. State Department to concertize throughout Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and the kingdom of Morocco with fellow guitarist Corey Whitehead. Billing themselves as ‘Douze Cordes’ Michael and Corey effectively served as cultural ambassadors, offering diplomacy through music. They were later invited to give more performances in Jordan and Kuwait on a second tour again sponsored by the U.S. State Department.
Michael currently performs & records with Washington D.C. based Latin Rumba-Flamenco group Trio Caliente, which has released 3 albums, performed nationally, and whose music was featured on NBC’s former hit TV show “Smash” as well as E! Entertainment Television Network.