My updating of this blog has been rather lax of late, but fortunately my energies have been focused on developing the Eternal Surge for it's "birth" on May 11th, only a few weeks away.
Let me officially introduce some of my ensemble to you...
Rachel Jane Dean - DanceI am thrilled to introduce contemporary dancer Rachel as a collaborator for TES. She will be performing TES as a solo piece, and we've worked together on setting the dance and how to use movement and music in the piece - talking to Rachel, I'm very excited to have her onboard and work with her over the coming weeks and beyond.
http://racheljanedean.wordpress.com/ <<< Here is a link to Rachel's website, I urge you to visit and catch a live performance if you can.
Short Bio for Rachel -
Biography & Interests
Rachel Dean is a contemporary dance artist based in Leeds who performs, teaches and choreographs. She has a particular interest in improvisation and collaboration with other art forms and is part of improvisation collective
Mathilde.
She recently created and performed Nativity, a solo contemporary Christmas show at Theatre in Mill. Last year she directed Entwined, a dance theatre piece performed by a dressmaker and a dancer (Supported by Arts Council England, Chisenhale Dance Space and Yorkshire Dance). In 2008 she created Love in Idleness, a site-specific dance theatre piece made and performed in the gardens of a stately home on Midsummer Night (Commission from Dance in Herts). She has performed for
Institute for Crazy Dancing, Markus Hoft, Faceless Theatre and The Body Cartography Project as well as in her own work. She is passionate about sharing her love of dance and teaches regularly at Yorkshire Dance, Mind the Gap and Leeds Contact Improvisation.
Rachel graduated from The Northern School of Contemporary Dance in 2006. In 2007 and 2009 she was selected for the International Danceweb Scholarship at Impulstanz Festival. She has a BSc in Psychology.
Rachel is interested in: Connections, dancing with people, growing things. Facilitating, working out how to do this better, structures that make power visible. Conversations that come from something physical. Starting from the smallest things, experience, sensation, interaction and building from there. Falling, spinning, twisting, getting disorientated.
Efficiency, doing just the right amount. Controlling less, leaving more potential for the unknown. Recognising when she feels safe, confident and trusting in herself and others. Playing on the edge of this. Contexts, funding, power. Contact Improvisation as a whole different framework for meeting, communicating, being. Meetings of people and bodies where all have equal possibility to change and create.
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Kari Nergaard Bleivik - VocalsI'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Kari again, after playing together in a trio last year with pianist Peter Lee. Kari is a incredibly talented, versatile musician and the vocal parts for TES were written specifically with her in mind.
Bio for Kari -
Kari Nergaard Bleivik is a vocalist, composer, lyricist and lecturer, born in Trondheim, Norway.
She moved to Leeds in 1999 to study towards a BA in jazz, and in her year of graduation received the LCM award for jazz and popular vocals. In 2003 she gained her Masters Degree after studying at the advanced jazz programme.
Kari has been teaching at Leeds College of Music since 2002, giving singing lessons and teaching subjects like improvisation, ensembles, composition and aural skills. Currently she is also a student studying towards a Post Graduate Diploma in performing arts education at Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
Her longest running musical projects are:
-The guitar/voice/electronics duo Sonic Stories with guitarist Rune Mandelid.
Their first album "Feels Like Night" was released on Vossajazz Records in April 2006.
-The vocal quartet Royst with other singers Maria Jardardottir, Anna Stott and Cecilie Giskemo.
Released the album "Nordic Initiative" in 2005, and tours regularly.
Kari has toured and performed in Norway, USA, Mexico, Australia, Zimbabwe and England, and performed at festivals such as Moldejazz, Nattjazz, Vossa Jazz, Young Musicians Festival, FUSE Leeds, Harare International Festival of Arts, Melbourne International Womens Jazz Festival and Bjørnsonfestivalen.
http://www.myspace.com/karibleivikmusic <<< Here is a website for Kari, where you can read more about her work and listen to some of the various projects she is involved in.
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I will introduce the other members soon, and give a more indepth update on how the piece is shaping up...
