Avy K Productions and lighting designer Lucas Krech www.lucaskrech.com have received the Lighting Artists in Dance Award 2011 for their upcoming project Ir-Rational. Ir-Rational will premiere in the fall of 2012. Stay tuned for more information, and check out our blog for insights into the process.
IR-RATIONAL is a grotesque fantasy about a meeting that never happened between Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth, Queen of England; two archetypes: Mary is intuitive, while Elizabeth is rational. Each represents an era. Meeting at the the turn of the century at a time of shifting paradigms, a struggle ensues between the two until one archetype inevitably gives way to another. That struggle between these two archetypes, between the conscious and the unconscious, between reason and intuition, persists inside all of us. The search for balance between the rational and the irrational will be the main principle for the development of the duet. In the performance, a multimedia, highly structured improvisation combining dance, visual art, and music, the two queens will be portrayed as characters in the constantly changing environment of a computer game.
To support this project and the artists involved please visit our donation page. Donate
Friday-Saturday August 26, 27, 8pm, at CounterPULSE: 1310 Mission St, SF.
Rustling Silk explores the lost civilization of the ancient nomadic horsemen. In this full evening multimedia, structured improvisation, dance, music, video, and live painting will combine to uncover our forgotten past--uncivilized, aggressive, and constantly moving--in an innovative and visually rich exploration of humankind's deep roots in rootlessness.
Rustling Silk is presented as part of CounterPULSE's Summer Special.
Performers include: Erika Tsimbrovsky, Vadim Puyandaev, Daniel Bear Davis, Kristen Greco, Kristina Kirshner, Vitali Kononov, Mihyun Lee, and Daisy Phillips.
Live music: Jeffrey Alfonsus Mooney
Video projection/photography: Said Atabekov
Lighting designer: Lucas Krech
Tickets $15-$20: brownpapertickets.com
Erika Tsimbrovsky is an innovator in the field of improvised dance performance. Born inKazakhstan, she studied modern and contemporary dance inBelarus,Moscow, andAmsterdam. InIsrael, where she lived for twelve years, she co-founded the award-winning experimental performance group EVM Laboratories to research the interaction between diverse media structures and to develop specific improvisational performance techniques. Avy K Productions is the San Francisco-based incarnation of her and visual artist Vadim Puyandaev's 16-year collaboration, featuring their signature "audio-visual-kinetic" approach, which brings together contemporary dance, live painting, evolving material installation, video projection, and live music to create unique and vital performances. www.avyk.org
Vadim Puyandaev (Visual artist/performer) has worked as a painter, sculptor, and designer for over twenty years and has been participating in multi-media dance performances since 1998. His fine art has been shown in solo and group exhibitions in Russia, Israel, Japan, Switzerland, France, Spain, Canada, and the US. Puyandaev has also produced numerous pieces of monumental art, including a commission to design a bridge over the Red Sea as well as to design a sculpture ensemble for the entrance to the city of Eilat in Israel. With Tsimbrovsky, he is a founding member of the creative collectives EVM Laboratories (Israel) and Avy K Productions (US), dedicated to investigating what emerges in performance at the nexus of different genres.http://www.puyandaev.net
Daisy Phillips was born inOakland,California, and studied dance inBerkeley,London, andGeneva. In 2003 she joined the Ballet Junior de Genève, where she worked with choreographers Lucinda Childs, Patrick Delcroix, Thierry Malandain and Fabrice Mazliah, among others.
As a freelancer, Daisy has danced and created in Switzerland with the Ballet du Grand Théâtre de Genève, in France with Kirsten Debrock/Compagnie KD Danse, and in San Francisco with Alex Ketley, Sonia Reiter, and Les Stuck.
Living in Belgiumsince 2007, Daisy has worked in Antwerp, New York, London, Milanand Berlinwith Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui- most notably on the quartet Origine, the opera Das Rheingold, and the duet Faun. From 2011 she works inGhent,Belgium as a member of Les Ballets C de la B, in creation with Alain Platel.
Daisy is extremely pleased to have an ongoing collaboration with Erika Tsimbrovsky and Vadim Puyandaev, beginning in 2007 with the creation of IrRational. This was followed in 2008 by The Silence of Stones, and continues through 2010 and 2011 with The Book and Rustling Silk.
Kristina Kirshner began her dance training at Berkeley Ballet Theater, where she studied ballet under Sally Streets and modern with Sonya Delwaide. She has performed with Denia Dance, Natasha Carlitz Dance Ensemble, Kelly Bowker and Dancers, Meek Dance Projects, Janice Garrett and Charles Moulton, Courage Group, and Avy K Productions.
Daniel Bear Davis
Daniel’s creating practice is driven by a deep awe and wonder for humanity and an equally poignant curiosity and respect for the more-than-human world. His performance work tends towards the interdisciplinary, prioritizing content over genre. He is excited for another interdisciplinary project with Avy K. His work has been presented at the Imagining Bodies Symposium inTallin,Estoniaas well as the SFIAF (Jewels in the Square), SoWat Now Contemporary Performance Festival, Looking Left Festival of Low Tech Performance inCalifornia, and at the SEEDS Festival and E|MERGE Residency atEarthdance Center,MA(which he also curates). He has performed in a great deal of site-specific projects including on the boulders of Joshua Tree with The Body Cartography Project, on construction scaffolding with Wire Monkey Dance, on a submarine with Copenhagen’s Live Art Installations, and in a cabin in the woods for a long succession of audiences of one.
Kristen Greco is a bay area based artist who investigates the subtle and poetic layers of the body and psyche through somatics, improvisational movement, contemporary dance and physical theater. Kristen has directed, performed, and taught internationally in theUS,Mexico,Canada, SouthAmerica, andEurope as an independent artist as well as with The Carpetbag Brigade Physical Theater since 2000. She has recently performed with Syzygy Butoh (CO), Human Nature Dance Theatre (AZ), Live Art Installations (Denmark) and directed two site specific projects through E|MERGE artist residencies at Earthdance inMassachusetts. She has a deep love for collaborating with other artists in intensive creative research processes in rural and urban settings. Kristen teaches Contact Improvisation at theUniversity ofSan Francisco and has a private bodywork and movement re-education practice inOakland.
Mihyun Lee is an independent dancer and choreographer from Seoul, South Korea who moved to the bay area in 2009. Korean dance is the roots of her movement. She is in a process of creating new performance company, based on choreographic, improvisational and site-specific work. She is curious how art and human body reflect personal history and our daily lives. It is her intention to explore the relationship between such subjects and dance. In her vision art is about modifying and transforming images, ideas, movement and stories. www.mihyun.artsomatic.org
Vitali Kononov is a movement artist, bodyworker and somatic movement educator, working with improvisation as a performance discipline, therapeutic tool and a contemplative practice. He was born inSt-Petersburg,Russia, in 1966 and has been teaching and performing since 1996 inRussia, Europe,USA andSouth America. Vitali has a private bodywork and ArtSomatic movement therapy practice inBerkeley,California.
Jefferey Alphounsus Mooney is an artist/activist/ritualist who has been working with the Bay Area pagan group Reclaiming for 15 years. He specializes in ritual drumming and singing, and teaching how to raise energy while staying grounded and connected to each other. http://www.jamooney.com/
Lucas Benjaminh Krech (Lighting Designer) is a designer for opera, dance, theater, installation and performance. Dance collaborations include Nicolo Fonte, Matthew Neenan, Sean Curran, Johannes Weiland, Gemze De Lappe, Sallie Wilson, Viktor Kabaniaev, Trebien Pollard, Anandha Ray, David Brick and Ben Levy. 2011 Lighting Artist in Dance award recipient for work with Erika Tsimbrovsky. MFA from New York University. www.lucaskrech.com
Said Atabekov
After completing his artistic studies in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, Atabekov became a member of the "Red Tractor" group, the first artists' collective set up in Southern Kazakhstan after the Perestroika. Through performances, videos and installations, the artists of the "Red Tractor" group question the archetypes of Central Asian culture: myth, religion, pantheist rites, nature and shamanism. National identity, the conflict between man and nature, the conflict between tradition and innovation are key elements in Said Atabekov's artistic output. Alternately he employs video and photography to communicate the post-modern paradox, where the symbols of globalisation insert themselves into locations that are extremely isolated and still firmly anchored in local tradition. http://universes-in-universe.org/eng/nafas/articles/2011/said_atabekov
This performance made possible by CA$H grant from Theatre Bay Area in partnership with Dancers' Group.
The number of pages in this book is exactly infinite. No page is the first; none the last. I don’t know why they’re numbered in this arbitrary way. Perhaps it’s to demonstrate that an infinite series includes any number.
From The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges
July 21st The Book
Guest Artists:
Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney is an artist, activist and ritualist who has been working with the Bay Area Pagan group Reclaiming for fifteen years. He specializes in ritual drumming and singing, and teaching how to raise energy while staying grounded and connected to each other. http://www.jamooney.com/
Philip Huang is the founder of the (International) Home Theater Festival and the author of A Pornography of Grief. You can read his recent contributions to THEOFFCENTER’s blog salon series and get a taste of his work on his YouTube Channel.
Paul Clipson is a San Francisco-based filmmaker who often collaborates with sound artists and musicians on live performances, films and installations. His work has screened at the Rotterdam Film Festival, the Cinémathèque Française and in the NYFF Views From The Avant Garde program. http://www.withinmirrors.org/
July 14th The Book
Guest Artists:
PC Muñoz is a cajoñero, beatmaker, recording artist, and producer. His genre-defying projects as an artist and producer include the award-winning multi-media project Twenty Haiku, the Grammy-nominated Strange Toys album by composer/cellist Joan Jeanrenaud, and collaborations with rock legend Jackson Browne, electronic music sorceress bLevin bLectum, and Kulintang master Danny Kalanduyan. Muñoz will be on Marimbata, Black Cajon, and various other percussion as part of this performance for The Book.
Tommy Shepherd (hip-hop artist), aka Soulati, is one of the co-founders of the live hip hop band, Felonious: onelovehiphop, who play throughout the world and also and create original, theatrical productions. Shepherd stays active working with a variety of collaborators, groups, and artists from a wide variety of styles and mediums.
Jesse Hewit makes dance and performance and is the leader of Strong Behavior (jessehewit.com). He curates and performs avidly, and recently was honored with a 2010 SFBG Goldie Award for his work this past year. Come see Dog, premiering at Z Space this December.
Guest Artists July 7th
A recipient of the Rome Prize and the Berlin Prize, Ken Ueno, is a composer/vocalist who is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. As a vocalist, he specializes in extended techniques (overtones, multiphonics, extreme extended registers, circular breathing), and has collaborated in improvisations with Joey Baron, Robyn Schulkowsky, Joan Jeanrenaud, Pascal Contet, Robin Hayward, and David Wessel amongst others, and has ongoing performance collaborations with Tim Feeney, Matt Ingalls, and Du Yun. A monograph CD of three orchestral concertos was released on the Bmop/sound label. [kenueno.com]
Reviled for his "shapeless sonic tinkering" by the Los Angeles Times, Oakland musician Matt Ingalls is a composer, clarinetist, concert producer, and computer music programmer. His composed and improvised music is heavily influenced by his long involvement in computer music, often exploring extended instrumental techniques and combination tones that interact with the acoustic space. Matt is the director of sfSound, a new music series, ensemble, and internet radio station devoted to new ideas and traditions of experimental music, performance art, live electronic music, Bay Area composition, and the various facets of contemporary improvisation. [mattingalls.com]
The Book guest artist:
July 1st
Carol Swann is a teacher, private practitioner, facilitator, director, performer and visionary. Her work is focused on contributing toward a more socially just and connected world. She grew up in an Intentional Community committed to the training and practice of nonviolent direct action and consensus decision making. She has extensive experience in founding, directing and running non-profits, collectives, projects and events. She has been teaching and performing Somatic based work for thirty-five years in the U.S., Latin America, Russia, Israel and Europe. She is a seasoned facilitator in group process and conflict facilitation. She brings unique skills in community building through: Somatic interactions, co-operative games, group singing, movement work including folk dancing and creating special events or ritual.
The Book
Currently, Avy K has been awarded the Commons Curatorial Residency at SOMArts for the month of July 2011
Join us for the free opening & closing special programs: July 1st and 29th, 6-9pm; and for the installation-performances July 7th, 14th, 21st, at 8pm
The SOMarts Cultural Center Main Gallery is located at: 934 Brannan St, San Francisco, CA 94103
The Book at SOMarts Cultural Center is a multidimensional, multimedia installation—reflecting the investigative process of a meditation on the inner world of the artist and the artist’s relationship with a rational society and a technological age. The Book is an installation-performance allowing the viewer to freely move within the work and participate volitionally. We allow our personal stories to enter the performance space and leave behind an intimate message using any art media, creating a collective public diary.
In The Book we allow our personal stories to enter the performance space, creating a collective public diary. The Book is a kaleidoscope of sketches, snippets of thought, debris of feelings, traces of movement, and echoes of sounds that we once heard. This world pulses with unshaped ideas and unformed beauty, a world compelling in its limitless possibilities.
Each performance is a random page from The Book, and each invites a different guest artist to enter the structure, created by Avy K and collaborators, in order to destroy it and give it new life.
Guest Artists Include:
Carol Swann
Jesse Hewit
Philip Huang,
Jeffrey Alphonsus Mooney
PC Muñoz
Tommy Shepherd
Ken Ueno with Matt Ingalls
Collaborators/ Performers Include:
Erika Tsimbrovsky
Paul Clipson
Daisy Phillips
Lucas Krech
Justin Morrison
Grundik Kasyansky
Kristen Greco
Izmail Galin
Daniel Bear Davis
Sean Feit
Andrew Ward
Elena Zhukova
Ronja Ver
Aleksey Bochkovsky
Kristina Kirshner
Rob Kunkle
Vitali Kononov
Mihyun Lee
Natasha Zborovskaya-Sigawi
Vadim Puyandaev
The Book is made possible by the SOMArts Cultural Center Commons Curatorial Residency, San Francisco Arts Commission, Zellerbach Family Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Banya SF.
more info: The Book 2010-2011
Full Moon Syndrome as part of WestWave Dance Festival Monday, November 8th, 8PM at Cowell Theater Fort Mason Center, San Francisco 2010
The Book # 2 with guest artists- workshop's participants San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, October 17th 2010
Meditation on White Canvas - workshop at S.F. Conservatory of Dance, October 17th 2010
live painting, music, and dance
In the workshop, we will divide the process of painting into stages that will form the structure of the interaction between dance and visual art. We will review elements of visual art composition (line, point, spot, flatness, 2D and 3D, the relation of objects in space, etc.) and will search for analogies to visual art in dance using associations and feelings triggered by these elements. The answers to these questions will be an impulse for the creation of a new, fresh language of movement. We will find new qualities in movement, and we will look from the visual artist’s perspective on space and time.
The Book # 1 Resident Artist Workshop at The Garage September 18th, The Garage, SF 2010