Streb and Second Life Ballet in Kinetic Cinema on Feb 4th
Kinetic Cinema kicked off last month with a great program during the Dance On Camera Festival. Please join us for our second screening on Monday February 4th at 7:30pm at Collective:Unconscious in Tribeca. This time I have invited dance writer and educator, Brian McCormick to guest curate a program of films and videos that have inspired his work with dance. Brian's program evolves from his interest in video art, including early performance-based video, choreographies that exploit film's surrealistic potential, and the latest 3D virtual dance from the Second Life Ballet.
Come see a fascinating collection of rare videos that span the short and rich history of mediatized movement.
THE NUT by Second Life Ballet, photo: Cienega Soon
Kinetic Cinema Monday February 4th 7:30pm (and the first Monday of every month thereafter) $5 Admission (buy tickets at the door)
@ Collective:Unconscious 279 Church Street (just south of White Street) New York, NY 10013 Trains: 1 to Franklin; A, C, E to Canal www.weird.org Phone: 212.254.5277
Brian's program will feature ground-breaking experimental videos including Mary Lucier and Elizabeth Streb's 1987 collaboration "In the blink of an eye, Amphibian Dreams... If I could fly I would fly" (clickhere to preview an excerpt), plus a special live performance in Second Life (a virtual online world) of excerpts of "The Nut" (an abridged version of The Nutcracker) by Second Life Ballet, followed by a chat with artistic director Inarra Saarinen. These, plus many more surprises are in store!
Kinetic Cinema explores the intersection of dance and the moving image both on screen and stage. Each month curator Anna Brady Nuse invites a special guest from the dance community to share the films and videos that have inspired or moved them. These could be films that feature dance, are kinetic-based, or have been influential on their work in some way. The guest curators will come from a range of backgrounds as performers, choreographers, critics, and filmmakers. Upcoming guests include Malinda Allen (March 3rd), Jonah Bokaer (April 7th), Levi Gonzalez (May 5th), and Kriota Willberg (June 2nd).
I'm tired. It's the end of January and everything seems too much right now. After three weeks of the Dance On Camera Festival, Kinetic Cinema, APAP, grant deadlines looming, school starting, work going overtime, relentless presidential campaigns, and a never-ending war I'm just tired...
So, here is something that gave me a lift at 10:42pm on a Thursday night. Time to get up out of your chair, push it aside, and give in to an inscrutably optimistic force of nature...
Dancing 4 fun + fitness with Paul Eugene
Alright, now that you're warmed up, here is the final scene of one of my favorite dance movies of all time "Girls Just Want to Have Fun." (Warning: Age-specific content. People in their late twenties or early thirties may be the only ones to appreciate this.) This one goes out to my girl Nadine, who has been devoted to Sarah Jessica Parker since day one...
Ahhh, the smile is coming back to my face. Life isn't sooo bad...
One more to send me off to bed. From my favorite master of cinematic fantasy, Busby Berkeley, here are three incredible clips from his 1934 classic, "Dames". (For dance film geeks out there, see also Michel Gondry's music video of the Chemical Brothers "Let Forever Be", he obviously studied this film closely!)
January should be declared "Dance Film Month" here in New York City. The events just keep on coming! Here's a new announcement from Zach Morris, coordinator of the Dance Film Lab:
"Fünf 'n' Twist" by Anna Brady Nuse, photo: M. Saijo
Join us for a special Friday night Dance Film Lab as we celebrate our first meeting in our new home at Dance Theater Workshop! Please contact Zach Morris to RSVP. If you are interested in presenting material at this lab, we have room for one more artist to show work.
Meeting Details Dance Film Lab Friday, January 25, 8-10pm at Dance Theater Workshop (DTW) 219 West 19th Street (between 7th and 8th Aves) Phone: (212) 691-6500 Click Here for DTW's website
The Dance Film Lab is moderated and organized by Zach Morris (Third Rail Projects), produced and run with the assistance of Kathleen Green, and in cooperation with the Dance Films Association. Hosted by Dance Theater Workshop, this salon brings dance filmmakers together to present raw footage, drafts, works-in-progress and newly finished films to their peers for constructive feedback, to share information, and address technical, practical and artistic challenges. The lab is free and open to the public, though reservations are necessary.
Contact Zach Morris for more information and to RSVP.
Recent viewings of highly effective intermedia performances
This weekend I was involved in a couple of showcase events for the APAP conference (Association of Performing Arts Presenters) here in New York. Every year presenters and performing artists from the U.S. and around the globe converge at the Hilton in midtown Manhattan to pitch and book performance engagements. It's exciting and completely overwhelming. Every square inch of dance space in the city is used to showcase dance companies in the hopes of catching a presenter's eye. My APAP involvement centers around my workplace, Pentacle, which is an arts service organization that among other things, provides booking services for dance companies. I'm not involved in the booking department, however around APAP time, all hands need to be on deck to help run the showcases.
We organized two showcases this year for two groups of artists we represent, and I was happy to see that there were several companies: Bridgman/Packer Dance, Kinodance, Jonah Bokaer, and Troika Ranch that are integrating media in highly effective ways in their work. A couple of them I had known for a long time but never seen live, so this was a great opportunity to look at intermedia performance again with fresh eyes.
Generally, I'm a purist when it comes to dance and media. I like what matt gough calls "screendance" - dance on screen only. This is because I feel like dance is so engaging when produced well for screen that I don't want to be asked to look anywhere else when I watch it. However, I have experimented with using video projections in my own live dance pieces, and there are a few instances when I have been really impressed by media used in live work. Happily the performances I saw this weekend all expanded my views of media in live dance.
My usual gripe with intermedia performance is that the video projections tend to upstage the live action on stage. As soon as the video goes on, the dancers become dwarfed by the projection and seem to be little insects buzzing around the main event, which are the giant images on screen. Too few artists seem to understand the powerful pull video has on an audience's eyes, and they don't take this into account when designing their productions. For Bridgman/Packer and Kinodance however, this has been handled impeccably well.
Bridgman/Packer (Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer) is collaborative duo that began using video several years ago to multiply themselves on stage. In their performances, life size images of themselves appear and vanish just as the real them appear and vanish behind invisible curtains and hanging screens. The result is a moving tromp l'oeil (eye-trick) that is truly delightful. Their work is generally pretty light-hearted and fun, a welcome relief from the usual heavy modern dance fare. I have actually found myself smiling while watching their work, feeling the edges of my eyes crinkle, and and leaning forward in my seat to try to follow the dance better. It's almost therapeutic to be entertained by a dance performance these days, and Bridgman/Packer can deliver the goods. Photo: Bridgman/Packer's Under the Skin by Paul B. Goode
Here is a clip from Bridgman/Packer's Trilogy consisting of "Seductive Reasoning," "Under the Skin," and "Memory Bank."
"Fünf 'n' Twist" by Anna Brady Nuse, photo: M. Saijo
Bridgman/Packer (Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer) is collaborative duo that began using video several years ago to multiply themselves on stage. In their performances, life size images of themselves appear and vanish just as the real them appear and vanish behind invisible curtains and hanging screens. The result is a moving tromp l'oeil (eye-trick) that is truly delightful. Their work is generally pretty light-hearted and fun, a welcome relief from the usual heavy modern dance fare. I have actually found myself smiling while watching their work, feeling the edges of my eyes crinkle, and and leaning forward in my seat to try to follow the dance better. It's almost therapeutic to be entertained by a dance performance these days, and Bridgman/Packer can deliver the goods.