Gina Gibney Dance has been named to Vanity Fair's Hall of Fame. Download the article here. (Click on "View the article.")
Congratulations to Gina Gibney, Body and Soul podcast interviewee, and her stellar troupe! Listen to my interview with her here.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Japanese tea ceremony at the Met
Wednesday, April 2, 2pm
The Sackler Wing Galleries for the Arts of Japan
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Free with museum admission
Japanese tea ceremony demonstration sponsored by the Urasenke Chanoyu Center
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, Manhattan
The Sackler Wing Galleries for the Arts of Japan
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Free with museum admission
Japanese tea ceremony demonstration sponsored by the Urasenke Chanoyu Center
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, Manhattan
Met Museum hosts classical music and dance of India
Wednesday, April 2, 3:30pm
The Astor Court
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Free with museum admission
Classical music and dance of India date back thousands of years yet continue to speak to audiences of today. The vibrant North Indian dance form known as Kathak is demonstrated by Parul Shah (dancer), Nitin Mitta (tabla), and Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury (sitar) who illustrate the dynamic rhythmic interactions between dance and drum through the use of vocal recitation.
Presented by the Department of Musical Instruments, this concert/demonstration will take place in the Astor Forecourt outside the Jain Temple.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, Manhattan
The Astor Court
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Free with museum admission
Classical music and dance of India date back thousands of years yet continue to speak to audiences of today. The vibrant North Indian dance form known as Kathak is demonstrated by Parul Shah (dancer), Nitin Mitta (tabla), and Indrajit Roy-Chowdhury (sitar) who illustrate the dynamic rhythmic interactions between dance and drum through the use of vocal recitation.
Presented by the Department of Musical Instruments, this concert/demonstration will take place in the Astor Forecourt outside the Jain Temple.
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, Manhattan
Sunday, March 30, 2008
The Turning World (32)
Dith Pran, 'Killing Fields' Photographer, Dies at 65
by Douglas Martin, The New York Times, March 31, 2008
by Douglas Martin, The New York Times, March 31, 2008
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Friday, March 28, 2008
The last shoe drops at The Village Voice
Well, if what I'm hearing is true, the final shoe has dropped at The Village Voice. After 40 years of service to the dance field, dance critic Deborah Jowitt is gone, although some are questioning whether the term "fired" (used in an ArtsJournal post by fledgling blogger and former Voice dance editor Elizabeth Zimmer) is correct. More will be revealed, as my late, great mother-in-law would have said.
As a former Voice dance freelancer, similarly kicked to the curb after decades of hard work and decreasing pay, space and respect, I have to say that dance criticism is a miserable profession. I recommend it to nobody in his or her right mind.
As a former Voice dance freelancer, similarly kicked to the curb after decades of hard work and decreasing pay, space and respect, I have to say that dance criticism is a miserable profession. I recommend it to nobody in his or her right mind.
Alex Escalante: Body and Soul podcast
Alex Escalante's new evening-length work--"Clandestino"--pays tribute to his Mexican heritage, his immigrant parents, and the courage of undocumented workers, living in the United States, who, in the spring of 2006, turned out for massive rallies for their human rights. At a time when illegal immigration has become an exploited political flashpoint, Escalante asks audiences to confront their own feelings and opinions on this issue. The personal is the political, and vice-versa, in this vibrant presentation featuring live and recorded music, film, and a movement vocabulary inspired by contemporary Mexican social dances. Visit "Clandestino" on MySpace (see link below).
BIO
Alex Escalante, originally from Los Angeles, graduated from SUNY Purchase. He has worked in New York with Donna Uchizono, Jennifer Monson/Birdbrain, Doug Elkins, Doug Varone, David Neumann, Gerald Casel, the Metropolitan Opera, and has been fortunate to tour as Merce Cunningham's personal assistant. He was featured in the musical film Romance and Cigarettes, directed by John Turturro. His own work, as well as choreography for theatre with Division 13 Productions, has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, La MaMa E.T.C., Dixon Place, Movement Research at Judson Church, Joe's Pub, and Here Arts Center. In February 2007, his most recent work, Swallow Sand, was presented by Dance Theater Workshop as part of a Studio Series residency. Escalante is currently a 2007-2008 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. He also works as a freelance photographer and is an avid surfer.
EVENT
Premiere of "Clandestino" at Danspace Project, St. Mark's Church, Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12 (8:30pm)
Reservations: 212-674-8194 or at Danspace Project's Web site (see link below).
LINKS
Alex Escalante's "Clandestino"
http://www.myspace.com/_clandestino
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
BIO
Alex Escalante, originally from Los Angeles, graduated from SUNY Purchase. He has worked in New York with Donna Uchizono, Jennifer Monson/Birdbrain, Doug Elkins, Doug Varone, David Neumann, Gerald Casel, the Metropolitan Opera, and has been fortunate to tour as Merce Cunningham's personal assistant. He was featured in the musical film Romance and Cigarettes, directed by John Turturro. His own work, as well as choreography for theatre with Division 13 Productions, has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, La MaMa E.T.C., Dixon Place, Movement Research at Judson Church, Joe's Pub, and Here Arts Center. In February 2007, his most recent work, Swallow Sand, was presented by Dance Theater Workshop as part of a Studio Series residency. Escalante is currently a 2007-2008 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. He also works as a freelance photographer and is an avid surfer.
EVENT
Premiere of "Clandestino" at Danspace Project, St. Mark's Church, Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12 (8:30pm)
Reservations: 212-674-8194 or at Danspace Project's Web site (see link below).
LINKS
Alex Escalante's "Clandestino"
http://www.myspace.com/_clandestino
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
It's music to my eyes
Andrew Bird's first entry in the Times's new Measure for Measure blog (on songwriting) is a lovely opening for what should be a thoughtful, inspiring series of essays on the creative process. Hey, maybe someday the Times will give a bunch of choreographers a similar go!
Layard Thompson's warrior ways
Performance, if done right, is shamanism--skillfully skateboarding that sweet, demilitarized zone between worlds and tipping over either border with just the right combination of courage, childlike trust and sheer insouciance. That's why Layard Thompson--shapeshifting dancer and Deborah Hay mentee--stood head and fairy-dusted shoulders above anyone else on the Performance Mix program this week at Joyce SoHo. (Claudia La Rocco lays it out pretty clearly in her Times piece today.) Performing The Warrior--his adaptation of Hay's The Runner--looks as if he has either escaped from a ballet school or invaded one with a pair of scissors as his weapon of choice. He's a rebel...and his face is a mess. Not only does he run with scissors--defying worrying mothers everywhere--but he wields them with glamour and simmering menace that feels as if they are generated from deep within as opposed to being contrived and applied from the outside. In a time when a young audience for contemporary dance seems content with hip, wacky absurdities as sources of easy laughs and easy shocks, Thompson gives us the shocks that catch those laughs in our throats and make us wonder if those flimsy seats we're sitting on might give way and slip us into the chaos. Best of that Mix program because he's convincing, a true star--Layard Thompson.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Maybe we could all use a new beginning
countercritic lays out a detailed, very interesting exploration of Adrienne Truscott's genesis, no! in A New Beginning.
While I cannot say I share this level of fascination with the work, I think the notion of checking in with how one is reacting to a work of art is spot on--a non-intimidating, engaged way for anyone to approach any art. This is how I work and what I've recommended to students. And we do need new forms and methods of critical writing about dance that will afford room for ambiguity, uncertainty and metamorphosis.
While I cannot say I share this level of fascination with the work, I think the notion of checking in with how one is reacting to a work of art is spot on--a non-intimidating, engaged way for anyone to approach any art. This is how I work and what I've recommended to students. And we do need new forms and methods of critical writing about dance that will afford room for ambiguity, uncertainty and metamorphosis.
Surely it's time for a Ken doll, too
For Ailey Troupe, at 50, a Street and an 18-Month Tribute
by Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times, March 27, 2008
by Jennifer Dunning, The New York Times, March 27, 2008
Admin Assistant needed
Daria Faïn of human behavior explorers seeks a new administrative assistant. She writes:
My wonderful assistance Sean Donavan is leaving this position to go on tour and produce is own work and our company is looking for someone to take his place. The position requires administrative oversight and implementation to Daria Fain and her company in all areas of company activities, including fundraising, grant-writing, marketing, project management and general operations.
Fundraising, Grant Writing: Strategize fund raising in conjunction with Daria and develop grant proposals, budgets and supporting materials. Help plan fund raising events.
Marketing: Help develop and create marketing materials, including programs. Facilitate the duplication of videotapes and press kits.
Project management: Help manage company projects. Research in relation to current or future projects.
General Operations: Check and respond to mail, telephone messages and email.
This is a part-time position (12-15 hrs per week) and pay is $12 per hour (negotiable according to experience). Job will begin at the end of May 2008. Commitment through November 2008 minimum.
Contact
d a r i a f a ï n
101 decatur street # 3 -- brooklyn 11216
humanbehaviorexplorers@earthlink.net
718-450-1356
skype: dariafain
Fundraising, Grant Writing: Strategize fund raising in conjunction with Daria and develop grant proposals, budgets and supporting materials. Help plan fund raising events.
Marketing: Help develop and create marketing materials, including programs. Facilitate the duplication of videotapes and press kits.
Project management: Help manage company projects. Research in relation to current or future projects.
General Operations: Check and respond to mail, telephone messages and email.
This is a part-time position (12-15 hrs per week) and pay is $12 per hour (negotiable according to experience). Job will begin at the end of May 2008. Commitment through November 2008 minimum.
Contact
d a r i a f a ï n
101 decatur street # 3 -- brooklyn 11216
humanbehaviorexplorers@earthlink.net
718-450-1356
skype: dariafain
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Turning World (28)
Philip Jones Griffiths, Photographer, Dies at 72
by Randy Kennedy, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
by Randy Kennedy, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
The Difference in Butterflies
Perhaps in keeping with today's insect theme, I have just finished The Difference in Butterflies. This memoir by Nanjing-born dancer and Martha Graham teacher Yung Yung Tsuai and co-author Marilyn Meeske Sorel (iUniverse, 2007) is, as advertised, a highly cinematic tale. It immediately pulls the reader into a human story full of emotion, drama, and color that rushes at your senses.
You feel for the child at the center of this story, sensing her anxiety and her pride. Tsuai's family escapes dictatorship but cannot escape the hell of their own punishing relationships. The brightly-talented, repressed and exploited dancer longs for acceptance for herself alone. Instead she gets the following assessment from her grandmother: "You are the garbage picked out by this misfortunate fate."
According to her account, Tsuai's father was an angry, abusive man and unfaithful to his wife, but he was also an appealing storyteller, and so is his daughter, retaining into adulthood her childlike, honest openness. Seeing The Wizard of Oz, she and her mother fall hard for Judy Garland. "On the wall, above the board, we tacked a poster of Dorothy and friends," she writes. "I conversed with them whenever I felt troubled."
As time passes, the young woman will come to need stronger therapies to deal with her trauma and with challenging adult relationships. Primal Scream, for instance, "worked, allowing many of us to vent buried wounds...primal was an underground excavation with loud explosions." She also turned to channel Shepherd Hoodwin and found his work quite liberating, although her mentions of it come quite late in the book and are frustratingly sketchy. Oddly sketchy, too, is much sense, beyond glimpses, of the substance of her career in dance. And until near the end of the book, there's precious little information about the troupe that she and her husband nurtured, and then only as background to the narrative of their financial and marital problems.
Unfortunately, the book is marred by odd errors that should have been caught by a copyeditor. References to "Ruth St. Denise" and "Helen Tamari," are glaring examples. A breathless description of a Graham performance--"They tripped the light so fantastic they took away the audience's breathe"--is indeed breathtaking.
The Difference in Butterflies is ultimately about transformation and the surprise of long-sought happiness lurking within one's deepest instincts. An imperfect tale, it nevertheless makes one cheer with relief for its teller.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
Author Bios from The Difference in Butterflies Web site
Marilyn Meeske Sorel
You feel for the child at the center of this story, sensing her anxiety and her pride. Tsuai's family escapes dictatorship but cannot escape the hell of their own punishing relationships. The brightly-talented, repressed and exploited dancer longs for acceptance for herself alone. Instead she gets the following assessment from her grandmother: "You are the garbage picked out by this misfortunate fate."
According to her account, Tsuai's father was an angry, abusive man and unfaithful to his wife, but he was also an appealing storyteller, and so is his daughter, retaining into adulthood her childlike, honest openness. Seeing The Wizard of Oz, she and her mother fall hard for Judy Garland. "On the wall, above the board, we tacked a poster of Dorothy and friends," she writes. "I conversed with them whenever I felt troubled."
As time passes, the young woman will come to need stronger therapies to deal with her trauma and with challenging adult relationships. Primal Scream, for instance, "worked, allowing many of us to vent buried wounds...primal was an underground excavation with loud explosions." She also turned to channel Shepherd Hoodwin and found his work quite liberating, although her mentions of it come quite late in the book and are frustratingly sketchy. Oddly sketchy, too, is much sense, beyond glimpses, of the substance of her career in dance. And until near the end of the book, there's precious little information about the troupe that she and her husband nurtured, and then only as background to the narrative of their financial and marital problems.
Unfortunately, the book is marred by odd errors that should have been caught by a copyeditor. References to "Ruth St. Denise" and "Helen Tamari," are glaring examples. A breathless description of a Graham performance--"They tripped the light so fantastic they took away the audience's breathe"--is indeed breathtaking.
The Difference in Butterflies is ultimately about transformation and the surprise of long-sought happiness lurking within one's deepest instincts. An imperfect tale, it nevertheless makes one cheer with relief for its teller.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
Author Bios from The Difference in Butterflies Web site
Marilyn Meeske Sorel
| |
Marilyn Meeske Sorel has published fiction and non-fiction using pseudonyms as well as her own name. She is a Pulitzer Prize nominee for a six- part print series ‘Vera, My Child’, a story of the death camps. She taught at UCLA, Dept of the Arts for some years where she conducted writing seminars. During this time Ms. Sorel hosted and produced AUTHOR, AUTHOR, for KCRW fm
Yung Yung Tsuai
Yung Yung Tsuai (co-author)
is currently teaching at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance. She came to the
Critics have described her work as: "As rich in pain as in sweetness..." by Burt Supree, The Village Voice; "Blending the atmosphere of ancient
Good morning, waggle dancers!
Efforts of Dancing Bees are Often Wasted on Distracted Audience
by Henry Fountain, The New York Times, March 25, 2008
by Henry Fountain, The New York Times, March 25, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Niles Ford's showing at Dixon Place
At the time that I was assigned this review by Dance Magazine, neither the editor nor I knew that Niles Ford would be showing a work-in-progress instead of a finished work. On the night of the performance, I checked with Ford and his manager, and both gave permission to review the piece. The New York Times review (by Claudia La Rocco) ran last Wednesday. But now my DM editor has decided that the magazine has no room for reviews of works-in-progress, even on its Web site... Well, anyway, here's what I had to say about In Search of The Invisible People.
Niles Ford/Urban Dance Collective
at Dixon Place, NYC
March 17-18, 2008
Dixon Place has long been downtown’s premiere home for works-in-utero. Even so, it wasn’t clear that choreographer Niles Ford intended to present only a half-hour’s worth of snippets from a proposed evening-length work (originally initiated with colleague Nathan Trice). In Search of The Invisible People is a nostalgia-stoking tribute to the club dance scene of New York, Chicago and Detroit. Despite the unfinished nature of the piece, both Ford and his manager eagerly green-lighted reviews by the two dance critics in attendance.
Ford’s sampler opened with a color-soaked video of an enigmatic modern dance duet shot around an old house on Curaçao and an impressionistic solo with Vincent Hernandez, in a flouncey miniskirt, crouching and paddling around the floor to a recording of “La Vie en Rose.” This was followed by two unforgettable solos: vogue-ing by Archie Burnett, an incisive and commanding dancer, and a sleight-of-body performance by self-described club kid James “Cricket” Colter, who hails from Philadelphia and has the look of a slight but insouciant prizefighter. This live dancing was set against a backdrop of still and moving images of Willi Ninja, Andy Warhol, Sylvester, Keith Haring and a pumping crowd at places like the Paradise Garage and The Gallery.
A silky quintet--Stephanie Booth, Stephesha David, Jessica Parks, Cara Robino and Michelle Siegel--danced well enough but so typically-MTV that your mind could run the tape moments before their moves unfolded before your eyes. Why not challenge these young women with powerhouse solos of their own? A club/street virtuoso like Rokafella–just to name one well-known example–can get in the game with the best of the guys.
In the Q&A that followed the showing, Ford repeatedly emphasized his case that the world of hip hop rose to prominence on the backs of queer club kids who now–as “the lost generation,” “the invisible people”–get no credit for their innovations. “Life, love and acceptance. Somewhere in the ‘80s, that got lost,” the choreographer mourned.
All mourning aside, Ford and his cast are certainly talented and often fun. Let’s hope they will stitch these patches of memory into a well-shaped, meaningful chronicle of cultural history.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
Niles Ford/Urban Dance Collective
at Dixon Place, NYC
March 17-18, 2008
Dixon Place has long been downtown’s premiere home for works-in-utero. Even so, it wasn’t clear that choreographer Niles Ford intended to present only a half-hour’s worth of snippets from a proposed evening-length work (originally initiated with colleague Nathan Trice). In Search of The Invisible People is a nostalgia-stoking tribute to the club dance scene of New York, Chicago and Detroit. Despite the unfinished nature of the piece, both Ford and his manager eagerly green-lighted reviews by the two dance critics in attendance.
Ford’s sampler opened with a color-soaked video of an enigmatic modern dance duet shot around an old house on Curaçao and an impressionistic solo with Vincent Hernandez, in a flouncey miniskirt, crouching and paddling around the floor to a recording of “La Vie en Rose.” This was followed by two unforgettable solos: vogue-ing by Archie Burnett, an incisive and commanding dancer, and a sleight-of-body performance by self-described club kid James “Cricket” Colter, who hails from Philadelphia and has the look of a slight but insouciant prizefighter. This live dancing was set against a backdrop of still and moving images of Willi Ninja, Andy Warhol, Sylvester, Keith Haring and a pumping crowd at places like the Paradise Garage and The Gallery.
A silky quintet--Stephanie Booth, Stephesha David, Jessica Parks, Cara Robino and Michelle Siegel--danced well enough but so typically-MTV that your mind could run the tape moments before their moves unfolded before your eyes. Why not challenge these young women with powerhouse solos of their own? A club/street virtuoso like Rokafella–just to name one well-known example–can get in the game with the best of the guys.
In the Q&A that followed the showing, Ford repeatedly emphasized his case that the world of hip hop rose to prominence on the backs of queer club kids who now–as “the lost generation,” “the invisible people”–get no credit for their innovations. “Life, love and acceptance. Somewhere in the ‘80s, that got lost,” the choreographer mourned.
All mourning aside, Ford and his cast are certainly talented and often fun. Let’s hope they will stitch these patches of memory into a well-shaped, meaningful chronicle of cultural history.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sandra Catena: Body and Soul podcast
Here’s my conversation with Sandra Catena, popular belly dance instructor and performer, personal trainer and author of “The African Belly Dance”–the first murder mystery to feature a belly dancer as its protagonist.
BOOK FACTS
“The African Belly Dance” is a murder mystery featuring Santina Cole, a first generation Italian-American from Newark, New Jersey. Santina was raised in a blue-collar family with deep Catholic roots and much to the chagrin of her family, becomes a belly dancer. Santina is a feisty, funny, red hot woman from the hood who finds herself in the middle of trouble. While performing in West Africa at a Lebanese nightclub, a murder occurs. Santina is in the thick of it and helps find the killer. Get on this magic carpet ride that takes the reader from Newark, New Jersey to Manhattan to West Africa!
BIO
Sandra Catena has performed in Europe, West Africa, Canada and the United States. She has also performed on national television shows such as MTV, The Joy Brown Show and WB11 News. Since 1980, Sandra has performed in New York's Oriental nightclubs, theaters and colleges. Sandra starred in a 14-week run of "A Belly Dancer's Story" (10/96-2/97) in New York City. "A Belly Dancer's Story" was written, choreographed and performed by Sandra. She also produced and choreographed the following shows in theaters in New York: "A Night of Middle Eastern Dance" (6/01&02/00); "A Belly Dance Extravaganza" (11/18/00); "Belly Dance Nights" (01/07&14&21/01); "Arabian Nights" (06/03&04/01); "Holiday Exotica" (12/18/01); "Belly Dance Fever" (5/25/02); "Holiday Hafla" (12/15/02); "Oriental Dreams" (7/03/03); "A Belly Dancer’s Story" (3/14/04 and 6/15/04); and belly dance recitals at Lafayette Grill (6/12/05, 10/23/05, 3/23/06); “Modern Egyptian Rhythms” (12/3/06).
Sandra Catena is a master teacher of Oriental dance. She teaches private and group classes regularly in New York City. Sandra also teaches at Shakti Yoga, The 14th Street Y and has taught at New York University, City University of New York, Sarah Lawrence College, The New Age Health Spa, The Hospital for Joint Diseases, The Seminar Center, The Discovery Center, Asphalt Green, Carmine Street Recreation Bureau, Broome Corner Studios, Rod Rodgers Dance Studios, Dance Theater Workshop, Joyous Life Energy Center, Five Points Fitness and Djoniba's Drum and Dance Center, all in New York.
EVENT
Wednesday, March 26 (6:30-8:30pm): Book signing party (with performance, reading and cash bar) at Boucarou, 64 East 1st Street, East Village, Manhattan
LINKS
Sandra Catena
http://www.bigapplebellydance.org
Boucarou Lounge
http://www.boucaroulounge.com
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
BOOK FACTS
“The African Belly Dance” is a murder mystery featuring Santina Cole, a first generation Italian-American from Newark, New Jersey. Santina was raised in a blue-collar family with deep Catholic roots and much to the chagrin of her family, becomes a belly dancer. Santina is a feisty, funny, red hot woman from the hood who finds herself in the middle of trouble. While performing in West Africa at a Lebanese nightclub, a murder occurs. Santina is in the thick of it and helps find the killer. Get on this magic carpet ride that takes the reader from Newark, New Jersey to Manhattan to West Africa!
BIO
Sandra Catena has performed in Europe, West Africa, Canada and the United States. She has also performed on national television shows such as MTV, The Joy Brown Show and WB11 News. Since 1980, Sandra has performed in New York's Oriental nightclubs, theaters and colleges. Sandra starred in a 14-week run of "A Belly Dancer's Story" (10/96-2/97) in New York City. "A Belly Dancer's Story" was written, choreographed and performed by Sandra. She also produced and choreographed the following shows in theaters in New York: "A Night of Middle Eastern Dance" (6/01&02/00); "A Belly Dance Extravaganza" (11/18/00); "Belly Dance Nights" (01/07&14&21/01); "Arabian Nights" (06/03&04/01); "Holiday Exotica" (12/18/01); "Belly Dance Fever" (5/25/02); "Holiday Hafla" (12/15/02); "Oriental Dreams" (7/03/03); "A Belly Dancer’s Story" (3/14/04 and 6/15/04); and belly dance recitals at Lafayette Grill (6/12/05, 10/23/05, 3/23/06); “Modern Egyptian Rhythms” (12/3/06).
Sandra Catena is a master teacher of Oriental dance. She teaches private and group classes regularly in New York City. Sandra also teaches at Shakti Yoga, The 14th Street Y and has taught at New York University, City University of New York, Sarah Lawrence College, The New Age Health Spa, The Hospital for Joint Diseases, The Seminar Center, The Discovery Center, Asphalt Green, Carmine Street Recreation Bureau, Broome Corner Studios, Rod Rodgers Dance Studios, Dance Theater Workshop, Joyous Life Energy Center, Five Points Fitness and Djoniba's Drum and Dance Center, all in New York.
EVENT
Wednesday, March 26 (6:30-8:30pm): Book signing party (with performance, reading and cash bar) at Boucarou, 64 East 1st Street, East Village, Manhattan
LINKS
Sandra Catena
http://www.bigapplebellydance.org
Boucarou Lounge
http://www.boucaroulounge.com
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
Lynn Neuman: Body and Soul podcast
Lynn Neuman, the talented artistic director of Artichoke Dance Company, is currently showing her new work, “If You See Something...,” at Dixon Place. This evening-length piece is wrenching, both visually and aurally, which owes a lot to the physical and emotional courage of its performers–Toby Billowitz, Cary McWilliams, Melissa Riker and Neuman–as well as the intimacy of the space and an uncommon relationship to the audience.
BIO
Lynn Neuman is Artistic Director and co-founder of Artichoke Dance Company. Her movement style is the outgrowth of a background in gymnastics combined with eclectic dance training, including studies in Balinese dance, tango and contact improvisation. She enjoys meddling in other artistic mediums and treasures her dancers. Lynn has been commissioned by Peculiar Works Projects to create several multimedia works combining video and live performance, by Nexus Arts to choreograph numerous operas and by educational organizations to create works for students and pre-professional dancers. This summer, Lynn will serve as a guest mentor for the Dance Omi International Dance Collective. Ms. Neuman believes in the power of the arts to effect positive change in people’s lives and within communities. To this end, she works with youths and adults to promote cultural literacy and engage people in dance experiences. She has a BFA degree from the University of Michigan and MFA from Temple University.
EVENTS
“If You See Something...” continues at Dixon Place tonight and tomorrow (March 21-22) and next Thursday through Saturday (March 27-29) at 8pm. For reservations, call 212-219-0736 or email contact@dixonplace.org.
May 23-24: Artichoke presents selections from “Vic and Dee: Through the Years” at BRIC Studio as part of the Danspace Project Out of Space Series.
June 14-15: Artichoke premieres “UR Here,” a multi-site performance tour along 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.
LINKS
Artichoke Dance Company
http://www.artichokedance.org
Dixon Place
http://www.dixonplace.org
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
BIO
Lynn Neuman is Artistic Director and co-founder of Artichoke Dance Company. Her movement style is the outgrowth of a background in gymnastics combined with eclectic dance training, including studies in Balinese dance, tango and contact improvisation. She enjoys meddling in other artistic mediums and treasures her dancers. Lynn has been commissioned by Peculiar Works Projects to create several multimedia works combining video and live performance, by Nexus Arts to choreograph numerous operas and by educational organizations to create works for students and pre-professional dancers. This summer, Lynn will serve as a guest mentor for the Dance Omi International Dance Collective. Ms. Neuman believes in the power of the arts to effect positive change in people’s lives and within communities. To this end, she works with youths and adults to promote cultural literacy and engage people in dance experiences. She has a BFA degree from the University of Michigan and MFA from Temple University.
EVENTS
“If You See Something...” continues at Dixon Place tonight and tomorrow (March 21-22) and next Thursday through Saturday (March 27-29) at 8pm. For reservations, call 212-219-0736 or email contact@dixonplace.org.
May 23-24: Artichoke presents selections from “Vic and Dee: Through the Years” at BRIC Studio as part of the Danspace Project Out of Space Series.
June 14-15: Artichoke premieres “UR Here,” a multi-site performance tour along 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.
LINKS
Artichoke Dance Company
http://www.artichokedance.org
Dixon Place
http://www.dixonplace.org
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
Fun with Adrienne Truscott
Here's a fun interview with dancer-choreographer Adrienne Truscott by Celeste Sunderland of The Gothamist. Truscott's new work, Genesis, no!, continues through Saturday evening at Dance Theater Workshop.
Get rhythm with Alessandra Belloni
Body and Soul podcast interviewee Alessandra Belloni presents her workshop, Rhythm is The Cure at the New York Open Center, Sunday, April 6 (10am-5pm).
New York Open Center
83 Spring St # 1, Soho, Manhattan
212-219-9635
Admission: Open Center Members: $120 / Nonmembers: $130
email: aracelybrown@yahoo.com
Southern Italian folk dances and rituals are joyous and healing forms of music and dance therapy. In this workshop, we’ll learn ancient Neapolitan chants used to invoke the healing power of the sun and to honor the Black Madonna. In this way we request miracles and healing in our lives. A central part of the workshop will be learning the dance Pizzica Tarantata, which originated as a ritual to cure the mythical bite of the tarantula. In the Pizzica students will dance inside a circle of tambourine players. Each student will take a turn inside the circle, learning the fast steps and wild rhythms of the Pizzica. Part of the ritual takes place on the floor—on a white sheet, surrounded by red ribbons—and the dance involves spider-like movements, as if emerging from a spider web. We’ll also learn the Tammurriata, a sensual dance from Naples, and a Calabrian spinning dance similar to trance-inducing movements of Sufi dances. We’ll experience how dance, drumming and music allow us to release anxiety, relax sexual blocks, open the heart and liberate our expression. This brings the mind and body into a state of total relaxation.
Note: Participants will be barefoot. Women should wear skirts, and, if possible, everyone should wear white clothes. Please do not wear black. Tambourines will be provided, but you may bring your own.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Party with the zine
Gotta love this:
the zine: Promoting the art and ideas of the NYC-based dance community through Do-It-Yourself publication.
And here's the invite:
You are cordially invited to the ZINE RELEASE PARTY!
featuring performance, video, installation and readings by:
Chris Peck Maggie Bennett Rebecca Lubart Kai Kleinbard AUNTS Devika Wickremesinghe Rachel McKinstry Dorian Nuskind-Oder Adam Smith Richert Schnorr Sarah Young and Parapluie Gharana
Friday March 28 8pm
FREE!
Soundfix Lounge
110 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn
718-338-8090
Click here for more info or email: thezine.email@gmail.com.
Come celebrate Do-it-Yourself performance, publication and the release of zine #2!
Copies of the zine will be available to take home!
We will shamelessly ask for your support!
There will be dancing, cheer and merriment for all!
See you there!
Love,
the zine
the zine: Promoting the art and ideas of the NYC-based dance community through Do-It-Yourself publication.
And here's the invite:
You are cordially invited to the ZINE RELEASE PARTY!
featuring performance, video, installation and readings by:
Chris Peck Maggie Bennett Rebecca Lubart Kai Kleinbard AUNTS Devika Wickremesinghe Rachel McKinstry Dorian Nuskind-Oder Adam Smith Richert Schnorr Sarah Young and Parapluie Gharana
Friday March 28 8pm
FREE!
Soundfix Lounge
110 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn
718-338-8090
Click here for more info or email: thezine.email@gmail.com.
Come celebrate Do-it-Yourself performance, publication and the release of zine #2!
Copies of the zine will be available to take home!
We will shamelessly ask for your support!
There will be dancing, cheer and merriment for all!
See you there!
Love,
the zine
Learn how to avoid annoying people like me
Find out how when Andy Horwitz teaches his seminar on Press Materials & Press People at The Field (Tuesday, Mar 25, 6:30-9pm) He promises to reveal the keys to successful approaches to the press, including feedback on participants' materials. Bless his heart!
Get more details here.
Get more details here.
Linehan awhirl
Click here to catch up with an ongoing conversation between dancer-choreographers Daniel Linehan and Victoria Marks on Critical Correspondence.
Victoria Marks will present Not About Iraq at Danspace Project (March 27-29).
Bogliasco Foundation announces choreography fellowship
Bogliasco Foundation announces the availability of the Jerome Robbins Fellowship in Dance for American choreographers (Spring 2009)
Application deadline: April 15, 2008
The Bogliasco Foundation is pleased to announce that thanks to a generous grant from the Jerome Robbins Foundation, it will offer its fourth annual Special Fellowship in Dance to an American choreographer during the 2008-2009 academic year at the Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities, near Genoa, Italy. The one-month residency is intended for a single choreographer working on material for a future piece or on a solo work. Applicants are expected to demonstrate significant achievement commensurate with age and experience.
Under the terms of this award, the recipient's travel expenses of up to $1,000 will be paid and s/he will also receive a stipend of $1,000. Bogliasco Fellows are provided with full room and board, and given studios/offices with computers and internet access. Although the Bogliasco Foundation does not have the facilities to provide rehearsal space, it will be possible for a choreographer to have access to additional studio space in a room with playback equipment.
The 2007 Jerome Robbins Bogliasco Fellowship in Dance was awarded to Tiffany Mills.
The Bogliasco Foundation grants approximately 50 residential Fellowships during the academic year to qualified persons doing advanced creative work or scholarly research in the various disciplines of the arts and humanities. Fellows come from many different countries and may be accompanied by spouses or spouse-equivalent companions for all or part of their stay. They are housed in three villas, all of which offer spectacular views of the Mediterranean and Ligurian coastline, an inspiring setting that has proved to be a powerful stimulant for reflection and creativity.
Any choreographer who is interested in being considered for this special Fellowship needs to submit an application by April 15, 2008 for the winter/spring semester. Applications may be downloaded from at the Foundation's website or by sending an email request to info@bfny.org.
Announcements as to the recipients of all Special Fellowships are made on July 1.
We encourage interested candidates to visit the Foundation's website which provides more detailed information about the Liguria Study Center for Arts and Humanities and its Fellowship program.
Application deadline: April 15, 2008
The Bogliasco Foundation is pleased to announce that thanks to a generous grant from the Jerome Robbins Foundation, it will offer its fourth annual Special Fellowship in Dance to an American choreographer during the 2008-2009 academic year at the Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities, near Genoa, Italy. The one-month residency is intended for a single choreographer working on material for a future piece or on a solo work. Applicants are expected to demonstrate significant achievement commensurate with age and experience.
Under the terms of this award, the recipient's travel expenses of up to $1,000 will be paid and s/he will also receive a stipend of $1,000. Bogliasco Fellows are provided with full room and board, and given studios/offices with computers and internet access. Although the Bogliasco Foundation does not have the facilities to provide rehearsal space, it will be possible for a choreographer to have access to additional studio space in a room with playback equipment.
The 2007 Jerome Robbins Bogliasco Fellowship in Dance was awarded to Tiffany Mills.
The Bogliasco Foundation grants approximately 50 residential Fellowships during the academic year to qualified persons doing advanced creative work or scholarly research in the various disciplines of the arts and humanities. Fellows come from many different countries and may be accompanied by spouses or spouse-equivalent companions for all or part of their stay. They are housed in three villas, all of which offer spectacular views of the Mediterranean and Ligurian coastline, an inspiring setting that has proved to be a powerful stimulant for reflection and creativity.
Any choreographer who is interested in being considered for this special Fellowship needs to submit an application by April 15, 2008 for the winter/spring semester. Applications may be downloaded from at the Foundation's website or by sending an email request to info@bfny.org.
Announcements as to the recipients of all Special Fellowships are made on July 1.
We encourage interested candidates to visit the Foundation's website which provides more detailed information about the Liguria Study Center for Arts and Humanities and its Fellowship program.
The Turning World (26)
Obama speech on race: video and transcript
The New York Times, March 18, 2008
Obama and Race
by Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
Beyond America's Original Sin
by Roger Cohen, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
Groups Respond to Obama's Call for National Discussion About Race
by Larry Rohter and Michael Luo, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
The New York Times, March 18, 2008
Obama and Race
by Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
Beyond America's Original Sin
by Roger Cohen, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
Groups Respond to Obama's Call for National Discussion About Race
by Larry Rohter and Michael Luo, The New York Times, March 20, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Catching up...!
Another whirlwind week+ finds me needing to quickly catch up here. As Governor David Paterson would say, "It's Monday. Let's get to work!" Errrr..., okay, so it's Wednesday!
Credit where it's due: Times critic Gia Kourlas got it right in her review of Aviva Geismar's Line of Descent, which premiered last week at Dance New Amsterdam. So right in every way, in fact, that I was amazed to read the following sentence: "For a dance so intent on creating raw emotional characterizations, the lack of conviction among the dancers in delivering the text is most problematic." I remembered watching the dance and thinking one word over and over--unconvincing--and how jarring it was that Geismar's dancers were all notably fresh-faced, vibrant young women attempting to convey the emotional struggles of descendants of Holocaust survivors. For me, the lack of conviction Kourlas noted extended beyond the text to the embodiment of Geismar's idea itself.
Congrats to another Aviva: Last night, I attended An Evening with Dancing in the Streets--a reception, celebration and introduction to the coming season of Aviva Davidson's well-regarded site specific dance series. After welcomes from Davidson and board president Anthony Russell, we were treated to explosive performances by Larry Keigwin (AD of KEIGWIN + COMPANY), who later spoke of how his involvement with the program had refreshed his creativity, and Brandon Albright (AD of Hip Hop Generation Next, a Dancing in the Streets community project in Red Hook, Brooklyn) with his colleague Engine. (I hope to get Brandon--aka Peace--and Engine on Body and Soul podcast in the near future.) Most surprising was a loving and humorous statement from Michael Shaver, Chief Park Ranger of Governors Island National Monument which hosted a spectacular site presentation by Davidson's organization in 2006 at historic Fort Jay. Shaver's enthusiastic support for dance and for Davidson (shared by Robert Pirani, ED of Governors Island Alliance) gives me great hope that this extraordinary mound of land at the confluence of waters and winds will remain a powerful location for the arts.
St. Patrick?: Walking home from a show at Dixon Place on St. Patrick's night--which means dodging pubcrawling students and tourists but, since I'm talking about the East Village, the only thing unusual about that is the color green--it suddenly struck me that I'd forgotten something very important about St. Patrick. He's the Catholic saint identified with the voodoo loa Damballa, the snake god! St. Patrick, as the old myth would have it, rid Ireland of snakes (a euphemism for Catholicism conquering paganism). Afro-Atlantic people, who sought to retain something of the integrity of their traditional beliefs, always twisted what they learned of the Catholic saints to fit their own purposes. The Haitian slaves, for instance, decided that their "St. Patrick" was a big snake himself. With that saucy thought in mind, I continued my Paddy's Day walk with a jauntier step.
By the way, I was coming from a showing of Nile Ford's work-in-progress, In Search of the Invisible People, and you can read Claudia La Rocco's review here. You can read my Dance Magazine review...well, whenever they get around to posting it on the Web. I'll try to remember to tell you. And, yes, Ford and his manager gave both of us permission to review a work-in-progress.
Cranes falling from the sky: On my way to a Brainwave event on the Upper East Side, I passed through midtown east--luckily by subway--close to the time of last Saturday's crane accident. Let's get serious about putting an end to these terrible incidents in our city. I keep walking past that big one down here on the Bowery and giving it a wide berth.
Jonah Bokaer at Abrons Arts Center: You'll agree with me, surely, he's perfection. He could dance the phone book and be rivetting. After a while, though, you want more than the phone book. The notable thing about False Start (2007) is Bokaer's fine-tuned facility, previously noted. He moves like a kind of cyberposable doll. The Invention of Minus One, his premiered ensemble, is cleverly, brazenly overstuffed for the ADD Age. Keep watching this guy, though. How can you not?
Jeremy Nelson at Danspace Project: I liked watching fleet but surefooted Jeremy Nelson dance with his ensemble. He's beautiful.
Credit where it's due: Times critic Gia Kourlas got it right in her review of Aviva Geismar's Line of Descent, which premiered last week at Dance New Amsterdam. So right in every way, in fact, that I was amazed to read the following sentence: "For a dance so intent on creating raw emotional characterizations, the lack of conviction among the dancers in delivering the text is most problematic." I remembered watching the dance and thinking one word over and over--unconvincing--and how jarring it was that Geismar's dancers were all notably fresh-faced, vibrant young women attempting to convey the emotional struggles of descendants of Holocaust survivors. For me, the lack of conviction Kourlas noted extended beyond the text to the embodiment of Geismar's idea itself.
Congrats to another Aviva: Last night, I attended An Evening with Dancing in the Streets--a reception, celebration and introduction to the coming season of Aviva Davidson's well-regarded site specific dance series. After welcomes from Davidson and board president Anthony Russell, we were treated to explosive performances by Larry Keigwin (AD of KEIGWIN + COMPANY), who later spoke of how his involvement with the program had refreshed his creativity, and Brandon Albright (AD of Hip Hop Generation Next, a Dancing in the Streets community project in Red Hook, Brooklyn) with his colleague Engine. (I hope to get Brandon--aka Peace--and Engine on Body and Soul podcast in the near future.) Most surprising was a loving and humorous statement from Michael Shaver, Chief Park Ranger of Governors Island National Monument which hosted a spectacular site presentation by Davidson's organization in 2006 at historic Fort Jay. Shaver's enthusiastic support for dance and for Davidson (shared by Robert Pirani, ED of Governors Island Alliance) gives me great hope that this extraordinary mound of land at the confluence of waters and winds will remain a powerful location for the arts.
St. Patrick?: Walking home from a show at Dixon Place on St. Patrick's night--which means dodging pubcrawling students and tourists but, since I'm talking about the East Village, the only thing unusual about that is the color green--it suddenly struck me that I'd forgotten something very important about St. Patrick. He's the Catholic saint identified with the voodoo loa Damballa, the snake god! St. Patrick, as the old myth would have it, rid Ireland of snakes (a euphemism for Catholicism conquering paganism). Afro-Atlantic people, who sought to retain something of the integrity of their traditional beliefs, always twisted what they learned of the Catholic saints to fit their own purposes. The Haitian slaves, for instance, decided that their "St. Patrick" was a big snake himself. With that saucy thought in mind, I continued my Paddy's Day walk with a jauntier step.
By the way, I was coming from a showing of Nile Ford's work-in-progress, In Search of the Invisible People, and you can read Claudia La Rocco's review here. You can read my Dance Magazine review...well, whenever they get around to posting it on the Web. I'll try to remember to tell you. And, yes, Ford and his manager gave both of us permission to review a work-in-progress.
Cranes falling from the sky: On my way to a Brainwave event on the Upper East Side, I passed through midtown east--luckily by subway--close to the time of last Saturday's crane accident. Let's get serious about putting an end to these terrible incidents in our city. I keep walking past that big one down here on the Bowery and giving it a wide berth.
Jonah Bokaer at Abrons Arts Center: You'll agree with me, surely, he's perfection. He could dance the phone book and be rivetting. After a while, though, you want more than the phone book. The notable thing about False Start (2007) is Bokaer's fine-tuned facility, previously noted. He moves like a kind of cyberposable doll. The Invention of Minus One, his premiered ensemble, is cleverly, brazenly overstuffed for the ADD Age. Keep watching this guy, though. How can you not?
Jeremy Nelson at Danspace Project: I liked watching fleet but surefooted Jeremy Nelson dance with his ensemble. He's beautiful.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Tobias on a life of indulgence
Unhooked: Personal Indulgences No. 7
by Tobi Tobias, Seeing Things blog, ArtsJournal.com
My friend and colleague Tobi concludes this essay with "some people even think I can write." She can, and she's funny, too.
by Tobi Tobias, Seeing Things blog, ArtsJournal.com
My friend and colleague Tobi concludes this essay with "some people even think I can write." She can, and she's funny, too.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Queens Summer Residency for Choreographers
Call for Proposals for Dance in Queens: Summer Residency 2008
Deadline: April 25, 2008 (postmarked)
TOPAZ ARTS and Queens Museum of Art announce a call for artist proposals for the sixth annual Dance in Queens summer residency and performance series. Four choreographers will be selected from a competitive application process. Awardees will receive free rehearsal space, a stipend of $500 and a public presentation of their work at the Queens Museum. New this year, rehearsals will take place both within the galleries of the museum and at TOPAZ ARTS during June-August 2008. Choreographers from all five boroughs of New York City may apply.
Click here to download current guidelines and application form.
Application seminar & walk-through at the Queens Museum of Art
Saturday, March 22 (3:30pm) with Paz Tanjuaquio (Topaz Arts) and Hitomi Iwasaki (Associate Curator QMA)
Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend this free application seminar. This is an opportunity to tour the museum where rehearsals and performances will take place. The application process, review criteria, and questions will be covered. Learn how proposals can be strengthened and see the available galleries that can be used as a performance space. For directions to Queens Museum of Art, click here.
Dance in Queens residency began in Summer 2003 as a collaborative project between TOPAZ ARTS and Queens Museum of Art. Dance in Queens is funded, in part, by American Express, Independence Community Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. founded in 2000 by artists Todd Richmond and Paz Tanjuaquio, fosters the creative process, producing new works and provides public programs for contemporary dance, new music and visual arts. TOPAZ ARTS maintains a 2,500 sq. ft. multidisciplinary arts center in Woodside, Queens which includes a dance rehearsal space, audio room, and gallery. Providing affordable space, technical support, residencies and presentation opportunities, TOPAZ ARTS enables artists to realize their projects and the process shared with audiences. For more info, click here.
The Queens Museum of Art was established in 1972 to provide a vital cultural center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park for the borough's unique, international population. The Queens Museum of Art is home to the Panorama of the City of New York, a 9,335 square foot scale model of the five boroughs, and a collection of Tiffany glass from the Neustadt Museum of Tiffany Art. The museum presents changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art that reflect the area's cultural diversity. Click here for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events.
TOPAZ ARTS, Inc.
Co-Directors: Todd Richmond and Paz Tanjuaquio
ph/fax: 718.505.0440
info@topazarts.org
Deadline: April 25, 2008 (postmarked)
TOPAZ ARTS and Queens Museum of Art announce a call for artist proposals for the sixth annual Dance in Queens summer residency and performance series. Four choreographers will be selected from a competitive application process. Awardees will receive free rehearsal space, a stipend of $500 and a public presentation of their work at the Queens Museum. New this year, rehearsals will take place both within the galleries of the museum and at TOPAZ ARTS during June-August 2008. Choreographers from all five boroughs of New York City may apply.
Click here to download current guidelines and application form.
Application seminar & walk-through at the Queens Museum of Art
Saturday, March 22 (3:30pm) with Paz Tanjuaquio (Topaz Arts) and Hitomi Iwasaki (Associate Curator QMA)
Applicants are strongly encouraged to attend this free application seminar. This is an opportunity to tour the museum where rehearsals and performances will take place. The application process, review criteria, and questions will be covered. Learn how proposals can be strengthened and see the available galleries that can be used as a performance space. For directions to Queens Museum of Art, click here.
Dance in Queens residency began in Summer 2003 as a collaborative project between TOPAZ ARTS and Queens Museum of Art. Dance in Queens is funded, in part, by American Express, Independence Community Foundation, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
TOPAZ ARTS, Inc. founded in 2000 by artists Todd Richmond and Paz Tanjuaquio, fosters the creative process, producing new works and provides public programs for contemporary dance, new music and visual arts. TOPAZ ARTS maintains a 2,500 sq. ft. multidisciplinary arts center in Woodside, Queens which includes a dance rehearsal space, audio room, and gallery. Providing affordable space, technical support, residencies and presentation opportunities, TOPAZ ARTS enables artists to realize their projects and the process shared with audiences. For more info, click here.
The Queens Museum of Art was established in 1972 to provide a vital cultural center in Flushing Meadows Corona Park for the borough's unique, international population. The Queens Museum of Art is home to the Panorama of the City of New York, a 9,335 square foot scale model of the five boroughs, and a collection of Tiffany glass from the Neustadt Museum of Tiffany Art. The museum presents changing exhibitions of modern and contemporary art that reflect the area's cultural diversity. Click here for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events.
TOPAZ ARTS, Inc.
Co-Directors: Todd Richmond and Paz Tanjuaquio
ph/fax: 718.505.0440
info@topazarts.org
Dunya Dianne McPherson: Body and Soul podcast
Dancer and Sufi teacher Dunya Dianne McPherson’s new memoir–Skin of Glass: Finding Spirit in the Flesh–tells of her exploration of the multisensory intelligence and wisdom of her body. In our interview, she retraces the path that led her to her embodied spiritual practice and reads from her extraordinary book.
BIO
Dunya Dianne McPherson is an acclaimed dancer and choreographer, writer, filmmaker, and Master Teacher. As founder and Principal Teacher of the healing movement practice, Dancemeditation, she specializes in techniques that open the wonderment of deep, subtle, peaceful self-perception.
She received her BFA in dance from Juilliard and her MA in Writing from Lesley University. She was an Artist Scholar at Columbia University. With the completion of 1,001 days of Sufi training, she was given teaching permission by Sufi Master, Adnan Sarhan (Sufi Foundation of America). Her numerous teaching credits include: Barnard College, Montclair State College, Mark Morris Dance Center, Hunter College, Oberlin College, Swarthmore College, New York Open Center and Kripalu Center. Awards include: National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Choreography Commission, TX & MA Arts Council grants. She is featured in the film ‘Dances of Ecstasy.’ Dunya lives in New York City.
UPCOMING EVENT
Sunday, April 6 (3pm): “Skin of Glass” book launch, featuring performance by Alembic, saxophonist Premik Tubbs and Ensemble, film and photographs, reading, tea and book signing.
Location: Metropolitan Building, 11-04 44th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens.
RSVP: info@dancemeditationbooks.com
LINK
Dunya’s Dancemeditation blog
http://blog.dancemeditation.org/
Dervish Society of America
http://dancemeditation.org/
"Skin of Glass"
http://www.dancemeditationbooks.com/skinofglass/
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
BIO
Dunya Dianne McPherson is an acclaimed dancer and choreographer, writer, filmmaker, and Master Teacher. As founder and Principal Teacher of the healing movement practice, Dancemeditation, she specializes in techniques that open the wonderment of deep, subtle, peaceful self-perception.
She received her BFA in dance from Juilliard and her MA in Writing from Lesley University. She was an Artist Scholar at Columbia University. With the completion of 1,001 days of Sufi training, she was given teaching permission by Sufi Master, Adnan Sarhan (Sufi Foundation of America). Her numerous teaching credits include: Barnard College, Montclair State College, Mark Morris Dance Center, Hunter College, Oberlin College, Swarthmore College, New York Open Center and Kripalu Center. Awards include: National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Choreography Commission, TX & MA Arts Council grants. She is featured in the film ‘Dances of Ecstasy.’ Dunya lives in New York City.
UPCOMING EVENT
Sunday, April 6 (3pm): “Skin of Glass” book launch, featuring performance by Alembic, saxophonist Premik Tubbs and Ensemble, film and photographs, reading, tea and book signing.
Location: Metropolitan Building, 11-04 44th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens.
RSVP: info@dancemeditationbooks.com
LINK
Dunya’s Dancemeditation blog
http://blog.dancemeditation.org/
Dervish Society of America
http://dancemeditation.org/
"Skin of Glass"
http://www.dancemeditationbooks.com/skinofglass/
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
Productive: An Interactive Audio Workshop
Productive:
An Interactive Audio Workshop
Led by sound designer Norm Scott and director/choreographer Martha Williams
Sunday April 6, 10 AM to 4 PM - $50 (12 person limit)
Harvest Works
596 Broadway, Suite 602 (between Houston and Prince Streets)
Pre-payment required. Space is limited to 12 participants. To register, click here (classes/audio).
For questions about content, please email Martha Williams at info@themovementmovement.org or call 917-531-1171.
Funded in part through the Meet the Composer's MetLife Creative Connections program.
Norm Scott
Norm Scott has been recording and archiving sound since he was five years old. After touring the world for a year with Up With People, he received a B.S. in art from James Madison University in 1999, specializing in sculpture and interdisciplinary work. Combining a unique brand of visual language with a fondness for electronic tinkering, Norm believes that the combination of blue-collar work and art production were inextricably connected, in often synchronous and magical ways, and the "art/career" connection has been a subject of fascination ever since. From 2003 to 2004, Norm attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, Arizona, and subsequently moved to New York. As studio manager at Harmonic Ranch, a post-production facility in Tribeca, he worked with a number of artists and filmmakers, including Lee Ranaldo, Gerard Malanga, Henry Hills, Martina Kudlacek, Ivy Nicholson, Lea Rekow, and Rev. Billy. He was also privileged to collaborate and work with choreographers including Karen Bernard, Aspa Yaga, Jeanette Stoner, Martha Williams, Jonathan Hollander, Jane Comfort, Douglas Dunn, and Noemie Lafrance. In 2005, Norm collaborated with composer Brooks Williams to create a multi-channel musical score for Noemie Lafrance's Agora.
Martha Williams
Training in New York City since 1998, dancing and acting with various artists and working as an independent choreographer since 2000, Ms. Williams creates theatrical, site-specific and filmic dance works. Ms. Williams was inspired to do film after seeing Bones in Pages by Saburo Teshigawara in January 2005. Shortly thereafter, she began to create the choreography for
Broken Rose Portal, then called Shattered. Ms. Williams is drawn to the visual control of film, its potential penchant towards abstraction and the prospective reachability of film to more audiences. Ms. Williams' most recent non-film creation includes site-specific work, Stacked, performed by eleven artists around the architecture of an old 7,000 sq ft retail store in lower
Manhattan. The audience moved through a series of nine intimate dressing rooms and into a main retail space where live steaming/mixed video and sound from the changing rooms filled the space. This project included 9 dance artists/choreographers including: Scotty the Blue Bunny, Eric Bradley, Clare Byrne, Alberto Denis, Jen Kosky, Amy Larimer, Peter Sciscioli, Vicky Virgin and Luke Wiley; 2 visualists, Chris Jordon (ceej), Zarah Cabanas (firefly) and 1 sound artist, Daniel Smith (newclueless). In 2005, Ms. Williams also created Dancing Gates Project a large-scale, impromptu, dance installation with 50 dancers at the Gates, Central Park. Ms. Williams most significant theater work (co-created with Pascal Rekoert) was the socially-minded and humorous Burger Nation (2004) inspired by Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. Since 2000, 13 smaller works have been presented locally at Joe's Pub dancenow/dancemOpolitan, Catch Series/Gallapogos Art Space, Chashama Deli Dances, The Flea Theater, The Photographic Gallery, The Puffin Room, Dumbo Dance Festival, WAX Works, Dance New Amsterdam Works in Progress, HATCH Presenting Series Jennifer Muller/The Works, SWEAT Modern Dance Out of Doors, The Bridge for Dance, The Construction Company & Art X Festival. Abroad, she has been presented at Sage Club, Berlin, Germany, working in collaboration with fashion artists Showroom XS. Before officially heeding her call as an artist, Ms. Williams was studying anthropology and gathering ideas on the basketball court at George Washington University as a Division 1 scholarship athlete and professionally in Turkey and France.
An Interactive Audio Workshop
Led by sound designer Norm Scott and director/choreographer Martha Williams
- for curious artists, dancers/choreographers, video-ists; students of all of these who want to interface their medium with sound or want to learn about sound making process
- for productivity specialists who want to understand productivity by exploring the dimension of sound
- for lay people who are interested in the compositional process
Sunday April 6, 10 AM to 4 PM - $50 (12 person limit)
Harvest Works
596 Broadway, Suite 602 (between Houston and Prince Streets)
Pre-payment required. Space is limited to 12 participants. To register, click here (classes/audio).
For questions about content, please email Martha Williams at info@themovementmovement.org or call 917-531-1171.
Funded in part through the Meet the Composer's MetLife Creative Connections program.
Norm Scott
Norm Scott has been recording and archiving sound since he was five years old. After touring the world for a year with Up With People, he received a B.S. in art from James Madison University in 1999, specializing in sculpture and interdisciplinary work. Combining a unique brand of visual language with a fondness for electronic tinkering, Norm believes that the combination of blue-collar work and art production were inextricably connected, in often synchronous and magical ways, and the "art/career" connection has been a subject of fascination ever since. From 2003 to 2004, Norm attended the Conservatory of Recording Arts and Sciences in Tempe, Arizona, and subsequently moved to New York. As studio manager at Harmonic Ranch, a post-production facility in Tribeca, he worked with a number of artists and filmmakers, including Lee Ranaldo, Gerard Malanga, Henry Hills, Martina Kudlacek, Ivy Nicholson, Lea Rekow, and Rev. Billy. He was also privileged to collaborate and work with choreographers including Karen Bernard, Aspa Yaga, Jeanette Stoner, Martha Williams, Jonathan Hollander, Jane Comfort, Douglas Dunn, and Noemie Lafrance. In 2005, Norm collaborated with composer Brooks Williams to create a multi-channel musical score for Noemie Lafrance's Agora.
Martha Williams
Training in New York City since 1998, dancing and acting with various artists and working as an independent choreographer since 2000, Ms. Williams creates theatrical, site-specific and filmic dance works. Ms. Williams was inspired to do film after seeing Bones in Pages by Saburo Teshigawara in January 2005. Shortly thereafter, she began to create the choreography for
Broken Rose Portal, then called Shattered. Ms. Williams is drawn to the visual control of film, its potential penchant towards abstraction and the prospective reachability of film to more audiences. Ms. Williams' most recent non-film creation includes site-specific work, Stacked, performed by eleven artists around the architecture of an old 7,000 sq ft retail store in lower
Manhattan. The audience moved through a series of nine intimate dressing rooms and into a main retail space where live steaming/mixed video and sound from the changing rooms filled the space. This project included 9 dance artists/choreographers including: Scotty the Blue Bunny, Eric Bradley, Clare Byrne, Alberto Denis, Jen Kosky, Amy Larimer, Peter Sciscioli, Vicky Virgin and Luke Wiley; 2 visualists, Chris Jordon (ceej), Zarah Cabanas (firefly) and 1 sound artist, Daniel Smith (newclueless). In 2005, Ms. Williams also created Dancing Gates Project a large-scale, impromptu, dance installation with 50 dancers at the Gates, Central Park. Ms. Williams most significant theater work (co-created with Pascal Rekoert) was the socially-minded and humorous Burger Nation (2004) inspired by Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. Since 2000, 13 smaller works have been presented locally at Joe's Pub dancenow/dancemOpolitan, Catch Series/Gallapogos Art Space, Chashama Deli Dances, The Flea Theater, The Photographic Gallery, The Puffin Room, Dumbo Dance Festival, WAX Works, Dance New Amsterdam Works in Progress, HATCH Presenting Series Jennifer Muller/The Works, SWEAT Modern Dance Out of Doors, The Bridge for Dance, The Construction Company & Art X Festival. Abroad, she has been presented at Sage Club, Berlin, Germany, working in collaboration with fashion artists Showroom XS. Before officially heeding her call as an artist, Ms. Williams was studying anthropology and gathering ideas on the basketball court at George Washington University as a Division 1 scholarship athlete and professionally in Turkey and France.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
Tough times in Boston
Boston Ballet to Cut Nearly 20% of Dancers in Company
by Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, March 14, 2008
by Daniel J. Wakin, The New York Times, March 14, 2008
Bronx Riverdance
For Bronx School's Dancers, the Moves are Irish
by Elissa Gootman, The New York Times, March 14, 2008
by Elissa Gootman, The New York Times, March 14, 2008
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Jeff Larson: Body and Soul podcast
Jeff Larson co-curates the enormously popular Catch performance series with Andrew Dinwiddie. He’s also co-curator of Movement Research’s Spring Festival 2008. Jeff called in today to talk about Artists’ Map, his new project for Movement Research.
You can submit your address to Artists' Map by emailing Jeff at jeff.larson@mac.com.
BIO
Jeff Larson is Associate Technical Director for Theatrical Production and Adjunct Faculty for the Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Together with Andrew Dinwiddie, he curates the Catch performance series. Jeff is also the co-founder of PHILIFOR & PHILIMOR productions. Current activities include: performing in HUGO with choreographer Chris Yon (DTW, Spring 2008); scenic design for Beth Gill's “Eleanor & Eleanor” (DTW, Fall 2008); “The Principle of Trim,” the second short video of two with longtime collaborator Zach Steel (Spring 2008); co-curating the Movement Research Spring Festival (Spring 08); and a project centered around the life of militant abolitionist John Brown (Fall 2009).
LINKS
CATCH
htpp://www.catchseries.org
MOVEMENT RESEARCH FESTIVAL
http://www.movementresearch.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
You can submit your address to Artists' Map by emailing Jeff at jeff.larson@mac.com.
BIO
Jeff Larson is Associate Technical Director for Theatrical Production and Adjunct Faculty for the Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Together with Andrew Dinwiddie, he curates the Catch performance series. Jeff is also the co-founder of PHILIFOR & PHILIMOR productions. Current activities include: performing in HUGO with choreographer Chris Yon (DTW, Spring 2008); scenic design for Beth Gill's “Eleanor & Eleanor” (DTW, Fall 2008); “The Principle of Trim,” the second short video of two with longtime collaborator Zach Steel (Spring 2008); co-curating the Movement Research Spring Festival (Spring 08); and a project centered around the life of militant abolitionist John Brown (Fall 2009).
LINKS
CATCH
htpp://www.catchseries.org
MOVEMENT RESEARCH FESTIVAL
http://www.movementresearch.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
Carrie Ahern: Body and Soul podcast
My guest, Carrie Ahern, is a dancer and an independent choreographer whose work shows a powerful sense of visual order and psychological depth. We met in the dressing room at St. Mark's Church, home of Danspace Project, to talk about "Red," which premiered there in 2006, and her new piece--"The Unity of Skin"--which will premiere on April 3 and run through April 5.
To listen to original music composed for "The Unity of Skin" by cellist Greg Heffernan, visit http://www.carrieahern.com/calendar/calendar.html.
BIO
Carrie Ahern, a Wisconsin native, is an independent dance and performance artist who has been based in New York City since 1995. She worked primarily as a freelance performer/choreographer for over a dozen dance and theater companies until forming Carrie Ahern Dance in 2005. Her current evening length project, "The Unity of Skin" is commissioned by Danspace Project for performances April 3-5, 2008 and is being presented at Baltimore Theatre Project March 6-9, 2008. Investigations into "The Unity of Skin" were shown at Dance Conversations at the Flea, Danceworks in Milwaukee, Movement Research at Judson Church and at Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) as part of their 2007 Space Grant Residency. Her studies of Ancient Greek Philosophy for this piece were funded, in part, by Fractured Atlas' Creative Development Grant. Carrie's first evening length work "Red" (2006) was commissioned both by Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church and the Guggenheim Works-and Process Series.
Her shorter works have been seen at over a dozen venues in New York City such as Danspace Project, P.S.122, Dixon Place, the Angel Orensanz Foundation, Dance Space Center (now DNA), Chashama, The Flea and Soundance among others. Nationally and internationally, her work has been presented at Baltimore Theatre Project, Danceworks and Walker's Point Arts Center in Milwaukee, Le Regard du Cygne in Paris and at the Festival D'OFF in Avignon, France. She self-produced two seasons in conjunction with her frequent collaborator, Jennifer A. Cooper: "Alteregomania" at Cunningham in 1999 and "Exploding Plastic Acorns" at the Williamsburg Art Nexus (WAX) in 2003. In 2002, Bessie award winning dancer Carolyn Hall commissioned a solo, with an original score by Grammy award winner Matt Darriau and Ivan Goff. As a performer Carrie has had the pleasure of working with many artists here in New York City including, Pat Cremins/Wyoming, Heather Kravas, Heidi Latsky, Allyson Green, Nina Winthrop, Jeffrey Frace, Ridge Theater, Donna Bouthillier and Jennifer A. Cooper.
Upcoming choreographic experiments include a collaborative effort with The Nietzsche Circle -the exciting and daunting task of using Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zaranthustra" as a jumping off point for a dance. She is exploring remounting 2006's "Red" for the crumbling and infamous Eastern State Penitentiary.
Ahern is a sought-after teacher of pilates and yoga throughout NYC. She has taught improvisation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and dance technique in the New York City Public Schools.
LINKS
Carrie Ahern
http://www.carrieahern.com
Greg Heffernan (composer)
http://www.gregheffernan.com
Agata Oleksiak (visual designer)
http://www.agataolek.com
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org/
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
To listen to original music composed for "The Unity of Skin" by cellist Greg Heffernan, visit http://www.carrieahern.com/calendar/calendar.html.
BIO
Carrie Ahern, a Wisconsin native, is an independent dance and performance artist who has been based in New York City since 1995. She worked primarily as a freelance performer/choreographer for over a dozen dance and theater companies until forming Carrie Ahern Dance in 2005. Her current evening length project, "The Unity of Skin" is commissioned by Danspace Project for performances April 3-5, 2008 and is being presented at Baltimore Theatre Project March 6-9, 2008. Investigations into "The Unity of Skin" were shown at Dance Conversations at the Flea, Danceworks in Milwaukee, Movement Research at Judson Church and at Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) as part of their 2007 Space Grant Residency. Her studies of Ancient Greek Philosophy for this piece were funded, in part, by Fractured Atlas' Creative Development Grant. Carrie's first evening length work "Red" (2006) was commissioned both by Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church and the Guggenheim Works-and Process Series.
Her shorter works have been seen at over a dozen venues in New York City such as Danspace Project, P.S.122, Dixon Place, the Angel Orensanz Foundation, Dance Space Center (now DNA), Chashama, The Flea and Soundance among others. Nationally and internationally, her work has been presented at Baltimore Theatre Project, Danceworks and Walker's Point Arts Center in Milwaukee, Le Regard du Cygne in Paris and at the Festival D'OFF in Avignon, France. She self-produced two seasons in conjunction with her frequent collaborator, Jennifer A. Cooper: "Alteregomania" at Cunningham in 1999 and "Exploding Plastic Acorns" at the Williamsburg Art Nexus (WAX) in 2003. In 2002, Bessie award winning dancer Carolyn Hall commissioned a solo, with an original score by Grammy award winner Matt Darriau and Ivan Goff. As a performer Carrie has had the pleasure of working with many artists here in New York City including, Pat Cremins/Wyoming, Heather Kravas, Heidi Latsky, Allyson Green, Nina Winthrop, Jeffrey Frace, Ridge Theater, Donna Bouthillier and Jennifer A. Cooper.
Upcoming choreographic experiments include a collaborative effort with The Nietzsche Circle -the exciting and daunting task of using Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zaranthustra" as a jumping off point for a dance. She is exploring remounting 2006's "Red" for the crumbling and infamous Eastern State Penitentiary.
Ahern is a sought-after teacher of pilates and yoga throughout NYC. She has taught improvisation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and dance technique in the New York City Public Schools.
LINKS
Carrie Ahern
http://www.carrieahern.com
Greg Heffernan (composer)
http://www.gregheffernan.com
Agata Oleksiak (visual designer)
http://www.agataolek.com
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org/
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
MP3 File
Bjork + Elam = Wanderlust
Body and Soul interviewee Chris Elam invites you to Bjork’s Wanderlust Screening @ Deitch tonight!
Can't make it? You can catch another screening on Friday evening at the American Museum of Natural History. For those details, click here.
Can't make it? You can catch another screening on Friday evening at the American Museum of Natural History. For those details, click here.
The Yard announces residencies and apprenticeships
2009 Company Residency at The Yard
Application deadline: April 7, 2008
Guidelines and application
The Yard Company Residency is an opportunity for working dance companies to spend four weeks creating new material undisturbed by outside obligations. The residency includes housing, work space, a company stipend, technical and administrative support, mentoring, and concert performances of new work.
2008 Company Residents are Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance and Charles Anderson's dance theatre X.
"The depth and amount of choreography we were able to achieve at The Yard were outstanding; we were able to eat, sleep, and breathe our art! Living together 24/7 bonded the company, and that experience directly fed the richness of our choreographic process. The beautiful and peaceful studios, house, land, and island, made working hard feel like a vacation." -- Chris Elam, Misnomer Dance Theater (The Yard, 2007)
*******************************
Perform at The Yard this Summer
Doris Humphrey Dance Apprenticeship with Gail Corbin
Auditions: April 21, 2008
6:00 - 9:00 pm
New York City
Registration form
The Doris Humphrey Dance Apprenticeship is an opportunity for Yard interns to perform a reconstruction of Doris Humphrey's classic Water Study under the direction of Gail Corbin. In addition to regular internship duties, apprentices will receive intensive training in Humphrey/Weidman/Limon technique. Water Study will be included in a concert of contemporary and classic masterworks of Modern Dance at The Yard, August 22-24.
Professional dancers who have already completed their college dance studies and have an interest in exploring early classic modern dance are encouraged to apply for this internship.
Yard interns receive housing, the opportunity to take company and/or community classes at The Yard, free admission to all Yard events and receptions, and use of rehearsal space when available.
Application deadline: April 7, 2008
Guidelines and application
The Yard Company Residency is an opportunity for working dance companies to spend four weeks creating new material undisturbed by outside obligations. The residency includes housing, work space, a company stipend, technical and administrative support, mentoring, and concert performances of new work.
2008 Company Residents are Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance and Charles Anderson's dance theatre X.
"The depth and amount of choreography we were able to achieve at The Yard were outstanding; we were able to eat, sleep, and breathe our art! Living together 24/7 bonded the company, and that experience directly fed the richness of our choreographic process. The beautiful and peaceful studios, house, land, and island, made working hard feel like a vacation." -- Chris Elam, Misnomer Dance Theater (The Yard, 2007)
*******************************
Perform at The Yard this Summer
Doris Humphrey Dance Apprenticeship with Gail Corbin
Auditions: April 21, 2008
6:00 - 9:00 pm
New York City
Registration form
The Doris Humphrey Dance Apprenticeship is an opportunity for Yard interns to perform a reconstruction of Doris Humphrey's classic Water Study under the direction of Gail Corbin. In addition to regular internship duties, apprentices will receive intensive training in Humphrey/Weidman/Limon technique. Water Study will be included in a concert of contemporary and classic masterworks of Modern Dance at The Yard, August 22-24.
Professional dancers who have already completed their college dance studies and have an interest in exploring early classic modern dance are encouraged to apply for this internship.
Yard interns receive housing, the opportunity to take company and/or community classes at The Yard, free admission to all Yard events and receptions, and use of rehearsal space when available.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Scherr upgrades Macaulay report card
In Macaulay Watch, dance blogger (Foot in Mouth) and journalist (Newsday) Apollinaire Scherr considers the Times's top guy's on-the-job training and manages to upgrade his marks. Lately, though, I think the Times should be doing a better job all around. With its overall rollout of dance writing that ranges from lethargic to vitriolic, does anyone really think the Times is giving the dance capital of America the coverage it needs and deserves?
DTW wants your opinion
Dance Theater Workshop's Megan Sprenger (Director of Marketing) wants your opinion on dance reality tv: Does it help increase audiences for contemporary dance? And if not, what new strategies might help? Leave your comments on DTW's blog.
Reviewed on DanceMagazine.com
Here's a lineup of my recent dance reviews on DanceMagazine.com:
Deborah Hay at Danspace Project (February 7-9)
Evidence, A Dance Company at The Joyce Theater (February 12-17)
Trisha Brown Dance Company at The Joyce Theater (February 5-10)
And look for my special feature on dancer-choreographer Aszure Barton in DM's April issue!
Deborah Hay at Danspace Project (February 7-9)
Evidence, A Dance Company at The Joyce Theater (February 12-17)
Trisha Brown Dance Company at The Joyce Theater (February 5-10)
And look for my special feature on dancer-choreographer Aszure Barton in DM's April issue!
Committee formed for Watermill Center residencies
Watermill Fall ‘08 and Spring ‘09 Residences to Be Selected by Committee from the Humanities and Sciences, Plus Founder Robert Wilson and Watermill Center Creative Director
Proposals due May 31
Located in a secluded, natural setting in Southampton, Long Island, New York, the Watermill Center is a one-of-a-kind laboratory for artists, students and individuals of all ages and backgrounds to explore the creative process. Through cross-disciplinary exploration, apprenticeship-style training with master artists, and creative exchange, the Center supports new work in all artistic disciplines, with a primary focus on inspiring a new generation of performers, artists and global citizens. This July, for the first time, a committee of eminent individuals from a diversity of fields will come together to select artists for the Center's prestigious residency program for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009.
The New York Times has called Robert Wilson “a towering figure in the world of experimental theater” and the Watermill Center “Wilson’s 21st Century Academy.” Wilson founded Watermill in 1992 and designed the building and grounds. The six-acre site also houses Wilson’s archives and his extensive art collection. Over the first 15 years of Watermill's existence, Wilson has developed most of his own work there, in addition to collaborating directly with other artists as host of Watermill's residencies. Many of the world’s most celebrated artists have participated in Watermill's programs, including Wilson peers and collaborators Trisha Brown, David Byrne, Lucinda Childs, Philip Glass, Isabelle Huppert, Jeanne Moreau, Lou Reed, Miranda Richardson, Dominique Sanda and Susan Sontag, to name a few.
Yet, the Watermill Center was always meant to exist apart from Wilson, to retain the spirit and methodology of his work well beyond his own career and lifetime by offering other, younger artists a place and resources to practice the essentials of Wilson’s approach for years to come. By furnishing emerging artists with the Center's unique environment for creation and exploration--including a network of peers, mentors and like-minded institutions--Watermill serves as a springboard for the future of the avant-garde. Since Watermill’s new facilities were inaugurated in July 2006, the Center’s Fall and Spring residency programs have hosted young artists of numerous cultural, social and religious backgrounds.
The appointment of a committee to select residencies for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009 is another move toward the future of Watermill. It will involve a highly talented group of people in curating Watermill programs. Their background in disciplines such as visual arts, performing arts, education/social sciences/sciences/politics, business/administration, journalism/literature, music/opera, film and entertainment will provide expertise in view of the widest possible range of applicants. The committee will consist of 16 members, eight of whom will be required to join Wilson and Watermill Creative Director Jörn Weisbrodt for the selection proceedings each July.
To date, the following individuals have agreed to be part of this inaugural committee: Marina Abramovic, Performance Artist, Serbia; Marie Claude Beaud, curator and Director of the Musee d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean, Luxembourg; Jonathan Safran Foer, Writer, USA; Alanna Heiss, Director PS1, USA; Dr. Jürgen Kluge, Director, McKinsey and Company, Inc., Germany; Xavier Le Roy, Choreographer and Performer, France; Albert Maysles, filmmaker, USA; Michael Morris, Co-Director, Artangel and Director, Cultural Industry UK; Gerard Mortier, General Manager of the Opera de Paris and General Manager elect of the New York City Opera, Belgium; Ida Nicolaisen, Anthropologist and President of the United Nations Permanent Forum of Indigenous Issues, Denmark; John Rockwell, Journalist, USA; Christoph Schlingensief, Film Maker, Visual Artist and Theater and Opera Director, Germany; Richard Sennett, Sociologist and Cultural Critic, New York University and London School of Economics, USA; Nike Wagner, Artistic Director, Kunstfest Weimar, Germany.
The committee’s selections will be based on artistic quality, originality and
collaborative/interdisciplinary nature. Committee members will look for diverse projects that fit within the facilities that the Center has to offer, and to applicants who demonstrate that the time at Watermill will be of significant benefit to the processes of their projects. The committee will also look for proposals that question, define and redefine the mission of the Watermill Center and centers for the arts and humanities in general. The Center is founded upon the conviction that the arts of the stage need to draw inspiration from all arts as well as from social, human and natural sciences; Watermill therefore embraces anyone from those fields with a strong interest in dialogue with the theater.
As part of the experience, all Watermill artists-in-residence are required to lead at least one lecture, master class, workshop, open rehearsal or other public event for local community members (adults and/or children) to provide insight into the creative process.
The residencies will take place in various durations between September 8 and December 12, 2008 (Fall), and between March 16 and June 12, 2009 (Spring). Proposals are due May 31; selected projects will be announced at the end of July 2008.
For information and an application, click here for Watermill Center.
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