Debora Balardini and Sandie Luna to Receive 2017 SheROCKS Arts Innovators of the Year Award

Press Release (ePRNews.com) - NEW YORK - Jan 20, 2017 - (Washington, DC) – On March 24–25, 2017, long-time best friends and creative partners Debora Balardini and Sandie Luna will accept the SheROCKS 2017 Art Innovators of the Year Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts in Washington, DC. SheROCKS – Washington, DC’s premiere Women’s History Month showcase – celebrates both emerging and established women thriving in business and the arts. Annually, SheROCKS highlights 14 influencers through performance and visuals, accelerates support among female entrepreneurs, and honors women whose pioneering efforts within their respective industries have influenced and impacted the success of other women in business.

Love Life Media founder, author, motivational speaker and Stage 2 breast cancer survivor Timea Gaines created SheROCKS in 2013 after noticing a void in events celebrating talented underdogs in the arts and business world.

Leading up to the main event, VIP guests, industry insiders, and the media will also enjoy and participate in SheROCKS Herstory (Ted Talk-style event for women), a SheROCKS Pamper Party and SheROCKS Brunch & Mixer. Balardini and Luna look forward to receiving their honor alongside other recipients while enjoying performances, shopping, food, networking and entertainment in celebration of SheROCKS’ fifth year.

Balardini and Luna are honored to be recognized for excellence in the arts to include dreaming up a concept that ultimately became PUNTO Space, a three-level raw space in New York City’s Fashion and Theater District that they launched with Duke York, the third partner in the for-profit social good venture. Balardini and Luna continually make it a priority to work with intern programs at PUNTO, such as H.O.P.E., UpNext Fellowship, and the Futures and Options program for high school students interested in the arts.  To date, PUNTO has supported non-profit events for Debora America, SOS EB Kids, and Circle of Love to benefit Henry Street Settlement and has embraced inclusive events for clients celebrating LGBT prom night and Queer Tango.

Balardini and Luna have an extensive history in culture and the non-traditional exploratory arts and physical theater as directors, producers, performers, and teachers.  The two are involved in multiple creative ventures together, to include the award-winning theater company they founded, Nettles Artists Collective (NAC), which celebrated a Brazilian International Press Award USA 2016 win for the Apple of My Eye/Menina Dos Meus Olhos production surrounding an inclusion in the arts campaign. The multi-media theater performance was timely as it was the first of its kind, a professionally produced play written by Tathiana Piancastelli, an artist and performer discovered by Balardini and who directed the piece, with Down syndrome.  Luna conceptualized and designed the production and also had a supporting role for the production that also received a prestigious invitation to present to UNICEF in support of the Global Partnership of Children with Disabilities on March 31, 2016, World Down Syndrome Day.

Balardini, who is also the founder of Group .BR, New York’s only Brazilian theater company, is currently on the wings of two 2017 Brazilian International Press Award USA nominations. The Brazilian New Yorker is up for Best Actress and Best Theatrical Production for Group .BR’s production of Inside the Wild Heart, an immersive theater production she co-created, co-produced and performed in. As an avid supporter of unheard voices through PUNTO initiatives, Balardini is especially proud of the SheROCKS announcement: “I am glad SheROCKS created this amazing platform for women and thank the SheROCKS team for celebrating creative endeavors that are so personal and dear to me.” Balardini has a solo performance in development this year, and she will direct two solo shows slated for 2017.

Luna delights in the accolades as an opportunity to continue meaningful work: “It is a thrill to be recognized for what you love to do, especially if the recognition is coming from other women! Creating bonds with powerful women is like pumping new blood into the veins of my work. In between the exhaustion of motherhood and entrepreneurship, more than ever my energy is spent thinking about the artistry in everyday actions and how this influences ‘art.’ I am developing a piece exploring how the most creative act (childbearing) can threaten to silence the artistic voice. There is an energizing quality the camaraderie of smart women brings, like nothing else.”

The two will be joined by other nominees and will enjoy performances, shopping, food, networking and entertainment in celebration of this year’s 14 honorees. For additional information on SheROCKS, please visit SheROCKSevent.com.

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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, Business News Daily.

About Sandie Luna (http://industryrules.com/2016/05/09/sandie-luna/):

Sandie Luna is the co-founder of PUNTO Space and the award-winning Nettles Artists Collective. The Afro-Latina non-solo artist is a 2015 DITM honoree, having been recognized by the Dominican American National Foundation for excellence in the arts. Sandie is an actress, mover, director and producer and has performed in TV, radio, commercials and theater productions for the English and Spanish markets, including the Off-Broadway hit Platanos & Collard Greens for four years. Sandie is the conceptual production designer of Apple of My Eye/Menina Dos Meus Olhos, which received a Brazilian International Press Award in 2016 and also performed as a supporting role, as seen in The Amazing Perspective, Latina Magazine, IR TV, La Fashionista, SheKnows, Closer IQ, Modern Stitches, Trendy Trippin’, Industry Rules, Mushaka’s Motivational Monday/Huffington Post blog, The Miami Herald, and On Deck with Lucy.

About SheROCKS (visit SheROCKSevent.com):

SheROCKS is the Washington metro and surrounding area’s premiere Women’s History Month celebration and highlights and honors women across the nation who are excelling in the arts and business.