Third Rail Projects Blog

Sugar from Sugar Street

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 09:42:19 -0500

From all of our research for the work we did in Hong Kong, the one thing we did not know before arriving was that "Tong Chong" literally translates as "sugar cube." So, our piece was "Strangers on Sugar Cube Street." It was a nice affirmation of our choices for a sugary color palette, and a gesture vocabulary and comedic references to sugar--and audiences in Hong Kong responded strongly to this, recognizing our connection to the site's history as part of the TaiKoo sugar industry.

Below are three video clips, representing the whole of the work, from Gofella.com (please be patient while content loads):

This completes or series of blog entries for this project. We will begin another series soon. Meanwhile, keep up-to-date on our activities at our official website: www.thirdrailprojects.com, and thanks for reading and sharing this experience with us.

On Being a Stranger on Tong Chong Street

Mon, 17 Dec 2007 14:15:31 -0500

At one point while running "Strangers on Tong Chong Street," during our many rehearsals, maneuvering around local pedestrian traffic on their way to work in order to walk through a glass door, I looked at Liz and said with complete satisfaction, "this is my life right now." Choosing a creative path in life, I find that I often have these moments when I am tickled (and at times relieved) by the fact that I get to do things that are normal to me, yet completely absurd to most people. I relished moments like this even more so as they happened on the other side of the world, so far from my own daily routine, and so close to the daily routine of another culture.

Geography aside, the striking duality of blatant contrasts and unifying commonalities of this experience in comparison to any other project I have been involved in, site-specific work especially, has left its residue on me now that we are back in New York. Behind the scenes -- amongst ourselves, our colleagues from L.A, the directors of the Youth Arts Foundation, the production crew, the students performing -- there was the same excited buzz, and sincere investment similar to the energy behind any artistic endeavor. This in itself created a warm-fuzzy, its-a-small-world-after-all feeling. On the presentational side, it was quite unique to be a part of something that was so brand new to the space we were in, and to the audiences that were witnessing the festival.

Crowd Control

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 05:42:05 -0500

It has been exactly one week since we performed in Hong Kong, and everywhere we look, photos and video clips of our work are popping up, all over YouTube, FaceBook, and the many photo websites. It's not surprising, really, how quickly and how many of these are surfacing, considering that so many audience members at the festival viewed the performances through video, camera, or cell phone lenses. For all the similarities we discovered between Hong Kong and New York, one difference was evident, the patterns of group movement and the way in which audiences experience public performances.

The first half of "Strangers on Tong Chong Street"

taken by Lewis Ho and posted on YouTube.

Performed by: Donna Ahmadi, Elizabeth Carena, Zach Morris,

Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Tara O'Con, Tom Pearson, Mayuna Shimizu

Original Music by Kris Bauman

Zach noted within our first week in Hong Kong that he felt that the crowds there shifted like puzzle pieces, all trying to move ahead by moving side to side and forward, especially in the MTR. In the New York subway system, crowds tend to push straight ahead in a linear fashion, even when weaving. The differences felt subtle in the first week when we were navigating our way around Hong Kong, but they became overt for us once we moved into performing dance in a public space.

For the beginning of the piece, we had originally toyed with the idea of soliciting a few friends in Hong Kong to follow our entrance onto Tong Chong Street, snapping photographs of us as if we were arriving superstars. We abandoned that idea a long time back, but we were surprised to find that not only did the cameras go off constantly during the entirety of our performances, they did so right in our faces. Crowds in Hong Kong have no qualms about pushing to the front and getting as close to the subject as possible. In fact, many a camera lens was almost shattered by a foot in the face. We did our best not to injure anyone (successfully), but we also had to fight for space to dance, frequently directing people out of the way with additional movement or, in some cases, actually physically moving people.

Daily Motion

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 00:24:25 -0500

Here's a couple of press items we'd like to share. First, is a program from Daily Motion, performances clips from the Urban Dance Festival in Hong Kong, featuring our new site-specific work, "Strangers on Tong Chong Street," as well as CDT and local Hong Kong youth groups.

Highlights of the first ever site-specific dance ...
Uploaded by so-u_tv

And following, is a list of questions we were asked for U Magazine in an interview we did prior to arrival in Hong Kong. The online and hard copy version is printed in Chinese, so we have provided the English version below for our readers.

The following questions are answered by Tom Pearson and Zach Morris, Co-Artistic Directors of Third Rail Projects and choreographers of "Strangers on Tong Chong Street," and Mayuna Shimizu, a founding member of Third Rail Projects who has performed in works by Tom and Zach since 1999.

(1) Could you say a few words about what site-specific dancing means to you?

Zach: For us, site-specific dance is about getting art out of the theater and gallery and putting it into the public realm, about using performance to illuminate urban space which is often taken for granted or overlooked. It's an opportunity for art to really engage with "real world" architecture, topography, environments, and most importantly, the communities who inhabit them.

Interpretations: Follow Up

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:12:09 -0500

Donna Ahmadi performing in
"Strangers on Tong Chong Street"

Now that we are all back home, the next few blog entries will focus on follow-up thoughts and media from the performances of "Strangers on Tong Chong Street" in Hong Kong. The piece was created and performed by Tom Pearson and Zach Morris for the Swire Island East Urban Dance Festival in collaboration with and also performed by: Donna Ahmadi, Elizabeth Carena, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus, Tara O'Con, and Mayuna Shimizu. Original music was composed by Kris Bauman, and costumes were designed by Zach Morris and created in consultation with Karen Young.

Our last entry, "Interpretations" touched briefly on the issue of qualifying site-specific dance for our audiences, press, sponsors, etc while in HK. This was the first ever festival to feature site-specific dance in Hong Kong and required quite a bit of frame work and an educational component to explain the series. The Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation, partnering with Swire Properties did an exhaustive interpretation campaign, featuring program notes, an installation display with explanation and video clips, online audio tours, and announcements at the pre-event cocktail in order to clarify for audiences what they were about to experience. Zach and I were brought over early to teach master classes in site-specific dance composition to local artists. We appreciated the research that the presenters put into this (not to mention bravery in undertaking a festival of this sort) and the framework they devised for the event, and we want to share below the audio tour for our work and what I think is a wonderful explanation of site work for the audiences in Hong Kong (from the program notes).

Listen to Audio Tour for "Strangers on Tong Chong Street (4:35 min)

Interpretations

Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:15:37 -0500

Zach Morris, Marissa Nielsen-Pincus (flanked by Mayuna Shimizu and
Donna Ahmadi), and Elizabeth Carena in "Strangers on Tong Chong Street"

Yesterday, we performed our first full run-thru of "Strangers on Tong Chong Street." TVB 8 sent their crew to film, and afterwards Zach and I were interviewed for the feature they are airing on their arts and leisure program this coming Thursday. You can check local listings and programming on their website: http://www.tvb.com/tvb8/b5/. The program will air throughout China, Australia, and Europe.

We are discovering for audiences and press alike, there is quite a bit of context and interpretation needed to qualify site-specific work and explain its role within the larger worldwide dance scene. It becomes evident from the questions we are asked that site-specific dance is often assumed to be a dance form itself, akin to modern, hip-hop, jazz, or ballet. We first have to explain that any of these forms can provide the movement vocabulary for a site-specific work, and that to work on site simply means that the choreographer engages with the existing architecture and topography of an area. Often we explain our vocabulary as "modern dance" rather than take the extra step of explaining the nuances between "modern," "contemporary," or "experimental." Suffice it to say that much of the work that qualifies itself as site-specific (from New York anyway) frequently uses a contemporary dance vocabulary. In the festival here, it seems to run the gamut, including jazz and even a site-specific rendition of "West Side Story."

Strangers on Tong Chong Street

Thu, 06 Dec 2007 00:04:31 -0500

Tara O'Con and Elizabeth Carena
performing in "Strangers on Tong Chong Street"

We finished the new work about an hour ago. We have tech tonight, after a run-thru with TVB 8's television crew for broadcast in China. Tomorrow is the press preview/pre-event cocktail, and the festival begins Saturday morning and runs throughout the day. We will perform a total of six full times, and then hop on a flight back to New York on Sunday morning. Time is moving quickly. Whew! Our artists have been moving full speed ever since arriving, and the challenges of building a work in crunch time is compounded with the physical toll on our bodies with the non-stop rehearsals. In between, we have had photo shoots, lunches with the sponsor, and intermittent costume repairs and amendments. But, we are pleased with the way the work has come together. It feels exciting and dynamic, and yet subtle and nuanced at the same time. But mostly, it feels like it belongs here.

The daily inhabitants have begun to watch us, to turn their chairs out at the cafes or pause on the stairs and bridges to watch. They are warming up to the idea of navigating around our antics, unlike the first week where they would completely ignore us... almost out of embarrassment. Now, we are a bit more contextualized as they've seen the work develop and gotten used to our vocabulary. Also, the security staff and businesses in the area have begun to help facilitate our rehearsals, and there seems to be a growing sense of ownership of what we are creating in the space.

We hope to share some photos and video of the actual work very soon; although, we are not positive we can deliver it in real time. Our focus now has got to shift to full time technical problem solving, but we promise to get a video up as soon as possible.

Site Seeing

Mon, 03 Dec 2007 01:21:05 -0500

Zach experimenting with movement on site
on Tong Chong Street while Tom directs

Zach and I have been in Hong Kong now for one week, and the performers are due to arrive at the hotel any minute now. I think we are both relieved to have them here with us. It's been difficult to fully imagine the work or set any major segments without them; although, we have been able generate some new material based on our reactions to the space and set a few solo moments on site. Being in Hong Kong, in Quarry Bay, specifically, has been a pretty smooth transition for us. By going to work immediately, grounding ourselves in the familiar routines of rehearsal and art making, it feels as though our experience is more natural, more in tune with the city's pulse. We've been able to meet with other artists, make new friends, and get glimpses of Hong Kong as they live it. And, over the course of the past few days we have given ourselves some time off whenever possible to do a little touring as well, to step away from our work and get some perspectives on the larger Hong Kong.

Some of our excursions in Hong Kong

Our primary focus and the reason for our early arrival was to teach workshops focused on our methods for generating movement and creating site-specific works. We taught approximately 60 students in the two classes on Tuesday and Friday. The first group came from various backgrounds, personally and artistically - and we found that they had some preparation for the course in that they were prepared for anything. The second group was mostly students from the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts, and it seemed that they shared a more common movement vocabulary. In both groups there was varying comfort levels with regards to the exercises we shared with them, but the risk takers were present in both, and students were able to learn from each other as well as from us.

Between Research and Reality

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:57:41 -0500

Quarry Bay in 1925, with Taikoo Sugar Refinery and Taikoo Dockyard in the middle

As Tom mentioned in his last post, the greatest challenge for us in creating this new site-specific work was that the site was in Hong Kong while we were in New York. Through research, historical accounts, online pictures, and video we were able to get brief glimpses, whiffs, and hints of the reality of Hong Kong and our site. However, we knew that no amount of research could compare to actually being in Hong Kong, experiencing the city's vibe, pulse, and energy. And our investigations could prepare us only so much for what we would actually find on Tong Chong Street.

From our research we were particularly interested in this site's history. Tong Chong Street is located on the eastern part of Hong Kong Island, in a commercial complex called Taikoo Place in Swire Island East. This entire area is managed by Swire Properties, an arm of Swire, who's parent company, John Swire & Sons is headquartered in London. This family of companies began its relationship with this area in 1881. At that time, the site was purchased, and soon became the site for the Taikoo Sugar Refinery. Shortly thereafter, on land adjacent to the sugar refinery, the Taikoo Dockyards were constructed. This area was also the site for a number of the company's other manufacturing/commercial endeavours including a Coca-Cola bottling franchise. Only recently did this area begin it's transformation into its current manifestation as a bustling residential and commercial center.

Not So Far From Home

Tue, 27 Nov 2007 03:54:14 -0500

We arrived in Hong Kong roughly a day and a half ago, a bit shell shocked from the 16 hour flight, but eager to actually experience this city that we've spent the last several months researching. While still in New York, unable to respond personally to Hong Kong, we began rigorous research on the city and our site's social, cultural and historical makeup. Through this research, we hoped to discover how we, a group of New Yorkers, could begin to understand and engage with a locale situated half a world away.

As it turns out, New York and Hong Kong share a number of similarities. Both cities owe their formation to European trading and financial interests. From their inception and to this day, commercial forces have shaped New York and Hong Kong. Whereas many cities owe their development to political or religious influences, NY and HK were threshold cities, gateways to the vast riches of their respective mainlands. Neither was run as a "traditional" colony. And even now, it could be said that they are both wild cards, operating, to a certain degree, on their own unique systems. Their histories and topographies have been shaped by the intersections of culture, collision, commerce, change, innovation, and transformation.

Challenges in Making Site Work

Tue, 06 Nov 2007 05:30:27 -0500

Our first series of blog entries will focus on the creation of our new project, "Strangers on Tong Chong Street" and with the particular challenges of creating site-specific work for an unfamiliar space, a site unseen. It will likewise tackle the various issues concerning touring work that is meant to be site-specific.
The inherent challenge in creating our new work is the simple fact that we are in New York and the site is in Hong Kong. In the past, we have worked in several ways to create our site-specific dances. Our tendency is usually to approach a site with three considerations: architectural, social, and historical. So, in preparation, we research the social and historical, apply it to our movement and images, and prepare the architectural in terms of the known: the corners, walls, streets, and tables.

"Hope & Anchor" (2005) by Zach Morris & Keely Garfield; Photo by Arthur Donowski

Naturally, the most desirable scenario is when we are able to work periodically on site throughout the creative process. Both Zach and I were afforded this luxury with our respective Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Sitelines series performances. Zach, together with Keely Garfield, created "Hope & Anchor" for the South Street Seaport in Manhattan and I created "REEL" for the Rotunda of the National Museum of the American Indian, US Customs House. For both, we spent time throughout our months of creative development in studios and then applied our ideas to the space. This frequent checking in with the architecture of the site allowed us early perspectives on what would work and what wouldn't. It also afforded us "trial" audiences, the regular denizens of the area who often responded as strongly to our rehearsals as to the performances. In fact, some of our most rewarding lessons in site work came from observing the developing relationships between the vendors, the day-to-day inhabitants, and ourselves. Most interactions were positive, a few were contentious, but all were illuminating. A favorite was during "Hope & Anchor" as performer Marissa Nielsen-Pincus perched on a whisky barrel, a flustered Sunglasses Hut vendor called the NYPD to complain that a mermaid was ruining his business.

Choreographing, Site Unseen

Sat, 27 Oct 2007 01:41:47 -0500

For a while now, I and my collaborators have wanted to keep an online journal, a place to share our creative process in a casual, communal way and to try to contribute a useful forum for ourselves and others.

Our first series of blog entries will focus on the creation of our new project, "Strangers on Tong Chong Street" and with the particular challenges of creating site-specific work for an unfamiliar space, a site unseen. It will likewise tackle the various issues concerning touring work that is meant to be site-specific.

We are primarily dance artists, but also work in art installation, film, and other media. I am one of three Artistic Directors for Third Rail Projects in New York (along with Zach Morris and Jennine Willett), a collective of affiliated artists who share a similar dedication to integrating art into the broader public sphere, unlimited by a single medium or genre.