April 8, 2008 at 11:35 am · Filed under dance, TONY, dance graph, dance technology, sarah lawrence college, video game, aesthetics, Cavin Moore, Michel Gondry, Meghan McCoy
This is a live dance composition interface that we built in my Dance & Technology class at Sarah Lawrence College. You could also call it a video game. It uses the Wii controller to compose both dancer and viewer movement in a virtual space. This is an extended version of last years Dance Graph.
Gondry’s film and installation at Deitch Projects, Be Kind Rewind, presents a refreshing view of culture, putting value on process and participation over product and profit. Making computer games out of ourselves, our movement vocabularies and the environments we inhabit, follows this same philosophy.
“I don’t intend nor have the pretension to teach how to make films. Quite the contrary. I intend to prove that people can enjoy their time without being part of the commercial system and serving it. Ultimately, I am hoping to create a network of creativity and communication that is guaranteed to be free and independent from any commercial institution.”-Michel Gondry
moves: Cavin Moore
photo: Meghan McCoy
music: Real Nice by Should Have Thought of That
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August 3, 2007 at 4:43 am · Filed under dance, TONY, performance, choreography, andre lepecki, MAIA, south africa, robyn orlin, susan broadhurst, johannes birringer, aesthetics, dance umbrella
Posted by Maia Jordaan
Photo by Jean Pierre Maurin
One day not too long ago I decided to do a web search on Andre Lepecki. I had done this search many times before as I am researching the relevance of Lepecki’s proposals to South African contemporary dance. I am not quite sure what prompted me to do this search yet again. The click of the search button marks the beginning of a whole new journey … something I had longed for … to give voice to my opinions on dance performance. Specifically on South African dance performance as so little is written about it (both locally and internationally). The entry that would bring me into contact with The Winger was a link to a post by Tonya on her blog. She and Tony were discussing starting a reading group on Lepecki’s book Concept & Presence.
I was intrigued by this lovely lady … she is both intelligent & witty & writes fantastically about a whole range of dance. As many of you know by now Tonya put me in contact with Tony & the rest is history … my passionate interest in dance & Lepecki’s writing prompted Tony & Kristin to invite me to become a contributor.
I will be using these posts to tell you more about dance performance in South Africa. I have a keen interest in what is happening on the fringes – what Susan Broadhurst calls liminal spaces & according to Johannes Birringer, border performances. I belief it is within these borders – or gaps as I like to call it – that exciting and fresh ideas are being proposed by both established and up-and-coming choreographers.
These gaps are marked by a questioning of established dance/performance aesthetics which is an important and necessary aspect of breaking boundaries and rupturing the conventional to cultivate growth in choreographic innovation.
In South Africa, this lineage of questioning (characterized by performativity, presence and conceptual dance) can be traced to Robyn Orlin’s work. Today, Robyn lives and works in Europe. It is telling that one of Orlin’s latest works was a collaboration with Vera Mantero, whom Lepecki aligns with the characteristics of contemporary European choreography he highlights in Concept and Presence (2004) & Exhausting Dance (2006). South African dance researcher, Jill Waterman points out “challenging the notion of comfortable genres of dance and theatre categories is, on many occasions, the central thrust of Robyn Orlin’s performance pieces”.
http://www.robynorlin.com
The Paris Voice has this to say about her work:
“With enigmatic and provocative titles like daddy, I’ve seen this piece six times and I still don’t know why they’re hurting each other, South African choreographer Robyn Orlin has sparked more curiosity worldwide than anybody in the dance scene since Trisha Brown during the 1960s.”
Carol Pratl
At the moment she is working on a new work for South Africa’s annual Dance Umbrella in March next year. “I always go back to South Africa - because my dancers are there, and my family - for one project a year…”
I’m very excited about this new work and encourage you to go and see her work if you ever have the chance. Have a look at her great website to get an idea of her quirky humour and fantastic use of imagery.
Recent Posts by maia jordaan
