Meet Ski Gozo | Director/Arts Educator/Actor/Playwright/Designer/Technician

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ski Gozo and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ski, why did you pursue a creative career?
I have pursued a career in arts because I find that storytelling is the basis of our humanity. We once told stories to explain the unexplainable, we came together as a community to better understand the world we live in. Through fiction we may dream about the greatest inventions of tomorrow or tread the lines of peril of days past or yet to come. I found early on that it was the stories of my teachers’ lives that they tied to our lessons that helped myself and other students find life in everything we were learned about.

The use of stories was our way of relating to each other. As the world rapidly changes, I find our gateways to relation have become, at times, too hyper specific. This is not at the fault of the generations who have grown up with a lifeline to the internet quickly thrust upon them. My purpose is to develop a process that takes these unique threads of media exposure and lead the way for people to develop a creative language through discussion. This discussion will foster community. Community can help us heal. Once people find the confidence to share their uniqueness with openness to discuss our inherent prejudice, only then can we move forward. As an artistic leader in a space, my mission is to use the practice of storytelling to discover the creative language that fosters community. I, like many artists, love the business of alchemy, turning peoples’ dreams into reality.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

How did I get here? My trajectory is non linear, in my short span of 15ish years, across all theatrical disciplines, there are several flatlines and resurgences. I didn’t enter the realm of theatre until I moved to San Diego where the middle school I attended did not offer choir, so I was pushed into the world of theatre. I fell in love with it because it provided me with a sense of belonging, important all the time, but especially in a time of raging hormones. It also spoke to my younger self who used to perform original trailers and sketches to my parents. Shout out to the stuffed animals that were my first actors. I also grew up with exposure to Imagineering videos, so I was always curious to how an environment is built to tell a story. One thing that is vital to how I got here, is having friends that will push you in your artform. I would not be working with the most recent network of artists if it wasn’t for Miguel Ángel López’s push for me to apply/attend the National Theater Institute. I am talking to people in professional spaces because of my multidisciplinary training as a designer, actor and director. My knowledge and curiosity about how other subjects intersect with theatre has also propelled my trajectory in spaces beyond the theatrical sector. No matter the job, people are looking for listeners and creative minds that engage people. I remember David Gorshein feeding that curiosity as my professor for Dramatic Theory and Criticism at CSU Long Beach. All of this has had a hand in my process of devising and directing theatre that empowers underrepresented communities. This is what connected me to the Lin-Manuel Miranda Family Fellowship and their growing network of emerging artists. In short, my ability to adapt and listen along with collaborators that push my artistic boundaries are the reason I’m here today. I implore others to keep dreaming and share those dreams with those around you.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I were back in Los Angeles County, I’d take them to visit my alma mater of California State University Long Beach. I’d take them to a spot called Good Time on Coronado Ave. After that, I’d check if the theatre arts department has any shows going on. Then I would head into Los Angeles where I spent most of my time at the Latino Theatre Company and East West Players. I would check if Cornerstone Theater Company had any collaborations going on and I would most likely explore Little Tokyo with them. I would take the surf liner down to my other base in SoCal, San Diego, I would take them to my friend’s deli, the Green Vine Delicatessen off the Mile of Cars. If it’s the weekend, we’ll go to Swap Meet and then explore Balboa Park. I would check callboards for shows, the two places I have frequented recently are The Old Globe and Diversionary Theatre. The first part of the week would be exploring parks in either city, including theme parks. For nostalgia sake, I would take any San Diego visitor out to the beach via Belmont Park. In any spare time we would hit all of the museums the cities have to offer.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
To begin this long list of gratitude, I must first thank my family. My parents and sibling have stood by my passion in the arts regardless of how far away we were from each other. It is through their support that I was able to attend the San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts and the many, many rehearsals I had there. Even before theatre, my house also acted as a central meeting place for some of my first video projects. Next is the educators. They provided me tools to which I direct, teach, and learn from others. Shoutout to my first theatre teacher Mr. Maher, who ushered me into the world of theatre in eighth grade when I moved to southern California. I would like to express the gratitude to my high school for providing arts training from professionals in an area that would not typically have had access to these mentors. I want to extend my thanks to Bill Doyle for showing me that there is not just one way to be successful and that there are different ways to help someone develop their voice in theatre beyond the routes of traditional training. And Mr. Blokker and their direction of “Blues For Mister Charlie” gave me the first experience in a rehearsal room that truly connected the ensemble of artists as human beings and pushed us to connect the threads of the story that echo in our world today. As for my collegiate experience, I would thank every professor I have come in contact with. The team at Grossmont College propelled me forward as a performer through their use of community outreach. Thank you Megan DeBoard for my first gig in theatrical direction and Jenn Thomas for giving me the scaffolding that I could play from. California Institute of the Arts grounded me as an artist and got me to think of the inherit impact artmaking has on the world around me. This also gave me my first Asian American instructor Chi-wang Yang who continued the threads of using various forms of media that we were connected to and using them as a basis to make theatre. To the team at California State University Long Beach, California Repertory Company, and Theatre Threshold, thank you for introducing me to artists that would become life long collaborators. Your curriculum and partnerships with Cornerstone Theater Company were vital in the process of the development of “American Distortion”. Specific shout out to Jeff Janisheski, Rachel Jett and Kian Kline-Chilton, for their ongoing mentorship as I grow as a professional artist. As for the most recent, I want to thank the team at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center at the National Theater Institute for providing an intensive that brought me closer to the development of new works and pushed me to modes of storytelling I did not know I was capable of by simply following the motto to “Risk. Fail. Risk Again”. I am sure there are others that will come to mind right after this interview is over. Oh! To my collaborators at all these past institutions, I have learned a great many things from you that have helped shape how I direct and lead my classrooms. Thank you all for telling stories with me and being brave enough to further explore yourself in the public artform of theatre. Huge shoutout to the Lin-Manuel Miranda Family Fellowship for its recent support and dedication to my artistic career moving forward!

Website: https://ryanmanikowski.wixsite.com/ryguyartski

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryguy.art.ski/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryan-manikowski-020133140/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRnQqobLNR5b3Zaay4g8d0g

Image Credits

Photograph depicting the piece “Jaded” was captured by Vanessa D Fernandez,

Photograph depicting the piece “Never Have I Ever” was captured by Vanessa D Fernandez.

Photograph depicting “Pub-atory: Drink to Remember” was captured by Leo Yihan Wang.
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