STUDIO SUSAN MARSHALL
FrameDances_1__(c)Ellen Carpenter.jpg

Frame Dances

 

Below, an excerpt from the 2011 performance-installation in celebration of Susan Marshall & Company’s 25th anniversary season. Baryshnikov Arts Center, NYC.

Frame Dances (2008–2010)

Choreography Susan Marshall in collaboration with the Company
Composer Peter Whitehead
World Premiere Montclair State University, Montclair, NJ
New York Premiere Baryshnikov Arts Center, New York, NY
Video Design and Projections Ryan Holsapple, Shige Moriya
Original Video and Projection Design Roderick Murray
Video Editing Chris Fiore
Costumes Mary Kokie McNaugher
Dancers:

  • Frame Dance (2006): from Cloudless: Kristen Hollinsworth, Luke Miller, Petra van Noort, Joseph Poulson, Darrin Michael Wright

  • Sandstone (2008): Kristen Hollinsworth, Joseph Poulson

  • Body of Water (2008): Luke Miller, Darrin Michael Wright

  • Forward (2008): Joseph Poulson

  • Green, Green Grass (2008): Kristen Hollinsworth, Luke Miller, Petra van Noort, Joseph Poulson, Ildiko Toth and Darrin Michael Wright, with Lisa Einstein, Stephanie Fungsang, Rafael Klein-Cloud, KeiraMcGovern, Stephanie Miracle, Elizabeth Young, Avery Schaefer

Frame Dances is an exploration of scale and mediation—a collection of dances and films exposing and theatricalizing the act of digital reproduction. How does the recorded mediate our experience of the live? How does the confined framing of the dance hide the labor of others working outside of the frame to make the dance possible?

"I was drawn to this idea because of my interest in how many of our cultural experiences are now mediated through television and the Web, and in the fact that the resulting 'performance space' is the two-dimensional rectangle of our iPhones or computer screens." (Susan Marshall, 2008)

In the live performance-installation, dancers are unveiled in confined spaces; their dances are filmed from above and projected simultaneously. The audience moves freely through the space, becoming part of the work as they choose how they view the pieces, forced to choose in each moment between viewing the work live or as a reproduction.

The creation of one-minute remix videos made specifically for smartphones was the final step in this exploration of the act of mediation.

Commissioning Credits
Frame Dances is commissioned by PEAK Performances @ Montclair, with additional commissioning and residency support by The Music Theater Group.