Movement and Environmental Awareness
April 22, 2009
iLAND photo by Bob Brain
In honor of Earth Day, I’d like to share an excerpt from iLAND artistic director Jennifer Monson’s opening remarks at last month’s iLAND Symposium:
“Both art and science are fundamentally creative fields where there is a strong desire to investigate the unknown. Often the only way we can develop our understanding of something is by making a creative leap that dislodges our assumptions of it. This is part of the nature of experimentation and innovation – to put things together in an unexpected alchemy.”
A perfect example of the experimental, interdisciplinary approach that Monson encourages comes from movement artist Karl Cronin’s Dry Earth and Earth Tattoo initiatives. You can join Cronin at Fort Greene Park on several upcoming Saturdays for a Dry Earth experiential walking tour. Plus, he’ll be speaking tonight at Brooklyn’s Chez Bushwick about the role of artists in raising awareness of human environmental impact. This free event starts at 7 PM.
iLAND Symposium: March 28, 2009
March 25, 2009
iLAND, the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature, and Dance, will hold its first symposium this Saturday, March 28th, at the New School for Liberal Arts. The event is free and all are welcome. More information is below and on the symposium site.
I learned about iLAND in early February and was drawn to the organization’s cross-disciplinary approach, especially because of my own interest in the connections between dance and environmental issues. Based on the program lineup, it seems like the symposium will be an engaging, informative event.
iLAND Symposium
Connecting to the Urban Environment: Creating embodied and relational approaches to environmental awareness
Saturday, March 28, 2009
9:30 AM – 1 PM (no charge, registration opens at 9 AM)
Refreshments will be served
Hosted by the Eugene Lang College
The New School for Liberal Arts
6 East 16th Street, New York City
Room #D1009 (auditorium)
Connecting to the Urban Environment, iLAND’s first annual symposium, will address issues emanating from the creative collaborations of past iLAB residencies. iLAB alumni will be paired with representatives from environmental organizations who are actively designing new relationships to urban space. Presentations will share the results of grappling with the project of finding shared language and processes across the arts and sciences while centering dance and the body as the mediator and resource for experience, imagination and knowing. The symposium will include oral and media presentations, workshops, and small-group discussions.
iLAND participants at Dead Horse Bay, Brooklyn
iLAND: Where Art, Nature, and Dance Collide
February 2, 2009
iLAND dancers, photo by Bob Braine
Several years ago, I was seeking a meaningful way to integrate my interests in dance and environmental issues. Both took up most of my free time, rarely intersecting and always competing for my attention. Friends and family would joke that I could do interpretative dances about trees in order to convey my love for the environment. As entertaining and humorous as that sounds, I knew I needed something else to satisfy my craving for environmental activism. I accepted an offer from a non-profit environmental organization and adjusted to the fact that dance was going to take a back seat in my life. For the first time in years, I didn’t have time to take a daily dance class. I was disappointed that the treehugger in me beat the bunhead.
iLAND dancers, photo by Anja Hitzenberger
I recently learned about iLAND, the Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Art, Nature and Dance, and had an “a-ha!” moment. This dance research organization, founded by artistic director, choreographer, and performer Jennifer Monson, cultivates cross-disciplinary research among artists, environmentalists, scientists, urban designers and others in order “to illuminate our kinetic understanding of the world”. iLAND seems like a solid answer to my ongoing struggle to fuse my interests. One of iLAND’s past projects was BIRDBRAIN: A Navigational Dance Project, which followed the migratory pathways of birds and other animals while exploring their biophysical and metaphorical relationship to humans as world travelers and navigators. The project consisted of free, site-specific outdoor performances, workshops for students and the public, panel discussions on migration, navigation, and conservation, and a website that tracked the migrating birds and dancers participating in the project. Some other projects include Ridgewood Reservoir/iMAP, which investigates the landscape of the reservoir, and Urban Migrations, a seasonal project that activates urban landscapes through movement.
This past Saturday, Jennifer Monson presented Informance as part of Philadelphia Dance Projects 2009. The Dance Journal’s Kathleen Glynn wrote at length about the performance, stating, “[Monson's] work is something meant to be shared and exposed in order to involve so many more in environmental issues.”
iLAND is currently accepting applications for their 2009 residency program, one of their many initiatives. And this March, they will be holding a symposium in New York City about connecting to the urban environment. Now that iLAND is on my radar, I’ll be posting more about them in the future, and am looking forward to following their fascinating work.
iLAND dancers, photo by Bob Braine
Make Art, Not Waste
November 19, 2008
Image courtesy of DTW’s Blog
It’s cold outside. Really cold. So you might just find yourself rushing into your favorite coffee shop to warm up with a hot beverage. Yum. But instead of mindlessly throwing your cup into an overflowing trash can, make art! Choreographer Layard Thompson and collaborator Machine Dazzle are collecting all paper and plastic cups to create an installation set for an upcoming performance at Dance Theater Workshop. Below are the instructions from DTW’s blog. And be sure to check out Layard Thompson’s performance.
Please consider taking part in a community effort to co-create an installation set for an upcoming Dance Theater Workshop performance! This project invites you to take part in the creation of a dance by saving your waste. To Layard Thompson and Machine Dazzle, your trash is treasure.
Please:
1. SAVE your used disposable paper and plastic coffee and tea cups.
2. CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN your used paper and plastic cups.
3. DEPOSIT your artfully RECYCLED and CLEANED cups in the trash can made by cups in our lobby.
4. CONSIDER how recycling your CUPS can directly transform the objective nature of your reality by participating in a mundane art project.
5. HELP Machine and Layard build the set they aspire to create.
DanceNOW [NYC] Festival: Find Your Artistic Crush
October 30, 2008
Singh & Dance, photo by Steven Schreiber, courtesy of Dance Theater Workshop
The 14th annual DanceNOW [NYC] Festival kicked off on Monday at Dance Theater Workshop, and performances will continue through Saturday, November 1st. With 65 choreographers presenting 40 works over a six-day period, you’re bound “to find your artistic crush” – the organization’s slogan – and connect with at least one of the artists’ works. Over the past few days, Misnomer Dance Theater, Singh & Dance, and ad hoc Ballet have performed, among many others. Companies performing between today and Saturday include Battleworks Dance Company, The Bang Group, and Gina Gibney Dance.
View the full festival lineup and order $20 tickets online, or pay $25 at the door. Also, check out DanceNOW’s GreenNOW campaign. It’s great to see arts organizations incorporating environmental initiatives into their artistic and creative vision.
DanceNOW [NYC] Festival
Performances continue October 30, 31, and November 1 at 8 PM
Dance Theater Workshop
219 West 19th Street
$20 online or $25 at the door
