Use A Condom In July
March 31, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
It takes time, effort and the right environment to find the right words. © Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of yet another liver in the life of Mr L. To add to the...
Alex Escalante: Body and Soul podcast
March 28, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Alex Escalante's new evening-length work--"Clandestino"--pays tribute to his Mexican heritage, his immigrant parents, and the courage of undocumented workers, living in the United States, who, in the spring of 2006, turned out for massive rallies for their human rights. At a time when illegal immigration has become an exploited political flashpoint, Escalante asks audiences to confront their own feelings and opinions on this issue. The personal is the political, and vice-versa, in this vibrant presentation featuring live and recorded music, film, and a movement vocabulary inspired by contemporary Mexican social dances. Visit "Clandestino" on MySpace (see link below).
BIO
Alex Escalante, originally from Los Angeles, graduated from SUNY Purchase. He has worked in New York with Donna Uchizono, Jennifer Monson/Birdbrain, Doug Elkins, Doug Varone, David Neumann, Gerald Casel, the Metropolitan Opera, and has been fortunate to tour as Merce Cunningham's personal assistant. He was featured in the musical film Romance and Cigarettes, directed by John Turturro. His own work, as well as choreography for theatre with Division 13 Productions, has been presented at Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, La MaMa E.T.C., Dixon Place, Movement Research at Judson Church, Joe's Pub, and Here Arts Center. In February 2007, his most recent work, Swallow Sand, was presented by Dance Theater Workshop as part of a Studio Series residency. Escalante is currently a 2007-2008 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence. He also works as a freelance photographer and is an avid surfer.
EVENT
Premiere of "Clandestino" at Danspace Project, St. Mark's Church, Thursday-Saturday, April 10-12 (8:30pm)
Reservations: 212-674-8194 or at Danspace Project's Web site (see link below).
LINKS
Alex Escalante's "Clandestino"
http://www.myspace.com/_clandestino
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Easter Sunday
March 24, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
The weekend in New York was like a breath of fresh air. Just the sound of night air in NYC is specific to its location. Some of my trip highlights include bubble tea, escargot, squid, octopus, and a Sunday afternoon dance class at Dance New Amsterdam. All of the above were firsts for me except the bubble tea and the dance class. I absolutely loved the escargot; the squid and octopus were bearable, but made me a little sqeamish. My Dance New Amsterdam Intermediate Modern class was taught by Curt Haworth. Curt taught a gestural class. We did do full body movement, but I found that the focus for this Easter Sunday class combination happened to revolve around a gesture phrase that could be interpreted 360 different ways. Curt was very receptive to the students' input and feedback. He was encouraging, challenging, and a pleasure to learn from.
I love waking up in New York City.
Sandra Catena: Body and Soul podcast
March 21, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Here’s my conversation with Sandra Catena, popular belly dance instructor and performer, personal trainer and author of “The African Belly Dance”–the first murder mystery to feature a belly dancer as its protagonist.
BOOK FACTS
“The African Belly Dance” is a murder mystery featuring Santina Cole, a first generation Italian-American from Newark, New Jersey. Santina was raised in a blue-collar family with deep Catholic roots and much to the chagrin of her family, becomes a belly dancer. Santina is a feisty, funny, red hot woman from the hood who finds herself in the middle of trouble. While performing in West Africa at a Lebanese nightclub, a murder occurs. Santina is in the thick of it and helps find the killer. Get on this magic carpet ride that takes the reader from Newark, New Jersey to Manhattan to West Africa!
BIO
Sandra Catena has performed in Europe, West Africa, Canada and the United States. She has also performed on national television shows such as MTV, The Joy Brown Show and WB11 News. Since 1980, Sandra has performed in New York's Oriental nightclubs, theaters and colleges. Sandra starred in a 14-week run of "A Belly Dancer's Story" (10/96-2/97) in New York City. "A Belly Dancer's Story" was written, choreographed and performed by Sandra. She also produced and choreographed the following shows in theaters in New York: "A Night of Middle Eastern Dance" (6/01&02/00); "A Belly Dance Extravaganza" (11/18/00); "Belly Dance Nights" (01/07&14&21/01); "Arabian Nights" (06/03&04/01); "Holiday Exotica" (12/18/01); "Belly Dance Fever" (5/25/02); "Holiday Hafla" (12/15/02); "Oriental Dreams" (7/03/03); "A Belly Dancer’s Story" (3/14/04 and 6/15/04); and belly dance recitals at Lafayette Grill (6/12/05, 10/23/05, 3/23/06); “Modern Egyptian Rhythms” (12/3/06).
Sandra Catena is a master teacher of Oriental dance. She teaches private and group classes regularly in New York City. Sandra also teaches at Shakti Yoga, The 14th Street Y and has taught at New York University, City University of New York, Sarah Lawrence College, The New Age Health Spa, The Hospital for Joint Diseases, The Seminar Center, The Discovery Center, Asphalt Green, Carmine Street Recreation Bureau, Broome Corner Studios, Rod Rodgers Dance Studios, Dance Theater Workshop, Joyous Life Energy Center, Five Points Fitness and Djoniba's Drum and Dance Center, all in New York.
EVENT
Wednesday, March 26 (6:30-8:30pm): Book signing party (with performance, reading and cash bar) at Boucarou, 64 East 1st Street, East Village, Manhattan
LINKS
Sandra Catena
http://www.bigapplebellydance.org
Boucarou Lounge
http://www.boucaroulounge.com
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Lynn Neuman: Body and Soul podcast
March 21, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Lynn Neuman, the talented artistic director of Artichoke Dance Company, is currently showing her new work, “If You See Something...,” at Dixon Place. This evening-length piece is wrenching, both visually and aurally, which owes a lot to the physical and emotional courage of its performers–Toby Billowitz, Cary McWilliams, Melissa Riker and Neuman–as well as the intimacy of the space and an uncommon relationship to the audience.
BIO
Lynn Neuman is Artistic Director and co-founder of Artichoke Dance Company. Her movement style is the outgrowth of a background in gymnastics combined with eclectic dance training, including studies in Balinese dance, tango and contact improvisation. She enjoys meddling in other artistic mediums and treasures her dancers. Lynn has been commissioned by Peculiar Works Projects to create several multimedia works combining video and live performance, by Nexus Arts to choreograph numerous operas and by educational organizations to create works for students and pre-professional dancers. This summer, Lynn will serve as a guest mentor for the Dance Omi International Dance Collective. Ms. Neuman believes in the power of the arts to effect positive change in people’s lives and within communities. To this end, she works with youths and adults to promote cultural literacy and engage people in dance experiences. She has a BFA degree from the University of Michigan and MFA from Temple University.
EVENTS
“If You See Something...” continues at Dixon Place tonight and tomorrow (March 21-22) and next Thursday through Saturday (March 27-29) at 8pm. For reservations, call 212-219-0736 or email contact@dixonplace.org.
May 23-24: Artichoke presents selections from “Vic and Dee: Through the Years” at BRIC Studio as part of the Danspace Project Out of Space Series.
June 14-15: Artichoke premieres “UR Here,” a multi-site performance tour along 5th Avenue in Brooklyn.
LINKS
Artichoke Dance Company
http://www.artichokedance.org
Dixon Place
http://www.dixonplace.org
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Dunya Dianne McPherson: Body and Soul podcast
March 17, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Dancer and Sufi teacher Dunya Dianne McPherson’s new memoir–Skin of Glass: Finding Spirit in the Flesh–tells of her exploration of the multisensory intelligence and wisdom of her body. In our interview, she retraces the path that led her to her embodied spiritual practice and reads from her extraordinary book.
BIO
Dunya Dianne McPherson is an acclaimed dancer and choreographer, writer, filmmaker, and Master Teacher. As founder and Principal Teacher of the healing movement practice, Dancemeditation, she specializes in techniques that open the wonderment of deep, subtle, peaceful self-perception.
She received her BFA in dance from Juilliard and her MA in Writing from Lesley University. She was an Artist Scholar at Columbia University. With the completion of 1,001 days of Sufi training, she was given teaching permission by Sufi Master, Adnan Sarhan (Sufi Foundation of America). Her numerous teaching credits include: Barnard College, Montclair State College, Mark Morris Dance Center, Hunter College, Oberlin College, Swarthmore College, New York Open Center and Kripalu Center. Awards include: National Endowment for the Arts Choreography Fellowship, Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors Choreography Commission, TX & MA Arts Council grants. She is featured in the film ‘Dances of Ecstasy.’ Dunya lives in New York City.
UPCOMING EVENT
Sunday, April 6 (3pm): “Skin of Glass” book launch, featuring performance by Alembic, saxophonist Premik Tubbs and Ensemble, film and photographs, reading, tea and book signing.
Location: Metropolitan Building, 11-04 44th Avenue, Long Island City, Queens.
RSVP: info@dancemeditationbooks.com
LINK
Dunya’s Dancemeditation blog
http://blog.dancemeditation.org/
Dervish Society of America
http://dancemeditation.org/
"Skin of Glass"
http://www.dancemeditationbooks.com/skinofglass/
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Jeff Larson: Body and Soul podcast
March 13, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Jeff Larson co-curates the enormously popular Catch performance series with Andrew Dinwiddie. He’s also co-curator of Movement Research’s Spring Festival 2008. Jeff called in today to talk about Artists’ Map, his new project for Movement Research.
You can submit your address to Artists' Map by emailing Jeff at jeff.larson@mac.com.
BIO
Jeff Larson is Associate Technical Director for Theatrical Production and Adjunct Faculty for the Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Together with Andrew Dinwiddie, he curates the Catch performance series. Jeff is also the co-founder of PHILIFOR & PHILIMOR productions. Current activities include: performing in HUGO with choreographer Chris Yon (DTW, Spring 2008); scenic design for Beth Gill's “Eleanor & Eleanor” (DTW, Fall 2008); “The Principle of Trim,” the second short video of two with longtime collaborator Zach Steel (Spring 2008); co-curating the Movement Research Spring Festival (Spring 08); and a project centered around the life of militant abolitionist John Brown (Fall 2009).
LINKS
CATCH
htpp://www.catchseries.org
MOVEMENT RESEARCH FESTIVAL
http://www.movementresearch.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Carrie Ahern: Body and Soul podcast
March 13, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
My guest, Carrie Ahern, is a dancer and an independent choreographer whose work shows a powerful sense of visual order and psychological depth. We met in the dressing room at St. Mark's Church, home of Danspace Project, to talk about "Red," which premiered there in 2006, and her new piece--"The Unity of Skin"--which will premiere on April 3 and run through April 5.
To listen to original music composed for "The Unity of Skin" by cellist Greg Heffernan, visit http://www.carrieahern.com/calendar/calendar.html.
BIO
Carrie Ahern, a Wisconsin native, is an independent dance and performance artist who has been based in New York City since 1995. She worked primarily as a freelance performer/choreographer for over a dozen dance and theater companies until forming Carrie Ahern Dance in 2005. Her current evening length project, "The Unity of Skin" is commissioned by Danspace Project for performances April 3-5, 2008 and is being presented at Baltimore Theatre Project March 6-9, 2008. Investigations into "The Unity of Skin" were shown at Dance Conversations at the Flea, Danceworks in Milwaukee, Movement Research at Judson Church and at Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX) as part of their 2007 Space Grant Residency. Her studies of Ancient Greek Philosophy for this piece were funded, in part, by Fractured Atlas' Creative Development Grant. Carrie's first evening length work "Red" (2006) was commissioned both by Danspace Project at St. Mark's Church and the Guggenheim Works-and Process Series.
Her shorter works have been seen at over a dozen venues in New York City such as Danspace Project, P.S.122, Dixon Place, the Angel Orensanz Foundation, Dance Space Center (now DNA), Chashama, The Flea and Soundance among others. Nationally and internationally, her work has been presented at Baltimore Theatre Project, Danceworks and Walker's Point Arts Center in Milwaukee, Le Regard du Cygne in Paris and at the Festival D'OFF in Avignon, France. She self-produced two seasons in conjunction with her frequent collaborator, Jennifer A. Cooper: "Alteregomania" at Cunningham in 1999 and "Exploding Plastic Acorns" at the Williamsburg Art Nexus (WAX) in 2003. In 2002, Bessie award winning dancer Carolyn Hall commissioned a solo, with an original score by Grammy award winner Matt Darriau and Ivan Goff. As a performer Carrie has had the pleasure of working with many artists here in New York City including, Pat Cremins/Wyoming, Heather Kravas, Heidi Latsky, Allyson Green, Nina Winthrop, Jeffrey Frace, Ridge Theater, Donna Bouthillier and Jennifer A. Cooper.
Upcoming choreographic experiments include a collaborative effort with The Nietzsche Circle -the exciting and daunting task of using Nietzsche's "Thus Spake Zaranthustra" as a jumping off point for a dance. She is exploring remounting 2006's "Red" for the crumbling and infamous Eastern State Penitentiary.
Ahern is a sought-after teacher of pilates and yoga throughout NYC. She has taught improvisation at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and dance technique in the New York City Public Schools.
LINKS
Carrie Ahern
http://www.carrieahern.com
Greg Heffernan (composer)
http://www.gregheffernan.com
Agata Oleksiak (visual designer)
http://www.agataolek.com
Danspace Project
http://www.danspaceproject.org/
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Makeda Thomas: Body and Soul podcast
March 9, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
Choreographer Makeda Thomas (of Roots and Wings Movement!) called from Trinidad to speak with me about the tragic killing of her colleague, Augusto Cuvilas, one of Mozambique's most celebrated dance artists. Although the sound quality of this phone interview is not ideal, the information she presents is very important, and time is of the essence. Makeda has been invited to join with South African choreographer Boyzie Cekwana to complete a project that the three were working on at the time of Cuvilas's death. For more information on how you can help, visit Makeda's site at www.makedathomas.org.
Makeda Thomas is from Trinidad & Tobago and has presented work at HARLEM Stage/Aaron Davis Hall, Dance Theater Workshop, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Chicago Women's Performance Arts Festival, Maputo's Teatro Africa, Caribbean Contemporary Arts (CCA7), and as a Cultural Envoy for the U.S. Department of State. Her choreography has been commissioned by 651 ARTS Black Dance: Tradition & Transformation (2007) and received awards from the United States Embassy (2006 & 2005), Puffin Foundation (2005), New York State Council on the Arts (2005), Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation (2005), Arts International (2003), Yellowfox Foundation (2006), and the National AIDS Council of Moçambique (2005).
In 2004, during its 25th Anniversary season, she was named Resident Choreographer of Companhia Nacional De Canto e Dança. Graça Machel (Former First Lady of South Africa and Moçambique) serves as the Honorary Patron of her internationally acclaimed work, "A Sense of Place" (2005), on which she presented at the 1st Conference on New Perspectives in African Performing & Visual Arts. In 2007, she became a featured choreographer in ‘This Woman’s Work: Choreographic Development Project Representing Women of Color’ - joining Camille A. Brown, Bridget Moore, Shani Collins, Princess Mhoon Cooper, Francine Ott, & Ursula Payne.
As a dancer, Makeda Thomas has toured internationally in the companies of Ronald K. Brown/EVIDENCE, URBAN BUSH WOMEN, and Rennie Harris/ Puremovement, and independently with Robin Becker Dance, Lula Washington Dance Theater, and Stephen Koplowitz. She began her study in Brooklyn, New York with Michael Goring, continuing on scholarship at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, The Paul Taylor School and Hofstra University where she earned a B.A. in Dance and English.
Ms. Thomas has conducted research projects in South Africa and The Netherlands, artistic residencies in Hawaii and Florida; and arts in education projects with The Dalton School, Arts in Ed. Institute of Western NY, and NYC Dept. of Education. She continues to create dance works and perform internationally, while living in New York City & Port of Spain.
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
Trajal Harrell: Body and Soul Podcast
March 4, 2008 · Posted in dance bloggers · Comment
The talented Trajal Harrell is one of dance's versatile, committed workers. He has learned to balance various roles including performer, choreographer, curator, journal editor and instructor. His innovative art, in concept and execution, investigates the links between postmodern and popular aesthetics.
Dance Theater Workshop will host the premiere of Harrell's "Quartet for the End of Time," October 15-18, 2008. This full-evening work for four dancers takes the story of Olivier Messiaen's famous music of
the same name (composed and first performed by Jewish and Christian musicians in a Nazi prisoner-of-war camp) as a foundation for investigating the antagonism between sincerity and irony in our contemporary time.
BIO
Trajal Harrell was born in Douglas, Georgia. He graduated from Yale University, majoring in American Studies with a concentration in creative processes--researching theater, literary theory and art history. He has also studied dance and choreography at Brown University, The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance, The San Francisco Institute of Choreography, City College of San Francisco, Movement Research and the Trisha Brown School. His work has been performed in various venues in the US and Europe.
In 1998, he was selected as an artist-in-residence at Movement Research and has been active in the development of research projects and curation, including curating an initiative to diversify Movement Research's programming through selection of artists of color for performance opportunities. He has served in editorial capacities for the Movement Research Performance Journal and was appointed editor-in-chief in 2006.
LINKS
Movement Research:
http://www.movementresearch.org/
Dance Theater Workshop:
http://www.dtw.org
Body and Soul is the official podcast of InfiniteBody dance blog at
http://infinitebody.blogspot.com. Subscribe through iTunes or at
http://magickaleva.hipcast.com/rss/bodyandsoul.xml.
(c)2008, Eva Yaa Asantewaa
This material may not be reproduced in any way, either in part or in its entirety, without the expressed written permission of Eva Yaa Asantewaa.
