Bridgman|Packer Dance to Perform at Sheen Center in July

Dance meets film meets virtual reality: Bridgman|Packer Dance will present two works featuring choreographers/performers Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer's innovative work in "Video Partnering"-the integration of live performance and video technology- running July 13, 14, 16 at 7:30pm at Sheen Center, 18 Bleecker Street, as part of their new series The Art of The Duo. The evening also includes an interactive installation which will allow audience members to experience the video technology first-hand.

Voyeur (2012) is inspired by artist Edward Hopper's world of color, light, perspective, and under-the-surface eroticism. Fragmented moments of private lives are witnessed through windows and doorways; the presence of a seen or unseen viewer lies at the heart of Voyeur. The work also includes an installation component: prior to the performance, the audience is invited to enter the set to explore the projections and live cameras. Video Preview: https://vimeo.com/62310573

The creative team includes filmmaker Peter Bobrow, sound designers Scott Lehrer and Leon Rothenberg, and lighting designer Frank DenDanto III.

In Remembering?What Never Happened (2015), memory slips seamlessly into imagination, delving into the changeable nature of time, form, perception, and identity. The performers merge with video projections of their images that morph and explode into digital re-interpretations of the human body; scenes shot on location in the Mojave Desert transform into surreal landscapes. Video Preview: https://vimeo.com/138529850

Collaborators include Technology Designer Phillip Gulley, Sound Designer John Guth, and Lighting Designer Frank DenDanto III.

Art Bridgman and Myrna Packer, Artistic Directors of Bridgman|Packer Dance, have collaborated as performers and choreographers since 1978. Their innovative work developing "Video Partnering" - the integration of live performance and video technology - has been acclaimed for its highly visual and visceral alchemy of the live and the virtual.

The 2008 Guggenheim Fellowship awarded to Bridgman and Packer was the first in the Foundation's history to be given to two individuals for their collaborative work. Bridgman and Packer received nine consecutive grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as grants from New England Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts, National Dance Project, USArtists International, Performing Americas Project, and La Red.

Based in New York City, they have been presented by City Center's Fall For Dance Festival, Lincoln Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, the 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival, Dance Theater Workshop, Danspace Project, Performance Space 122, Dance New Amsterdam, and Central Park's Summerstage. They have toured internationally, performing in festivals, art centers, and universities, including the Spoleto Festival USA, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Munich International Dance Festival, and Kintetsu Theater (Osaka, Japan). www.bridgmanpacker.org

Named after the late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, best known for his popular radio and TV ministry in the 1950s and 60s, The Sheen Center for Thought & Culture is a project of the Archdiocese of New York with the mission of showcasing works in the performing and visual arts, lectures and symposia that highlight the true, the good, and the beautiful as they have been expressed throughout the ages. The state-of-the-art complex has a 273-seat proscenium theater equipped with five-camera high-definition livestream capability and a multi-track recording studio with thirty-two onstage inputs; an 80-seat black box theater; four rehearsal studios; and an art gallery. This facility is the newest arts center in Manhattan in 35 years and a great addition to the growing artistic community in the East Village/NoHo.

Bridgman|Packer Dance will perform in the Loreto Theater at Sheen Center for Thought & Culture on July 13, 14 and 16 at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25 ($15 for students and seniors) and are available by calling (212) 925-2812 or online at http://sheencenter.org/shows/bridgmanpacker-dance/

Sheen Center is located at 18 Beecker Street, between Mott and Elizabeth. Subways: 6 to Astor Place; L to 1st Avenue and 14th Street; or R to 8th Street. For more information, visit www.sheencenter.org