Watch video Interviews from American Realness 2013.
http://dance-tech.tv/tag/american-realness-2013/
NYC (36)
What does Jason Akira Somma’s installation “Phosphene Variations” recently on exhibit at Soho’s Location One have in common with Snoop Dogg’s performance with Tupac this last April in Coachella? Both are take-offs of Pepper’s Ghost, a centuries old illusion popularized by John Henry Pepper in 1862 in which an image is bounced off the floor onto an invisible screen.
Beyond that, the similarity ends. The music producer Dr. Dre sprinkled his gold dust on the California digital effects company Digital Domain to make possible Snoop Dogg’s appearance with the prolific rapper who was killed in 1995. The acclaimed event added little to an old trick other than context, where as Jason Akira Somma created a new chapter for dance presentation and preservation. Supported in part by the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, his liquid wall created with a start-up company, a horizontal flow of mist in which images can dance, is, as Le Figaro wrote, “a true revolution…stupefying poetry, humanity and invention.”
When he was ten, Somma saw a floating head, engineered with the method behind Pepper’s Ghost, in a “haunted house.” Little did he know that encounter would determine the direction of his artistic life. He re-created the effect while a dance student at Virginia Commonwealth University, which has a fertile dance film program led by Martha Curtis. After much back and forthing between dance and visual arts, Somma realized dance is a visual art. His approach gelled; his career zoomed, winning him accolades in both US and Europe and the coveted Rolex Mentorship with Dutch choreographer Jiri Kylian.
Somma has the instincts of a magician inclined to play with dual realities and those of an engineer who solves problems. Somma used 5 infra-red cameras for his multi-media show commissioned by Lyon Opera Ballet. Why infra-red, I asked him. He replied, "I like to incorporate science into my work that exposes other realities around us that we (can't) perceive. The one in which our naked eye can see and the one in which technology can see. I want to remind the world of all the possibilities and things that surround us at all points and time."
Dance legends Mikhail Baryshnikov, Carmen DeLavallade, Robert Wilson, Bill Shannon, and Jiri Kylian, among others, appear in the liquid walls, moving in a space no wider than the wings of your arms.
Imagine the chance to prepare your own ghost. Who can resist that? Sporting a waxed moustache, Somma (seen levitating left) set up with “Phosphene Variations” a vertical playground in which the viewer can reach out to touch a ghost who vanishes, only to be immediately replaced by another.
Location One, 26 Green Street, NYC presented “Phosphene Variations” September 12-October 3, 2012.
Closed earlier than schedule due to technical difficulties.
This Friday, we'll be streaming Misnomer Dance's new work, Time Lapse, live from the Joyce Soho. We hope you'll join us for a great night, a lively chat, and fantastic art.
We're also accepting submissions for video works to show during intermission and before the show. If you have work you'd like to screen, get in touch. Leave a comment or shoot me an email! We're featured on the livestream.com homepage so it'll surely be a great event.
It starts at 7:30 PM EST / 12:30 am GMT.
Related press :
My name is Oz Skinner, I am a graduate student at the New School for
Media Studies. I am writing because we partnered with your University
last year to promote our graduate studies conference: Critical Themes In
Media Studies, and we were hoping to partner again this year. I have
attached a copy of the press release in the hopes that you will
advertise our event to your students. We anticipate that members of your
student body will be interested in our academic conference. If you have
any questions about the conference or any of the information presented
in the press release please contact me at Ozskinner@gmail.com or by
phone at 530-828-0631.
*11th ANNUAL CRITICAL THEMES IN MEDIA STUDIES CONFERENCE AT THE NEW SCHOOL
*/Innovative Scholarly Research at the Intersection of Media and Society
/Hosted by The New School Department of Media Studies and Film
and the Art, Media & Technology Department at Parsons the New School for
Design
*April 15 & 16, 2011, New York NY. The 11th Annual Critical Themes
Conference at the New School will bring together students from across
the globe to present interdisciplinary, theoretical, and critical
approaches to a broad range of media studies. This year’s theme,
*/Multimodal Scholarship/*, explores how we in Media Studies might
transform the media technologies that have traditionally been our
research subjects, into research tools, and thereby “open up fresh
avenues” of creative scholarship.
The two-day conference will kick off with a panel discussion entitled
“The Multimodal Dissertation” in which PhD students Jennifer Heuson,
Veronica Paredes, and Carlin Wing will present their experiences with
multimodal research work. Following this will be an opening keynote
address from Professor Clay Shirky of the Interactive Telecommunications
Program at New York University. Saturday will continue with a full day
of student presentations, and will conclude with a closing keynote
address by Wendy Hui Kyong Chun, Professor of Modern Culture and Media
at Brown University. Since the initial conference in 2000, Critical
Themes has grown into a leading forum for showcasing research papers
from graduate students pushing the boundaries of academic research. This
year the conference continues this trend as it welcomes student scholars
from eighteen universities spanning six countries.
For a full schedule of panels and event locations, visit
*_http://criticalthemes.net/2011/schedule/
_*
###
Follow us on Twitter: @criticalthemes
Join us on Facebook:
<_http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#%21/group.php?gid=30045960781_>
If you would like more information about this conference please contact
Oz Skinner at 530-828-0631 or at Ozskinner@gmail.com
Friday, October 22, 6:30pm
New York's Showbiz Cafe
19 West 21st Street
Presented by Loikka-festivaali director Hanna Pajala-Assefa
in collaboration with Dance Films Association.
Dance on Camera
sparks
your imagination!
Hanna Pajala-Assefa, who is accepting entries until the end of October for her 2011 Festival, will present:
KOTKA (Eagle)
Eino Ruutsalo, 7', 1962
This short by the pioneer of Finnish experimental film stars Riitta Vainio with a score by Otto Donner, a central figure in Finnish popular music scene in 60's and 70's.
LIIKKEEN MIELI (Mind Embodied)
Seppo Rustanius, 7'20," 2007
Reveals the connection between modern dance in Finland and women´s gymastics.
365 DAYS
Reijo Kela, 18,'1999 (2006)
A video diary directed by Reijo Kela (b.1952), a pioneer of site-specific dance and political environmental art.
MUURAHAINEN (An Ant)
Kimmo Alakunnas, 23', 2010
"An Ant" reveals a workaholic's questionable sense of reality.
Register for Sunday, October 24thdance on camera workshop at 92nd St Y led by Alla Kovgan, Russian born filmmaker, curator, editor, and story teller who co-directed with David Hinton the award-winning film NORA.
December 19th workshop will be led by Richard Move, the multi-talented performer, choreographer, filmmaker.
Register now for these unique dance on camera workshops.
Dance on Camera Touring Events
October 23
New Jersey State Film Festival at Cape May
October 26
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond
November 5-21
FEDAME in Mexico
DFA produced 44 events this year, in addition to its 38th Festival co-produced by the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Movement Research, Beacon School, and Mark Morris Dancec Center with the support of the National Endowment of the Arts, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs. We thank our 112 partners for their enthusiasm for this blossoming art.
For more details see Dance on Camera Festival Touring Schedule
Stay in touch!
Deirdre Towers
DFA Festival Director
For more information visit the website:http://www.peridance.com/certificate%20program-1.cfm
From Chris Elam, director of Misnomer Dance Theater and Founder of the Audience Engagement Platform for the Arts (AEP) www.aeplatform.org
Hi all,
Misnomer is hiring for a Community Manager for the Audience Engagement Platform, based here in NYC. If you or someone you know are interested, we'd love to hear from you.
The description is here:
Here's the description of the Beta service that you'd be participating in bringing to life:
Thanks,
Chris Elam
Artistic Director & CEOMisnomer Dance Theater
www.misnomer.org
Ph: 917-602-0478
Founder of the Audience Engagement Platform for the Arts (AEP) www.aeplatform.org
Nacho Duato Workshop with Africa Guzman
Juan Ignacio Duato Barcia, also known as Nacho Duato, is an acclaimed Spanish dancer and choreographer. He began his dance career with the Cullberg Ballet in Stockholm and has received multiple awards in recognition of his achievements as a dancer and choreographer. In 1990, he was invited to become the Artistic Director of Compañía Nacional de Danza by the Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música of the Spanish Ministry of Culture. In July of 2010, he left the Compañía Nacional de Danza after twenty years. This January, he will become the Artistic Director of Russia’s Mikhailovsky Ballet.
.
This move represents an exciting step for both Mr. Duato and Russian ballet. He will be the first foreigner to direct a Russian ballet company in over a century, the last was France’s Marius Petipa. For Mr. Duato, it will be his first time leading a large classical repertory company. Russian ballet is not known for its malleability and has had a history of ignoring modern dance influences like Mr. Duato’s, in favor of preserving tradition. Vladimir Kekhman, the businessman who took over as Mikahailovsky’s general director in 2007, feels that a strong contemporary influence is exactly what the company and Russian ballet needs.
Peridance’s Nacho Duato Workshop will be taught by Africa Guzman, another Spanish native. Ms. Guzman trained at the “Escuela de Ballet y Danza Española Africa Guzmán” and at the “Escuela del Ballet Nacional de España.” She became a member of Compañía Nacional de Danza in 1988, two years before Duato became the director. She has received many awards for her achievements as a dancer, has also danced with Netherland Das Theater, and has worked with many of the world’s highly acclaimed choreographers. For 20 years, she has been involved in Nacho’s choreographic and creative process. This workshop is an excellent opportunity to both take from a very accomplished dancer and to learn the style and repertory of one of today’s most celebrated dancer/choreographers and possibly the new face of Russian Ballet.
Preregistration for the Workshop is encouraged. Click here to register.
To learn more about Mr. Duato’s move to the Mikhailovsky Ballet read the New York Timesarticle
2 Workshops _ Expanded Body
Call for subscription
4 Scholarships*
As part of their stay in residence at 3-Legged Dog art and technology center in NY, Kònic thtr
organizes this training program in R + d + i.
This course will examine the relationship between voice, body movement and audiovisual
languages. It is a transdisciplinary workshop linking installation and performance, searching
the relationship between action, video, sound and real-time digital processes on the stage.
This workshop proposes a process of training in a practical and theoretical activity that
combines the performative action with interactive audiovisual technologies. Contents will
be related with models based on projects and devices made by Kònic Thtr, to understand,
from its analysis, the significance of technologyc languages applied to contemporary creation.
Participants will work in groups and theoretical sessions will alternate with practice sessions
and demonstration, using available tools, and there will also be screenings of the creative
projects discussed by Kònic Thtr.
konic@koniclab.info
When:
Workshop #1_ September, Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th , 1:00 – 5:00pm
Workshop #2_ September, Saturday the 25th and Sunday the 26th , 1:00 – 5:00pm
Where: 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center. 80 Greenwich St. NY 10006
Organizer: 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center
Price for 1 workshop: $ 125 + taxes
Producers: Kònic Thtr / Associació Kòniclab - 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center
+ Info: www.3ldnyc.org
map_www.3ldnyc.org/map.shtml
* 2 HALF TUITION SCHOLARSHIPS FOR EACH WORKSHOP FOR DANCE-TECH.NET MEMBERS/
WRITE AN EMAIL STATING YOUR INTEREST IN THE WORKSHOP AND INCLUDE THE URL OF YOUR DANCE-TECH PROFILE PAGE.
konic@koniclab.info
IF GIVEN THE SCHOLARSHIP YOU MUST SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCE AT THE WORKSHOP VIA DANCE-TECH.NET WITH BLOG POSTS AND OR VIDEOS.
DEADLINE: SEPTEMBER 15TH 2010
Workshop at Harvestworks. September 2010
Alain Baumann has been using Max/MSP as his main tool to develop the creative works of
Kònic thtr, and working with dancers to interact both with sound and image in real time
on stage. As an important part of their activity, Kònic thtr is actively contributing to the
dissemination of their knowledge, both by teaching in different colleges in Catalonia and
Spain and by giving workshops in many countries of Europe and Central and South America,
workshops in which the emphasis is the development of creative languages based on
interactive technologies.
FTM is a set of Max externals developed at the IRCAM that eases the handling of complex
data structures in the max/MSP environment. This course, taught by KonicLab's Alain
Baumann (Barcelona), will specially focus on the MnM package included in the library, and
have hands-on experiments with included abstraction MnMfollower, which allow us to do
real time gesture following when used in combination with sensors, camera analysis, or a
wiimote.
Subscription: konic@koniclab.info
When: September, Saturday the 11th, 12:00 – 6:00pm
Where: Harvestworks. 596 Broadway Suite 602, NY 10012
(between Houston and Prince Streets in SoHo)
Organizer: Harvestworks
Price: $ 100 + taxes
Producers: Kònic Thtr / Associació Kòniclab - Harvestworks
Artist-in-residence program at 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center
a {d’Aigua} show_5 presentations. September - October 2010
In 2009, the center of performing arts and digital technologies 3 legged Dog invited Kònic
thtr to develop a residency at its center in New York. Kònic Thtr will take the opportunity to
develop a new phase of the show a {d'Aigua}, an existing project with a modular structure,
and elaborate a new format for the piece at 3LD,, an interactive dance installation involving
audience participation opens up to visual arts audiences and new circuits. This time the show
will stage dancer and performer Masu Fajardo.
Kònic Thtr/Koniclab hope to strengthen their research in non-linear and interactive
performing and choreographic narratives.
a {d'Aigua} is a project originally developed in the context of several labs made by Kònic Thtr.
As part of this process, we highlight the encounters with the Catalan choreographer Maria
Muñoz, from Mal_Pelo dance company, with the aim of developing a cross-experience work
that includes dance, performance, music, computer graphics and interactivity.
In the performative project a {d'Aigua}, a dancer, a performer and musician interact on
stage with sound and image using the iXKa, a small wireless sensor device integrated on the
body and designed to capture the movement and the dancers on stage in real time. These
devices are used in conjunction with a piece of software called MNM and developed by
Frédéric Bevilacqua from the Real-Time Music Interaction Team at IRCAM, Paris (France). The
combination of sensors and software allows us to record the gestures of the dancer and then
recognize it in real time. Whole phrases of movement are recognized and reproduced, and the
dancer can play sounds that are being recorded simultaneously with its movement.
This stage piece was first presented in openlab format, at Officine Sintetiche (Torino, Italy),
and was premiered in Barcelona at the Mercat de les Flors during the IDN Festival 2009, with
the participation of the dancer and choreographer María Muñoz.
Later, the piece continues to evolve through encounters with different dancers and
choreographers. It was presented at the Electron Festival (Switzerland), with dancer and
performer Masu Fajardo, and also at 'Certesa Simulada. New frontiers of science, art and
thought’, program organized by Ars Santa Mònica from Barcelona in September 2009.
In 2010, this show has been performed in the Theater of Madrid, for the event Cartographies
of Dance, in Theatre Moulay Rachid at the Festival International d'Art Vidéo of Casablanca
(Morocco) and at Thsekh_Proekt Fabrika in Moscow (Russia). There’s also a tour plan in the fall
2010 with presentations of the show int he III Seminário Transcultural sobre Teatro e Dança in
Salvador de Bahía (Brasil) and in the International Videodance Festival Cuerpo Digital in La Paz
(Bolivia).
When: september 9th – october 7th 2010
a {d’Aigua} show : september 30th, and october 1st, 2nd, 5th and 6th, 2010
Where: 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center. 80 Greenwich St. NY 10006
Producers: Kònic Thtr / Associació Kòniclab - 3-Legged Dog Art & Technology Center
+ Info: www.3ldnyc.org
Ad'Aigua Process_Spanish from konic thtr on Vimeo.
After several years of experimental ensemble investigation,
award-winning choreographer Deborah Hay returns to solo
performance in response to an invitation by Juliette Mapp and Danspace
Project. In No Time To Fly, she partners with long-time
collaborator, lighting designer Jennifer Tipton, whose work has
been pivotal to Hay’s aesthetic vision over the last decade.
During her evening-length solo, Hay seeks to open the door to sustained
moments of non-linear learning for the performer and the audience alike.
“If I am to really admit and celebrate the ephemeral nature of dance,
then I must learn to see, experience, and respect time passing.”
Don't Miss:
Artist Talk with Deborah Hay
A Lecture on the Performance of Beauty
March 24, 2010 • [Wed] • 7:00 PM
Admission: FREE
Location: The Great Hall, The Cooper Union,
7 East 7th Street, NYC
Information: www.cooper.edu
Join groundbreaking choreographer Deborah Hay for a talk framed around
the question 'can a formal and stimulating adherence to a prescribed set
of hypothetical conditions be seen as choreography even if there is no
learned movement?'
On March 26, Parsons and MoMA with IFF, Seed, and Coty present Headspace: On Scent as
Design.
Headspace is a one-day symposium on the conception, impact, and potential applications of scent. This event gathers leading thinkers, designers, scientists, artists, established perfumers as well as
"accidental perfumers" (a selection of architects, designers, and chefs
invited to experiment with scent) to acknowledge scent as a new
territory for design and begin to draft the outline of this new
practice. The event marks the establishment of a new MFA
in Transdisciplinary Design at Parsons.
