the modern dance awareness society

dance dance everywhere

Category Archives: art, dance performance, installation/intervention, street performance, dance market research, public art


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you are invited——-dancing in andros, greece

Happy Spring!

We are extremely excited about our upcoming workshops and performances in Greece this summer.

On August 16-31, Damaris  Webb, Jill Woodward and myself  will be facilitating somaphrase- dancing the translation, a site specific dance workshop and performance on the island of Andros, in Greece. We will be joined by Panagiotis Andronikidis (ELANADISTIKANOUME GR)  Of course, you are invited to participate or just spread the word!

In September, we will continue passtrespass with the immigrants at the Kypseli Market Community Center in Athens. This is an extremely trying time for the people of Greece. Our goal is to create a safe, creative environment, as well as an empowering performance platform for those who are hit hardest by the current situation.

video passtrespass


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1:1 please remove shoes

please stop by and join us! as we explore the latest development of 1:1 please remove shoes.

happening at 112 West 44th St, on September 29, 30 and October 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7.

this installation runs 5:45-7:45 pm. please feel free to stay for any length of time.

1:1 please remove shoes is an interactive, multi-media performance installation that conjures the visual, the kinetic and while sourcing the experiential- It is conceived as a self sourcing environment where the dance is informed by the space and its inhabitants- spectators influence performers-a self referencing loop inviting the spectator to engage.

This month, as we remember and memorialize the events of September 11, 2001, this performance is intended to shift our focus from the clashing of our differences to our interrelatedness, shedding light on the joys and surprises of trusting one another.

cast: Cecilia Fontanesi, Bianca Falco, Danika Holoviak, Storme Sundberg,Emily Peck, Yina Ng, Josh Bisker, Despina Stamos and special guest artists TBA.

this event is free for the public!
1:1 please remove shoes is made possible by in part with public funds from the Manhattan Community Arts Fund, supported by New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and administered by Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. We are also receiving support from Chashama and donors like you!



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fall updates 2010

I have returned from Greece with lots of wonderful inspiration from our project there. I am always so moved by the people we work with in Athens. The courage and generosity of the participants fills me with gratitude and awe; gratitude to have the opportunity to meet these lovely people and awe over their strength of spirit!

Many exciting events coming up!

Please join us on Friday, September 19th,  for a screening of passTRESpass 2009 at Zora Space in Brooklyn. The event is called

Migration: The Question of our Times. September 19TH, 7:30PM

Border crossing and migration are issues that confront societies worldwide, both rich and poor. Author and professor Behzad Yaghmaian (Embracing the Infidel) leads a program of film and discussion on the topic. He will recount stories from Muslim migrants who make the treacherous journey to Europe from places such as Iran, Turkey, and Sudan. The premiere screening of the half-hour documentary passTRESpass introduces immigrants from Africa, Afghanistan, and Albania trying to create a life in Greece. They express their pain and difficulties through movement and spoken word in a show performed for an Athens audience. Choreographer Despina Stamos, who instigated the performance and appears in the film, along with the film’s director, Jill Woodward, will be present for an informal discussion and Q/A following the screening.

passTRESpass

“The International population must move”.

Tens of thousands of immigrants and refugees make their way across the porous borders of Greece every year. They come from all over Africa, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. Despina Stamos, a Greek American dancer, connects with a diverse group of immigrants in Athens and proposes a community dance performance. The process gives them a rare opportunity to express themselves regarding issues such as racism, being treated as criminals, and living without papers. Although the performers must work around language complications and other challenges, eventually a composition is presented to an Athens audience. Their collaboration bridges communities from four continents and culminates in an experience that will touch their lives profoundly. In English, French, and Greek with English subtitles. Featuring the Modern Dance Awareness Society.

Park Slope, Brooklyn

(F to 9th street/4th Ave, M/R to Union Street)

$5 suggested donation, cafe open with refreshments that can be purchased.

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Please join us at 3rd Ward on Sept. 11th!

Rubulad and 3rd Ward Present:

On Saturday, September 11, 2010
Pre-Hysteria – a fund-raiser to help save Rubulad from extinction
At 3rd Ward – 195 Morgan Avenue at Stagg Street
live music by:
Les Sans Culottes
Lily and the Parlour Tricks
Thomas Francis Takes His Chances
The WoWz
With your dj/soundman Cody
DJs:
The Vintage DJ
DJ Dirty Finger
Reagonomics
and more..

in the yard:
Not Waving, but Drowning
Jessica Delfino
Bradford Reed and his Pencilina
with your DJ/soundman Greything

performances by:
Zero Boy
Fairytale Experiment Presents: Shadow/Play
The Jared Whitham Show
Modern Dance Awareness Society
“Blow,” a performance by Vanessa and Yung
plus:
Aerialists curated by Anya Sapozhnikova
Dreams and Aspirations Vending Machine by Yung
G. Scopitronic’s Non-Stop Film Fest
Light Circus Extraordinaire of Norm Francoeur
Delicious Barbecue
and a cast of thousands who have generously donated their time and
talents to help S.O.S. – save our space!
“Pre-hysteria” refers to all things dinosaur-ish, stone age or of the
terminal, way-back past. Please dress and comport yourselves
accordingly.
Your $20 will help ensure the existence of Rubulad for 65 million more
years to come.
Directions: L Train to the Morgan Avenue stop and follow the address
numbers or to the Montrose Avenue stop, down Messerole and left on
Morgan.
10:00 pm doors, 11:00 pm show. 21+ w/ ID, really.
We are guests of 3rd Ward so no BYOB please.


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update from kipseli

this past week has been intense. we visited a building that these newly arrived immigrants are squating in omonia. the space is palatial but very smelly due to lack of bathroom facilities. the immigrants, from palastine and morocco showed us around. they are concerned because the police come in and cause all sorts of havoc, including taking all the immigrants valuables–money, cell phones, etc.

the immigrants situation was the topic of much discussion in the news. locals were complaining about the situation downtown and the government has responded by making an “operation broom” as they call it. they are arresting and detaining people regardless of their legality. there is talk of making a refugee/immigrant camp out of old army barracks. we are crossing our fingers that our friends have not been caught in the sweep.

the work of the men and women we have been working with has been about dehumanization and the lack of human rights that the new refugees suffer from. more news soon! we will upload more pics when we get to an internet cafe! xoxo hope all is well! d


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passTRESpass week 1

We spent our first week in Athens doing outreach to recruit performers for our project. We had already primed the pump before leaving New York but of course we have to make our case in person. We attended a meeting of the United African Women’s Organization and also connected with Konstantina who teaches Greek language to immigrants. Our first sessions with the immigrants and local artists start tonight. By the way, look for passTRESpass 2009 on Facebook.


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athens, july 2009

passTRESpass is an interactive, roving, movement installation that addresses migration, home and borders. What and where is home? Where do we feel safe?

A purpose of the work is to pose questions regarding how we negotiate boundaries on the different levels; human relationships, physical space, and cultural practices.Participants will explore movement vocabulary with an emphasis on excavating and physicalizing particular psycho-geographies – personal stories and communal histories. As we are confronted with each other’s cultures, how can we successfully co-exist and flourish? What do we carry with us? What do we leave behind and how does that effect our environment?

As kinetic organisms moving about on a planet shrinking from population density and technological advances, we are colliding faster and harder; realities intersecting, borders shift. As the ground shifts, how do we make sense of where the pieces fall? How do we choose to rearrange them?

logistics

We are interested in working with approximately 10-15 participants, preferably a diverse group of immigrants and locals who can commit to a two week rehearsal process – likely 4 3hr rehearsals a week — and one or two performances. This work will be performed in and around the Kipseli Market. A video of the work will be presented at the 23rd World Congress on Dance Research in Spain in mid July 2009. The performance will probably be on the weekend. We are thinking of this as an opportunity to broaden the dialogue by inviting a different audience to see the work and an opportunity to show and hear the real human stories behind the immigration statistics.


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Masquerade Ball

The modern dance awareness society will be performing through out the evening and into the New Year at the Rubulad Ball!

 Join Abigail Levine and myself in the starlit lounge tent as we find corners waiting for dances.

 

Last chance to dance!

Rubulad presents:

The End of an Error – A New Year’s Masquerade Ball

 Ring out the old… ring in the new!

 Weds. Dec 31st

live bands: Flaming Fire I Love You Airlines The Creaky Boards with your DJ / Soundman Cody

DJs: DJ Shakey Pork Chop Mike Simonetti

Special surprise DJs brought to you by $mall ¢hange

 in the Cabaret Room:

Anna Copacabana Viva, Mary Feaster and Friends Jessica Delfino with your DJ / Soundman Greything

 in the Starlight Lounge

G. Scopitronic’s Non-Stop Film Fest

Modern Dance Awareness Society

Yummy Dub Pies and hot cider

Doors 10:00 pm; show 11:00 pm

20 beans for Dressy Bessies and Masked Marvels –

Thirty beans if you can’t even be bothered to dress up at all on New Year’s Eve!

10:00 pm doors; 11:00 pm show

20 beans before 11:00, in costume, or way late; 30 otherwise.

 

Rubulad Home Base: 338 Flushing Ave., bet. Classon & Taaffee 
L train to Bedford Avenue> B61 bus on Driggs to Flushing Ave (10 
mins)> left under BQE> Rubulad’s on your right just past the gas 
station *OR* J / M / Z to Marcy Ave> walk along BQE> left under BQE 
at Flushing. 

Or G Train to Classon, walk on Classon to Flushing 

Note: The B61 bus runs from Greenpoint to Red Hook through Dumbo and Downtown Brooklyn. The B57 bus will take you to and from Bushwick, fast. 

You can help us continue to have a Rubulad in this space by being quiet coming and going, staying inside the space during the event and not pissing all over the sidewalk as soon as you get around the corner – which, incidentally, does attract the police and they will write you a summons. 

The less our neighbors have to complain about, the more fun we can have.