This is a Movement Research Studies Project titled “When the Creation Changes its Creator,” moderated by Sondra Loring and KJ Holmes. Panelists included Julie Carr, Danielle Goldman, Julyen Hamilton, Miguel Gutierrez, and Jodi Melnick. This event took place at Jimmy’s No. 43, November 30, 2011.

5 talkers tackled the ticklish subject of terpsicorian investigation. Is there room for passion and discipline? What part does courage and patience play in the connection between an artist and their work?

This event was produced as part of the Movement Research Festival Fall 2011: DEVOTION/RIGOR/SUSTAINABILITY, curated by Sondra Loring and KJ Holmes.

 About the Movement Research Festival 
The Movement Research Festival finds its roots in the Improvisation Festival/New York (IF/NY), initiated in 1992 by Sondra Loring (a MR Artist-in-Residence at the time) and Julie Carr. For five years (1999-2003), Movement Research hosted the IF/NY as one of its programs, under the curation of Programming Director Amanda Loulaki. In 2004, Movement Research created an artist-curator format and beginning in 2006, Movement Research established the festival as a twice-annual event. The fall festival is shaped by Movement Research’s programming staff in collaboration with Festival Curators, who bring their own interests and ideas to specific festival events. The spring festival is produced by a group of artist-curators who determine the emphasis, shape, and programming. Together, these two approaches allow for a varied investigation and exploration into current artistic concerns and reflect Movement Research’s mission of valuing artists, their creative process and their vital role within society.

This is the Movement Research Town Hall Meeting, moderated by Kyle deCamp with panelists Michelle Boule, Matthew Rogers, and Becky Serrell Cyr. This event took place at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, November 15, 2011.

The 2010 Revival of the Movement Research Town Hall meeting dove into the nature and manner of movement research being conducted by our present-day artists community. Movement Research and its Artist Advisory Council led a follow-up discussion regarding sustainability as it relates to research, career, value, and time. 

Anna and Rebecca led a discussion on the topic of parenting and its influence on one's creative life. They posed the questions: How can the journey of parenthood inspire and be additive to an artist's lifestyle? Are there parenting challenges specific to the dance community? Is there anything we can do as a community to better support one another? Tips were shared on how to find balance between our professional and private lives. Participants included new and veteran parents as well as those contemplating parenthood , and those simply interested in this topic.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances, and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

After this discussion, Anna and Rebecca started a google group intended to support dance parents called “Dance Artist Parent,” and would like to invite interested individuals to join. You can find them by searching google groups for “dance artist parent” or by e-mailing dance-artist-parent@googlegroups.com.

This is Sondra Loring with Steve Paxton on the topic of the theme of the Movement Research Festival Fall 2011: DEVOTION/RIGOR/SUSTAINABILITY. 

photos: Anja Hitzenberger

This is K.J. Holmes with Lisa Nelson on the topic of the theme of the Movement Research Festival Fall 2011: DEVOTION/RIGOR/SUSTAINABILITY. 

photos by Anja Hitzenberger

K.J. Holmes interviews Simone Forti on the topic of the theme of the Movement Research Festival Fall 2011: DEVOTION/RIGOR/SUSTAINABILITY.

photo: K.J. Holmes by Enid Farber and Sondra Loring by Anja Hitzenberger

Choreographers, philosophers and performers engaged in a conversation on the nature of consciousness and how dance as an artistic practice acts as experiential research into this fundamentally human yet indeterminate and far-ranging territory. In addition to gathering different perspectives on the subject, some questions will be considered: How does dance affect current philosophical thinking on consciousness? How do choreographers and performers engage with theory on the subject? How have personal experiences and artistic practices contributed to private and collective understanding and development of consciousness? How can these experiences enter into broader discourse on the subject? Participants in this conversation included philosopher and author Alva Noë, dance performer Michelle Boulé, choreographer Daria Fain, and others.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances, and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

Special thanks to the Gina Gibney Dance Center for the donation of the space for this discussion.  

Participants in this informal discussion first watched a piece created by a group of international artists during a twenty-four hour creative residency hosted by the Not Festival. Using this piece made by Rudi Cole, My Lindblad, Kasumi Hinouch and Gwendolyn Nieuwenhuize as a starting point, participants then discussed the importance of social media for the transformation of Criticism, in particular how the internet has shifted the cultural authority of traditional critical opinion.

This event was part of the Not Festival: On horns, hair, hens, haze, and other (Orgi)anics things, organized by Luis Lara Malvecías. The participants in this Not Festival Studies Project events included artists from different cultural backgrounds who live and work in New York as well as guest artists from abroad.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances, and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community. 

In an informal discussion led by Luis Lara Malvecías, participants discussed the artistic underground movement today. Does it exist? What is it? How does it relate to the social and political changes occurring in the world today?

This event was part of the Not Festival: On horns, hair, hens, haze, and other (Orgi)anics things, organized by Luis Lara Malvecías. The participants in the Not Festival Studies Project included artists from different cultural backgrounds who live and work in New York as well as guest artists from abroad.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community. 

 This is a Movement Research Studies Project titled ICPP: Looking to New Models at the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council. May 3, 2011.

An excerpt from the mission statement for the Institute for Curatorial Practices in Performance states, “As we work to understand how performance can function within multiple landscapes, we must look to new models for understanding contemporary performance practice.” ICPP Director Sam Miller and panelists Ralph Lemon, Judy Hussie-Taylor, and Lydia Bell engaged in an informal discussion regarding how the (ICCP), on the brink of its inaugural session, planned to address the needs and desires of constantly evolving communities of artists.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

Movement Research Studies Project: MRX at the Judson Church. March 28, 2011.

Movement Research at the Judson Church presented a post-performance discussion titled Movement Research Exchange, moderated by Deborah Jowitt. The discussion featured the following MRX artists: Ohio State University MFA candidate Maree ReMalia, Dance Ireland artist Philip Connaughton, and NYC-based artists Jon Kinzel (2009 Movement Research Artist-in-Residence) and Katy Pyle.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

Cardona, Lacey, de Give, 9.18.11, Artwork by Adam Shecter

Studies Project: Commissions

Moderated by Danielle Goldman on May 18, 2011
Jimmy's no. 43

How does power shift when dancers commission works from choreographers? This discussion focused on the reasons for and ramifications of this kind of commissioning process, with a special focus on artistic concerns. Panelists include Jean Butler, Tere O’Connor, Marya Wethers, Daria Faïn, Sonja Kostich and Brandi Norton of OtherShore.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances and/or other formats that focus on provacative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersections of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

Granoff, MacLow, Velez-Jackson, Gonzalez, 7.12.11, Photo by Ian Douglas

Castro, Cheng, 5.11.11, Photo by Yi-Chun Wu

Daunic, MGM Grand, 4.17.11, Photo by MAK

Dobrovic, Djordjevich, 3.8.11

Studies Project: Hovels, hamlets and digital sprawl: our origins, Movement Research Festival Fall 2010: TRULY MADLY DEEPLY
Moderated by Rosemary Quinn
December 4, 2010
The Club at La MaMa 

Festival artists gather for a discussion moderated by Rosemary Quinn, Experimental Theater Wing Studio Director, NYU Tisch School of the Arts. 

Shared experience and a sense of common space are revered by many to be indispensable tenets in the performing arts. Theatrical constructs have been created anew in the digital era. This is a group of artists that together spans the continuum from deep in the pre-digital to a future in the post digital. The moment they share now is somewhere in between. These ideas will serve as departure points, ultimately leading to an artist-generated discussion.

Studies Project:  Dance on Camera 

Moderated by Samuel Topiary 
Judson Memorial Church
January 25, 2011

Dance on Camera was a shorts program curated by Movement Research 2010 Artists-in-Residence Anna Azrieli, Laurie Berg, Yve Laris Cohen and Chase Granoff, in collaboration with Dance Films Association Director Deirdre Towers. This event is a part of DFA’s 39th Annual Dance on Camera Festival.

The evening's viewing and discussion grew from an initial grouping of three short films selected from submissions to DFA’s 2011 Dance On Camera Festival. Each film centered around movement in relationship to landscapes, ranging from the natural world to the urban environment. The second part of the evening featured films and videos selected by the curators, responding to issues brought up by themes in the original films, as well as the event's curatorial process.

Samuael Topiary moderated a discussion that engaged all of the films and discourses surrounding the event. 

Studies Project: The Pain Panel

Conceived and Moderated by Kathy Westwater
April 27, 2010
Abrons Arts Center

Panelists include Yve Laris Cohen ,Peggy Gould , Jennifer Miller , George Emilio Sanchez and Christopher Williams.
This is an excerpt of the panel.

Studies Project is an artist-curated series of panel discussions, performances and/or other formats that focus on provocative and timely issues of aesthetics and philosophy in the intersection of dance and social politics, confronting and instigated by the dance and performance community.

Moving Dialogue: A Bucharest/New York Dance Exchange

Movement Research at the Judson Church Post-Performance Discussion

presented by Movement Research, Romanian Cultural Institute New York, National Dance Center Bucharest, Dance Theater Workshop, and Gabriela Tudor Foundation

10.25.10, Judson Memorial Church, 8pm

Artists include Maggie Bennet, Mihaela Dancs, Paul Duncă, and Jillian Peña. The discussion is moderated by Ben Pryor.

Harrell, DeFrantz, 1.14.11, Photo by Miana Jun

Olinghouse, DeFrantz, 1.4.11, Photo by Bill Herbert (BH Photos)