Movement Research

Movement Research Studies Project, "Back to School with Teaching Artists" - October 11, 2016 Initiated and Hosted by Diana Crum, Director of MR's Dance Makers in the Schools Program.

Using the context of the Movement Research lineage and community as a base to move out from, this roundtable discussion is an opportunity for teaching artists to gather and share their current ideas, inspirations, and practices. We'll kick off the conversation with invited guest speakers Mariangela Lopez, Jules Skloot and Adrienne Westwood.

Movement Research Studies Project, "Does the Dance Field Make Room for Parenting" - October 11, 2016 Initiated and moderated by Nami Yamamoto and Netta Yerushalmy With Yanira Castro, Rebecca Davis, Ursula Eagly, Shannon Hummel, Craig Peterson, Stacy Spence and Donna Uchizono.

We discussed and examined the culture around child-rearing in our field - in what ways do structures and attitudes in the field integrate and invite this choice and in what ways do they, often unconsciously, ignore or discourage this reality? How are artists who are also parents perceived? What are some of the concrete decisions and conditions individuals in the field employ to make it work?

Movement Research Studies Project, "Body Disrupt" - May 18, 2016 Initiated and moderated by Kathy Westwater With Mat Fraser, Petra Kuppers, Marissa Perel, Cathy Weis, and Wendy Whelan

Artists with disabilities and artists whose work disrupts normative notions of what constitutes a dancing body will come together in conversation. We will consider the artistic work of the panelists and how it opens up possibilities for dance to move beyond narrow historical paradigms to include a more expansive range of physical experience and formal content.

Movement Research Studies Project, "Puppetry and Dance" - April 5, 2016 Conceived by Nami Yamamoto With Patti Bradshaw, Chris Green, Dan Hurlin, Christopher Williams, Nami Yamamoto

Panelists will discuss their various perspectives on the integration of puppetry and dance in live performance. Like dance, puppetry is a hands-on, physical art form. What happens when the puppet appears onstage? This conversation will explore how artists are bringing these two forms together in unique ways and how they complement and inform one another.

Movement Research Studies Project, "Band of Outsiders Women" - March 1, 2016 Organized and Moderated by Sam Kim With Lorene Boubshian, Moria Brennan, Shelia Lewandoski, Noopur Singa, Adrienne Truscott

Women dominate the dance and performance field in numbers, but not in visibility, 'success,' or positions of power. Let's keep the issue at the forefront and explore how to rectify this. One of the biggest untapped resources is women helping and supporting other women more vocally and consciously—as the majority, our collective efforts would have a massive impact on leveling the field. In this panel, we'll discuss how to effect change and meaningfully support the majority of our fellow practitioners. Any gender expression is welcome and all are encouraged to participate.

Movement Research Studies Project, "An Artist Conversation between Nelisiwe Xaba and David Thomson" - December 1, 2015 Part of Movement Research Festival Fall 2015: vanishing points, curated by Beth Gill and Cori Olinghouse

This event was an informal introduction to choreographer Nelisiwe Xaba who is based in Johannesburg, South Africa and was a participating artist in the festival. David Thomson led a live interview and discussion with Xaba around the political and aesthetic resonances in her work.

Movement Research Studies Project, "Dancer as Agent" - November 10, 2014 Conceived by Cecilia Roos in partnership with Iréne HultmanPanelists included Hilary Clark and Juliette Mapp

Within the field of dance, the creation process often demands that dancers develop methodologies, movement vocabularies and conceptual frames. Previously seen as the exclusive domain of choreographers, dramaturges and directors, these procedural boundaries are now shifting and eroding creative hierarchies in live performance. This has produced new, mostly undocumented relationships to working processes and bodies of knowledge. The Dancer as Agent began in 2013 as a conference held at University of Dance and Circus (DOCH) in Sweden. This conversation focused on some of the topics that emerged from that conference.

Movement Research Studies Project, "what we talk about when we talk somatics: a sharing of practices leading into conversation" - November 10, 2015With Justine Lynch, Antonio Ramos, Shelley Senter and RoseAnne SpradlinModerated by Levi Gonzalez

What does the term “somatics” even mean? Can we arrive at consensus around this as an idea, a value, a practice? This event brought together artists/practitioners of various backgrounds and areas of study to lead the group in experiential practices which evolved into a collective discussion on the term “somatics” and the impact and resonance of this way of learning and being in the world.

Movement Research Studies Project, "What I've Learned about Choreography from Watching Movies, Films (and TV)" - October 6, 2015 Conceived by Melinda Ring Moderated by Ryan Hill With panelists Layla Childs, Tere O’Connor, Melinda Ring, Sonya Robbins and Larissa Velez-Jackson

How do the things we watch inform our dance making? What have our (guilty) pleasures, high and low, taught us about form, timing, structure, etc? Does our connection to TV, film and movies keep us attuned to this moment’s mind-image zeitgeist, and conversely, does a lack of attention to these mediums create a gap in relevance of this art form to contemporary culture? Panelists discussed their perspective on these questions followed by a group conversation with everyone present.

Movement Research Studies Project, "Placing Performance," Part of Movement Research Festival Spring 2015: LEGIBLE/ILLEGIBLE - May 12, 2015 Moderated by Sarah MaxwellWith panelists AUNTS, Megan Bridges and the Spring Festival co-curators, Layla Childs, Jaamil Olawale Kosoko and Samita Sinha.

What words do we use, arrange, invent, and discover to talk about the particular communicative power of performance work? How does geographic location and environment influence the creation, languaging, and understanding of dance and performance? How do digital/ virtual sites affect the consumption of dance as a living, complex, emotionally dense form? This conversation covered topics concerning locality, environmental and digital influence, and curatorial process.