Sunday, December 27, 2015

WINTER EVENTS 2015/16


December … I am invited to return as a “guest of honor” to the dance company I co-founded & co-directed for ten years. Circle Modern Dance – Knoxville TN is having its 25th Anniversary celebration this year. I return to perform in the annual winter concert Modern Dance / Primitive Light at the beautiful Laurel Theatre.
I bring a live performance of RAW-(Material). Six performances – each one utilizing the material developed throughout the project so far in a ten-minute in-the-moment composition.












LIVE PERFORMANCE

#23 RAW-(Material)
at
MODERN DANCE PRIMITIVE LIGHT 2015 – Circle Modern Dance  

Raw-(Material) live at MDPL - video
date – December 16 – 19 2015
location – Laurel Theater, Knoxville TN
camera – various (colleagues, audience, self)






6 Sat 2  https://youtu.be/VT2koZfy5q0

7 Fri 1 – videographer Norman Madgen https://youtu.be/X4V87e9DdD4   


Article:
The Daily Times
Circle Modern Dance Brings Back another founder for “Primitive Light”
By Steve Wildsmith

Review:
Tableau Knoxville
A New Christmas Tradition:
A Review of Circle Modern Dance's Primitive Light
By Leslie Ann Ellingburg

Audience comments and feedback - 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4cHBYnXHpXzOFg5TmtZU2lCMU0/view?usp=sharing 




January – NYC – Transart Institute Winter Residency.
My MFA peer Andrea Spaziani curates an event of temporal mayhem & magic in The Gym at Judson Church – title: SPACEBODIES.
As a live performance for SpaceBodies, I proposed to continue my exploration of the Raw Materials of Self in the context of Light & Space as interrogation of Self - a naked body in complete blackness, searching the emptiness of space with movement & sound. Dispersed throughout the environment are sources of light (flashlights, matches, candles etc), which are each engaged briefly as a tool for self-illumination.
 

#24 RAW-(Material) – light & space
at
SPACEBODIES NY – Transart Institute
(curated by Andrea Spaziani)

Raw-(Material) – light & space – images
date – January 10 2016
location – Judson Gym, NYC
camera – Raul Barcelona
https://www.flickr.com/photos/114531261@N02/albums/72157663902687809
                                                                                                                                                                  



February
Every year in the brutal New England winter, a multitude of performers, musicians, dancers and video projection artists invade a small town in Massachusetts and perform a series of improvised collaborations … this is XFEST!
In this collaborative improvisation, I use layers of clothing to symbolize the peeling off of layers of skin.


XFEST Improvisation Festival

#36 Skin Peeling:

Skin Peeling at XFEST! – video
date – February 26 2016
location – XFEST improvisation festival – City Hall, Holyoke MA
camera – tripod set-up
collaborators – Audrey Chen, I’d m Theftable, Christos Koulendros, Michael Peters, Laura Frare
(entire performance) https://youtu.be/Gu43UMYBCN0

 




Back to JOURNAL ENTRIES - Portal Page:


Tuesday, November 24, 2015

RAW-(Material) - JOURNAL ENTRIES - Portal Page







The RAW-(Material) series is made up of 41 journal entries over the course of a one-year period.
These entries are divided up into journal pages according to seasons and to studies of the body, nature and events.
There is a narrative thread to connect the pieces together cohesively.

(Headphones are advised for audio)

Please enter the world of raw material and enjoy …



i) BERLIN – Summer 2015 

ii) NOTTINGHAMSHIRE – Harvest 2015 

iii) NOTTINGHAMSHIRE – Studio 2015

iv) SOUTHERN APPALACHIA – Autumn 2015 

v) SOUTHERN APPALACHIA – Studio 2015 


PROJECT DISSEMINATION PORTAL PAGE 
http://raw-material-journal.blogspot.com/2016/05/raw-material-project-dissemination.html


Back to HOME PAGE:



SOUTHERN APPALACHIA - Studio 2015


Working as a Figure Model is in-keeping with my philosophy of the Self as medium for art. Here, the meaning is two-fold as my body serves as a medium in form to replicate in the artist’s medium – also as medium for “living sculpture”.












BODY STUDIES

#15 Figure Model:

Figure Model – text
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4cHBYnXHpXzT29pY19MckhmSU0/view?usp=sharing

Figure Model - images
date – October & November 2015
location – Derby Sketch Club UK, Swannanoa Valley Fine Arts League NC, Odyssey Center for Ceramic Arts NC
https://www.flickr.com/photos/114531261@N02/albums/72157660607175937



My studio practice here takes place at Weaverville Yoga, where I teach a weekly Ballet class. I work in the studio late at night when all is quiet.
I have been re-visiting the gestures of my inter-actions with nature materials to develop them into choreographic motifs for body & voice. This is now preparation for performance, where the motifs generated can become a palate of “ingredients” for in-the-moment composition.
 




Body Studies at Weaverville Yoga – text
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4cHBYnXHpXzaUc3N1FIV0gtSjA/view?usp=sharing

#16 Body Falling / Falling Body: (wheat)

Body Falling - video
date – November 16 2015
location – Weaverville Yoga studio, NC
camera – tripod set-up
(first edit) https://youtu.be/TQOPw8vD4Jw
(second edit) https://youtu.be/-rAa85A_EaQ

 #17 Body Basking / Basking Body: (sand)
 
Body Basking - video
date - November 21 2015
location – Weaverville Yoga studio, NC
camera – tripod set-up
(first edit) https://youtu.be/M0zY9-Wfkv8
(second edit) https://youtu.be/twKzJOt618g
 

#19 Body Mountain Gestures: (mountains)

Body Mountain Gestures - video
date – December 6 2015
location – Weaverville Yoga studio, NC
camera – tripod set-up
(first edit) https://youtu.be/JHXz5L62qK
(second edit) https://youtu.be/ER7Jo7S-Utc  

#19 Body Spinning / Spinning Body: (autumn leaves - dancing)

Body Spinning - video
date – December 10 2015
location – Weaverville Yoga studio, NC
camera – tripod set-up & hand-held
(first edit) https://youtu.be/305IWmm9YEk
(second edit) https://youtu.be/H89kpmj-cOI
 
#20 Body HayBale Gestures: (hay bale)

Body HayBale Gestures - video
date – December 11 2015
location – Weaverville Yoga studio, NC
camera – tripod set-up
(first edit) https://youtu.be/rNkJKFEztBI
(second edit) https://youtu.be/QilHt5RaG1c
 
#21 Body Melting / Melting Body:

Body Melting - video
date – December 11 2015
location – Weaverville Yoga studio, NC
camera – tripod set-up
(first edit) https://youtu.be/5SyjIcbNJjk
(second edit) https://youtu.be/xsymGCr81lo
 

I am rigorously exploring my vocal capacities as part of my practice.
 
#22 Voice Samples:
As well as developing motifs from nature material inter-actions, I have been isolating specific physical vocal gestures in a series of Voice Samples.


Vocal Practice – text
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4cHBYnXHpXzRzFDcG8xVk5FVk0/view?usp=sharing

SOUTHERN APPALACHIA - Autumn 2015


Back across the Atlantic in time for the beauty of Southern Appalachian Autumn, I am compelled to respond. How to do this without producing a cliché? A renowned beauty spot in the height of “leaf season”.  My only possibility is to reply to the raw materials of mountains, leaves & lake with my own raw materials of body & psyche.












NATURE SPECIMENS

#12 Mountains:


Mountains – text
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4cHBYnXHpXzbzlvMV9QUEh3UWM/view?usp=sharing

Mountains - video
date – October 28 2015
location – Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville NC
camera – tripod set-up
(first edit) https://youtu.be/9lLF-yByY2c
(second edit) https://youtu.be/kqpOLx3x4FI  

#13 Lake Eden:


Lake Eden – text
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4cHBYnXHpXzMTA1RXhpbXYxOHc/view?usp=sharing 

Lake Eden - images
date – October 30 2015
location – Lake Eden (former BMC) Black Mountain NC

Lake Eden - video
date – October 30 2015
location – Lake Eden (former BMC) Black Mountain NC
camera – hand-held & tripod set-up
(first edit) https://youtu.be/_S4gOlowlzw  

#14 Autumn Leaves:


Autumn Leaves – text
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4cHBYnXHpXzM3FBLUVUWEhPMkU/view?usp=sharing 

Autumn Leaves – dancing - images
date – October 31 2015
location – Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville NC

Autumn Leaves - video
date -  October 31 2015
location – Blue Ridge Parkway, Asheville NC
camera – hand held & hung from tree
(first edit) https://youtu.be/EVSBkyDPNaY
(second edit) https://youtu.be/Qviw13ZWTM0