2nd the Motion/1st the Idea
Three Months Exploring the Work of Bill Shannon
280 Broadway (entrance on Chambers St.)
New York City 10007
(212) 625-8369
http://www.dnadance.org http://www.whatiswhat.com
http://www.douzandmille.com
Dance New Amsterdam is proud to present Bill Shannon’s 2nd the Motion/1st the Idea, a three month multi-disciplinary, multi-media exploration of performance authenticity, street performance and the ongoing fusion of art and performance forms. This in-depth series of events will trace the history and evolution of the Shannon canon, from his days as a competitive street dancer, through his many different artistic incarnations. The residency is collaboration between Dance New Amsterdam (DNA) and Douz and Mille (D&M). Traffic is made possible through support from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC).
2nd the Motion/1st the Idea opened to the public on April 26, 2010, with Bill Shannon’s solo exhibition, spatiotemporality. The exhibit includes two multi-channel video installations through which Shannon’s live performance art and dance work is presented; 1) as a new work of video art unto itself and; 2) as a cumulative 20 screen dance and performance art artifact.
The 2nd the Motion/1st the Idea residency offers an opportunity for the public to experience, simultaneously, two works of the artist’s Shannon Public Works Trilogy: Window Bench Traffic. Under the sponsorship of the LMCC, Traffic will debut in New York from June 2nd to June 4th with the audience travelling alongside Shannon’s street performance in a bus (performance times to be announced). D&M’s concurrent presentation of spatiotemporality will include Bench, a 6 channel video installation that shares Shannon’s street performance by placing the audiences eye inside a suitcase in 360 degrees while riding a skateboard thru the streets. Alternating between graceful swoops and comic pratfalls, he brings characteristics of street performance, such as intimacy between performer and audience, improvisation, and unexpected, chance encounters together. Ultimately, his work proves that art intervention into the urban landscape, both architectural and social space, is a political act.
On May 25, DNA presents the world premiere of The Evolution of the Shannon Technique – a Performance/Lecture by Bill Shannon, where he details through theatrical and comedic storytelling the evolution of his invented movement form. Each step of the way along his psychosomatic timeline of new moves and transformed mental states, Shannon will demonstrate physically how the moves looked and how it felt to create the moves in the presence of a somewhat dismayed public gaze. Essential to sharing the details of his more extreme movements and absurd perspectives, Shannon will employ live sports motion capture software to dissect his form visually while verbally framing his movements within his invented dance lexicon.
From May 17 – 28 DNA presents Step Fenz (Guest Crew workshops) these open classes will be a unique blend of hip hop, house, and breaking. Each class will be unique and different so it would benefit people to take the class multiple times in the same week, however the principles of blending the three styles will be the same.
This comprehensive program continues DNA’s new methodology of exploring dance through multiple artistic lenses in order to understand its relationship to culture and community-building; and it also offers an ideal platform for D&M to present contemporary art, in context.
Led by Executive Director Catherine Peila, DNA has established a reputation for rigorous cross-disciplinary investigation of dance. Artists from diverse backgrounds and disciplines are key in representing the wide spectrum of dance including the on-going redefinition of the artform and the artist. This is achieved through comprehensive residencies where the artists teach, create and perform in DNA’s studios, galleries and theater. This comprehensive process allows for the contextualization of unfamiliar, unusual and new works and cultures. The goal is always to support the development of the artist and of dance, igniting interest and bringing new communities through the doors of DNA.
April 25 – June 18: 2nd the Motion/1st the Idea – Bill Shannon: 3 Month Residency at DNA (Performance, site-specific installations and workshops)
April 26, 6 – 8 pm: Opening of spatiotemporality, a solo exhibit by Bill Shannon; Douz and Mille @ DNA (through June 18)
May 25, 8 pm: Evolution of the Shannon Technique – Performance/Lecture by Bill Shannon
Includes admission to fundraiser after-party with cash bar
May 24–28, 2– 4 pm: Step Fenz (Guest Crew workshops) Hip-Hop/House/Breakin
June 2, 3, 4, 4:30 pm: Traffic Bill Shannon’s final installment of Shannon Public Works’ transient-specific street performance Trilogy: Window Bench Traffic
June 4, 9 pm til late nite: Traffic closing party and celebration
June 18: Exhibition Closes
Bill Shannon holds a BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He has been honored with numerous awards including a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship (2003), a Foundation for Contemporary Art Fellowship, a Colbert Award for Excellence: The Downtown Arts Projects Emerging Arts Award and a Pennsylvania Council of the Arts Interdisciplinary Arts Fellowship. He has received support for his work from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Dance Project of the New England Foundation for the Arts, Jerome Foundation, New York Foundation for the Arts, New York State Council for the Arts, James E. Robison Foundation, Bossak-Heilbron Charitable Foundation, The Harkness Foundation for Dance, and Arts International: The Fund for U.S. Artists at International Festivals. He has also been honored by Dance Magazine as one of its “25 to Watch.”
His performance art and video installations have appeared internationally in the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden, the Tate Liverpool Museum, the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, the Museum of “Contemporary Art in Chicago, The Kitchen. His most recent solo exhibition was “Work” (2008) in New York, and he presented a solo project in Dwell2 (2009), in Washington, DC. Among current and upcoming appearances in 2010 are; the Vancouver International Dance Festival, American College Dance Festival Association Utah, 2nd the Motion/1st the Idea –”Traffic,” in New York; and Dansen Hus in Stockholm, Sweden. Shannon is currently a Guest Professor of Arts and Humanities at Pennsylvania State University, PA (Spring 2010), with “Innovation and Accident.”
Rody Douzoglou established DOUZ AND MILLE to promote independent curatorial efforts and exhibition projects focused on presenting contemporary art in context.
Contacts: Rody Douzoglu (Douz and Mille) 646-957-2970
Sheila O’Connor (DNA) 212-625-8369 x. 222 and cell 516.330.9467
Image above:
Photo by Brian Cummings
