Jean Colonomos
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        I began my career as a ballet dancer at the Metropolitan Opera Ballet School.
Since the school was connected to the Metropolitan Opera House, I performed as an extra in operas such as LOHENGRIN, MANON and CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA because
kids were needed to fill out each opera’s canvas. These first experiences indelibly
marked my life as an artist.

        I left ballet in my teens and had a major epiphany when I discovered modern
dance and Martha Graham who’s been called the Picasso of the modern dance world.
Working myself up through the ranks, I became a member of the Martha Graham Dance
Company in the mid 1960s.

        When I stopped dancing, I turned to writing free-lance feature articles and
criticism for DANCE MAGAZINE, THE VILLAGE VOICE and THE SOHO WEEKLY
NEWS, among other publications. What was also emerging was my playwright and
poet’s voice and in 1969, my first one act play, THE HOLD-UP, was performed Off-Off
Broadway.

        On the East Coast my plays have been produced in New Jersey and several times
in New York. Among the theatres that produced my plays are St. Peter’s Church at
Citicorp, the Nat Horne and The Actor’s and Director’s Theatre on Theatre Row. My
plays have also been performed in Alaska, New Mexico, Oregon and several times in Los
Angeles at Playwrights’ Arena, the Los Angeles Theater Center, the Ivar, and the Lee
Strasberg Theatre, among others. My most recent play, THE THIRD FROM THE LEFT,
was part of Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival and The New York International Fringe Festival
where it received excellent reviews in the New York Times.

        About my poetry, Finishing Line Press recently published my chapbook, ART
FARM. Other poems have been seen in many journals and among them are: Askew, Ant
Farm, the West Wind Poetry Review, Beyond Lament, Slant, Inkling and The Avron
Poetry Competition edited by British poet Ted Hughes. Online I’ve had poems at
yourdailypoem.com, subtletea.com, writingthewhirlwind.net., topangamessenger.com
and one soon to be published at
carbonculturereview.com.

        I’ve served on grants panels and in 1996 I received a Citation from the City of
Los Angeles for my play, BLACK DAWN. Other awards include the Los Angeles
Playwriting Award, a Drama-Logue, an Aspen Playwrights Award, the University of
Southern Oregon’s first prize for my verse play, CARRIE and a Los Angeles Partnership
grant shared with Playwrights’ Arena. I’m a member of PEN/USA, the Dramatists’
Guild, the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative and am a founding member of the
Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights.
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