On Saturday, Jan. 21, The Blockley, near University City, hosted three bands of rather different styles: Impressionist, West Philadelphia Orchestra and The Sun Ra Arkestra. Although their configurations are fairly similar in regards to large bands and horn sections, their varied musical styles are dynamic, danceable and deep in outer space, respectively.

First onto the stage was Impressionist. From watching this group, one wouldn’t guess that it was only their third official show. This nine-piece band has a wide range of instrumentation from ukulele to vocals, guitars, horns and keys. Constructing arrangements for so many musicians can sometimes be daunting, but Impressionist pulled it off with gusto. If this was among their first live shows together, one can only imagine how tight they’ll be after three more. As their name suggests, Impressionist mostly deals with flowing, emotionally charged songs, much like a Monet painting. The songs build and accumulate forward momentum, reach their pinnacle and fade into the gritty vocals of lead singer Kyle Press. When there are lyrics, they are often personal and meditative, but much of the time improvisation is the name of the game.

Impressionist performing at The Blockley. Photo by Bud Fulginiti

Up next was the ever raucous West Philadelphia Orchestra. If you haven’t ever seen this eclectic ensemble, you’re really missing out. The West Philly Orchestra is the highly danceable Balkan and Eastern European group that hails from west of the Schuylkill River. With driving drumbeats and a blasting horn section, it is quite difficult not to be swept into the energy and start cutting the rug. They have previously played in a number of different configurations, but their current setup includes a drum set, huge horn section and the sultry vocals of Petia Zamfirova. While they are heavily inspired by European fare, their sound is spiced with their own elements of jazz, punk and blues, among others. Suffice it to say, their sound is highly contagious and always worth another listen (and did I mention dancing?)

A number of members from The Sun Ra Arkestra. Photo by Bud Fulginiti

Last, and certainly not least, was The Sun Ra Arkestra. Having just returned from performing abroad, this show was the Arkestra’s first gig back stateside, and where better than their hometown of Philadelphia? The Arkestra is a noisy jazz collective originally assembled by the late, legendary Sun Ra. They utilize the imagery of ancient Egypt and space travel to tell their stories through singing and spoken word interludes amidst the din of shrieking saxes and trumpet timbre. Their costumes consist of Egyptian headdresses and psychedelic swaths of sequins, making them a visual spectacle almost as much as a musical icon. These elements of performance mixed with wild auditory excursions prove, as the famous song asserts, that in their live shows “Space is the Place.”

From the passionate soundscapes of Impressionist, to the wild Balkan dance party of the West Philadelphia Orchestra and the cosmic disharmonies of The Sun Ra Arkestra, The Blockley hit the spot with a very solid show. Three large and very different ensemble bands in one night proved to be exactly the right combination.

The Blockley is located at 3801 Chestnut St.; 215-222-1234.

Photos courtesy of Bud Fulginiti.

Miami City Ballet's banner from Jordan Schaps and Benjamin Martin.

Miami City Ballet (a Knight Arts grantee) had a banner year. After yet another remarkable and well-received season, MCB, as it is known, traveled for the first time ever to Paris and made an outstanding foreign debut. Then, it made its premiere appearance under a national spotlight when it were featured in PBS’s “Great Performances.” Finally, to some dismay, the founder and director Edward Villella, who is synonymous with the MCB and brought Balanchine to Miami, announced his retirement, turning a focus on the quarter-century achievements of the successful regional company.

So it seemed fitting that the ballet and its South Beach building get its own banner, which went up in time for Art Basel, across from the Bass Museum. Now hanging from the Arquitectonica-designed digs, it is the product of the mixed media duo Jordan Schaps and Benjamin Martin — and their muse for this project, Miami City Ballet School student Ella Titus.

The artists first came down from their New York home in September to start their process, which involved painting and splashing the legs of the dancer, photographing it all, then eventually manipulating the images digitally. The student dancer was posing in the five ballet positions (a study that the artists had done before for a dance poster in New York) for the five murals, while her legs were striped with wild colors of blues and greens, reds and yellow, in images that can convey tendons and veins and the life-blood of those dancing legs. These sessions were documented for Knight Arts, here: www.knightarts.org/community/miami/miami-city-ballet-preps-for-art-basel.

The initial, messy process, which involved splashing and spilled paint  and which itself resembled a performance, was eventually cleaned up into images with a computer-graphic feel, while still projecting that movement and power of the dance. Finally , the 10- by 38-foot banner depicting the five positions took its place on top the three-story building on Nov. 30, to decorate MCB’s home for several seasons, at least.

Miami City Ballet, 2200 LIberty Ave., Miami Beach.

To bring live dance performances to broader audiences by making available a portable dance floor that can be used by companies throughout the region at festivals and other events

Summary: To celebrate the African arts by bringing the renowned festival Dance Africa to Philadelphia

Summary: To showcase local artists by presenting commissioned dance and gospel performances through free weekly concerts at the museum’s Seventh Street Plaza.

Summary: To broaden people’s understanding of art and dance by turning the audience into a participant in an aural and visual performance journey called The Garden

By BalletX Dance Colby Damon

BalletX is a new Philadelphia dance company with an ambitious goal—to redefine ballet and bring it into the new century. The company, a Knight Arts grantee, debuted “Beside Myself” by Tobin Del Cuore in November 2010. Today dancer Colby Damon reflects on the performance…

Beside Myself was quite a journey from start to finish. Being that it was an impromptu commission, the intent at the start seemed rather nebulous, as we just began the first few days experimenting with various phrases and pairing them with different pieces of music. In the beginning, the men and women all learned every movement phrase, and it was interesting to see the slight differences within the movement manifested by individual intent and personal movement style.

Dancer Colby Damon and Laura Feig, photo by Bill Hebert.

As Tobin progressed, the actual shape of the piece slowly came into fruition. What was interesting about this particular process compared to others was that the movement phrases really depended on whatever aspect of the human psyche Tobin was examining that particular day. One day, vocabulary within a phrase would consist of minute, almost confused or neurotic movements. At other times, they would consist of sweeping, wide movements, invoking more of a sense of expansion and acceptance. Whatever the phrase, Tobin was always extremely specific about the intent of a movement, describing not only from where it should originate within the body, but also what sort of emotion it was provoking. I can remember him describing various movements as “dripping”, “gnome-like”, and “controlled like Tai Chi.” It was always interesting to go in every day and see what he would come up with.
Once the piece was complete it seems everyone’s part took on a particular, unique character. For me, inheriting that role was a very intense yet fascinating process. There was never any need to “put on” the role, in my mind. The movement itself was so rife with intention and complexity that just simply focusing on the movements themselves provoked enough of an emotional reaction. Every time the piece would begin I would never anticipate a section further on in the piece; to do to would invoke too much anxiety at the gargantuan task ahead! It was such a large, intense emotional ride that I really just had to stick with it mentally moment by moment.
At the end of a piece, after a very exhausting, manic yet jubilant section, I was required to do a very vulnerable duet with Laura Feig, which was always an amazing experience. Being in such an exhaustive state really enhanced our partnership, and stripped us down to our most basic selves. But what was really special was that this duet, as with the rest of the piece, was truly constructed around our actual personalities. I interacted with Tobin for a total of 12 weeks this year, so needless to say he got to know me pretty well.

Naturally, during that time I was often sharing my views of art, politics, love, and life in general with him, and it seems every section, and in particular the duet, was constructed around those views. As a result, once we got on stage I was able to put forth a very genuine performance, which I think by the end of the piece was able resonate very personally with the audience. The piece was at times dark, at times cool, at times confusing, summed up with an extremely open, affectionate duet, hitting home the magic of relationships in contrast to the craziness induced when we are trapped within our own minds. Anyone can identify with that concept, but when a choreographer is able to take such a universal experience and tailor it to a dancer’s own unique personality, that is truly remarkable, and that it what Tobin was able to do with Beside Myself.

The Art of Dance is a performance that is all about community building through collaboration. Professional choreographers and artists from South Florida come together to work with the next generation of dancers at Miami Dade College and expose them to a wide array of works, dance styles and teaching methods. Witness the fruits of this innovative collaboration at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus’s On Stage Performing Arts Series. This annual series features Miami Dade faculty and guest choreographers, and presents works performed by students and professional artists. This year’s performance will feature new choreography by Michelle Grant-Murray, Katie Sopoci-Drake, Stephen Cruz, Carlota Pradera, Patricio Suarez, LeVerne Washington, and Delma Iles.

Delma Iles, founder and artistic director of Momentum Dance Company, crafts work for students with a purpose. “The most important goal,” Iles says, “is devising choreography that will assist the students in learning specific dance skills—how to execute a canon, or dance to music with unfamiliar time signatures, or to learn to make geometric formations with groups of bodies, or how to dance in a perfect unison.” Iles meets the challenge of transferring (or transmitting) her immense knowledge of the craft through hands-on experience and visual cues—videos and still images. For The Art of Dance performance, Iles crafts a ballet pas de quatre in the ballet style of the Romantic era. Even though many of the students are not well-versed in this style, Iles sees value in exposing them to the delicate, subtle elegance of the dance where the study of intricate and precise hand and body movements counterbalance the more athletic styles of today.
For choreographer, performer and Art of Dance teaching artist Carlota Pradera, dance is both instructive and intuitive. Pradera relies on broad dance concepts that later entice spontaneous narrative threads. Later, she weaves them into a coherent choreography whose guiding philosophy is the total experience rather than the “big plan.” Pradera meets with students twice a week and creates an experimental “safe room” where she encourages her students to embrace “the organic act of listening and following the body and those instincts to learn, to trust, and to keep on elaborating bloom—allowing without throwing in the towel.” In a sense, chaos theory forms the foundation of Pradera’s teaching. “As I was telling a group of students,” Pradera says, “the work depends on laying down and figuring out a map of interconnected and simultaneous physical actions that develop in a given space. In this untitled piece, I knit a web of events where the themes and emotional threads blossom spontaneously.”

In previous years, the Art of Dance presented Mohammed DeCosta (University of Florida), Melony McGant, Afua Hall and Brandon Bryant. The Gift of the Lamban, a dancing journey inspired by the life of anthropologist, choreographer and cultural icon, Katherine Dunham, premiered at the Art of Dance in 2009. This year’s event promises to be an interesting mix and explosion of dance styles. And, most importantly, it will bring together South Florida’s evolving dance community.

Event: The Art of Dance, Miami Dade College Kendall Campus’s On Stage Performing Arts Series.
When: Dec. 10 & 11, 2010. 7:30 p.m. Special matinee Friday, Dec. 10, 11:30 a.m.
Location: Miami Dade College Kendall Campus, McCarthy Auditorium, Room 6120
Tickets: $5 donation (free matinee, Friday, Dec. 11, 11:30 a.m.)
Information: E-mail mgrantmu@mdc.edu or visit http://www.mdc.edu/kendall/mtd/OnStage.asp

“Inkūb8 is on the edge of the district,” Heather Maloney says of her studio lab in Wynwood. “And, I want to make it a center.” Maloney has guts and a vision for the future of Miami’s emerging performance art scene. In my interview with Maloney, she elaborates on this vision and gives me a preview of her upcoming collaborative performance scheduled for October 9th, during Second Saturdays, Wynwood Art Walk.

Neil de la Flor: Your open studio series, Inkūb8r, provides a space for artists to exhibit works-in-progress. Why is this so important to Inkūb8′s mission?

Heather Maloney: Performance based works are inherently social mediums, where the moment of the live performance is a timeless artifact of the creative idea. Inside of the mission of Inkūb8 is to be a laboratory space for the development and production of contemporary hybrid performance based work in Miami. Inkūb8 has emerged out of a place of need in the performance community. By showing work in the different stages of development, the artist has the opportunity to get feedback. In addition, the audience is participating and witnessing live performance. This format not only builds community around the work but also an audience that has a history of seeing the work develop over time. The opportunity to show works in different stages of development is essential to the artists as well as building community around the creative act.

Heather Maloney/Photo by Stian Roenning

ND: How do you know when a work is ‘ready’?

HM: This is an intuitive act as in any creative work. I like to think of each piece as a centralized ecosystem that is designed with all the fragile parts that work together so that it may take on its own life. In live performance, the “premiere” of a new work is a result of a process driven impulse. It’s the framing of an idea. In the performance, the work comes to life when the conceptual and the physical narrative come together. That’s when it defines the weight and realness of the ideas or questions. Though this process the work is revealed.

ND: What’s it like being an artist and also an entrepreneur? How do these two things impact your creative life or your business?

HM: I like to believe in the synergy between the artist and the entrepreneur. As each require leadership and thinking outside of the box to find innovative ways to acquire new skills, and develop systems of growth. Each require a commitment to growth and change as well as courage. Also, being humbled through the (sometimes) challenging process of figuring it out. As a person with an artist’s brain, which is full of chaos, hunger and passion, I sometimes daydream about being able to take a little pill when I need it. One that would infuse me with some type-A impulses to get me through the business side of things. At the end of the day, both the artist and the entrepreneur require vision and guts, both of which I have.

Inkub8 - Workshop - Photo by Neil de la Flor

ND: So, what’s your long term plan for Inkūb8?

HM: As of October Inkūb8 has been open for a year. We’ve established ourselves as a place to take contemporary classes, launched a summer movement lab, and incubated new work through offering affordable open rehearsal space for artists. We also launched the Inkūb8r (open-studio series). At the center of the mission of Inkūb8 is the laboratory space where collaborations can happen in a multi-disciplinary way. We are not a non-profit and function more as an artist collective. Inkūb8 is a shared space with Kor Media & Lighting, which serves as an entertainment lighting and technology showroom. In the future, I would like Inkūb8 to be a residency space supporting Miami based hybrid performance artists. Also, I want to bring artists from out of town—nationally and internationally—and place Miami on the map as an Inkūb8r for performing arts in the heart of Wynwood.

(Backstage at September’s Inkūb8r open studio series during Second Saturdays, Wynwood Art Walk.)

ND: This Saturday, October 9th, you have a hybrid collaboration scheduled with Carlota Pradera, Dia Dearstyne, Afua Hall, Priscilla Marrero, and Ivonne Batanero. Tell me a little about the project.

HM: The upcoming Inkūb8r (open-studio series) will include works by dance artists. Since it’s a work in progress, expect the unexpected. I encourage folks to come by and check it out. Stay with us after the performance for some conversations with the dancers, make new friends.

ND: What’s the future of Miami’s performing arts scene?

HM: Miami is a young city with an emerging live performance scene. I see potential in the future here otherwise I wouldn’t be here. One of the beauties and challenges of Miami is that it is a transient city—a sometimes plastic city—with a big open sky. I think in the coming years we will really see a shift in the amount of work getting attention nationally and internationally coming out of Miami, as well as welcome artists from other communities that are seeking more space to develop their voices.

Inkūb8r open studio series continues this Saturday, October 9, starting at 9:00 pm. Inkub8, 2021 NW 1st Place, Miami. For more information call 305-482-1621; www.inkub8.org.

Whether hauntingly strange, surreal, or sublime, true art, when it happens to us, reinvigorates and challenges our preconceived notions of the contemporary world. It confronts us and offers us more than just cheap entertainment, unlike the flippant antics carried out by today’s reality television ‘stars’. True artistry is…never supposed to leave us. It marks us.

Photo by Jose Jorge Carreon

On October 2^nd, 2010, mark your calendar because the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and Miami Dade College’s Cultura del Lobo Performance Series hosts the Miami debut of Mexico’s premier contemporary dance company, Tania Pérez-Salas Compañia de Danza. Celebrating Mexico’s 200^th anniversary, Pérez-Salas’ innovative choreography promises to illuminate the stage with poetry that is literally written into the company’s DNA.

Born in Mexico City, Tania Pérez-Salas is an award-winning dancer and choreographer whose work has been called “visually arresting…unabashedly sensual, subliminally erotic, and achingly human” by the Boston Globe. I’m sure the Globe is a great paper, but I wanted to know more. So, I contacted Elizabeth Doud, Artistic Director of Miami Dade’s Cultura de Lobo Performance Series, and asked her why Tania Pérez-Salas. She said that “this company’s work is an example of some of the incredible dance that’s coming out of Latin America. Its freshness, and its sensual and highly dramatized style hits chords that reminds us how much this form is evolving in the Americas and how much it has to offer to dance all over the world.”

Photo by Christian Ganet

The program includes “Fourteen Sixteen ,” which, in Pérez-Salas’ words, was spawned from her gut. The work follows a circular arc that is sexual and evocative. Officially, it’s called a “sweeping abstract ballet vocabulary and set to a musical collage”. In other words, it’s simply scorching. (View clip here.) “EX-STASIS,” Pérez-Salas latest work, connects the mind, body, and spirit through an exploration of dreams and sensuality. The program closes with Pérez-Salas’ H2O inspired signature work, “The Waters of Forgetfullness,” flooding the stage with water–symbolizing its vital role in transforming human history

October 2, 2010 at 8 p.m., Tickets $25 – $90, Special $5 ticket offer for Miami Dade College students and staff! Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House. For reservations, visit www.arshtcenter.org or call the box office at (305) 949-6722. This performance contains partial nudity.