FRAME, IMMANENT FIELD and More Set for New York Live Arts' May 2013 Studio Series

New York Live Arts continues the 2012 - 2013 Studio Series work-in-process showings in May with Tara O'Con's Frame, Burr Johnson's untitled work and Lance Gries' Immanent Field.

Tara O'Con's Frame explores ideas surrounding the role of cinematic tone in the performance of movement. Three months into the first phase of choreographic exploration, O'Con approaches the work as a cinematographer might approach a film. How are actions framed by the space? When are the performers zoomed in and zoomed out from the viewers' point of view? When is the duration of images sustained versus choppy? How do all of those factors affect the experience of building and releasing tension? Analyzing how the performer's focus guides that of the viewer, the work also questions how sustained images or durational movement can resonate when cut by abrupt stillness or change.

Burr Johnson's newest untitled work in progress consists of the second draft of a group dance for four fronts. Departing from his previous practice of guiding artistic creation in response to the spaces in which works would eventually be performed, Johnson uses the audience's seating as a starting point. Johnson, a "striking" (The New York Times) dancer known for creating "promising choreography" with "delicious qualities" (The New York Times), explores themes such as physical implication of audience members, proximity and diversity of vantage points in his current work.

Lance Gries' Immanent Field, a collaborative work with Juliette Mapp and Jimena Paz, is a trio that begins with the belief that there exists a primary field of conscious energy that pervades and connects everything. How do dancers, as masters of moving consciousness into action and form, access and create from this potentiality? How do time, space and content become differentiated through this active exchange? In Immanent Field, Gries in interested in creating a dynamic realization between what the performers and public sense as immaterial and witness as its material manifestation in dance as an art form. Using these explorations as a jumping off point, Gries views these seemingly intangible elements as essential formal ones, organizing them into a dance so they become the vital gestures of a choreography of experience.

Studio Series receives generous support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and The Puffin Foundation.

Studio Series work-in-process showings take place in New York Live Arts' studios. Tickets are $5. There will be free in-process talks after each showing with an array of moderators (see below for moderator details). Tickets are available online at tickets.newyorklivearts.org, by phone at 212-924-0077 and in person at the box office. Box office hours are Monday to Friday from 1 to 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 12 to 8pm. New York Live Arts is located at 219 West 19th Street between 7th and 8thAvenues. There will be no late seating.

*** Studio Series work-in-process showings are not open for review. ***

Tara O'Con

Fri, May 3 and Sat, May 4 at 6pm (In-Process Talks moderated by Sarah Maxfield)

Burr Johnson

Fri, May 10 at 6pm (In-Process Talk moderated by John Jasperse)

Sat, May 11 at 6pm (In-Process Talk moderated by Jack Ferver)

Lance Gries

Fri, May 31 and Sat, Jun 1 at 6pm

All performances run at 3rd Floor Studios, New York Live Arts, 219 W 19th Street, New York, NY. Tickets: $5. Call 212-924-0077 or visit www.newyorklivearts.org. Box Office hours: Monday-Friday 1 - 9pm | Saturday-Sunday 12 - 8pm.

Tara O'Con's work has been presented consistently since 2005 in showcases around NYC, including Dancenow | NYC and Dance Theater Workshop's Fresh Tracks series. Her work has also been commissioned and presented by Danspace Project, The Chocolate Factory Theater and most recently as part of the River To River Festival produced by The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. As a performer, she is a long-time contributing member of Third Rail Projects and also performs regularly for mvworks/Megan Sprenger.

Burr Johnson has been choreographing and presenting dances in New York City since 2009. His works have been shown at Dixon Place, Judson Church, Rooftop Dance, Elizabeth Dee Gallery, Josée Bienvenu Gallery and Danspace Project/St. Mark's Church. In May 2012, Danspace Project presented the first full evening of his work with Special Collections and Shimmering Islands. Johnson has performed in the works of Walter Dundervill, Christopher Williams, Helen Simoneau, Shen Wei and John Jasperse. He holds a B.F.A in Dance and Choreography from Virginia Commonwealth University. In his spare moments away from Dance he is in Bushwick, either gardening or snuggling with his cat.

Lance Gries is an independent dancer, choreographer and teacher based in NYC. From 1985-1992, he was a member of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, receiving a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award and a Princess Grace Foundation Award.

Since 1990, he has created and presented solo and group choreography in various venues in New York City such as The Kitchen, Danspace, La MaMa Experimental Theater and The State Theater, as well as cities throughout Europe, Australia and South America. In the past year, he has presented two group research projects, Primary Field and Extended Field in Brussels, Belgium, parts of an ongoing series. His most recent solo evening, Etudes for an Astronaut was nominated for a New York Dance and Performance "Bessie" Award for best production of 2011.

Gries is a renowned teacher, having taught workshops and master classes throughout the world. In 1994 he was invited to be a "founding teacher" of P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels, Belgium and continues there as a visiting teacher as well as guest teaching for many other dance companies and institutions. For a decade he has maintained a retreat space, Casa Arriba, between the jungle and ocean on the Pacific Coast of Mexico; friends and artists connect there in a setting of nature and creative regeneration. His ongoing research into the interconnectedness and individual expression of body/ mind/spirit is the basis for his teaching and artistic work.

Created in 2005 by Dance Theater Workshop and continued by New York Live Arts, the Studio Series uses a strong focus on creative process to encourage artist's examinations of movement-based art. Each Studio Series artist receives a commission, 100 hours of creative residency time and is invited to conduct two informal showings. These in-process showings create a framework for the artist to share ideas with an audience in the intimate working space of the studio. Each year, a select number of mid-career artists are given a Studio Series residency as part of a two-year program of support, leading up to a commission and season presentation the following year. Studio Series artists are curated by Artistic Director Carla Peterson in conjunction with Program Manager Marýa Wethers and guest curators from Urban Word NYC.

Located in the heart of Chelsea in New York City, New York Live Arts is an internationally recognized destination for innovative movement-based artistry offering audiences access to art and artists notable for their conceptual rigor, formal experimentation and active engagement with the social, political and cultural currents ofour times. At the center of this identity is Bill T. Jones, Executive Artistic Director, a world-renowned choreographer, dancer, theater director and writer.

We commission, produce and present performances in our 20,000 square foot home, which includes a 184-seat theater and two 1,200 square foot studios that can be combined into one large studio. New York Live Arts serves as home base for the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, provides an extensive range of participatory programs for adults and young people and supports the continuing professional development of artists. Our influence extends beyond NYC through our international cultural exchange program that currently places artists in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Photo Credit: Robert O'Con

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