Great Dance Podcast

Intermission

Tue, 16 Oct 2007 08:43:10 PDT

As I prepare to fly off to Italy for a few weeks, a pause to reflect on Body and Soul's past and contemplate its future. 'Til November, then! Ciao!

Please listen to my audio message.

Interview with Dalia Carella

Fri, 12 Oct 2007 11:40:46 PDT

Dalia Carella is one of those bold, glamorous, old-school entertainers clearly born to rule the stage. And she's a serious creative artist whose painstaking approach to the dances of diverse cultures has been shaped by mentors of notable integrity. Now she has joined the faculty of Dance New Amsterdam, where I spoke with her about her career and her pioneering involvement in DNA's Performance Project. She's introducing students to the rich music and dance traditions of the Near and Middle East and the Maghreb. Her four-week workshop will culminate in a new piece to be performed by her students along with works by other DNA faculty members, October 26-28. Get the details at DNA.

(The following audio interview was recorded live and on location at Dance New Amsterdam. In the process, we picked-up some of the sounds of the city including the sirens in the opening seconds.)

Listen to interview with Dalia Carella (MP3 - 38 minutes)

Video Clip (Microsoft Windows Media Player format) Watch performance video
Click for larger images of Dalia Carella

Interview with Jen Abrams

Wed, 10 Oct 2007 07:13:06 PDT

When my "half-hour" interview with dancer-choreographer Jen Abrams concluded, we were amused to see that it had actually lasted a full hour! But that's what it takes to tell even part of the story of her work with the WOW Cafe Theater collective, an historic and essential part of the still-hearty cultural abundance of Manhattan's rapidly-changing East Village. Listening to Jen talk about her background in contact improvisation, I discovered a fascinating connection between contact improvisation and the "open source," grassroots nature of WOW. Her intensity and strength as an artist working in dance, theater and poetry are more than matched by the tenacity of this theater collective and space that she so clearly loves.

Listen to audio interview with Jen Abrams (MP3 - 60 Minutes)

Jen Abrams pictured in right side of photo

"Other Voices - Eva Yaa Asantewaa talks to lesbian choreographers Jen Abrams and Pat Catterson" in The Village Voice.

Interview with Fran Kirmser

Tue, 02 Oct 2007 08:17:21 PDT

When you need to look at the arts from a lot of different angles, it's helpful to have someone like the versatile Fran Kirmser in your corner. I spoke with Fran last Friday about the many roles she has played in her distinguished career as a performer, choreographer, theater producer, master fundraiser, a consultant to dance and theater companies, and a founder of Manhattan Theatre Source. This radiant, seemingly tireless advocate of dance and theater has a grand vision and the practical tools to back it up, and she'll be sharing her expertise with artists in a series of workshops this fall at The Field.

Listen to interview with Fran Kirmser (MP3 - 30 minutes)

Dalia Carella as Kuan Yin in Search of a Goddess: Inspirations of the Divine Enchantress Ruth St. Denis, produced by
Fran Kirmser Productions at The Duke on 42 in 2004.
Photo credit: Jeff Betz

Interview with Choreographer and Performer Camille A. Brown

Fri, 28 Sep 2007 06:20:33 PDT

Last week, I met with Camille A. Brown, who recently made a huge impression as the choreographer and performer of her solo, The Evolution of A Secured Feminine, and we talked about the steady evolution of her remarkable career. She has won rave reviews for her appearances with Ronald K. Brown/Evidence, and now she's setting an ensemble piece on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, one of the world's most celebrated dance troupes, for its upcoming season at City Center. Camille is a young artistic star on the rise.

Listen to interview with Camille A. Brown (MP3 - 27 minutes)

Multimedia Guide

Camille A. Brown
Photo by Basil Childers
Click for larger image

Interview with Chris Elam of Misnomer Dance Theater

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 07:30:18 PDT

Chris Elam, who recently became the first recipient of the Summer Stages Dance/Baryshnikov Arts Center residency, is truly a dance artist for the 21st Century--a brilliant, probing maker of dance that expresses the protean nature of the human body, mind, and spirit; an explorer of the myriad ways in which people communicate; and an innovator of Internet community-building and artistic marketing. I had a wide-ranging talk with Elam, founder and artistic director of Misnomer Dance Theater, about the origins and intent of his unusually powerful choreography and about his latest and upcoming projects.

Listen to audio interview with Chris Elam (MP3 - 38 minutes)

Misnomer Multimedia

View this annotated photograph on Flickr of Misnomer rehearsal at The Yard this July:

Photo by Jaki Levi

Interview with Choreographer Miguel Gutierrez

Tue, 04 Sep 2007 07:23:47 PDT

Somewhere in the middle of my interview with Bessie Award-winning choreographer Miguel Gutierrez, I realized that I could listen to him talk forever. (I've had that feeling about watching his dances, too!) Even after we wrapped up our recording, we kept talking, and he never ran out of interesting and vital things to say about art, community and the often sorry state of discourse on dance. I definitely want to talk with Miguel again, and I'm delighted to share with you today some insight into his life and work.

Listen to interview with Miguel Gutierrez (MP3 - 47 minutes)

Photos

Miguel Gutierrez and the Powerful People in Everyone
© Alex Escalante, photographer
First picture is of Miguel Gutierrez
(Click below images for larger pictures)

Miguel Gutierrez Bio

Miguel Gutierrez is a dance and music artist from Brooklyn, NY who has created several evenings of work: enter the seen (2002), I succumb (2003), dAMNATION rOAD (2004), Retrospective Exhibitionist and Difficult Bodies (2005) myendlesslove (2006) and Everyone (2007). His emotionally-driven work concerns itself with the phenomenon of existence and the body's ability to move between the mundane and the transcendent. He is interested in how the presence of the audience creates a space of attention and extraordinary perception. His work has been presented in venues such as Dance Theater Workshop (New York), ImPulsTanz (Vienna) and the Springdance Festival (Utrecht). He recently created a new work entitled I HATE OUTSIDE for BalletLab, a Melbourne, Australia based company. Miguel worked as a curator for The Kitchen's Dance and Process program, and the infamous but now defunct SHTUDIO SHOW. He has worked with a wide variety of contemporary dance artists, such as John Jasperse, Jennifer Lacey, Jennifer Monson, Ann Liv Young and Deborah Hay. He is currently working with Alain Buffard. He teaches workshops in technique, composition and creative process around the world.

Nolini Barretto Interview

Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:05:32 PDT

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. We spoke about past productions and current highlights of this well-regarded summer festival, a project of the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council running now through September 21.

Listen to audio interview with Nolini Barretto (MP3 - 28 minutes)

Nolini Barretto

Images from Sitelines

(click images for larger pictures)

Heidi Duckler's Collage Dance Theater in Laundromatinee (watch video) at Laundromat
at 168 Elizabeth Street, Sitelines (summer, 2006)

Ellis Wood Dance in Fire on Wall Street (watch video) on the balconies
at Cipriani's at 55 Wall Street, Sitelines (summer, 2006)

Accounting for Customs by choreographers Reggie Wilson and Andréya Ouamba
on the steps of the U.S. Custom House at 1 Bowling Green, Sitelines (summer, 2007)

Nolini Barretto 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.

Ashleigh Leite Interview

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 04:52:15 PDT

My interview with dancer-choreographer Ashleigh Leite is a reminder of how critically important it is for emerging creative artists 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 new evening-length, multi-media ensemble premiering at Danspace Project in November--a major step forward in her career. I hope you'll enjoy my talk with this interesting and thoughtful artist.

Listen to interview with Ashleigh Leite (MP3 - 25 Minutes)

Ashleigh Leite on YouTube

Autopsy

Flawed

Ashleigh Leite
(Click image for larger picture)

Ashleigh Leite 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.

Interview with Tap City's Tony Waag

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 05:05:41 PDT

I'm convinced that Tony Waag is one of those people put on earth to help me find my smile when I most need it, and I'm not alone in this feeling. Everyone who has ever seen Tap City loves Tony, its producer, director and often goofily-charming MC.

As artistic and executive director of the American Tap Dance Foundation, Tony has a broad perspective on all facets of this art--from its rich history to its modern revival, dynamic present and future possibilities. Recently, I ran into Tony at a Lincoln Center Out of Doors show where we watched Roxane Butterfly and her tap company, Worldbeats. We agreed to meet again and talk tap.

Listen to audio interview with Tony Waag (MP3 - 32 minutes)

Tony Waag

Photo Credit: Lois Greenfield

Tony Waag Bio

Tony Waag is currently the Artistic/Executive Director of the American Tap Dance Foundation and the Producer and Director of Tap City, the New York City Tap Festival which features an extensive training program for adults, numerous premiere performances, city wide events, tap jams and student showcases, panel discussions, film screenings, annual tap dance awards, and innovative children and teen programs. [Continue reading...]

History of Tap

Tap dance was born in a multicultural, volatile corner of downtown Manhattan called the Five Points. To learn more about its colorful history, see Tyler Anbinder's Five Points: The 19th Century New York City Neighborhood That Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum.

Interview with Gina Gibney

Thu, 16 Aug 2007 07:49:16 PDT

Gina Gibney's choreography--which I've been watching for quite a while--always reminds me of what's most important to me about art: serious attention to craft and an equally serious concern about human connection and communication. Gina is a thoughtful spokesperson for the art of dance. I've always enjoyed our encounters and usually go away feeling a little more focused and motivated as a result. I hope you'll be similarly inspired by our discussion today about her work, including her development of a new piece--The Distance Between Us--which will premiere at the Ailey Citicorp Theater in November. (Visit Gina Gibney Dance and their MySpace page).

Listen to interview with Gina Gibney (MP3 format - 26 minutes)

Gina Gibney’s Bio:

Gina Gibney’s choreography has been widely presented and commissioned in the United States and abroad at such venues as Danspace Project, White Bird Dance, Yale Repertory Theater, The Duke on 42nd Street Theater, WORKS & PROCESS at the Guggenheim Museum and elsewhere. In response to her growing concern about the status of women in the professional dance world, she reorganized her company as an all-female ensemble in 1997. Since that time, she has created six evening length works exploring the humanity and physicality of women. In 2000 she launched the Domestic Violence Project, a groundbreaking project that offers dance and creative expression to women who are survivors of domestic abuse. She is the founder of Studio 5-2, an officer of Danspace Project's Board of Directors, and a trustee of Dance/USA. Gibney graduated with honors and received an MFA in Dance from Case Western Reserve University.

Multimedia Highlights

Here are photographs from the work in progress The Distance Between Us. Click on thumbnails below for larger images:

Video excerpts from The Distance Between Us:

Click To Play

Interview with Alessandra Belloni

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 12:52:53 PDT

Here's an audio interview I recorded recently with the multi-talented Alessandra Belloni. I met with her shortly before she left for the Goddess Conference in Glastonbury, England where she would present some of her fascinating work around the music and ritual dance traditions of Southern Italy. We hit it off right away because for her (a native of Italy) as well as for me (an Afro-Caribbean native New Yorker) rhythm and dance have profound healing and transformative powers. We found we had much in common!

I hope you'll enjoy the audio interview as much as I did.

Listen to audio interview (MP3 - 36 minutes)

Alessandra Belloni Links

- Her short bio is at the bottom of this post. Or you can read her extended bio.

- Goddess Conference 2007

- Alessandra's annual healing dance percussion workshop at La Chiara di Prumiano in Tuscany
Performance Pictures
Click pictures for larger images

Upcoming New York City Performance

Coming to New York: Alessandra Belloni's Giullari di Piazza in Tarantella! Spider Dance: A Winter Solstice Celebration presented by Theatre for the New City, December 21-22. Tickets: 212-254-1109.

Alessandra Belloni Bio

Alessandra Belloni is a singer, percussionist, dancer and actress who stands as one of the most important voices of traditional southern Italian music and dance today. She is artist-in-residence at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Alessandra is Artistic Director and Founder of I Giullari di Piazza (the Players of the Square). For her mastery of musical styles--both at home and abroad--she has been acclaimed as one of the greatest living percussionists in the world, and has her own signature series of Italian tambourines designed with the largest percussion company in the world, Remo Inc. Read her complete bio...

Interview with Dancer-Choreographer Nadine Helstroffer

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 06:45:59 PDT

Nadine Helstroffer is one of dance's treasures--a poetic, luminous performer whose choreography reflects her insight into life, nature and spirituality. She has been a good friend for many years, and I'm pleased to present an interview we recorded in the home she shares with filmmaker John Bush. Among other things, Nadine and I talked about their experiences filming in Tibet, and I urge you to follow the links for more information about all of John and Nadine's projects. (Nadine's bio is included at the bottom of this post).

Listen to audio interview with Nadine Helstroffer (MP3 format)

Background Materials for Audio Interview

Nadine provided us with video excerpts from her upcoming film Shimmer (working title), which we discuss toward the beginning of the interview:

Vajra Realm

Vajra Realm is a 12-minute dance film performed outdoors at sacred Tibetan sacred sites. Here are two screen shots:

Vajra Sky Over Tibet Trailer

Vajra Realm is a special feature on the DVD for the film Vajra Sky Over Tibet. You can watch a video trailer:

Nadine Helstroffer Bio

Nadine Helstroffer, French-born, has been presenting her choreography in the U.S., Canada and France since 1981. Her work includes Clock Lock, Threshold and Earthbound. She has taught dance and directed workshops in France, Korea and the U.S. Since 1998 she has been leading the BodyResonance Workshop which explores the link between meditation and movement. She has been presenting her workshop at the Zen Center of NYC, the New School University, New York Insight Meditation Society and Bowling Green State University.

Ms. Helstroffer obtained a doctorate in philosophy under the direction of Daniel Charles of the Sorbonne (Subject: An Innovative Approach to Dance) at Nanterre University/Paris-X, France, in 1980. Her academic interests in Eastern philosophies and her exposure to the East through her dance career have guided her toward an integration of Eastern philosophies and Western movements. She collaborated with composers Yas Jaz from Sankai Juku Company, Philip Fraser (devotee of Shri Shri Ravi Shankar) and David Hykes, founder of the Harmonic Choir.

In New York, the Rubin Museum of Art commissioned her 30-minute solo piece, Absence Presence, performed in the gallery of the exhibition "Handprints and Footprints of Buddhist Art" in 2005 and filmed by John Bush. She was also invited by the museum to dance her choreography as part of a performance by Hykes's Harmonic Choir.

In collaboration with filmmaker John Bush, she is preparing a 40-minute dance film--working title, Shimmer--shot entirely outdoors in New York City. An excerpt--"Portal"--has been screened at Galapagos Art Space, curated by the experimental film group Ocularis, and has had a special screening at the 2006 High Falls Film Festival.

Vajra Realm, a dance pilgrimage with Nadine Helstroffer filmed in Central Tibet, was released in January 2007 as a special feature on the DVD Vajra Sky Over Tibet, the third film of the Yatra Trilogy by John Bush. It is distributed by WGBH Boston.

For additional information on Vajra Realm and all of Ms. Helstroffer's work, you can visit Direct Pictures.

Eva's Introductory Audio Podcast

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:24:01 PDT

Eva Yaa Asantewaa (read her profile) just recorded an introductory audio message about her dance podcasts:

Listen to podcast (MP3 format)

Eva Yaa Asantewaa

Interview with Japan Society's Yoko Shioya and Multimedia Preview of their Fall 2007 Performing Arts Season

Wed, 11 Jul 2007 09:50:04 PDT

Now celebrating its centennial, Japan Society has announced Turning Japanese, its far-ranging fall season of contemporary performing arts (PDF press release with detailed performance listings). Festivities planned include a remounting of puppeteer Basil Twist’s Bessie Award-winning Dogugaeshi, a birthday tribute to legendary butoh performer Kazuo Ohno, and much more. Numerous performance venues around the city-–such as P.S. 122, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace, HERE and the Brooklyn Academy of Music–-will present works by Japanese and American artists who cross time and cultures.

I spoke with artistic director, Yoko Shioya, at Japan Society’s beautiful center on East 47th Street. She shared her thoughts on the far-ranging influence of contemporary Japanese performing arts and on the origins and significance of butoh.

Listen to audio interview (MP3 format - 33 minutes)

Yoko Shioya discusses fall performing arts season
at Japan Society press luncheon yesterday.

Yoko Shioya became Artistic Director in 2006, overseeing the Society's Performing Arts and Film Programs. Since joining the Society in 1997, she has expanded collaborative projects with American cultural organizations and universities to introduce Japanese performing artists and also launched new initiatives, including an artists’ residency project and a workshop series.

Also known in Japan as a writer/researcher on the public and private arts support systems in the U.S. and Japan, Ms. Shioya has been invited to speak at numerous symposia, lectures and TV programs presented by the Agency for Cultural Affairs of the Japanese government, Keidanren, the Academy of Cultural Economics and the Japan Council of Performers' Organizations, among others. In 1998, her first book, New York: How the City and Its Artists Coexist, was published by Maruzen Publishing Co.

She has been a regular contributor to arts columns on performing arts and exhibitions for the Asahi newspaper, and is currently a committee member of The Bessie Award and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Fund for Creative Community in dance. Ms. Shioya holds BAs in musicology and dance history from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music.

Images from the Fall 2007 Performing Arts Season

Click on any of the below pictures to see larger images:

Choreographer Makoto Enda (right) in Makotocluv's Nipponia-Nippon
© Non Takagi
Upcoming Performance: 11th Annual Contemporary Dance
Showcase Phase II: Japan + East Asia - January 18 & 19, 2008

Sun-Shier Dance Theatre from Taiwan; Choreographer Pi-Jung Wu (center)
© Sandy Ou-Yang
Upcoming Performance: 11th Annual Contemporary Dance
Showcase Phase II: Japan + East Asia - January 18 & 19, 2008

Akira Kasai
© Christa Cowrie
Upcoming Performance: Butoh America, October 25-27, 2007

Left to right: Koma & Eiko
© Jaroslow Brezezinski
Upcoming Performance: Eiko & Koma with Margaret Leng
Tan Mourning, October 18-21, 2007

Naomi Muku in Yupiters, choreographed by Yuko Kobayashi
© Junichi Matsuda
Upcoming Performance: Kazuo Ohno 101: 3-Week
Butoh Parade, October 9-10, 1007

Yoshito Ohno
© Naoya Ikegami
Upcoming Performance: Yoshito Ohno Butoh Marathon
curated by CAVE + Yoshito Ohno, October 27, 2007

Video Highlights from Turning Japanese

Click on either of the images below to watch video excerpts:

Click To Play

Kochuten + Akaji Maro: Tiger's Cave
Upcoming Performance: Tiger's Cave: Butoh Boot Camp:
Tora no Ana, October 9 & 10, 2007

Click To Play

Yoshito Ohno
Upcoming Performance: Butoh Marathon curated by
CAVE + Yoshito Ohno