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Works & Process at Guggenheim Museum

MIKI ORIHARA
Martha Graham Dance Company
New York, NY USA
BIO | POSTS

I went to see Fred Sherry Plays Zorn on Monday night. It was such a great evening.

World premiere of “777″( three cellists) Discussion lead by Charles Wuorinen( composer) with Fred Sherry and John Zorn, “Amour fou(1999)” piano, violin and cello, another discussion, solo cello work title “Untitled ( for Joseph Cornell)( 1999)” and again “777″.

“777″ started very disharmony sound, but when you listened it , it was actually harmonied together. It was a long tme ago that I used to listened to one CD which had John Zorn’s work, then long time I did not hear his music. But this performance, he gave me so many different sides of music. every work sounded different from each other. It was just amazing.

“Untitled ( for Joseph Cornell)” has a very interesting story that Zorn, in his childhood, lived in Queens where Cornell lived few doors down from his place. Knowing him as a person, eating icecream at the deli, strange man on the corner… all other aspects…and of course his art work inspire Zorn to make this solo.

I love this “works & process” at Guggenheim. You get to know the artist!and we came out after this performance, they were putting new exhibition. Interesting to see how they were putting this cars up in the air…

Recent Posts by miki orihara

Cleveland, OH

MIKI ORIHARA
Martha Graham Dance Company
New York, NY USA
BIO | POSTS

Graham Company was in Cleveland, OH.

Out side of the hotel that I saw was…

Just a few days after Halloween. Not even Thanksgiving….

What is happening in America? The end of October, you see the Christmas Tree, Snow man, at the Arts & Crafts Store, they are already playing christmas songs…

at the performance, Halim El-Dabh who composed Martha’s “Clytemnestra” came to see us. He worked with Martha to compose this great ballet. MGDC is putting this ballet back together next year. It will be so nice to have live music and singers…

Here Halim, Janet ( Artistic Director) and dancers.

PS:Sorry I did not have those pictures in bigger form.

Recent Posts by miki orihara

Approaches to Collaboration panel: Choreographers and Visual Artists

NANCY GARCIA
NYU’s ITP
BIO | POSTS

The roundtable discussion, “Approaches to Collaboration: Choreographers and Visual Artists,” took place on Saturday, September 8th at The Philoctetes Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Imagination at the New York Psychoanalytic Institute, on the upper east side. Collaborative models for performance were discussed.

Complete description of event and panelist bios: http://www.philoctetes.org/Event_Archive/Approaches_to_Collaboration_Choreographers_and_Visual_Artists

Following are my notes from the panel, as discussed by Noel Carroll, Roger Copeland, Mary Fleischer, Lynn Garafola, and Yvonne Rainer.

Ballet Russes’ collaborative model exemplified the Wagnerian idea of Gesamtkunswerk, or “total work of art,” via a synthesis of poetry, scenic design, staging, action, and music.

The ballet Parade was cited as a very early example of artistic collaboration, composed for Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes 1916-1917. Choreography by Léonide Massine (who was also dancing), music by Erik Satie, a one-act scenario by Jean Cocteau, costumes and sets designed by Pablo Picasso, and the orchestra conducted by Ernest Ansermet. Painter Henri Matisse also did sets and costumes for another of Ballet Russes Le Chant du Rossignol 1920 (or The Song of the Nightingale).

Parade Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parade_

Apparently, George Balanchine (one of the founders of New York City Ballet), was not so interested in visual aspects such as costuming and sets, but he was interested in lighting. Another choreographer who was very involved with lighting was Louie Fuller. She is considered a pioneer of both modern dance and theatrical lighting techniques.

Info about Louie Fuller: http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/c/current-loie.html

There was a good time spent on the Cage/Cunningham collaborative model. Both artists were in favor of “disillusion,” but for different reasons.
While Cunningham is a defender of the autonomy of the art form (in his case it would be dance), Cage is more of an integrationist, a descendant of Marcel Duchamp’s ideas who also wanted to dissolve the distance between art and life. Where Cage and Cunningham agree is on strategy: the use of aleatoric methods.

Yvonne Rainer called this collaborative model “mechanical,” where there is no apparent conversation between the collaborators. She cites a piece by choreographer John Jasperse, whose name she didn’t say but because of her description I suspect she meant California, as a good example of the integration of the stage elements (that set was designed by Ammar Eloueini).
Info about John Jasperse’s California: http://www.johnjasperse.org/index.php?name=rep8 Image of Set Design by Ammar Eloueini: http://www.digit-all.net

Recent Posts by nancy garcia

Bright Sheng

sloan_thumb USA_flag Posted by Sloan | via mobile phone

Composer/conductor Bright Sheng leads the orchestra through a rehearsal of his and Christopher Wheeldon’s new ballet, The Nightingale and The Rose. Here he says they need to go back a few bars in the score.

Recent Posts by kristin sloan