Posts Tagged ‘site-specific’

As a student in the Florida State University in NYC program, I was fortunate enough to be invited into Noémie LaFrance’s work studio in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to discuss her new project. Sitting in wooden chairs in the homey brick apartment, Noémie entered the room spewing information about her newest work, the White Box Project. In response to our questions, she explained that she is ever-interested in infusing dance with the everyday. The Black Box is known as a place to sit in an audience and to be spoonfed a presentation. Hence, the White Box.

Successfully, the White Box Project is the furthest thing from a proscenium, concert dance performance. As I entered the museum space, I was approached by what I thought to be a fellow observer, and naively pushed out the back door into the cement enclosed porch. The crowd chattered and looked around skeptically, until suddenly and miraculously the room fell totally silent (a brilliant tactic brought about by the performers, I realized on my second visit).  As the hour passed, it became clear that at least one of the men in the room was a performer. He, in my opinion, took on the role of the initiator; the leader. Otherwise, I was completely unsure as to who was a performer, and who was an observer. As a woman dressed in a trendy black coat and heels stood inches from my face and proceeded to lie down on the cement in front of me, I battled myself with whether I should do the same.

The feeling of uncertainty gradually melted away, as we were put into groups by a few men and women, and whispered instructions…“On the count of three, run!” By the end, I felt more like a child playing games in the schoolyard than an audience member.

Noémie invited everyone in attendance that Saturday back to another showing, free of charge, to witness the constant changes being applied to the project each day. I arrived the next week, eager to scrutinize the events I knew would happen and to identify the changes, of which there were several. This time, there was more dialogue between the dancers and the crowd; I was asked incognito to learn a succinct dance step, and teach it to another. Again, the realization that everyone was in clear groups/teams near the close of the work came with a playful sentiment. I was a participant, not a spectator. I cannot assume that this feeling fell upon every person in the ‘box’, but each individual surely brought something of their own to the experience, simply by entering the space.

The White Box is not a dance show. It is instead a mind game of sorts. Whether or not one chooses to run and turn the length of the walls at the demands of a scruffy man whose role is unknown is irrelevant. Choosing to act is participation. Choosing not to act, also, is participation. The audience ultimately, and blindly, has control of the show.

Carly Lozo is a dance major at Florida State University and an intern with Pentacle’s Movement Media this fall.

Here are few screendance events in September that we recommend if you happen to be in these parts of the world.

In New York City:

White Box

by Noémie Lafrance/Sens Productions

The site-specific choreographic phenom, Noémie Lafrance is back with a new production, this time set inside the confines of a white gallery space. Over the course of three weeks, the performance will “evolve” and “mutate” based on audience responses during and after each show. Revolving around the social interplay between the audience and the performers, Lafrance takes the concept of site-specific to a whole new level. Oh, and each performance will also be followed by screenings of select dance films by Lafrance and her collaborators.

Dates
Gallery Opening: ‘White Box’ performance Teaser
Friday, Sept. 9 @ 7:00-9:00pm (free)

Performance: ‘The White Box Project’
Saturday, Sept. 10, 17 & 24 @ 4:30, 5:30, 6:30pm

Screening: Selected Dance Films by Noémie Lafrance
Saturday, Sept. 10, 17 & 24th @ 8:00pm (free)

Site
Black & White Gallery
483 Driggs Avenue, Brooklyn NY 11211

In Finland and on Twitter:

Alone or Not

Social Improvisation through Twitter.

Organized by Susan Kozel

13 September – 4 October 2011
www.aloneornot.org

Anyone can take part in this event in which participants send short SMS messages or tweets about their movement, actions and perceptions to each other to create a social network of bodily movement. The project will be documented as a shared choreography on Twitter. Check out the project website to learn how to participate. SMS is only available to people with Finnish mobile phones.

In Boulder, Colorado:

Sans Souci Festival of Dance Cinema

From their humble beginnings in a trailer park screening local dance videos, Sans Souci Festival has evolved into a world class film festival with a strong curatorial vision. The line up for this year’s festival includes work by the aforementioned Noémie Lafrance (Melt), Alla Kovgan (New London Calling), Marta Renzi (Year, Make & Model), and Mitchell Rose (Advance). This is a great festival if you love highly kinetic dance film shorts (as I do).

Dates

Boulder Public Library
Mondays, October 3 & 10
Wednesdays, October 5 & 12

Thank you to everyone who has submitted or nominated work for our contest thus far. If you haven’t participated yet, there are plenty more chances to submit your work or nominate the work of others. Below we have posted a list of the themes for the month of July. Next week’s theme is “Rehearsal or Performance.” All submissions are due by June 30th, and the contest winners will be announced on July 3rd. Please scroll to the bottom of this post for more information on how to submit.

This week, as a tribute to the first days of summer, we explored the theme, “Summer or Winter.” Here in the Northeast United States at least, summer has not really been evident yet. We’ve had weeks of rain and coolish temperatures. Solstice was marked by more of the same. While no one relishes sweltering heat and humidity, it would still be nice to know if summer is ever going to arrive… Against this strange weather back-drop, it was delightful to watch the submissions for this week, which were unambiguously rooted in their appointed seasons.

Most of the works we received were site-specific and dealt with the elemental nature of the seasons. Others took an abstract/conceptual approach, and explored the inner psychological states of winter (isolation, sparseness, coldness) and summer (nurturing, abundance, warmth). For us, this pair of themes seemed like a good opportunity to acknowledge the attraction dancers have to making site-specific videos. One of the first things most dancers do with a camera is to escape the studio and the stage, and go outside to dance. Who can resist frolicking in the grass or rolling in the snow? Dancers are endlessly fascinated with trying to capture the experience of moving and interacting with the natural world. Just like most poems are about nature, most dance films are too. As humans, we tend to think that we are separate from the rest of the animal kingdom, but our biology seems to belie this belief. Dancers, being more grounded in their bodies than most, are particularly attuned to the wild/animal sides of our natures. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that they use the camera to practice their craft closer to the elements that truly inspire them to move.

Without further ado, the winners this week are…

“Thaw” by Marta Renzi to represent the winter category

And

“Summer Day Daily Dance” by Lee Atwell to represent the summer category.

“Thaw” by Marta Renzi

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“Thaw” emanates a sense of winter through every aspect of the piece from the landscape and lighting to the choreography. The bare trees and wintry colors accentuated by the lighting of the film render a bleak portrayal of the season, as well as the earthly magic that a thawing winter creates. The film explores the fluidity and beauty that emerges from the seemingly lifeless frigidity of winter. The gracefulness of the dancers’ movements accompanied by their long flowing costumes personifies the melting of the ice. Additionally, the use of the swan, a symbolically graceful animal, further emphasizes the constant flow of the seasonal cycles.

Marta Renzi’s first dance video was YOU LITTLE WILD HEART, a half-hour for PBS, to music by Bruce Springsteen, made for the WGBH New Television Workshop in 1981. In 1989, collaborating with independent filmmaker John Sayles, she made MOUNTAINVIEW, for Alive From Off-Center. Many years after those well-funded projects, Renzi began self-producing video dances in 2005. They have shown in festivals nationally, internationally and on the web. http://martarenzi.blogspot.com

“Summer Day Daily Dance” by Lee Atwell

Similarly to “Thaw”, this video portrays an deep relationship with the landscape and embraces the spirit of summer. Although initially the camera is focused on Atwell, as the view pans up, it captures the absolute beauty of the surroundings. This video doesn’t try to make a statement or define summer in a particular way. Rather, it embraces the ever-shifting presence of the moment, a core value of the Eastern inspired Butoh dance form that Atwell practices.

Lee Atwell writes: i am new to dance and butoh (less than 6 months experience), and my mentor is maureen ‘momo’ freehill who created ‘daily dance’ honoring 50 years of butoh in 2009.  i have been dancing daily and recording them since the beginning of january of this year. it is my hope and intention to embody the soul through this incredible creative expression. http://www.youtube.com/user/pamelaleeatwell

Let us know what you think about site-specific dance videos, this week’s winners, and anything else you’d like to share!

Next Week’s Theme for Movement Media’s Online Video Dance Contest

Theme: Rehearsal or Performance

Submissions are due by Tuesday June 30th.

Winners will be announced on Move the Frame on Friday July 3rd.

Video is an important part of most dancers’ rehearsal processes, as well as documenting the finished work in performance. Sometimes, when approached creatively and with attention, the documentation becomes a work of art in itself. We are seeking interesting ways of capturing rehearsals and performances on video. Please let us know which category your video applies to, and why.

HOW TO SUBMIT

• Submissions may be made by anyone – artists, film makers, and anyone who knows of online videos that fit the weekly themes.
• The video submitted must be under 10 minutes long.
• Pick/Submit one video to represent only one of the weekly themes.
• Send the link of the video to Movement Media
• The video submitted needs to be embeddable, ie hosted on YouTube or another sharable online video platform.
• Include a short biography/artist statement (if it is your work).
• For every submission, include a short summary that describes why you have chosen a particular video for the contest and describe how it relates to the weekly theme.
• Include a brief synopsis of the video.
• Include a link to your website (if you have one)
• Include your email address

Email all information to movementmedia@pentacle.org
If your submission is chosen for the weekly contest, we will contact you directly

Impetus for Contest Participants

• Have your videos seen by an online audience who’s interested in movement-based video.
• Receive publicity for your work/work of others
• Receive comments and feedback
• Automatic consideration for live screening at Kinetic Cinema in NYC.
• Automatic consideration for UMOVE, Movement Media’s Online Dance Film Festival in October 2009 (information and submission guidelines to be announced in early July).

UP-COMING THEMES FOR JULY:

Week one: Rehearsal or Performance
Submissions due by June 30th. Weekly Contest winners will be announced on July 3rd.

Week two: Classroom or Stage
Submissions due by July 7th. Weekly Contest winners will be announced on July 10th.

Week three: Private or Public
Submissions due by July 14th. Weekly Contest winners will be announced on July 17th.

Week four: Pop Dance Phenomenon
Submissions due by July 21st. Weekly Contest winners will be announced on July 24th.

The final week of July will be guest curated by Doug Fox of Greatdance.com.