As part of CounterPULSE's Summer Special Program, Bianca Cabrera and her Blind Tiger Society produced a full evening length piece entitled Sunk in Sleep, dance with live music and original score by Ben Juodvalkis and set design by Roel Q Seeber. Bianca refers to the work as "highly kinetic. There's singing, there's rock n' roll. It reads a little bit like a fairytale, and a little bit like a rockshow!" We got to capture the work with 2 cameras and then put together a snazzy highlight teaser. I love editing these trailer/promotional type pieces, as it makes the work so easy to share, market for future funding or productions and just look back on!
Bodies in Galleries
Art galleries have been a fertile place for performance installations in San Francisco. I LOVE capturing live moving art in the gallery setting, it wakes up the room(s) and atmosphere and utilizes the space in ways that allow the audience be in a gallery location differently. It’s also interesting to see what a gallery space does to a piece built for the traditional theater setting. Wonderfully, many Bay Area artists come to LRRP to capture these kinds of performances. In 2011, Avy K Productions produced a series of improvisational performances at SOMArts called The Book. It was ambitious, with live music, live painting (by Vadim Puyandaev!) and virtuosic dance, directed by Erika Tsimbrovsky. For each night, the company invited different musicians and a guest performer to join the piece in a totally improvisational way. Documenting improvisational work is a particular documentation experience that is a strength of LRRP – it requires being on the same level as the performers in terms of presence and awareness and breath. There were some beautiful and sometimes risky chance happenings that occurred from this set up and the imagery was stunning. And it was a rockin set of Bay Area dancers to boot!
Here are a few excerpts from one of the evenings:
Check out Avy K’s blog entitled dreammapping if you’re interested in spying on ideas floating around and between the brains of Avy K and their international collaborators…
Site-Specific Dance in the City
Though many of LRRP's clients produce shows in the traditional theater setting, many also make dances at other sites and often in public spaces, requiring a special approach to documentation. These are some of my favorite shoots where the camera person has to be equally aware of the interrelated characterstics of the piece - its site, the performer's relationship to the site and the people in the site, the larger context of the location and time of day, how the viewer is directed (or not directed) to watch, along with the performance and presence of the bodies themselves. In honor of Epiphany Production's upcoming San Francisco Trolley Dances, I want to feature ODC Dance's Transit, choreography by KT Nelson, adapted for the 2011 "trolley tour." This 10min. adapted version was just one stop (in front of SF's main library) along a full tour around town along public transit routes. KT wanted to especially capture the different people walking through the dance as they entered or exited during the performance, and I think these moments flowed beautifully with the dance itself. (also the bike designs are pretty cool!)
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT9-hFqFTEc
Rainforest Action Network's REVEL
I'm looking forward to Rainforest Action Network's annual event, REVEL in a few weeks. It's held at the California Academy of Sciences, a really cool place to host a party, and RAN is a vital organization in an effort to save the planet, literally. RAN is a leading force in challenging corporations and their energy and environmental practices. REVEL is a fun way of recognizing all the work that's been done throughout the year while raising funds to continue and also to honor key players in this effort - this year, Indonesian forest expert Dr. Bayu Wirayudha will be honored with the World Rainforest Award.
Last year 2011, RAN worked with LRRP to put together a highlight video that was quickly turned around and shared with the participants and donors as a thank you. It's also used to promote this year's event. It was a blast to put together:
Also, check out an edited piece of one the honorees of 2011, Naomi Klein's speech - it was all happening as the Occupy movement was forming, so there was a special air of excitement and possibility in the room.
Eye Zen Art
One of LRRP's first beloved clients, Seth Eisen/Eye Zen Art, developed a really wonderful show in 2008-2010 called Blackbird. It's comprised of a bunch of different characters (all played by Seth) to take us through decades of queer cabaret and "pansy divas". All these artists "found radical ways to counter the severe repression of their eras" and I daresay Seth Eisen continues the tradition. Check out the highlights!
(Here's the one minute version to see how we further utilized the promo edit)
Seth Eisen's Homo File
Seth is now an artist in residence at CounterPULSE with an upcoming show, Homo File, alongside Xandra Ibarra's Fuck My Life (FML), running Sept. 20-30 - check them out!
Dance Communities are Wonderful!
One thing that comes to mind when considering the fundamentals of what I do is servicing communities, and all kinds of social spheres develop around the arts. The ODC Commons in San Francisco is one of those specials hubs that brings all walks of life under the same roof to get sweaty and DANCE, just because it feels good to MOVE! I love the joy and vibrancy of the people I interviewed for this promotional piece on the adult classes offered by the ODC School and Rhythm in Motion program - check it out. Maybe it will inspire an impromptu living room solo dance party (this happens to me all the time) or even get you to take a class...
Everybody Dance Now - ODC and Rhythm & Motion