S. K. Thoth

Thoth performing in Central Park, New York City in 2008

S. K. Thoth (or often just Thoth) is a New York-based "prayformance" artist known for his eclectic mix of violin, voice, and dance performance who was the subject of the Academy Award winning documentary Thoth. Thoth calls his work "prayformance", emphasizing a spiritual dimension. His motto from his website is "I heal through divine prayformance". He sings in a language he himself created, the language of the Festad, a mythical people and land in his "Solopera", his one-man opera.

Early life

Thoth was born Stephen Kaufman in New York City around 1956.[1] His father was a Russian Jew, and his mother was from Barbados. As a mixed race child, prejudice was a problem for the young man. These experiences were a contributing factor in his creation of a fantasy world later in life as a coping mechanism, complete with its own world and mythology.

His mother was the first African-American timpani player for the New York Philharmonic, and Thoth was exposed to classical music at a young age. His mother's connections allowed him access to education from professional musicians, among them Harry Glickman, longtime violinist with the NBC Orchestra. Kaufman holds a degree in comparative literature from San Francisco State University.

Inventing Thoth

Kaufman chose the name of Thoth, an ancient Egyptian deity because he perceived Egypt to historically be "the center for mixed races".[2] Thoth invented his own world, the Festad, from which his solopera The Herma: The Life and Land of Nular-In is taken. Thoth began prayforming this one man opera in San Francisco, and then New York.

Performance Style

Thoth's unique manner of street performance involves playing his violin while singing in his unique language, and dancing, with various chimes and bells attached to his costume providing percussion for the performance. He has called this form of entertainment a "Prayformance" because it is a prayer as well as a performance, together.[3] Thoth is famous for prayforming in a gold loincloth.

Thoth auditioned for the reality show America's Got Talent with no success.

Documentary and Academy Award

Documentary filmmakers Sarah Kernochan and Lynn Appelle won an Academy Award in 2002 for Best Documentary Short Subject for chronicling Thoth's life and public performances in New York City. Another short documentary by multimedia artist Mithaq Kazimi, captures Thoth & Lila' Angelique in San Diego as they perform the last song of their day and discuss life afterwards. [4]

Latest News

Lila'Angelique, coloratura soprano and violinist, became Thoth's protege in 2009. They began traveling the world on November 17th 2009 and have been performing throughout the world ever since. They are now called Tribal Baroque. They got married on May 17th 2014. They wrote an original opera called "Esh and Ee-ay" in 2015, which they debuted on September 6th of the same year in Martha's Vineyard.

References

  1. ↑ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sjnd__isN0Y Documentary, *Thoth*, 2002; Toth gives his age as 46 (also, at 9:21 it shows a baby with a placard reading Aug 13 1959)
  2. ↑ A Loin In Winter: Article on Thoth in Metroactive
  3. ↑ YouTube - Thoth @ America's Got Talent
  4. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g_UHCzJlx8&

External links

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