SPOOK Moves

1 o'clock Sunday, October 30th, 2011

St. John the Divine
1047 Amsterdam Avenue, New York City



Dancers: Karesia Batan, Anna Brown Massey
Performance:  18 minutes

On the Sunday of Halloween weekend, we got SPOOOOKY in diaphonous saffron & flowing white robes. We faced the cathedral's facade for inspirations from the sculpted stories and saints, unleashing movement both impish and uncanny. While offering handheld treats to the spirits and onlookers, we created what developed into a linear duet as the remnants of early snow inspired a natural stage between the church stairs and sidewalk.  Within both our costumes and the cathedral's facade, we found the freedom and challenge of blending our personal choices of movement, mood, and relationship. A duet improvisation encourages more contact, a practice where dance is communication in its most raw form.

After a full year of The Moves Project, we hope you have enjoyed our studies and discoveries with us thus far!

Photos by Nimi Kadar

                      

BREEZE Moves

12pm Wednesday, September 28th, 2011

South Street Seaport Dock, New York City

Dancers: Karesia Batan, Anna Brown Massey, 

Charles Bernard Gushue, Annette Herwander, Cristina Jesurun

 

The South Street Seaport inspired moving water and rope, evoking new ways to relate to each other and our nautical "set." Every month we approach our improv with a loose structure in order to pace our movement, form a story arc, and unify the group. We start from the same place, but create different destinations. We explore where movement exists in relation to the others and how to build both as an individual and as a collective force. Yet in this iteration of MOVES our most engaging choices occurred at the moments we surrendered the structure. The exploration continues--finding new ways to perform a cohesive, inspired improvisation. Until next month!

 Photos by Mimi Stefanova Photography

http://www.mimistefanova.com/

                                                                                                                                                                 

ZOOM Moves

2 o'clock Sunday, August 21
Northwest corner of Houston & the Bowery, NYC
22 minutes

One Lakota, one tree, five New York City dancers, and a few extraordinary rocks.

Dancers left to right: Anna Brown Massey, Kaley Pruitt, Jessie Feller, Jackie Moynahan, Karesia Batan

During our planning session on site a local gentleman shared that our mural wall originally served as a handball court where he played before the city widened Houston Street. His story added yet another layer to our performance at this iconic site in New York City's street art scene that photographer JR had transformed into a Lakota's image. We interacted with the mural as a handball court, a sheer wall, and a man's face. Addressing the humanity of the photo mural, we created a tonal relationship with it/him and each other. Dancing on another literal plane, the rocky landscaped grey gravel further inspired us. In preparation for ZOOM we painted colorful rocks of our own to add to the greys of the rocks below and the image above. We planted these rocks beneath the lone tree, amid the gravel, and in the hands of our spontaneous audience.

                                                                                  All photos by Nimi Kadar

TED prize winning photographer JR created a new mural on the Bowery's iconic New York corner as part of his “Inside Out” project focused on the Dakota Native Americans. The project's press release explains:

"The Inside Out Group Action: "Lakota, North Dakota" will highlight the Standing Rock and Pineridge Native Reservations — some of the most important Native American reservations whose impoverished and forgotten communities have suffered unspeakable hardships. The Lakota, Dakota Nation group action is to show that the people in this community are still struggling to hold onto their native way of life."

ARCH Moves

Friday, 7/22/11

8:30pm

Brooklyn Bridge to Manhattan side

Approx. 35 minutes

            Dancers:

            Karesia Batan

            Anna Brown Massey

            Ari Bergen

            Brighid Greene

            Breanna Gribble

            Meghan K. Haseman

            Jason Leonard

            Kaley Pruitt

            Susan Quinn

            EmmaGrace Skove-Epes

            and thank you Emily Jeffries for her footage and photos

In the Moves Project's first group improvisation, ten glowing dancers lit up the night adorned in luminescence against New York's bright skyline. Thanks to these playful and open dancers who joined us on the hottest night of the year, we invited hundreds of pedestrians and bicyclists on New York's most iconic bridge to celebrate the Moves Project's unexpected outdoor art.

Collaborating as a large group revealed the power of numerous bodies to create infinite variations. Watching the translations of movement and timing across the dancers was so inviting that we plan to continue our study in the coming months with more group improvisations.  

We noticed all you photographers out there snapping photos of our glowing show. Please send them to themovesproject@gmail.com.  Thanks!

STAGE Moves

8pm Friday, June 17 & Saturday, June 18th
The Aldous Theater at Triskelion Arts
118 N. 11th St. Brooklyn

Built on the performance platform of our street installations, Anna and Karesia present our next feat on stage. Collaborating with dancers, musicians, and visual artists, we offer an evening featuring our individual choreographic styles while sharing a live musical score, original set design, and a cohesive intention to give our audience an engaging MOVING experience. 

THANK YOU for a thrilling, successful run to our talented cast and crew:

Daryl Batan, Andy Dickerson, Brighid Greene, Cybele Kaufmann, Mike Lunapiena, Romina Rodriguez-Crosta, Richy Salgado, Erin Sylvester, and Tara Aisha Willis.


It was a sensational experience to wholly create and produce a show of our own met with a packed and responsive audience. Now The Moves Project returns to the streets with bigger, bolder ideas. Come dance with us for next month's improvisation in ARCH Moves.

BLOOM Moves

12 o'clock Tuesday, May 31st
McGolrick Park in Greenpoint, Brooklyn

                                      

With The Moves Project's evening-length stage performance literally right around the corner, we celebrated the May flowers and growing summer sun by improvising in Greenpoint's historic park.  Children, trees, hopscotch and butterflies provided just a few of the endless tempting sources of garden inspiration.

                                      

                                             

RAISE Moves on Velvet Night!

RAISE Moves on Velvet Night

Saturday, April 30th 7pm

2nd Ave at 13th Street

Improv: approx. 10 minutes

Thank you to Professor Thom's Bar, Devin, all our supportive friends and art-lovers who watched RAISE Moves and partied at Velvet Night!  Please enjoy our footage below.  Video soon!

In the spirit of Velvet Night, we tried a slightly different angle of improv for RAISE Moves.  Our movement inspiration was guided by the incorporation of a red spandex cloth, which emphasized momentum and weight-sharing in a new, challenging way.  Paired with dramatic masks and heels, RAISE Moves was certainly a spectacle!

The study of improvisation continues:  It's a whole new experience with such an integral prop.  Finding the movement limitations and opportunities with it takes a little searching, along with a honed sense of communication with each other.  Definitely worth another look...

See you at our main stage show June 17-18, 2011!

Balcony view from Professor Thom's

The silent auction art gallery by amazing artists  including Daryl Batan & Jonathan Bush

TRADE Moves

TRADE Moves
Wednesday March 16th, 1pm
KB & ABM
The Charging Bull at Bowling Green/Wall St.
Improv Length:  16 minutes

 

The rain cleared up in time for our TRADE moves that afternoon!  With so much direct inspiration--the symbolism of the bull, the people of Wall Street--it was a mindful experience as we kept moving across the line of emotional gesture and dance.  Experimenting with the levels of facial expression versus redirecting it into the body was another choice to consider.

A special thank you to Big Red One and Art Piccolo for their support and approval of our performance there!

Photos/Marco Monti

CUBED Moves

Outside the Box
1pm Sunday, February 27th
Astor Place, New York City
Dancers:  KB and ABM
Length:  25 minutes

Video Music:  clip from "There's a Hole in My Bucket"/Reservation Hall Band, 
and live music from nearby street musicians that inspired the sound theme!

Thank you to all who sought us out and to the spontaneous audience of  passer-by who stopped to experience us forming a linear pair! Sunday's sun lit up our cubic costumes and geometric movement, and Astor Place's central location provided audience involvement. We continue to find dancing with iconic street sculptures reveals a varying range for improvisation development. Size, landscape, and purpose of the art constantly shift the balance between interacting with each other and the sculpture. We plan to further investigate the cube in the future with a quartet of performers, so stay tuned!

Photos/Nimi Kadar

 

REMIX Moves

2pm Saturday, January 8th 2011
Hudson River Pier between Bank St. & West 11th St.
Approx. 20 minutes
Dancers: Karesia Batan & Anna Brown Massey

Inspiriting our TREE Moves adornments with a West Village vibe
and Hudson River horizon.

This part of Hudson River Park was especially dynamic because we essentially worked with three different landscapes in one site.  Progression and expanding transitions became a focus that we are excited to keep exploring.

Video Edit/Richy Salgado
Music/selections from the Amelie soundtrack
Landscape Photo/ John Munson, The Star-Ledger
Movement Photos/Nimi Kadar