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Dances for an iPhone, created, choreographed and produced by Richard Daniels, offers an innovative way to look at and disseminate dance on camera. Mr. Daniels brings modern dance to a wider audience in this App for iPhones, iPads, iPod Touches while simultaneously creating a new category of Apps with purely cultural content. Dances for an iPhone creates a new category of App with purely cultural content. This App allows the viewer to interactively choose from a collection of short dance movies that will be updated and added to periodically.
Dances for an iPhone Volume 1 features five extraordinarily accomplished dancers in six movies: Carmen de Lavallade (dancing to Sondheim’s “Children and Art” and sung by Maria Friedman), Regina Larkin (to an original score by Gerald Busby in “Homage to Fellini”), and Megan Williams(to a score by Bill Conti). Christine Redpath dances the same dance to two different pieces of music: one by Erwin Schulhoff, another by Amy Beach. Writer/critic Deborah Jowitt dances and speaks four love notes written by and between Alice B. Toklas and Gertrude Stein.
Volume 2 will include dance movies featuring: Margie Gillis(Music by Frideric Handel); Stephen Pier and Miki Orihara(to a score by Arvo Part); Risa Steinberg (dancing to Purcell), and Christine Wright (previewing one movie fromVolume 3’s all Scriabin suite). Molissa Fenley dances the same dance to two different tracks – one an original score by Gerald Busby, and the other a text by Richard Daniels.
As dance is often the domain of the young Mr. Daniels remains committed to showing the mature performer, telling stories of life beyond a period of peak physicality. He finds inspiration in working with performers whose artistry is supreme yet whose physical abilities may face limitations. Shot in natural light and practice clothes, these movies transmit an intimate experience of dance.
Each dance is roughly three to five minutes in length. The movement explores a variety of esthetics as Mr. Daniels melds his expressive, lyrical style with the languages that each artist brings to the project. Dances for an iPhone is free at iTunes.
The Baryshnikov Arts Center named Mr. Daniels an artist in residence in 2009 and 2011 in order to create this digital performance project.
Text taken form the project website
Comments
Since I've met many of you, I'll feel a bit safer sharing this here.
I downloaded the app when it was first announced, and frankly, I'm still a bit upset/enraged with his use of the phrases "dance on camera" and "dance movies". While I appreciate his use of wonderful, veteran performers, everything about the video in this application is positively abhorrent. There is no demonstration of any direction, editing, encoding or even camera operation skills.
I honestly feel that Mr. Daniels's attempts to market this work as "dance on camera" is a severe disservice to the field, and to the high quality of work that many dance-tech members have produced.