Photo: Jakub Wittchen, the courtesy of Art Stations Foundation.
The opening of last year?s edition of Old Brewery New Dance at the Malta Festival in Poznań featured a premiere performance of There Might Be Others choreographed by Rebecca Lazier. The Polish edition of the show, which involves seven Polish and three American dancers, was created following the production of similar projects in Greece, Turkey and Canada, and was realised in collaboration with the Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Time has come for the exciting finale ? the New York shows of There Might Be Others, featuring international performers, including Polish artists, with the accompaniment of two orchestras joining forces ? the Mobius Percussion and the S? Percussion. The shows will be held from 16?19 March at 7.30 pm at the New York Live Arts theatre (219 W 19th Street).
There Might Be Others evolves from the tradition of open scores wherein the dancers compose the work in performance within a dynamic set of rules, contingencies, and games. Loosely based on the score and performer instructions for composer Terry Riley?s seminal aleatoric score, In C, this piece begins with a series of movement modules that range from virtuosic gestures and task-based prompts to audience interactions. The performers choose to repeat each modules as many times as they wish while staying within several modules of each other. The choreography unfolds as the individuals respond to changing situations and chance encounters. At one moment quiet, the next boisterous, the work is filled with juxtapositions as the dancers choose how, when, and where to perform the ever-evolving modules.
The practice of performance empowers the individual performer while reinforcing the collective aesthetic of the group, as lead by Lazier. The aleatoric elements of the score create a balance between strictly defined vocabulary and an aesthetic of spontaneous creation.
Created along with a diverse group of artists, designers and scientists, and featuring an international cadre of performers, the work questions the role of presence, performer agency and collective decision-making to create emergent forms. Known for her ?intelligent, fine control of complex material? (The Village Voice) showcasing an ?exciting immediacy? (The New York Times), this extraordinary collaboration features dramaturgy and design by Naomi Leonard, Davison Scandrett and Mary Jo Mecca, as well as acclaimed dancers Asli Bulbul, Simon Courchel, Natalie Green, Cori Kresge, Christopher Ralph and Saúl Ulerio.
More information on New York shows:
www.newyorklivearts.org/event/rebecca_lazier_there_might_be_others
Polish premiere: 8 June 2015
Art Stations Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk
Concept, choreography: Rebecca Lazier
with participation of Polish artists: Agnieszka Kryst, Paweł Sakowicz, Ramona Nagabczyńska and Jan Lorys
Co-producer: Art Stations Foundation by Grażyna Kulczyk
The event is part of the Campus Project organised by culture.pl
Rebecca Lazier is a New York-based choreographer and dancer. She has created her works since 1995 and presented them at many New York venues, including La MaMa, Danspace Project, The Kitchen, the Guggenheim Museum, as well as in many other cities in the United States and abroad. Her recent production, Coming Together/Attica, created in Greece, was named one of 2013?s most memorable experiences by critic Eva Yaa Asantewaa. A film of this work was presented at the Architecture Biennale in Venice. Lazier has been artist-in-residence at the Movement Research, The Joyce Theater Foundation, The Yard and the Djerassi Resident Artist Program, and has received grants from many international programmes and institutions. She is a senior lecturer of dance at the Princeton University and has previously been on faculty at the UCLA, Mimar Sinan Conservatory in Istanbul, Trinity College, Hartford Ballet, and the Wesleyan University. In 2006-2006, she was the artistic director of the White Mountain Summer Dance Festival. Lazier has been a panellist at many conferences, including Dance USA, the Institute for Advanced Study at the University of Minnesota, the Congress on Research in Dance, and The Juilliard School in New York.
