Danciti - new york city dance blog

The YouTube for artistes.

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:48:15 -0400

“Vimeo attracts a high-art, film-buff set—the kind of people who, when making movies for the Web, pause to consider such virtues as cinematography, framing, music, and composition.”

via article19:

or, why Vimeo is Better than YouTube!

Introducing the New York City Dance and Technology Meetup

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:39:12 -0400

Introducing the New York City Dance and Technology Meetup:

So Doug is putting together some offline meet-ups for the New York Dance/Tech community. I think the name “DanceTech” is confusing because of its similarity to Dance + Tech which I don’t think is related.

The topics sound good, it could be interesting if you can actually get people offline and away from their computers.

Some of the suggested topics really annoy me though, such as “How dancers can create professional websites without any technical training or background, and do this very inexpensively.”

That’s one of the most insulting things to read as a designer and web developer. ‘Hey, dancers with no training or technical knowledge could do your job.’

I think I’m going to start my own workshop called “How over-weight web designers with no training can create professional ballets and do it inexpensively.”

It’s just the hight of conceit to believe that you can create professional results in my field without training. I respect your work, please respect mine.

"Hubbard Street Dance Chicago currently seeks an Artistic Director to continue to lead and inspire..."

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 11:22:33 -0400

“Hubbard Street Dance Chicago currently seeks an Artistic Director to continue to lead and inspire the company as it enters its 33rd year. The company’s board of directors has convened a selection committee and welcomes interest from qualified candidates through April 30, 2009. For more information, click here.”

- -HSDC Job Opportunities

I find it really hard to believe that there is no plan of succession for Jim Vincent. You don’t just put out an open call for an Artistic Director. (I didn’t check to see if they posted an ad on Craigslist.) This is something that you need to plan for and train someone for. Even at a repertory company like Hubbard Street, the Artistic Director provides the artistic mainstay of the organization and curates the work. You can’t just pull someone off the street to do that. The person needs to be familiar with the work and the company.

via L’Aureola

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:48:47 -0400

via L’Aureola

Legion of Extraordinary Dancers

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 10:11:57 -0400

Legion of Extraordinary Dancers :

I’m not sure whether to be in awe or laugh at this new web video project from Jon M. Chu. It’s like a cross between Heros and America’s Best Dance Crew. I want to laugh because the premise is so far-fetched but the production values kind of win me over. I’m a still a little lost with the ballerina/ninja character. The shots are spectacular. Very Matrix style. Apparently they actually performed all of this without digital effects or wires.

So part one of the project is a web video series which spawns into a franchise that intertwines the best dancers in the world with comic-book style characters, a cinematic narrative, groundbreaking live performances, and multiple product lines in video, merchandise and even electronic dance products.

Check out the trailer, I think it stands on it’s own pretty well. I wouldn’t watch the interview with Jon though, it kind of ruins the illusion. Take for instance his quote below:

“Have you ever wondered what it would be like if super heros really existed? Well, they do. And they’re called dancers.”

Ouch. That was just one step too far.

The trailer is also available in HD on the site.

Chase Brock interview on Life's a Pitch

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:53:46 -0400

Chase Brock interview on Life's a Pitch: Chase is one of the few Artistic Directors that I would actually read an interview from. It does sort of surprise me that he doesn’t read any dance blogs though. I mean, we reviewed his show last year and and it’s even in the press section of the site. Don’t let us down Chase.

Jacob's Pillow offers Student Rush ticket

Wed, 15 Apr 2009 09:45:14 -0400

So if you’ve got a valid college student ID, email info@jacobspillow.org with “STUDENT RUSH PROGRAM” in the subject line and include their name, address, phone number, email address and the name of their college. They will email you every Monday of the festival and tell you what performances are eligible each week.

Lame. Here is why:

Jacob’s Pillow is not an impulse buy. You can’t just run up there on short notice because you need a car and it’s a long way from New York City. Rush tickets are designed to lure people who make easy, last minute choices. You can’t do that at the Pillow.

Very cool pedestrian movement video from Elina...

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:05:58 -0400

Very cool pedestrian movement video from Elina Müller-Meyer. waiting on… on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

Lois Greenfield offers Screensavers

Mon, 13 Apr 2009 15:02:43 -0400

Lois Greenfield offers Screensavers: Pretty cool actually and free. Thanks Lois.

What's Hot this week: 60 x 60

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 09:00:00 -0400

What's Hot this week: 60 x 60:

If you’re new to 60x60 Dance, here’s the short explanation: Vox Novus makes
a mix of 60 new musical works that are all 60 seconds long. Then we assign
one piece of music to each of 60 choreographers. The result is one hour of
pure genius and fantastic fun…

PERFORMANCES: Tuesday, April 7 and Wednesday, April 8 at 8 p.m @ Galapagos Art Space

Using Constant Contact on Great Dance

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:35:42 -0400

Using Constant Contact on Great Dance: Again, I’m not really a fan of Constant Contact but it’s light-years above PatronMail. Personally I’m a huge fan of Mailchimp and Campaign Monitor but Bronto and Mailer Mailer are also very nice. All four of those support very advanced users and are created for companies who are really serious about creating great campaigns. They aren’t very template based becuase they assume that you will want to create unique mailers instead of adding information to a template. I think this leads to much better results but you do need to be a pretty advanced user.

"So maybe instead of getting your company on twitter, paying marketers to mention you are on twitter,..."

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:22:15 -0400

“So maybe instead of getting your company on twitter, paying marketers to mention you are on twitter, and paying people to blog about your company, forget all that and just make awesome stuff that gets people excited about your products…. [or performances]”

- That’s a really good point. Great marketing only sells a bad production once. Forget Viral Marketing, how about a performance that people want to spead?

via Marco.org - So maybe instead of getting your company on…

2009 Bessie Awards Canceled

Fri, 03 Apr 2009 11:19:07 -0400

2009 Bessie Awards Canceled : Wow, I didn’t get that memo. Can’t say I’m too sorry to hear it though. I always felt that the awards were very inbred. Maybe after some time off we’ll get some new blood.

Jacob's Pillow: New website

Wed, 01 Apr 2009 10:20:48 -0400

Jacob's Pillow: New website: That is a huge improvement. Nice video integration, (but some horrible interlacing problems…) much cleaner layout and got rid of a lot of the nasty green color… a lot of it but not all. Much better user interface though with clear buttons.

William Forsythe's "Synchronous Objects" at OSU Tomorrow on Great Dance

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:22:41 -0400

William Forsythe's "Synchronous Objects" at OSU Tomorrow on Great Dance: Doug has a very thorough write up of what’s going down tomorrow on the OSU “Synchronous Objects” site.

PillowPR on Twitter

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:11:16 -0400

PillowPR on Twitter: And speaking of Gallim, you can see them at Jacob’s Pillow this summer, week 3, July 8-12. You can also see them on the Jacob’s Pillow Twitter feed. I’m not totally clear if this is the official JP Twitter account or just their PR manager’s though…

Wow, the Gallim/K Swiss ad is really well edited. It’s...

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:44:00 -0400

Wow, the Gallim/K Swiss ad is really well edited. It’s true, if you’ve seen a lot of their rep than you will recognize a lot of the movement in the video. Let’s hear it for Vimeo’s HD embedding too. The photos are also by Zach Gold, who we linked to a couple of weeks ago. via Dancing Perfectly Free

"As always, Mr. Magloire offered a thoughtful, engaging experience of dance. But what might he do..."

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 10:23:54 -0400

“As always, Mr. Magloire offered a thoughtful, engaging experience of dance. But what might he do with a full orchestra, a lighting designer, a real theater? Someone should give him the chance to find out.”

- -Roslyn Sulcas in Left Field Revival, New Chamber Ballet, Odadaa! - Review - NYTimes.com

Again, I think she is missing the point of New Chamber Ballet. Adding a lot of tech wouldn’t really add value to the production. It’s about essentials.

New Chamber Ballet review

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 10:00:00 -0400

Miro Magloire’s New Chamber Ballet returned to the City Center studio’s last weekend with a four-piece program including two World Premieres. In an age of recorded music, (an epidemic worsened by hard economic times) Magloire’s company continues it’s commitment to accompaniment by live musicians on stage. New Chamber Ballet reminds us what is enduring about the art form rather than the trappings of ballet. With its focus on essentials and elegant accompaniment, NCB performs without stage lighting or technical elements and with minimal costumes.

Two commissioned from Deborah Lohse (Artistic Director of Ad Hoc Ballet) with original score by Stefan Weisman is a duet for two women which opens the evening. Emily SoRelle Adams begins by tracing her own body with her fingers and then to transfer the shapes into the space beside her. Her hands seem to be conjuring another body out of the thin air. Emery LeCrone joins the piece perhaps as the summoned being and the two create an intimate and mesmerizing duet until LeCrone exits leaving Adams to continue her methodical tracing.

Magloire’s training as a composer is evident throughout the remaining three pieces in the evening. Using scores ranging from Telemann’s Fantaisies for solo violin to Morton Feldman’s Extensions and Projections, Magloire shows a highly developed sensibility for scoring. As a choreographer, his relationship to the music is often complex, neither allowing the score to dictate the movement nor fighting against the score for dominance. This relationship produces some mixed results.

Echo, Magloire’s premiere on the program for five dancers struggles to become a unified piece and only partially succeeds. While each movement stands well on its own, they don’t combine well with the music and long stretches of silence. Monologue also shows Magloire’s ingenuity at inventing movement but the piece doesn’t seem to fully gel. Elizabeth Brown’s solo is danced very well and the movement “accompaniment” by Emily SoRelle Adams and Madeline Deavenport has some evocative moments but taken as a whole, it is more of a single mood rather than a linear piece. Aeolia overcomes both of the shortcomings that hamper the middle two works. The allegro for five dancers is well composed, making good use of canoned movements.

Miro Magloire’s vision for the revival of chamber ballet is a huge asset to New York City. His artistic devotion to the elements that make ballet unique as an art form over the externalities that often overshadow it is a welcome reminder.

mandance project at The Joyce

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 09:34:24 -0400

mandance project at The Joyce:

You know what else is hot this week? Ballet Tech’s mandance project. Eliot Feld’s collaborates with the company HORSE from Taiwan for three World Premieres.

Dust is a visually stunning solo for Wu-Kang Chen that takes place in a storm of flying debris blown about by 36 fans. Another new solo, Radiance, is a dance about dancing, created for Ha-Chi Yu, who went through the Ballet School school and into the company. The season’s third premiere is The Spaghetti Ballet for Ha-Chi joined by two dancers and several children from the Ballet Tech School. Mimi Lien has once again created a superbly clever set for this dance/theater work, set to the familiar movie music of Ennio Morricone, composer of many scores for Italian “spaghetti westerns.” Completing the program is one of Feld’s solos to music by Steve Reich: Proverb, premiered in 2004 by Sean Suozzi, here danced by Wu-Kang.

Tickets: $19-$49 at The Joyce.