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COLLECTION ON DAVID'S ZAMBRANO'S WORK ON DANCE-TECH.TV

"an enthralling evening of visceral solos"  - NY Times   SOUL PROJECT David Zambrano    Soul Project, conceived and directed by the legendary David Zambrano, in collaboration with a cast of seven remarkable performers from Mozambique, Slovenia, Greece, Slovakia, the U.S. and Venezuela, invites you to get close with its glorious performers and your fellow audience members as spontaneous solos performed to classic soul tunes erupt all around you. The joy is contagious as dancers strive to embody the dance as deeply and powerfully as soul music greats -- Aretha Franklin, Ike & Tina Turner, Bettye Lavette, Gladys Knight & The Pips among others -- reveal the song.     DEBUT U.S. TOUR Produced by MAPP International Productions   April 14 Alverno College Milwaukee, WI   April 19 - 21 Danspace Project New York, NY   April 27 - 28 Yerba Buena Center for the Arts San Francisco, CA   April 30 - May 1 Fusebox Festival Austin, TX   May 3 Stanford Lively Arts Stanford, CA   May 10 - 12 Walker Art Center Minneapolis, MN May 17 - 19 Miami Light Project Miami, FL     The U.S. tour of Soul Project is made possible with the support of the National Endowment for the Arts, and the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, supported by lead funding from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and additional funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Community Connections Fund of the MetLife Foundation, and the Boeing Company Charitable Trust.

Rhode Island School of Design

Rhode Island School of Design seeks a forward thinking and experienced artist/designer, educator and scholar for the position of Associate Professor in its highly regarded Graduate Department of Digital + Media, with the expectation that this individual will also serve as the appointed Department Head starting July 2011. Established in 2003, the Department of Digital + Media offers an MFA program for approximately 30 students a year who bring diverse research interests and creative explorations of technology and the digital world to the fields of contemporary art/design, and new media practices. It is one of three stand-alone graduate departments at RISD. Because of its interdisciplinary structure and reach, the Department of Digital + Media has developed strong connections to other departments and programs both at RISD and at neighboring Brown University. The position offers a unique opportunity for a dynamic intellectual and pedagogical leader to guide the future of the department in its exploration of advanced art, design and research practices within the current cultural environment of ubiquitous digital media. The successful candidate should be an artist/designer who is engaged in the understanding of emergent, adaptive and social media technologies and their relationship with other media, disciplines and debates within contemporary theory. She/he will foster a department culture of curricular innovation in which faculty are encouraged to develop progressive teaching and research practices. As Department Head, she/he will play a pivotal role in supporting the diverse practices of D + M graduate students and forging partnerships with other graduate programs at RISD, as well as external research partners. She/he will develop the role of the Digital + Media Department as a research incubator and creative forum at RISD, and advance the Digital + Media program within the expanding field of new media and technology in art and design graduate education.

Applicants should have a terminal graduate degree in a relevant field or equivalent experience in art, design, media, computer art, or contemporary theory; at least 5 years of full-time teaching at the college or university (especially graduate) level or the equivalent; a demonstrated background and interest in academic, intellectual leadership in a graduate program; and a strong record of research and creative work.

Applicants should provide a letter of interest; statement of teaching and leadership philosophy in the context of this field of inquiry; curriculum vitae; names and contact information for three references; examples of creative and scholarly work; and selected syllabi from courses taught with examples of student work.

Review of applications will begin immediately, and continue until the position is filled. Candidates who submit their materials by January 5, 2011, will be assured full consideration.

For more information about RISD and to apply online visit http://www.risd.edu/jobs


RISD is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage inquiries from candidates who will enrich and contribute to the cultural and ethnic diversity of our College. RISD does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, genetics, or any other protected characteristic as established by law, in employment, or in our education programs.


About the Department of Digital + Media:

The Department of Digital + Media is engaged in a critical examination and exploration of the dynamic relationship of technology, contemporary culture, media, and physical objects, time and space. It offers a two-year MFA with annual enrollment of thirty graduate students with a diverse range of undergraduate and professional backgrounds. The mission of the department is to create a resonant environment for leading edge creative work and research focusing on the creative potentials of media and contemporary technologies. Embracing the broad and dynamic potential of digital media as a ubiquitous tool across many domains, the department fosters exploratory work that exhibits a high degree of innovative visual, sonic, and/or textual expression with conceptual clarity and technological insight and agility. A continuum between digital media and physical objects, virtual and actual space is emphasized.

Working from a cogent theoretical, historical, and conceptual curricular core, the department is an environment that supports diverse forms of experimentation for students. Students are immersed in a multi-perspective approach to knowledge and contemporary culture with particular relevance to their own areas of interest merged with theory and critique from other disciplines and areas of research. Through a complex understanding of the capacity of digital and new media and social practices through conceptual, critical, social, and cultural inquiry, students pursue ambitious independent work and theses. Multiple, but interconnected, core intellectual values include:

- To know how to use digital (and analog) technologies; study and understand the various perspectives of their histories and how they came to be

- To understand the implications materialized in a device or technology; why they are there and for whom, in order to challenge, critique, and interrogate the embedded assumptions and prescriptions and engage critically with technologies

- To investigate existing or make new technologies from the perspectives of artists and designers rather than from traditionally trained engineers

- To work in the areas of social practice, activist practice, and science, technology, and society studies in both material and community projects

Performance, installation, dance, film, sound, objects, two- and three-dimensions, video, glass, ceramics, architecture – any of these forms and media may be part of students' practice and research, but these forms are not the sole reason the work exists.

From Chris Elam, director of Misnomer Dance Theater and Founder of the Audience Engagement Platform for the Arts (AEP) www.aeplatform.org

Hi all,

Dance USA “Crossing Borders” Conference was held in Washington,DC at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Arlington,Virginia (suburb of Washington, DC) June 16-19, 2010. The following comments are written by Maida Withers and submitted to Dance Tech-net blog, June 18, 2010

Day One (Wednesday): The opening night.

Maida Withers Dance Construction Company performed a site specific work, Collision Course, for the opening gala for the Dance USAConference, Crossing Borders, at the House of Sweden on the PotomacRiver, Washington, DC. The dancers, Anthony Gongora, Giselle Ruzany,and Nate Bond wore pillows secured on various parts of their body withpackaging tape. Many free pillows werescattered on the lawn. Dancers proceededup the grassy knoll to press themselves along the full-wall glass windows ofthe beautiful House of Sweden. Conference participants were inside the building watching as the dancerspressed their bodies like graffiti along the glass wall. Dancers proceeded to dance freely once theymoved off the glass wall and tumbled down the grassy knoll. The dance concluded with dancers diving ontopillows as they were thrown into the air and crashing to the ground. Collision Course is a site dance that takeson different aspects based on intention and location. Jane Franklin and Daniel Burkholders groupsalso performed.

The food was excellent and the company for the gala very nice and diverse with people from all parts of the USAand abroad. Severalartists/managers were there from Ireland.

Day Two (Thursday):

Attendees broke up into discussion groups/forums in the morning. I attended the session withArtistic Directors with budgets under $300K. It was a very diverse group from directors who had no staff positions toorganizations with budgets over one million dollars. Each member stated what concern they had atthis time. The group leader directed us,then, in our discussion to issues suggested: staffing, boards, touring, and many other management issues related tosurvival. It was a productive meetingwith a somewhat limited agenda that seemed to center on management valuesprimarily. The larger budgets seemed tobe related to schools connected to the Companies or education programs. Compared to the 1960s there seems to be agreat deal of money available to the dance companies (beyond tickets at thegate) such as $30,000 or more from cities or county arts agencies, etc. Several commented on the challenge tomaintain artistic focus on the dance works in this survival process ofdiversification. Dancers always have a good time when they get together....certainly that was true in this case.

It was my pleasure to attend two session on International aspects of dance today.

During the first session, Frank Hodsoll, chaired a committee with cultural representatives from Japan,UK, Mexico,and the USA. Each panelist presented the governmental/nongovernmental approach to international exchange. As a USAcitizen/artist who is mostly interested in international culture exchange, I am hopeful that there will be some development in culturaldiplomacy supported by the US Government/Embassies soon. With the demise of the USIA the USAcontinues to struggle with a systematic way of engaging American artistsabroad. More direct discussion ofparticular programs (Cultural Envoy, etc). will take place on Friday at theconference.

The second international session raised the question of the view of American (United States, actually) dance from abroad. There was a panel led the Chair of the National Endowment for the ArtsInternational Programs with panelists from Mexico,Germany, and Spain. The topic is a worthy one but also achallenge. Mexicospoke about the extensive influence of Limon, Sokolow and others in Mexico. Mexicohas a formalized international program with four regions where a company isable to apply to tour there. Spainand Germanyindicated the recent lack of interest in dance in the USAand the inability to bring companies/dancers from the USA(costs/aesthetics). The United States isa long way away when European countries are so close. However, in Europe it seemed there is also about a lack of interestin what American (United States) dance is doing, it appeared to me. In addition, if the U.S. Embassies do notsupport American artists, there is not much chance of selection in Europe. One audience member indicated “the elephantin the room” was the rude treatment that many American artists receive whenthey are in Europe. Some agreed that this was present for them as well. I thought the conversation in total was toooriented toward Europe/U.S. exchange and not global enough. Also, I feel the idea of an individualcreating new/original work in a democratic process that is free of governmentalcontrol has been embraced globally. Perhaps this means there is not a “dominant” nation in modern orpost-modern dance at this time. Whyshould there be? I recognize this is asomewhat “democratic” perspective, but if there is a U.S. value,individual freedom of expression in dance with no government intervention wouldbe expected. There were many differentvoices heard in the brief one and one-half hour discussion. What was lacking was a two-way perspective ofhow dancers and governments are viewing each other. There was an edge of volatility in the topic I felt.

I am unable to attend the next two day sessions, but there are more discussions/presentations planned with international focus.

The Dance USA Conference was successful in my opinion for day one and day two. There was a great deal of opportunity for people to express opinion and to learn and broaden perspectives. Congratulations to Dance USAstaff and local artists who donated time and energy to receive guest to ourcity. I look forward to reading others blogs covering the final two days.

Maida Withers

Maida Withers Dance Construction Company

Professor, The George Washington University