Kyla Barkin and Aaron Selissen Present World Premiere of Differential Cohomology, New Dance Work Inspired by Mathematical Theory
Company:
Barkin/Selissen Project
Noted dancers and choreographers Kyla Barkin and Aaron Selissen will present the world premiere of “Differential Cohomology,” a new dance work inspired by the mathematical theory of the same name, on Monday, January 10 at 8 p.m. on the Main Stage of the Staller Center for the Arts at Stony Brook University, Long Island, New York.
The dance, accompanied by live music from The Sirius String Quartet, is open to the public at no cost. It is presented by BARKIN/SELISSEN PROJECT and The Simons Center for Geometry and Physics at Stony Brook University. It was commissioned by the Simons Center Workshop for Differential Cohomology and Twisted K-Theory and funded by The Simons Foundation and The Stony Brook Foundation. The piece was created, in part, through The Field’s Emerging Artists in Residence program at FAR Space, supported by the Tides Foundation.
According to Barkin and Selissen, the new piece is based on a diagram of a hexagon, with commutative groups that sit on the six points and in the center. Movement was first created by physicalizing specific mathematical terms, including Abelian group, image, exact, and onto. Qualities of heavy, light, linear, geometric, and fluid were then assigned geographically on the diagram as the ‘players” travel on journeys. Upon arrival, they are inevitably “crushed to zero.” Only a select few “unswallowed” may tip-toe back to the mysterious home plate in the center and continue another cycle of absorbing and sending out information.
“It takes a very organized machine to function as this diagram during the day, but there is no accounting for what happens at night,” the artists explain.
Performers include Loni Landon, Gregory Dolbashian, Frances Chiaverini, Allison Jones, Matthew Branham, Christopher Ralph, Emily Oldak, Yin Yue, Kevin Williamson, and Mor Gur-Arie.
The evening will also feature live performances by renowned trombonist Ray Anderson, as well as two other dance pieces: a duet by Barkin performed by her and Selissen, and Sequitur Or Non, a quartet by Barkin and Selissen which also includes performances by the two choreographers.
For more information and ticket reservations, call (631) 632-8625 or visit www.stonybrook.edu/simonscenter.
