Improvisation + Moving Sound

An evening of meditations, musings and machinations on improvisation both improvised and not,
with a bow to movement and sound together and apart.

with movement artists and sound makers: Olivier Besson, Liz Roncka,
Grant Smith, Jane Wang.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

8pm

admission free: suggested donation $5-$10

OLIVIER BESSON - (improvisational movement artist)
"So, what I'm going to write about will be an attempt at describing
where some of my interests lie at the present time.
Right now,  what matters to me most in dance is identifying and
expressing myself with emotional honesty - period !- More and more, I
feel the need to bring my life and my art together. It had become
obvious to me that I increasingly operated on two separate levels. On
the "life" side I'd sometimes hesitated, waited, struggled, doubted
etc... and on the "art" side I'd invariably searched for existential
answers, an idealized sense of self and a desire for connection thru
dance.
The notion of membrane - that which separates and unites - intrigues me
both physically and  spiritually. What I have begun to understand has
changed my relationship to my(space)self, the working space and the
audience space (when there is one). It holds a key to an ongoing point
of interest : to observe and experience the things that appear to be in
opposition, in contradiction or simply different.
The answers define the questions. Being unique, appreciating the
differences, being connected.
These thoughts and feelings are affecting my teaching of improvisation
and contact improvisation and my interests in performance.
One project I'm presently introducing in France is my ongoing
collaboration with musician/composer Mike Vargas. Our project called
"large Open House" blends artistic, ritual and contemplative practices
in a collaborative improvisational context. It is based on the premise
that art and life merge when participants enter an agreement to
collaborate over a "longer than expected period of time". We
arbitrarely chose that time to be 6 1/2  hours. In that time, we feel
differences in the way we are attentive, as we experience basic human
needs such as hunger, fatigue etc...Questions arise in this
experimental hybrid form. The work is designed to investigate
proportions and quantities of art and non-art, of action and
stilllness, and of public and private practice. The public can come and
go whenever they want. The artists don't rely on the public's constant
presence to initiate or maintain the quality and focus of their
creative output.
We have done this work in Boston (loft 211) and in Western
Massachussetts ( Earthdance Retreat Center). This year, we are
gathering a group of european and american dancers for a March 21 - 25
event in Paris (Micadanses / Canaldanse co-production).
Other than that, I continue to research duet work as it deals with
issues of dependance/independance and connection - physical and
otherwise. Last but not least, solo work is a constant staple. It
allows me to reflect and  expose or reveal my own sense of self. It
helps me find some answers to the ever present question of what is
home."

LIZ RONCKA:
“In thinking about this piece for the Studio  Soto,I realized it made
sense for me to start by thinking about why I improvise in the first
place and what I understand improvisation to be.

The main reason I improvise is simply because I like To improvise.  I
enjoy how my brain and body function in an improvisatory state.  What
does that mean? For me, an improvisatory state is one in which my
senses are highly tuned and I am as neutral as possible…in a ready
state.  I feel like a conductor of the energy around me.  To pick up
what is there, let it pass through me and into/onto someone/thing else.
  Ideally, it is a state of non-judgement. When I achieve this, I feel a
sense of freedom.  I no longer feel trapped by expectations or
definitions.  This is a way I seldom feel in "real life" despite
wishing to feel this way all the time.  In some ways there is a relief
to submitting to just being in the given situation...to letting
something happen or noting what is already happening rather than trying
to make something happen.

BUT then....what about composition? Yes, I do believe that
improvisation does involve composition.  How do I maintain the state
described above and compose at the same time?  Intuition.  Artistic
sensibility. Improvising: composing without imposing.  A delicate
balance, especially when put in front of an audience.

I remind myself that the art of improvisation is to maintain a ready
state and to express the intuitive sensibility of composition.  This is
my definition of "good improvisation".  If the audience has another
expectation, that is theirs, not mine.  Again, a challenge to keep this
boundary as a performer:  not to take on the audience's definition or
expectation as one's own. However, at the same time staying true to
oneself without alienating oneself as the performer or alienating the
audience.

So...that is what this piece is about for me.  It is the same thing for
every improvised piece for me.  There may be different scores,
different settings, different costumes but each time it is about
freedom. It is about intuition. It is about submitting to the present,
connecting to one's surroundings  and holding one's own at the same
time.

Those are my thoughts about this piece at this time.”

GRANT SMITH:
" Improv plan for Soto floor plan
 
ad-lib, extempore, impromptu for 4 persons: 2 trained movers,  2
trained sounders
utilizing  full group, subsets and solos
may trade rolls

Make it up, play it by ear, fake it, feel it, be real, don't think
about it, just play, work it, use your mistakes, be open, react, act,
oppose, flock, morph, free, create, structure, repeat, no expectations,
let go, hereandnow, get gone, in the flow, non-linear, thoughtless,
awareness, subconscious, non verbal dialogue
 
improv what happens making other plans
 
So To Pop!
 
Just Intuition
 
If the Inuit human beings have more words for improv let's use them. I
improvise in so many different contexts it gets confusing. But they all
have parameters, and, i think,  different usages of intuition and
technique.
 
Perhaps one goal of improvisation is to create. The first music was
probably improvised. In case you are wondering I improvised this
sentence.
 
But not this one.
 
I guess for me, coming from a musicians world,  this project is about
being able to move as well as make sound. I don't have to sit in chair,
in a corner or under ground, unless i want to. And of course it's more
than that.
 
It's the mystery of the unknown interaction of these four performers in
the Soto space in the presence of observers. The moments of moving from
before to now to after. "

JANE WANG:
"It is funny that both Liz and Olivier were able to write seemingly
easily about improvisation while Grant and I are struggling to come up
with words to express our own thoughts on improvisation.  Perhaps this
is because, speaking for myself and other musicians I have collaborated
with, musicians don't often actually talk about the process or review
what they did after performing or rehearsing improvised music.  In a
sense, it almost seems like a point of honor, not to speak about it
other than to say, "Yeah, that's the SHIT, man" or just smile and shake
their heads in wonder and mutual admiration (or disgust as the case may
be although luckily I've never actually seen that happen).  Contrarily,
movement artists who I have worked with almost always spend the time to
verbally process their improvisations.

Hopefully what follows here won't be too incoherent - perhaps I should
just include a video clip, just kidding - being as it were, just some
ramblings and muttering about my thoughts on improvisation.

I have recently noticed a slight shift in what interests me both as an
audience member and as a performer. when it comes to the world of
improvisation.
I have always enjoyed collaborating with other media and jumping in
sometimes literally.  I don't consider myself a movement artist by any
stretch of the imagination but
I do believe the saying: "if you can walk, you can dance, if you can
talk, you can sing" (actually even if you can't walk, and you can't
talk - but that's a whole 'nother topic).
Liz, Olivier, Grant and I have worked together in various combinations
for the past several years.  One outcome of these collaborations has
been the notion of "moving sound" where in simple terms, musicians move
and movements artists make sounds.  We could call this entire
performance at Studio Soto a Moving Sound piece perhaps but I had
thoughts of not really labelling this particular evening that because
we might even decide to throw in some kind of riff or lecture,
improvised or not, on the actual process of improvisation.

I used to be more concerned with actually improvising myself, with or
without collaborators, rather than watching or listening to other
groups of performers improvise.  With that former need to perform came
a need to veer towards chaotic moments somewhat akin to what children
do when they run and scream gleefully, or when they throw themselves
into a tantrum, an episode of unabashed rage.  It's not that I no
longer ever want those seemingly out of control moments to occur, but I
perhaps have more of an awareness and desire to create an entire
sensory environment which an audience can experience as they wish.  I
almost feel that what I'm interested in as an improvisor is
architectural, as one would experience walking into a building if one's
senses were in a state of total awareness and if what was in the
building was constantly shifting if such a thing were possible.
What would happen if not only the sound and movement within the space
changed but if the space itself changed and could be improvised as it
were?
I can't say that we will definitely attempt this feat on April 7th, but
it is a little amuse-bouche for thought."

BIOS:

OLIVIER BESSON is a improvisational movement artist who hails from
France and is based in Boston (USA).

(TRAINING)  From 1980 until the early 90's, Olivier studied contact
improvisation with Nancy Stark Smith, Lisa Nelson and Andrew Harwood,
and improvisation with Daniel Lepkoff and Julyen Hamilton. During that
time, he also trained and performed Bugaku (japanese court dance) with
Arawana Hayashi.

(PERFORMANCE)  Most notably, Olivier’s work has been presented:
*in the US - at Dance Theatre Workshop (NYC), Judson Church (NYC), New
York Improvisation festival, Walker Art Centre (Minneapolis), Boston
Dance Umbrella, Florida Dance Festival, Dance Place  (Washington DC),
Radford University (virginia),

*and internationally - at the National Institute of the Arts (Taipei,
Taiwan), Die Pratze (Tokyo, Japan), Art of Movement Festival (Yaroslav,
Russia), Studio 303 (Montreal, Canada) and with Cie Vertige (Nice,
France).

He has collaborated with many individuals including Chris Aiken, Lisa
Schmidt (formerly of Trisha Brown co.), Debra Bluth, Liz Roncka, Min
Shen Ku, Pamela Newell (formerly of Marie Chouinard co.), Toshiko Oiwa
(formerly of Bill T. Jones co. and Angelin Preljocaj co.) and musicians
Mike Vargas, Peter Jones, Jane Wang and Grant Smith.

His current and upcoming performance projects involve collaborations
with Liz Roncka and musicians Jane Wang and Grant Smith in Boston,
musician Mike vargas in Paris, Emmanuelle Pepin in Nice and Jane
Shockley in Minneapolis.

(TEACHING)  Olivier is currently on faculty at the Boston Conservatory
(dance division) and teaches regularly at Canal Danse (Paris) and the 
french national circus school (C.N.A.C).  He has been on faculty at
Emerson College, Boston University and Bates Dance Festival. He has
taught residencies at the National Institute of the Arts (taipei,
Taiwan), the Centre Choregraphique de Danse/Cie Daniel Larieu (Tours,
France), the University of Minnesota, and Radford University (Virginia)
among other places.

LIZ RONCKA has been dancing professionally since 1998.  She was a
member of the Dance Collective of Boston from 1998-2005.  Liz has had
the pleasure of performing modern dance and improvisational work under
the direction of:  Ramelle Adams, Emily Beattie, Ruth Benson-Levin,
Debra Bluth, Alissa Cardone, Sean Curran, Andrew Harwood, Dawn Kramer,
Light Motion, and Micki Taylor-Pinney. 

She has collaborated extensively with musicians Jane Wang and Grant
Smith to present improvisational work in Boston, NYC and Budapest  and
with movement artist Olivier Besson in Boston, NYC and Paris.  Liz just
returned from the Large Open House, an international improvisation
project in Paris.

Upcoming events include a duet with Jane Wang at ArtRages and
performing the modern dance choreography of Emily Beattie and Mila
Thigpen in Tens the Limit.  Liz is also a practicing physical therapist
and owner of Axis Pilates, LLC in Brookline.

GRANT SMITH,  Sounds and movement
www.grantleysmith.com

Grant Smith studied drumset with Alan Dawson, Arabic drums with Jamie
Haddad, tabla with Kazi Jalal, Afro-Cuban percussion with Enrique Pla,
and Handance with Glen Velez. The Boston Globe calls him a "brilliant
improviser." The Boston Phoenix has noted his topflight "cross-genre "
abilities. Others note his sunny disposition. Grant has toured
extensively, including Thailand, Australia, and both Europes.

Grant Smith is involved in many world music, jazz, classical, and dance
projects in Boston and New York. His theatre credits include the
American Repertory's "The King Stag", and "Shlemiel The First", as well
as Joel Grey's "Borscht Capades". He is also a contributor to Trish
Cibree's "Lounge Life". Mr. Smith has toured globally from Crakow to
Thailand and New Zealand. He has performed with Itzhak Perlman, Yo-Yo
Ma, Don Byron, the Violent Femmes, Garrison Keillor,and Jane Wang.

JANE WANG, composer/musician, was born in Oxford, England and is a dual
citizen. She has performed and/or recorded with Sabir Mateen in several
of his groups,  The Balvanyos Ensemble of Hungary, the Aadvark
Orchestra,  Sawari, ear candy, the Lydian Peoples Front, F. Vattel
Cherry, Butch Morris's Phantomstation and Band Big! Conductions, Nikola
Radan’s Balmus Ensemble, performance artist Jed Speare, Haitian
Singer/Songwriter Gifrants, Mariachi artist Veronica Robles and a
salsa/merengue group led by Julio Bare. She has toured in Budapest,
Haiti, Sweden, Yugoslavia, Japan, Canada and throughout the U.S.

Jane composed and performed several solo bass pieces for the artist
Hanne Tierney which were presented at the Wanas Exhibition in Sweden,
the International Festival of Puppet Theatre, BAM Next Wave Festival,
the Sculpture Center and  five myles in New York City, the Beograd
International Theatre Festival in Yugoslavia, and Ms. Tierney’s
Obie-award winning Salome (with Sabir Mateen) at five myles and the
International Festival of Puppet Theatre. In Fall 2001, Jane composed
and performed music for Hanne Tierney’s  How Wang-Fo Was Saved and
Spring 2005 Ms. Tierney’s Man, the Flower of All Flesh which had a rave
REVIEW IN The New York Times - May 6th 2005. Jane and the entire design
team on that production were nominated for the 2005 Henry Hewes Design
Award.

"Tierney and her collaborators-especially wonder-making musician Jane
Wang- have created a work of incandescent and unworldly beauty."  -
Village Voice

She also created music for Renita Martin’s one woman show Five Bottles
In a Six Pack performed at Theater Offensive in Boston and directed by
Daniel Alexander Jones, the Cherry Lane Theater in NYC and JumpStart in
San Antonio, Texas, directed by Laurie Carlos, the new music group
Human Connection including "For Mike and Me" featuring bassist Mike
Bullock . She is currently a member of the electronic composers
consortium ~chromatik_d_zabu.tmp.

Jane often works with movement artists including Liz Roncka, Olivier
Besson, Anika Tromholt Kristensen, Shakti Smith, Rick Roberts, Melanie
Hedlund, Gene Broadway, Su Eaton, and presented the multimedia Moving
Sound for the 2001 Boston Asian American Jazz Festival, 2002 Autumn
Uprising and thru a Artslink 2002 grant, the Ludwig Museum and Mu
Theater in Budapest, Hungary in collaboration with the Balvanyos
Ensemble (Judit Balvanyo and Zsolt Varga) and at PASSIC 2003 in
Louisville, KY with guests Matthew Taylor and Anastasia. Current
regular members of Moving Sound are multipercussionist Grant Smith and
movement artist Liz Roncka (Jo Tanc). Jane and Grant performed for the
Living Art Workshop series developed by Judy Cohen for the Museum of
Fine Arts Boston. Jane studied with Cecil McBee, Dave Zox, Michael
Willens, Joe Maneri and Bob Gullotti.

“Moving Sound's performances are marked by an intimacy and playfulness
that transcends the often music-dance duality into an artistic whole
that unifies musician, dancers and audience in a primal and singular
experience of community.”  - James Coleman, Artistic Director Autumn
Uprising 6