Movement & Media Collaboration

I've got some catching up to do because there were a few performances this past semester that I didn't get a chance to write about.

Starting with a performance I had at the Milwaukee Art Museum. The show for MAM after Dark on November 19, 2010 was an explosion of media and dance being used in different ways during the exhibition of the Museum's European Design, the Chakaia Booker installation, Art of the Table event, and the Robert Therrien installation in Windhover Hall. It's a mouthful to say, but it was exciting to participate. The performance happened in cooridination with a class called Movement & Media Collaboration taught by Luc Vanier (Dance) and Cecelia Condit (Film). Both professors have some intresting takes in both the fields of film and dance. They took charge of our participation in the event, and were our guides.

It was very stressfull, and I found it difficult to keep in mind all the elements of dance along with the use of media. I collaborated with a film major Joe Calamia who was willing to work with movement and dance, and he jumped right in. It gave me a chance to play with some video shooting and editing as well. His movement preference were very different from my own, and we used the contrast within the piece. It was essentially an improv game where we were two individuals stuck in an elevator with specific rules as to what movement game was taking place, and it focused on our relationship within the space and with eachother. We had projections outside of the elevator that we had hoped would draw people in that would portray our different movement characters. If I were to do the piece again, I would make a point to find a way to integrate the media within the space. It would have added an extra extrodinary dynamic to the piece.


Video of our MAM After Dark piece


Overall, the Art Museum was an unbelievable place to perform, and I would love for the opportunity in the future to make pieces for another event.