Komo Danceworks
I Think Not - a solo dance choreographed by Deborah Hay
2011 Solo Performance Commissioning Project
I Think Not is a solo dance that was choreographed by Deborah Hay for the 2011 Solo Performance Commissioning Project. Deborah Hay has conducted the Solo Performance Commissioning Project in Findhorn, Scotland, since 2004. Dancers attend from all over the world. Eleven countries were represented in 2011 and four of the 20 dancer/choreographers who attended the project in Findhorn, Scotland, last summer, will perform their solo adaptations of I Think Not.
Wednesday & Thursday
February 15 & 16
7:00 PM
Mercury Hall, 615 Cardinal Lane, Austin, 78704
Ms. Hay will introduce the performances each night and speak a little about this project.
Dancers performing Solo Adaptations include:
Nicole Bindler: Choreographer/ Somatic Movement Educator, Philadelphia.
Margi Cole: Artistic Director/ Dance COLEctive, Chicago,
Riikka Theresa Innanen: Independent dancer/ Choreographer, Dance/and Film Artist, Finland
Sumi Komo: Artistic Director/ Komo Danceworks, Alexander Technique Teacher/Trainer, Austin
Tickets: $20/General Admission, $10/Students (w/id) and seniors.
Special Benefit Performance
Saturday, February 18
7:00 PM
1700 Ashby, South Austin
Join Us for an intimate performance of the solo adaptations.Proceeds will help to cover costs of travel for the 3 visiting artists.
Artist Bios:
Nicole Bindler
Nicole Bindler is a body-based performing artist, inspired by her studies of new dance, dance-theater, contact improvisation, and butoh. She is also a bodyworker and uses somatic practices, such as Body-Mind Centering, Yoga and Feldenkrais as a source of creativity, inspiration and physical training. Her work has been shown throughout the U.S., Canada, Argentina, Berlin, Tokyo, Beirut and Quito, Ecuador. Bindler has been presented by High Zero Festival, Transmodern Age Festival, Shawinigan Street Theater Festival, Imagine Festival of Arts, Issues and Ideas, Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, D.C. Improvisation Festival, Fireside Festival, Performance Mix Festival, nEW Festival, X Fest, Bowerbird, CEC New Edge mix, First Person Arts and Irtijal09'. Her work has been supported by Philadelphia Dance Projects, Foundation for Contemporary Arts and Dance Advance. Her piece "I made this for you." created in collaboration with Gabrielle Revlock was a 2011 finalist for the A.W.A.R.D. Show!
Margi Cole
Margi Cole is Artistic Director of The Dance COLEctive, a graduate of the Alabama School of Fine Arts, received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College Chicago and a Masters of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a teacher and guest lecturer, she has taught for numerous educational and professional organizations throughout Illinois, the Midwest, and the Southeast and is often commissioned to make new work. Margi is active in the Chicago dance community, serving on grant panels and in public forums as an arts administrator, dancer and choreographer. In 2011, she was integral in organizing both the Dance/USA and Marshall Forum annual conferences in Chicago. Cole is currently a Chicago Dancemakers Forum Consortium Member. She is currently on faculty at Columbia College Chicago, were she has served as a Lecturer and Associate Chair.
Riikka Theresa Innanen
Riikka Theresa Innanen is a Finnish Choreographer, Dancer, Video and Visual Artist. Riikka studied choreography, filming, editing and directing dance for camera atSNDO and since 1997 sheʼs been teaching composition and camera work (mostextensively at the Amsterdam School of the Arts and Outokumpu movement research education) along side actively participating in curating performance events, symposiums and festivals such as Side Step -festival (2001-2009). She is also a founder member ofimprovisation group RIO - Real Time Orchestra and actively performs at Helsinki Meeting Point improvisation sessions for dance and music. Additional to installations,videos and drawings she has created an outreach program based on Social Dreaming in collaborating with Helinä Rautavaara museum, Espoo Finland, in creating Art projects for young immigrants and dysfunctional communities.
Sumi Komo
Sumi Komo graduated from Sarah Lawrence college with a BA in Dance and Philosophy and then went to NYC to train with Merce Cunningham, Carolyn Brown, Albert Reid. After teaching and performing in England and Wales for 10 years, Ms. Komo returned to Boulder, Colorado where she taught at Naropa University and the University of Colorado as well as developing workshops for the Colorado Dance Festival on Alexander Technique and dance. For the last 3 decades she has found ways in both performance and teaching to interweave dance, movement, meditation and martial arts to create subtlety and sensitivity to moment to moment awareness. Ms. Komo is currently the director of the ATMA (R) Centre where she teaches the Alexander technique privately and runs a Three Year Internationally approved training program for teachers of the Alexander technique.
Audience response:
Aloha Sumi
I enjoyed your very innovative dance performance on Saturday. Your unique movements brought me back to my reflections of my travels to Thailand and India. You are an inspiration to the community.
Bravo!
Ula
Audience response:
Overall, the piece had a more classical organization and look than recent contemporary dance works. This is a good thing, "Rune" had clear, well defined sections that spoke directly to its themes. Contrast with recent shows of non-stop abstract lyricism from beginning to end. Both have their places, I merely note the contrast. I loved the second section where the runes came out and danced themselves. I'm a big fan of trees in dance, and when they formed the abstract tree around the man it told the whole myth for me. Also the breaking down of the tree was very satisfying.
The unison floorwork began exactly when it needed to. It set off the longish previous section where everyone was dancing their own dance. The unison work, for me, set forth the runes' universe where runes live, speak and teach. Don't want to forget, when Sumi danced stage right through the early sections it was an extra layer that gave the dance in progress a sense of wholeness. Of course it also pointed straight to your solo at the end, so it was a good tie-together. That dance also framed the rest of the dance onstage, and gave it a sense of Sumi being the narrator, or telling the myth/dance as it happened, or imagining it.
The duets where the man learned the teachings of the runes was exquisitely well done. The section was very mature in that the man did not always understand or receive all the teaching before the rune ran off. Sometimes you don't always "get" the teaching. Thank you for pointing that out.
The cellist fit right in with the dancers and dance, particularly when he played silence. I loved your play with many permutations of silence/music/movement. I'm sure you have not exhausted the possibilities. We've talked about your solo. I know you shortened it; I would like to see more of it, but part of my appreciation is that I have seen it more than once. So your decision to shorten it may be a better one, in the sense that it is more intriguing when the audience senses that there is much unseen behind what is performed overtly.
Dance Classes
Wednesdays at 7-9 pm. Location TBA. Call 512-797-0018.
Zen Dance
Having taught at Naropa University Sumi Ryoko explores the interface between meditative movement, presence, voice and practice as it manifests in Zen dance. a way of being that breathes into lightness and grace allowing for hand, heart and hara connection of the body being, flowing into space.
Here is a video of Sumi doing one of the Zen Dances from a concert in 1996 in Boulder, CO in honour of her Zen master, Maezumi Roshi. The piece is called Dharma Light, the music is by Loreena Mckinnett, and the Altar is Kuan Yin. It is one of the Kuan Yin Dances from a series of 33 dances for all the different manifestations of Kanzeon/Kuan Yin the Buddhist Goddess of compassion who hears the cries of the world!