A Shared Evening: Barbara Mahler + Meghan Frederick/Ethan Woods
Company:
Brooklyn Studios for Dance (BkSD)
BkSD is pleased to announce a shared evening of dance by choreographers Barbara Mahler and Meghan Frederick/Ethan Woods. Tickets: $20; https://bit.ly/2I6Raep.
Mahler's work embodies sparse, architectural elements, often noted as "moving sculpture." Capturing underlying emotional tones that are kinesthetically experienced by the viewer, Barbara Mahler offers two companion pieces, when we arrived (working title), in this shared evening. Part One is a solo performed and choreographed by Barbara Mahler, which will be followed by Part Two, a duet performed by her longtime dancers Jamie Graham and Trina Mannino. The piece, performed in silence, is a stark portrait of kinship and intimacy, reflecting the sense of support that women in our culture today are lending to one another.
". . . Mahler's (work) drew us into her introspective world . . . Her movements were, at first, static with accents of a hand, head or foot slamming against the surface. Mahler’s was movement that harkened back to an earlier era of Modern Dance, performed with great skill and attention." - Jeff Slayton of See Dance.
Mahler’s dances are created with the support of BkSD as a 2018 artist in residence, Lift-Off, a group feedback series led by Karen Bernard and NDA, and Movement Research, which supports the artist by engaging her as a teaching artist since 2005-present.
‘no such thing’, a collaborative duet performed by Meghan Frederick (dancer) and Ethan Woods (musician), utilizes egalitarian relationships between Ethan’s and Meghan’s bodies and sound-making capabilities to research the role of performance as spiritual practice under late capitalist Trumpism.
Created over the last 10 months, between North Carolina and New York City, in a shipping container in Red Hook, Brooklyn, and at/with support from the Dragon's Egg (CT), 'no such thing' is an eerily hilarious dance, featuring alien abductions, radio jingles, Mork and Mindy sweaters, and lots and lots of shapes. Join the artists on this shiny, failed quest for enlightenment, or at least something that feels equally sparkly.
More About the Artists
Barbara Mahler has been an active member of the New York City dance community as a choreographer, performer, body-worker, and movement educator for over 30 years. She has been an ongoing faculty member with Movement Research since 2005. Consistent with her teaching vision, her choreography seeks to explore the endless possibilities that the body can reveal. Using the classic models of time, texture and architecture, Barbara's work has been seen at the 92Y, The Queens Museum, in NDA’s Performance Mix Festival, Wassaic Dance Festival, among others. Her work in all capacities has taken her around the globe, including California, Israel, Ireland, Sweden, Taiwan, and more. Barbara was selected as a LIFT OFF artist in August 2015 and was a Movement Research Artist-in-Residence for two seasons.
Meghan Frederick is a dance artist based in Brooklyn, NY. Her choreography has been presented and supported by creative residencies throughout New York City and the Northeastern United States. Meghan teaches dance to children and adults and was a faculty member at Rutgers University from 2013-2015. Meghan was a member of the Brian Brooks Moving Company from 2008-2014 and has recently performed with Liz Lerman, Carlye Eckert, Maya Orchin, Catherine Galasso, and Laura Peterson. Meghan is currently collaborating with musician Ethan Woods on a sacred/apocalyptic sound and dance extravaganza.
Ethan Woods is an American sound artist who was born in 1989 in Asheville, NC. His work is often performed in collaboration with choreographers, and has been featured at dance festivals in Chicago, IL, Portland, OR, New York, NY, Anchorage, AK, and Bennington, VT. He is a member of Goldfeather, a featured performer on recordings by the composers Kitty Brazelton, Adrian Knight, and Richard Aufrichtig, and performs original music under the moniker of Rokenri. Ethan is currently working on a post-apocalyptic sound and dance collaboration with choreographer Meghan Frederick, a living room music project with composer Trevor Wilson and artist Jessica Green, and a new song cycle of leafy music.
About BkSD
Launched in April 2015, Brooklyn Studios for Dance lives within the historic Cadman Congregational Church in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn. Inspired by a shared reverence for gathering space, the church congregation and the dance community entered a partnership to share a facility. The mission of BkSD is to a serve the professional dance community while at the same time building a culture of local engagement that responds to the interests of both communities.
Since officially opening its doors, BkSD has offered a variety of classes, workshops, residencies and performances to the professional and non-professional community. This past year, BkSD engaged over 1000 participants and over 150 teachers and artists.
BkSD was initiated by Pepper Fajans who led a renovation effort of the church's 1920s-era gymnasium and developed a programming structure for the organization. Together with a volunteer community of dancers, and with the generous help of a founding team, Fajans transformed the 30’ x 60’ column-free space into a vibrant dance studio, with a sprung Marley floor. BkSD is directed by Pepper Fajans.
For more info, go to http://bksd.org/
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