at No Fun Fest, May 16, 2008
Thanks to Gian Pablo Villamil for the video and for his Rhythmic Synth which I played for some of the set. You can hear it in the video.

Thanks to Megan Byrne who was the lighting designer for this show.

My thesis project is a dance performance that takes the form of a multi-channel video installation. As a choreographer, I am interested in emphasizing process, distance and mediation to expand definitions of choreography in an age of electronic communication and physical displacement. The studio process for this project consisted of working with dancers on improvisational scores and vocal exercises, and the evidence of our labors is the content for the installation. With this project, I ask, How is this mediated experience of dance a live performance? How is the video installation a work of choreography?

In the installation, each performer is present via a video monitor whereas the performers were never in the same room together during the composition process. The performers activate the installation/performance space through their televisual presence, attempting to encourage the audience to move through the space via sound cues. Even when the dancer leaves the frame of the camera, the sound of their voice and physical activity is audible, foregrounding the production of presence through sound despite visual absence.

The performance as a whole is comprised of looping single channels, each a different duration. With each repetition, the channels fall in and out of phase with each other; a continued exploration of repetition as a form of change. Each single channel is also a portrait of each dancer. A brass name plate affixed to each monitor is engraved with information about the corresponding dancer.

Dancers who participated in the process:
Sally Im
Christine Elmo
Chase Granoff
Frances Rosario
Deborah Karp
Cathy Richards
Sarah White
Sari Nordman
Biba Bell
Anna Sperber
Jacqueline Fritz

Re-post of a great New York Times article by Claudia LaRocco, on Dance Theater Workshop’s blog:

Freezing in Time Choreography’s Fleeting Steps

Above is a video response by Matt Gough to my blog post: http://www.nancygarcia.org/blog/?p=164

Matt’s post originally appeared on Doug Fox’s “Great Dance” blog here.

In her book “Hanbook In Motion” (1974), choreographer Simone Forti mentions a Hopi Indian legend which gives special importance to the top of the head. This detail inspired me to write a movement score for dancers as part of my thesis. Think of a movement score as sheet music- but instead of guiding a musician through music, a movement score can provide a dancer with an impetus for dancing. This is the score I wrote. Please follow along and allow yourself to respond in any way you choose.

Credits: Sound clips borrowed from Brian Eno. The track is called “Sombre Reptiles,” from the album Another Green World (1975).