Debora Balardini Receives Two 2017 Brazilian International Press Award Nominations

NEW YORK - Feb. 8, 2017 - PRLog -- Theater performer, producer, and director Debora Balardini has been nominated for two Brazilian International Press Awards for her contributions to Group.BR's Inside the Wild Heart.  Balardini, who is one of the co-founders of Group.BR, co-created, co-produced and performed in the original immersive theater experience directed by Regina Miranda. The production ran from November 3 until November 20 and again for an encore from December 2 until December 11, and was based on the life and work of Brazilian writer Clarise Lispector.

The two nominations include Balardini for Best Actress and also Group.BR for Best Theatrical Production. With ties to multiple non-profit theater ventures, Balardini is no stranger to nominations for innovative and multi-media productions. In 2014 and 2015 the ensemble for Group.BR's Infinite While It Lasts received eight Brazilian International Press Awards nominations and a nomination for an Innovative Theater Award. Last year, Nettles Artists Collective's Apple of My Eye (AOME), also known as Menina dos Meus Olhos, won a 2016 Brazilian International Press Award for Best Theatrical Production.

Balardini explains the added joy of a double nomination: "I feel honored to be nominated as an actress as well as having the show be nominated this year. The happiness is double as an artist and producer. It is an amazing feeling of gratitude to be recognized for the work that we do as individuals and as a company at Group.BR."

The nomination is especially poignant for Balardini as a woman: "This nomination is so important for me as a woman leader in the arts because, first and foremost, we are setting an example for generations of young women to be able to say, 'I can do that, too.'  We have moved forward in so many aspects of gender equality, but it's not enough. Being recognized by the Brazilian International Press allows us the opportunity to also say, 'You can do it too' to other women. There is still so much to be done to maintain the rights we do have and bring that power to other cultures or other parts of the world that still don't have the rights we have here in the United States. We are all in this together."

News of the two nominations arrived alongside the announcement that Balardini is a 2017 SheROCKS Innovator of the Year honoree. She will head to Washington, DC, for the two-day SheROCKS event, Washington, DC's premiere Women's History Month showcase, which celebrates both emerging and established women thriving in business and the arts.

Balardini, also the co-founder of PUNTO Space, a three-level event raw space in New York's Fashion and Theater District, has plans to launch PUNTO Arts, an initiative created by PUNTO Space in conjunction with its resident company, Nettles Artists Collective, to create bridges between artistic communities. The initiative will also celebrate emerging performers, visual artists, and other companies deserving of support.

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About Debora Balardini (www.deborabalardini.com) -

Debora Balardini is the co-founder of PUNTO Space, Nettles Artists Collective, and Group.BR. With 30 years of unwavering commitment to the arts, expression and movement, Debora Balardini (La Frontiera - The Border) has traveled beyond craft to her calling as a performer, educator, director, and producer globally. She is also one of the newest members of the League of Professional Theater Women and is currently a Brazilian International Press Award 2017 Best Actress nominee for the production she co-created, co-produced and performed, Inside the Wild Heart, as seen in IR tv, Industry Rules, The Miami Herald, The Story Exchange, Cheapism, Trendy Trippin', Mushaka's Motivational Monday/Huffington Post blog, On Deck with Lucy and Business News Daily.

About Press Awards (http://voto2017.pressawards.us/) -

The Brazilian International Press Awards highlight Brazilian cultural personalities and initiatives that promote the positive image of Brazil in the United States.