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Several Dancers Core., a dance company based in Houston, TX and Atlanta, GA. will be performing "Aria for an Endangered Species" in Atlanta October 18 & 19 at the 14th Street Playhouse.
The creation of Aria for an Endangered Species involved the cooperative efforts of choreographer Ellen Bromberg, who created the piece in response to a visual arts installation by Yoko Ono entitled Endangered Species 2319-2322, the artists of CORE Performance Company, and lighting designer Jack Carpenter.
PRESS RELEASE :
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: August 1, 2002
Kill Date: October 21, 2002
CORE Performance Company and Tanzcompagnie RUBATO
Perform at 14th Street Playhouse As Part of the First Glance Festival
Several Dancers Core presents CORE Performance Company and Tanzcompagnie RUBATO of Berlin, Germany, in a weekend of dance at the 14th Street Playhouse in Atlanta, as part of First Glance Atlanta, Atlanta's new festival of firsts in theatre, dance and performance. CORE Performance Company performs in two performances of Aria for an Endangered Species, an evening-length work choreographed by Ellen Bromberg and featuring an original sound score by renowned multi-media artist Yoko Ono. Aria for an Endangered Species showings will take place at 8:00 P.M. on Friday, October 18, 2002 and 3:00 P.M on Saturday, October 19, 2002. Any ticket for Friday, October 18th provides admission to First Glance Atlanta's Opening Night party.
Tanzcompagnie RUBATO performs the American premiere of This is not a lovesong, an intimate duet exploring the relationship between man and woman, as individuals and together, choreographed and performed by Jutta Hell and Dieter Baumann. This is not a lovesong performances will take place at 8:00 P.M on Saturday, October 19 and 3:00 P.M on Sunday, October 20.
Following the Aria performances, the audience is invited to join the Company for a post-performance artist talk. In addition, as part of First Glance Opening Weekend activities, Several Dancers Core will be offering a workshop, "Unearthing the Creative Process", on Saturday, October 19, from 12 to 1 pm. This workshop is free but requires advance registration. Audience members are also invited to explore the visual art exhibit by Yoko Ono, which inspired Aria, in a slide and discussion presentation at 2 pm on Saturday, October 19. To make reservations for the workshop, call 404-373-4154, or email sdcinfo@mindspring.com
Tickets are priced at $15 and $12 for students, seniors, and working artists. For tickets or additional information, please call 404-373-4154 or visit www.severaldancerscore.org or www.firstglanceatlanta.com. .
The creation of Aria for an Endangered Species involved the cooperative efforts of choreographer Ellen Bromberg, who created the piece in response to a visual arts installation by multi-media artist Yoko Ono entitled Endangered Species 2319-2322, the artists of CORE Performance Company, and lighting designer Jack Carpenter. Aria for an Endangered Species is a discovery of the imagined lives of the members of a family forever frozen in time. This performance will incorporate newly integrated media elements, which enhance the piece by further exploring its various core themes.
"This is not a lovesong" has united Jutta Hell and Dieter Baumann (Artistic Directors and dancer-choreographer of Tanzcompagnie RUBATO) in a duet on stage. In the intimacy of the duet work they have confronted themselves with their own artistic and personal development. To Ludwig van Beethoven's Grosse Fugue in b-minor, composer Wolfgang Bley-Borkowski replies with a contemporary arrangement. The choreographers examine anew the form of the duet, the theme of relationship between man and woman on stage. It is an intimate study of togetherness, full of respect for each other but with the courage to widen the limitations of the other.
Several Dancers Core, a contemporary, professional dance organization, creates, performs, and presents experimental contemporary dance and performance. Several Dancers Core was founded in Houston, Texas in 1980 and has operated in two cities since 1986. Dual-based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Houston, the company promotes dance awareness and education through performances, presentations, workshops, and classes in contemporary approaches to movement. Committed to risk and innovation, Several Dancers Core exists to foster the creative process. We dedicate ourselves to opening new channels of communication between artists and the community. CORE Performance Company, the professional dance company within Several Dancers Core, focuses on the ongoing development of the artistic "process" through the creation of new work. Made up of individual artists, the company performs new choreography that evolves through experimentation, improvisation, and collaborations with artists from different mediums.
First Glance Atlanta is a premiere citywide festival celebrating performances of new work in theatre, dance and performance art developed by established and emerging companies throughout the greater Atlanta area. First Glance Atlanta is intended to increase and enhance the production and appreciation of new work and the performing arts. The festival is a collaborative effort among more than 40 local arts organizations, with the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau's Cultural Tourism Initiative serving as the presenting partner. Other partners include the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts, The CF Foundation, Inc., American Express Company, DeKalb Council for the Arts, Fulton County Arts Council, Delta Air Lines, the Coca-Cola Foundation, the Woodruff Arts Center and the Loridans Foundation. For more information, visit www.firstglanceatlanta.com. Several Dancers Core's presentation of Tanzcompagnie RUBATO is supported by the Goethe Institut Inter Nationes. The Holiday Inn Select Decatur Conference Plaza is Several Dancers Core's Visiting Artists Host Hotel. The performances are also funded in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with the Southern Arts Federation and the Georgia Council for the Arts.
04 novembre 1997
A dance performance inspired by Yoko's Endangered Species installation in NYC took place in Phoenix AZ last week. The dance choreographer asked Yoko if she could make the dance and asked Yoko to supply the music. They've been working on it for 3 years and this Phoenix performance was the first one! The Music was "Will I","Franklin Summer", & a new piece that had tribal-sounding drums with nature sounds. "Will I" was played twice,once with rain sounds in the background.
Here's more about the dance performance "Aria For An Endangered Species":
I don't know if you've seen photos of Yoko's Endangered Species installation,but it was inspired by her visit to Pompeii. The main piece is life-size statues of a nude family of 4 sitting(or rather,slumping) on a bench. The theme of this dance was domestic violence and the choreographer used Yoko's family of 4 as a model for how the dancers would look,act, and feel. The 4 dancers emerge from the darkness at first in complete silence. They are barely clothed and are covered with white powder as if emerging from the volcanic ash of Pompeii. Their movements are very slow and tentative at first,as though they are coming to life. As their movements quicken,we hear "Will I" playing over the fantastic sound system. It sounded so great!
In the background we see a bench against a black backdrop,where photos of Yoko's Endangered Species pieces are displayed(but in a constantly changing pattern), along with super,cool lighting effects that correspond seamlessly with the dancers and the music. The dancers then step forward to the edge of the dance floor (about 5 feet from me in the front row) and they dip their fingers in blue paint and each paints a different symbol on his/her body.
From now on during the dance,whenever a certain dancer is featured,his/her symbol is displayed on the backdrop in addition to all the other great lighting effects(even when they are clothed and we can no longer see the symbols on their bodies). The dancers then dress in all-white clothing as the tribal-sounding music starts. They dance during this music as if enjoying life for the first time, they are one big happy family. As the music moves into Franklin Summer,we start to see the first signs of discord-the father starts to make sexual advances towards the daughter! The dancing is very energetic as he chases her,grabbing her and pulling her toward him,while of course,she is very confused. This tears the whole family apart,and the brother starts hurting himself. He shows this by smearing red paint all over his body.
The mother is all the while trying to get the family back together,and in the end she triumphs,and all is well again. As the piece ends,the dancers take off their clothes(back to their original state of thongs and bandanged breasts) to the sound of "Will I",played again,this time with the sound of cleansing rain as a backdrop.
The whole experience was fantastic! The sound system was wonderful,and it was so nice to hear Yoko's music sounding so good! The dancers were obviously very experienced and into the piece. And as I've mentioned,the lighting was superb. It was in a small room,with seating for about 75 people,and it was packed. People were sitting on the floor. I got there early and was front-row center. The dance floor was not elevated and the dancers were right in front of me.
The creator/choreographer was a very nice woman who took questions from the audience after the performance. I asked her if she had met and collaborated directly with Yoko,and she said ,yes,she had met with Yoko several times. She said this was the first performance,and was kind of an experimental performance. She lives in Tucson,AZ. I asked her if they would be performing in any other cities,and she said maybe Atlanta in January,and maybe Houston after that,but there aren't any definite dates at this time.
Courtesy Lynne Alman
