Special Events
Artist: Manipuri Dance Visions Ensemble (with Manipuri Dance Visions Youth Ensemble)
Show: Krishna Ningshingba: remembering Krishna in Manipuri dance
Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
Main Genre: Dance
Website: www.manipuridancevisions.com
Warnings/Labels: Suitable for family audiences
At The Louden Nelson Auditotrium
Saturday July 14 at 8pm
Directed by Sohini Ray
Deep into the Himalayan valley of Manipur in Northeast India dance and music is an integral part of the daily life of people. In special occasions, ritual dances are held all night in the temples portraying lives of the Hindu gods Krishna and his partner Radha. Manipuri Dance Visions Ensemble of Los Angeles brings you a show based on such a temple dance-drama where gopis or devotees of Lord Krishna are seen remembering his valiant deeds. This theatrical work showcases the rarely seen mask dances of Bakasur, the crane demon whom young Krishna kills and also the festival dance Khubak Ishei where men and women sing and dance clapping their hands traditionally celebrated in June-July during the chariot festival or Rathayatra.
About the director
Sohini Ray the world-renowned master artiste of Manipuri dance was initiated to dancing by the legendary Guru Bipin Singh and remained his disciple till his death. She stared her performing career at age seven with the Jhaveri sisters dance troupe in India and won numerous scholarships and prizes. She currently has her own dance school and company Manipuri Dance Visions in Los Angeles.
Off the Press
" Manipuri tradition flourishes : In a program of solos and duets from the Northeastern state of Manipur, the northeastern state of Manipur, Wednesday at the Fountain Theater in Hollywood, energy became a kind of spatial decoration, delicately applied with curling fingers, torsos that smoothly dipped and swiveled, feet lightly kicking or hopping. The guiding sensibility remained sweet yet sophisticated, the recurring theme the love between the Hindu deities Krishna and Radha."
-Lewis Segal in Los Angeles Times
Artist: Incidents Dance
Show: A Break in the Fence
Hometown: New York, NY
Main Genre: Dance
Website: www.incidentsphysicaltheater.org
Warnings/Labels: Strobe lighting
At the Museum of Art and History
Friday July 13 at 9pm
How is art displayed?
Visual art is displayed in museums. Artists take great care to ship the work, select the work for the environment and display the work with consideration to the actual space. Dance is a visual art. This dance was made in a studio and the choreography will be shipped to the Santa Cruz Museum and designed for display in the space.
Christina Briggs is a choreographer with a passion for dance and an interest in artistic collaborations. She often finds collaborators through chance meetings- a conversation on a bus and a meeting in a hallway were the seeds of this artistic collaboration.
A Break in the Fence is a portrait of a woman confined, using light and darkness as a metaphor for the existential question: If no one sees us, do we exist? Briggs is joined on stage by long-term collaborator Edward Winslow. There is an art installation designed by visual artist Skrauss, which incorporates excerpts from a dance film created by Briggs and Frances Martinelli.
Artist: Daniel Mollner
Show: Project 52: A Year of Dance for Film
Hometown: Santa Cruz, CA
Main Genre: Dance/Film
Website: www.DanielMollner.com
Warnings/Labels: Suitable for Children
At The Louden Nelson Auditorium
Saturday July 14 at 6pm
At Center Stage
Sunday July 22 at 11am
"Project 52" is Daniel Mollner's year-long dance/film project in 2012. Creating an original 3-5 minute video every week for a year, Daniel has embarked on an artistic and creative marathon. Hundreds of artists, dancers, and technicians are collaborating with Daniel to produce 52 short films in 52 consecutive weeks! This screening will feature all of the films from the second quarter of the project plus outtakes, interviews, and a few bloopers that will not be seen anywhere else.
Metro Santa Cruz newspaper reviewed the local premiere of the first quarter's films as follows: "Dancer and filmmaker Daniel Mollner is engaged in a year-long creative marathon (Project 52) which has resulted so far in 13 films that cover a lot of aesthetic and emotional territory. "I Dance--Week 2" is a potent manifesto and "The Person--Week 8" is a deeply personal statement. Other pieces are by turns funny, edgy or thought-provoking. Audiences who loved "Pina" won't want to miss this!"
Daniel writes about the project, "Dance and Film. My two biggest creative passions. Although I've been dancing and performing for years, I never really had the courage to call myself a dancer. That's changed recently...thankfully. I am FULLY stepping into that identity with this project! I also have been making films since graduating California Institute of the Arts in 1987. But that too has been something I have not fully embraced until the last few years. My short dance film "What If" won the grand prize at the 2009 Freiburg Festival. Since then I have been absolutely on fire about combining film and dance."