Dance
| Archived Articles by Andrea K. Hammer Dance as a Universal Language When PHILADANCO! performs internationally, audiences spring to their feet — expressing their deep appreciation of the arts. They bang on the floor enthusiastically during 20-minute ovations and reciprocally feed the dancers’ creative passion. With appearances in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Hungary, company members vividly recall “rock-star” treatment during previous international tours...READ MORE South Philly Chi Vision. Transformation. Vitality. Photo courtesy of Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers Kun-Yang Lin/Dancers (KYL/D), one of Pennsylvania's only Asian American contemporary dance companies, opened Chi Movement Arts Center in a renovated warehouse half a block from the city's notorious Pat's and Geno's Steaks.... READ MORE Moving Around: Rebecca Davis Dance Company By Andrea K. Hammer For the St. Petersburg Times in Russia Photo by Gabriel Bienczycki In her U.S. dance company’s studio in South Philadelphia, Artistic and Executive Director Rebecca Davis recently said that she misses Russia-her favorite country-and hopes to return one day.... READ MORE |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
| |
 |
While Bodies Get Mirrored: An Exhibition about Movement, Formalism, and Space The group exhibition at the Migros Museum für Gegenwartskunst in Zurich reveals the relation of tension between movement and space along with a formalist vocabulary of signs. One focus is the influence of postmodern dance and choreography in contemporary art. Another central theme is the re-presentation of the performative and the notation of movement and dance-related activities through the varied media, ranging from classical photography and film to sculptural and installation work. Early postmodern dance and its postulation that “every movement is part of a dance and every person is a dancer” can be read on the one hand as a historical bridging moment to modernism but also as a moment that links the exhibited positions in this exhibition. In postmodern dance, the legacy of formalist expression of movement has been applied and further developed in a reaction to contemporary visual arts. In the last few years, there has been an increased interest by younger artists in resuming and rediscovering this avant-garde movement of the early 20th century – the formal-aesthetic as well as the social perspective. This viewpoint entails moments of mirroring, reflecting, coruscating, and the dissection of complex forms surveyed in their simple geometric elements and becomes an important expressive tool in a formal language. The 13 international perspectives exhibited in the exhibition register the differing applications and various functions of content in such a language. In their video works, Delia Gonzalez (born 1972, USA), Hanna Schwarz (born 1975, Germany), and Kelly Nipper (born 1971, USA) record well-quoted dance movements live and often extend them into a spatial context. In this way, Gonzalez creates the spatial production of a stage situation, in which she presents her film (Untitled, 2010). The political potential of movement is also investigated, for instance, by Anetta Mona Chişa (born 1975, Romania) and Lucia Tkáčová (born 1977, Slovakia), who in their video work Manifesto of Futurist Woman (Let's Conclude) (2008) feature majorettes marching in front of the video camera, disseminating the “Manifesto of the Futurist Woman” through a language of signals. Anna Molska (born 1983, Poland), Mai-Thu Perret (born 1976, Switzerland) and Paulina Olowska (born 1976, Poland) also investigate such sociopolitical approaches. By grappling with dance and movement in their works, they attempt to establish a kind of “social choreography” (Andrew Hewitt). William Forsythe (born 1949, USA), Martin Soto Climent (born 1977, Mexico) and Julian Goethe (born 1966, Germany) extend into the sculptural field with their works and investigate the solidification of movement. This is revealed by Forsythe in his spatial sculpture The Defenders Part II (2008), an arrangement of more than 70 mirrors wedged into one another on a red carpet as a performative object. The work A Study in Choreography for Camera (1945) by Maya Deren (1917-1961) serves as a historical example; the artist demonstrated an early interest in the synthesis of film and dance in her creations. During the 1970s and 1980s, experimental filmmaker Babette Mangolte (France/USA) gave numerous performances documented by, among others, Trisha Brown, Yvonne Rainer, and Richard Foreman, which were concerned at length with the question of representing the performative. Silke Otto-Knapp (born 1970, Germany) often takes documentation from ballet productions as source material for her painting. Here, her monochrome pictures focus on the moment of movement of the figure and condense it. During the opening, Martin Soto Climent will perform in the museum. On April 8, Mai- Thu Perret will present a performance in the museum. On April 17, Kelly Nipper will present a performance in the museum, created in conjunction with the video installation she is displaying in the exhibition. The screening on May 6 is dedicated to solo dance throughout the 20th century. Among those featured are dance films by Trisha Brown, Isadora Duncan, William Forsythe, Loie Fuller, Miriam LaVelle, and Erna Ómarsdóttir. For more information about the show and events, from March 6 to May 30, visit www.migrosmuseum.ch. |
| Delia Gonzalez Untitled (not yet titled) 2009 – 2010 Installation: 3-channel projection on sculptures Dimensions variable |
Send Your News, and Reserve Ad Space Send your news, images, captions, and credits for a complimentary display on Artsphoria. Request rates for placement of logos, profiles, and features along with Artsphoria's writing, editing, and desktop-publishing services. For more information, e-mail admin@artsphoria.com. |
| Anetta Mona Chişa and Lucia Tkáčová Manifesto of Futurist Woman (Let’s Conclude) 2008; single- channel video (color, sound) 11:13 min. |
| Lar Lubovitch Dance Company at Lar Lubovitch Dance Company will present a 2-week season at The Joyce Theater, Feb. 23 to March 7. The season comprises three separate programs featuring two world premieres alongside new and recent works from Lar Lubovitch’s rich, prolific repertoire. The season includes an all-jazz program that features the world premiere of "Coltrane’s Favorite Things," set to an iconic 1963 recording of John Coltrane’s interpretation of the classic Richard Rodgers song “My Favorite Things.” The backdrop for the dance is a reproduction of Jackson Pollock’s landmark painting “Autumn Rhythm.” With this dance, Lubovitch reimagines the choreographic possibilities of jazz, creating a vibrant counterpart to the artistic impulsiveness of these two twentieth-century giants. The jazz evening also includes the wildly popular Elemental Brubeck (2005), set to lively tracks from Dave Brubeck’s 1963 album “Time Changes,” and "Nature Boy: Kurt Elling," Lubovitch’s latest incarnation of his 2005 "Love’s Stories," set to unique renditions of jazz standards by the Kurt Elling Ensemble. The season also includes the world premiere of "Dogs of War." This duet for two men is inspired by and set to Prokofiev’s “War Sonatas,” and its title references William Shakespeare’s quote “Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the dogs of war...” Completing the season are the New York premiere of "Cryptoglyph" (2007), a whimsical and enigmatic dance that plays off of an eclectic vocal score by Meredith Monk, and the company premiere of Vita Nova (1999), a dynamic, sculptural duet from Lubovitch’s highly praised work Meadow, originally created for American Ballet Theatre. Vita Nova is set to composer Gavin Bryars’s “Incipit Vita Nova.” On display in this 2-week season of performances is the great choreographic and musical range that Lubovitch has become known for during his prolific 42-year career. The company includes dancers Jonathan E. Alsberry, Reid Bartelme, Nicole Corea, Attila Joey Csiki, Jay Franke, Charlaine Mei Katsuyoshi, Brian McGinnis, Laura Rutledge, Katarzyna Skarpetowska, and Christopher Vo. Performances are at The Joyce Theater, 175 Eighth Avenue (at 19th Street) in New York City. For more information, visit www.joyce.org and www.lubovitch.org. Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m., and 7:30 p.m.). |
| Brian McGinnis, Mucuy Bolles, and Reid Bartelme in Lar Lubovitch's "Coltrane's Favorite Things" |
| Lar Lubovitch's "Elemental Brubeck" Photo by Rose Eichenbaum |
| Lar Lubovitch's Elemental Brubeck Photo by Rose Eichenbaum |