Archive for dance and technology
June 1, 2008 at 10:54 pm · Filed under ballet, dance, new york city ballet, dancers, media, video, podcast, SUSAN, dance and technology, abt, youtube, myspace, companies, marketing, dance companies, dance online, american ballet theatre, so you think you can dance, internet
The Arts & Music section of today’s Los Angeles Times takes a look at the growing popularity of Internet publicity among dancers and dance companies.
The YouTube video that seems to have prompted the article:
The connection between the video above and the rest of the article is, to me, a little fuzzy. Overall, though, the article is pretty neat. Especially cool is that Looseleaf recognizes certain notables, including Daniil Simkin, Rolando Sarabia, Anaheim Ballet, Grover Dale’s Answers4Dancers and, of course, New York City Ballet’s website and YouTube channel. (Congrats, Kristin!)
The full text of the article follows below for anyone who might be interested. Take a read!
My favourite quote: Asked what company co-founder and choreographer George Balanchine would have thought about the Internet, [NYCB’s General Manager Ken] Tabachnick replies, “He was an innovator. Balanchine loved change and didn’t shy away from new things. I imagine he would have loved it.”
:-)
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Recent Posts by susan kim
March 29, 2008 at 4:20 am · Filed under studio, media, video, teaching, TONY, dance and technology, science, space, physics, apples, computer graphics, opengl, education, performance, school, pedagogy, astronomy, learning, hermes, arts, double feature, animation
Last month I wrote a guest post on Matt Gough’s blog quodlibet titled math skills. It addressed the question of what fundamentals of physics and mathematics should be included in the dance technology curriculum.
Since dance-tech is in its infancy and still forming as a field this is an open question. This issue is not simply about inserting math and science into an arts curriculum but more so about how these two worlds partner. The action is reciprocal, math and science inform the dance and dance-tech provides new ways of knowing math and physics.
Force is one of the central landmarks of physics pedagogy. Gravity is Newton’s force.
And to use the force you must learn the force.
Simulation is a great way to learn about forces.
So is dancing.
Recent Posts by tony schultz
October 22, 2007 at 12:23 am · Filed under dance, dance event, DAVID, dance and technology, butoh, apple, brooklyn academy of music, david hallberg, dance theater workshop, dance culture, dance companies, ohad naharin, jeroma bel
After reading Kristin’s questions about performances and the aspect of relevance in dance to today’s Apple audience, I thought I would take a moment to tell you all what has been inspiring me lately…
And hope this sheds some light on curious readers to get out and see some performances.
Jerome Bel
Bel’s “Show Must Go On”
This choreographer is coming to Dance Theatre Workshop on Nov 7-11.
I caught his “Show Must Go On” two years ago here in NYC and LOVED it. He does such a great job of showing the audience a real part of performance, not just lights and tutu’s.
Japan Society’s Butoh Festival
October 9-27
Butoh is another form of dance that transcends classical ballet and brings you into another form of understanding of movement. It takes some patience but rewards the viewer with a new understanding of movement.
Ohad Naharin
Brooklyn Academy of Music November 13-17
This choreographer from Israel, whom I’ve written about before, is action packed and always takes such advantage of the aspect of theater. Never shy of the physical side of dance, I have always left the theater from his shows completely inspired and in pain from what I saw!
What have you seen that you loved lately?
Shows, Movies, Etc.?
Recent Posts by david hallberg
August 17, 2007 at 2:59 am · Filed under dance, dance event, article, dance and technology, theatre, new york city, critics, festival, TAYLOR
Posted by Taylor Gordon
For the past week I have been assigned to review dance performances at the 11th Annual New York International Fringe Festival for this off-Broadway website called OffOffOnline.com. Not only do I get to attend any number of free shows at my will but I get to voice my opinion and get paid for it! This week has given me a glimpse into the arts critic’s life I aspire to have (I even received my first official “press pass”!) See my published reviews here and here.
(my 1st press pass with the many brochures I received with it)
Being a ballet fanatic, the only performances I’ve been to since coming to the city have been strictly ballet. Of course I’ve been to Broadway shows and even a couple of modern performances, but after seeing the avante-garde kind of performances at the Fringe Festival it is clear how limited my, and perhaps that of much of the ballet world, exposure to the broad realm of dance theater really is.
The shows I’ve seen have been extremely out of the ordinary. One major difference between these and traditional dance performances is the use of multi-media and technology. Of the 3 productions I reviewed, all of them made extensive use of video and 2 used computer generated images. I think this epitomizes what’s coming in dance in the 21st century.
Sometimes, unfortunately, the special effects and loud visuals distract from the actual dancing. No matter how talented they are the dancers can get lost in the flashiness, especially if they are positioned against or beside a film screen in a way that forces the audience to decide to watch only one or the other.
In a world where audiences for dance, especially ballet and modern, are already dwindling it makes sense to attract newer, younger crowds to performances with different media. But since our society is constantly drowning in media it seems a shame to overshadow something as precious as dance.
These kinds of audiences are exactly what the Fringe Festival invites, with $15 tickets and downtown location and atmosphere. The venues (including 19 off- and off-off-Broadway theaters) are small, and the number of attendees even smaller. It was interesting, though, to get a glimpse of the community that appreciates these kinds of performances.
After each of the shows I attended I was surprised to hear fellow viewers discussing the work in depth, as if they were close friends rather than complete strangers as they actually were. People were far more open to opinion than conversations I’ve overheard at other ballet performances. I suppose these pieces leave more to the imagination.
All in all my experiences with the Fringe Festival have been really amusing. I’ve really enjoyed my new exposure to various companies and types of dance (Japanese hiphop, anyone?) and what’s even better is that I’ve been given the opportunity to challenge myself and write about them in a critical format. Just another day in the life of an aspiring dance writer!
(FringeCENTRAL - headquarters of the Fringe Festival downtown)
If you’re located here in the city I strongly encourage you to attend one of these shows - any show! - as part of the NY Fringe Festival! You really haven’t seen anything ‘til you’ve been to the Fringe. It runs through August 26 at various theaters, with its home base at FringeCENTRAL, located in the Village on Carmine Street at Varick. See Fringe website for show times and descriptions. Also see NY Times coverage here.
Recent Posts by taylor gordon
June 10, 2007 at 10:57 am · Filed under ballet, dance, choreographers, dance event, directors, SUSAN, dance and technology, musical theater, specialevents, awards, los angeles, modern dance, music video, youtube, hollywood, choreography, dancing with the stars, contemporary dance, california
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| Susan Kim
On Thursday night, I attended the inaugural Choreography Media Honors at the Director’s Guild of America. The entire extravaganza was presented in association with the Dance Camera West Film Festival. Hopefully, the night’s event will mark the first of many more to come.
It’s purpose: To honor the craft of choreography in and on the film media. As eloquently stated in the evening’s program of events, “Tonight we come together to celebrate the legacy of dance in media over the past two years–dance in all its various forms of expression. We have dance created to sell products, dance to tell stories, dance to make us laugh, dance to make us cry, dance created for no reason beyond that of pure self expression and artistry, exploring its relationship to film and video.”
So, continuing the work of the American Choreography Awards, the event honoured two year’s worth of choreography featured in commercials, television episodes, television variety shoes, music videos, short films, documentaries and feature films. About two hundred stand-out works created from 2004 to 2006 were nominated for recognition. Over the course of the evening, sixty-six of those nominees were revealed as the cream of the crop. Among them were some very familiar names: Fatima Robinson (”Dreamgirls“), Michael Rooney (”Jackass Number 2 Unrated,” “Think,” a Halifax commercial, “Saving Celebration,” a Target commercial, and “Flawless,” a George Michael music video), Marty Kudelka (Justin Timberlake at the 2006 MTV Video Music Awards, “Transformer,” a Citroen C4 commercial, and “My Love,” a Justin Timberlake music video), Kenny Ortega (”High School Musical“), Mia Michaels (”Calling You,” from So You Think You Can Dance), Tyce Diorio (”Cell Block Tango,” from So You Think You Can Dance), Shane Sparks (”Tranjie,” from So You Think You Can Dance, and “Push It To The Limit,” a Corbin Bleu music video), Wade Robson (”Ramalama,” from So You Think You Can Dance), John DeLuca (”Tony Bennett: An American Classic“), Rob Marshall (”Tony Bennett: An American Classic“), Travis Payne (”Product People,” a Target commercial, and “Commercial Break,” from Suite Life of Zack & Cody), Robin Antin (”Buttons,” a Pussycat Dolls music video) and Michael Minden (”Buttons“). A full list of all honorees is available below.
My favourite clip of the evening was a Nike commercial, choreographed by Luther Brown and Teresa Espinosa.
I couldn’t help but notice that almost every genre of dance but mine own dominated the ninety minute film presentation. Of those ninety minutes, perhaps thirty or forty-five seconds featured ballet, when “Ballet Russe” received an honorable mention under the documentary category. Even now, many days after the function, the thoughts inside my head are unsettled and my mind has yet to be made up as to how I feel about this. In the meantime, I’d love to hear–er, read–what anyone else might think…
For me, the best part of the entire evening had to do with the format of its presentation. The night’s honorees were not asked to approach the stage one at a time, but were asked to stand and be recognized at the beginning and end of the viewing. Adam Shankman, one of the evening’s speakers, said it best: “This is a true celebration. None of us are here to compete with anyone else to win a specific award. We’re all here to simply honor–and, celebrate–the work of all the honorees here today. (Isn’t this so much better than sitting at home in front of the television, patting ourselves on the back while watching our best works on repeat? It’s so much more fun to do it together in this theatre and cheer for each other, instead.)”
Of course, the night was even more noteworthy because I was sitting in the company of celebrities, some of whom have very recognizable names in the Hollywood community. After the special film presentation, the “real” celebration began and I met and schmoozed with Paula Abdul, Carrie Ann Inaba and Dan Karaty, along with the evening’s honorees.
Good thing I don’t get star struck!
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Recent Posts by susan kim
May 1, 2007 at 3:29 pm · Filed under TONY, dance and technology, installation, event, performance
Posted by Tony Schultz
This Sunday I went to see The Movement Movement presented by Martha Williams. The venue was a strange two-floor 7000 square foot converted retail clothing store with no address at South Street Seaport. This (dis)location provided an interesting space for the installation and performance of this project. The work consisted of three dances that blended into each other.
The first piece Stacked used the old changing rooms to stage 9 simultaneous performances. Each artist was responsible for creating small environment which they performed in. The artists included Scotty the Blue Bunny, Eric Bradley, Clare Byrne, Alberto Denis, Jen Kosky, Amy Larimer, Peter and Vicky Virgin, Luke Wiley and Martha Williams. Each room had sound and video feed that were mixed in the main space by sound artist newclueless and video artist Chris Jordan. Though I felt a bit claustrophobic watching the dances in the confined viewing space amidst many other audience members, I enjoyed seeing the performers up close. The dancers were very focused in each of their environments which made watching them feel particularly voyeuristic. The video feeds also added to the surveillance gestalt.
Stacked culminated in all of the dancers leaving their separate spaces and convening in the upstairs common space to improvise together. I watched from the top of the staircase. At one point Scotty the Blue Bunny set a brief case down at my feet. Shortly after all of the performers formed a procession to relocate to the bottom floor. The last performer in the line, Luke Wiley picked up the briefcase that had been left at my feet and followed the rest of the group downstairs. This precession was beautiful as it put me into such close proximity to the dancers. Many brushed against me as they passed. I felt my breathing adjusting to the tempo of the slow moving dancers, drawing me in as a performer.
The precession ended downstairs where Martha Williams and Luke Wiley danced a duet titled Currency Break. I had seen Luke dance as a member of Misnomer in Future Perfect. He is one of those tall, long legged bendy dancers that is hard to keep your eyes off. Martha Williams is also a tall statuesque dancer who is really gorgeous to watch. The power of these two creatures made for a stunning dance. In the midst of their duet the briefcase Luke had picked up from my feet reappeared. The two struggled with the case and ended up throwing it open. Its contents came spilling out. Stacks of cash! Just what I like. The two then used scissors to destroy the bundles of currency. I went downstairs to recover one of the bundles before they were all destroyed. It makes a great memento. The duet ended with a solo by Luke. It was a pleasure to watch from only a few feet away.
During the procession, duet and solo the videographer sent a live video feed to a multimedia mixing board that produced multiple live remixes shown in the main space on various projectors. The camera work, video mixing and sound were well executed and made an impressive technical performance that was integrated and complemented the “real” dancing bodies.
Recent Posts by tony schultz
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