Body and Soul

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 [email protected].

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.

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: [email protected]

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 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 [email protected].

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.

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.

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.

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.

What happens when dance artists project their inner/alter selves into the vast reaches of cyberspace? I sat down with freelance dance critic and media scholar Brian McCormick to talk about what's happening with dance in Second Life.

Brian McCormick is a dance writer and member of the NY Dance & Performance Awards (Bessies) Committee, and part-time faculty in the New School University Media Studies MA program. He has written for Dance Magazine, The New York Times, and The Advocate, and is a long-time contributing editor at Gay City News. Since 2003, he has been the teaching dance-writing to New York City area high school students through a program created by Dance Theater Workshop and High 5 Tickets to the Arts, called Dance TRaC (Teen Reviewers and Critics).

LINK

Second Life

http://www.secondlife.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.

Estelle Woodward Arnal (Director of Artist Services, Dance Theater Workshop) and Levi Gonzalez (dancer-choreographer) join me today to talk about DTW's Outer/Space Creative Residency Program.

Levi Gonzalez is an independent choreographer living and working in New York City who has created a body of solo and group choreographic projects. He is interested in presenting work in a variety of venues and contexts, from small and intimate spaces to more traditional stages. Often the placement of the work in a certain environment shapes the content. Gonzalez is interested in furthering a dialogue of ideas about the body in society-at-large and about how we experience physical presence. He has gradually distanced himself from dance that concerns itself with the abstract designing of movement as an end in itself and towards work that addresses performance and the power and meaning of embodiment in daily life. His work and his choreographic collaborations with Luciana Achugar have been presented by Movement Research at Judson Church, Dance Theater Workshop, The Kitchen, Danspace Project, PS122, Dixon Place, and PS1 Contemporary Art Center. He has performed extensively with Donna Uchizono Company and John Jasperse Company, as well as ChameckiLerner, Jeremy Nelson and Dennis O’Connor. Additionally, he has worked for Michael Laub’s Remote Control Productions in Europe. Levi teaches technique and composition at Movement Research and with Dean Moss at The Kitchen. He was a Movement Research Artist in Residence from 2003-2004 and a 2006 NYFA Fellow in Choreography. He is an editor of Critical Correspondence, an online publication, and facilitates artist dialogues through Dance Theater Workshop’s Fresh Tracks Residency.

LINKS:

Dance Theater Workshop http://www.dancetheaterworkshop.org

Movement Research (for Levi Gonzalez' upcoming workshop, "The Practice of Presence") http://www.movementresearch.org

Critical Correspondence

http://www.movementresearch.org/publishing/

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.

Presenting site-specific dance in the bustling financial, commercial and historic environment of downtown Manhattan is not without risk but can yield considerable excitement and rewards. Producer-curator Nolini Barretto and the artists she selects for her annual Sitelines series bring imagination and vision to this challenge and opportunity. In summer 2007, I spoke with Nolini about past productions and current highlights of this well-regarded festival, a project of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (http://www.lmcc.net/).

GUEST BIO

Nolini Barretto has long been part of the New York arts community. She worked for the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance for thirteen years, the last few years as Administrative Director of the school. She was a founding Director of the Emergency Fund for Student Dancers and continues to serve on its Board and the advisory Board of Buglisi Dance Company. She was the Director of Marketing for Dance Theater Workshop in Chelsea, helping it transition into its new building, managing its rebranding efforts and launching its Inaugural season. At DTW she received the National Arts Marketing Project's Advanced Audience Development Training. Nolini was originally a classical dancer in India and received a Masters degree in Arts Administration from Teachers College, Columbia University. In 2005 CEC Artslink sent her to lecture on Public Art in St. Petersburg, Russia and Novosibirsk, Siberia. Nolini began working at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council in 2003, where she founded the site-specific performance series, Sitelines, which she continues to curate and produce. She is in her first year as a member of the Bessies (New York Dance and Performance) Awards committee.

LINK

http://www.lmcc.net/

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

My interview with dancer-choreographer Ashleigh Leite, conducted in the fall of 2007, is a reminder of how critically important it is for emerging creative artists here in New York to have the support of organizations like Joyce SoHo. As an artist-in-residence at Joyce SoHo's Mercer Street studios, Ashleigh was provided with ample time, rehearsal space, guidance and helpful feedback as she developed Crawl Space, her evening-length, multi-media ensemble which received its premiere at Danspace Project in November 2007--a major step forward in her career. I hope you'll enjoy my talk with this interesting, thoughtful artist and look for the next opportunity to see her work.

GUEST BIO

Ashleigh Leite, originally from Scottsdale, Arizona, graduated (cum laude) from SUNY Purchase with a BFA in Dance Performance in 1997. Upon graduation, Ashleigh joined Stephen Petronio Company, where she served as Assistant Director/Rehearsal Director and a dancer for over eight years (1997-2005). While maintaining a full schedule with Stephen Petronio Company, Ashleigh began to pursue her own work as a freelance choreographer. In March 2006, at Joyce SoHo in New York City, she premiered Autopsy for which she received a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council Swing Space Award. During the fall of 2006, Ashleigh was an Artist-in-Residence at Dance New Amsterdam and premiered flawed in December; this year, she has been an Artist-in-Residence at Joyce SoHo. She is a current member of Pavel Zustiak's Palissimo and has performed in works by Jamie Bishton, David Allen Harris and Jeremy Nelson. She has taught technique and repertory at conservatories all over the world and guest teaches regularly at Dance New Amsterdam in New York City.

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