Filmed in residence in 2019, contemporary dance duo Taldans worked in Studio 1—Goodman on sound, rhythm and motion in their new production examining the dynamics of the music technique and theory Serialism.

The duo, who prepared their choreography by using mathematical scores, sets and loops, directed their questions to their source of inspiration; Serialism: where can series created by Serialism’s use of features such as tone, rhythm, timbre lead images of the body and movement? How would Serialism’s approach, having previously been reflected in music, literature, architecture and art, affect a choreographic structure? How is the system of structures built and how can creativity enter this process? How to move from one discipline to another using series and sets? Can these series be used when transitioning from dance to video, from music to dance?

In this new project, Taldans explored the mathematics of nature and emotions through series and sets and aims to reflect this exploration on the stage.

The 2019 Australian Arts Council artist in residence, Camila Galaz will be at EMPAC to continue the post-production on her installation Vecino Vecino (Neighbour Neighbour). The video work is based on a 1986 French TV documentary about the MAPU-Lautaro, a Chilean student resistance group who fought against the Pinochet dictatorship, that included the the artist’s father.

Using archival footage, re-performance and (mis)interpretations of this footage, and documentary footage of my own, Vecino Vecino stitches together multiple historical moments and viewpoints to highlight the gap between generations caused by political violence. By reading historical movements, sounds, gestures, and speech as languages that can be transposed and translated into present day, Vecino Vecino both draws awareness to, and actively participates in what Judith Butler calls “the tasks that follow political violence.”

International residencies organized by Australia Council for the Arts provide a unique opportunity for Australian artists to immerse themselves in a new international arts context, community and culture. The experience enables artists to articulate their practice within a global context and build knowledge, networks and partnerships that support future international arts activity.

Spring 2019

Artists jumatatu m. poe and Jermone “Donte” Beacham are in residence at EMPAC to develop the next phase of the work, Let ‘im Move You: This is a Formation, designed as a three-part performance that will travel across historically Black neighborhoods, queer night clubs, and institutional art spaces and theaters. The artists will be joined by a team of collaborators, including seven dancers, lighting, audio, and visual media designers, as well as two ethical and artistic consultants, to expand the theatrical and technological elements of the work. The team will also conduct a series of workshops with Rensselaer students as part of the development of the piece.

Spring 2019

Findlay and Sandsmark are in residence at EMPAC with their company to further develop the project’s body-sensor and animation content. In its use of this technology, >>returner<< demonstrates a wariness of the inflexible binaries that one-to-one body-technology interactions engender: including presence/absence, natural/manufactured, and real/virtual. The performance weaves between and around these binaries to question them without dismantling them entirely—a nod to their unavoidable if not regrettable ubiquity in our daily lives. Attempting to avoid the trap of technophillic engagement, >>returner<< creates an at-times chilling piece of performance.

This residency has been postponed to follow University policies that have been put in place in light of new developments related to the coronavirus.

Spring 2020 Residency

The last of four residencies to create Chameleon: A Biomythography— this residency will focus on completing set and technical elements as well as rehearsals toward the world premiere April 2, 2019.

Fall 2019 Residency

Continuing work on the hold, a multimedia performance project that explores the role of media archives in American Black diasporic communities. 

Spring 2019 Residency

Kosoko and a team of AV collaborators worked to conceive and develop their own archive of sound and visual material that will become central to the hold. In collaboration with the EMPAC team they created elements of a stage performance that moves fluidly between body, image, sound, and text. Continuing research during future residencies will work toward a film installation, podcast series, and live performance event at New York Live Arts in 2020.

Turkish duo Taldans—Mustafa Kaplan and Filiz Sizanli—will be at EMPAC for an extended residency in Studio 1 in order to further develop the choreographic, stage, and audio elements of their work Dolap with EMPAC’s technical team and infrastructure.

Glasgow-based Canadian artist Corin Sworn is in residence with two dancers to research the algorithms in domestic surveillance systems that purport to recognize “suspect’ movement and gesture.

Turkish duo Taldans—Filiz Sizanli and Mustafa Kaplan—will perform Dolap, a work featuring the two dancers and a full-size refrigerator. First performed in 2000 and born from the simple task of carrying the fridge from one location to another, the piece features unlikely and precarious movements as Sizanli and Kaplan manipulate the appliance almost as a third performer. Staged in the EMPAC Lobby, the performance creates a stark environment for the audience to engage with the strenuous physical action required to move a heavy appliance in a controlled, elegant manner.

Taldans was formed at the Theater Research Laboratory (Tiyatro Araştırma Laboratuvarı) in Istanbul, Turkey, and takes its name from the dance program founded at the center by directors Filiz Sizanli and Mustafa Kaplan. Regarded as one of the boldest choreographic teams in Turkey, the duo has worked together for over 20 years. In addition to this performance, Taldans will be at EMPAC for a residency in Studio 1. They will work with EMPAC’s technical team and infrastructure to further develop the choreographic, stage, and audio elements of their work.

Dance scholar and curator Noémie Solomon will facilitate a conversations with the artists following the performance. Refreshments will be served. 

Choreographer Sydney Skybetter will present his research on the intersections of gesture, dance history, computer science, and homeland security. With case studies of the Snowden leaks, Facebook’s Oculus platform, the film Minority Report, and early motion capture research conducted with choreographers Merce Cunningham and Bill T. Jones, Skybetter will sketch a vision of the evolution of contemporary surveillance technologies undergirded by dance theory and choreographic method.

Sydney Skybetter is a choreographer, dance scholar, and founder of the Conference for Research on Choreographic Interfaces (CRCI), a convening of performing artists, arts professionals, ethnographers, anthropologists, and speculative designers. As lecturer at Brown University, Skybetter’s research explores the choreographics of human-computer interfaces and mixed reality systems. He has lectured at Harvard University, Saatchi, and MIT, among other institutions, across the subjects of dance and dance history to cultural futurism and computer-human interfaces.

Jaamil Olawale Kosoko is a performance artist and poet who works with dance, media, and sound on stage and in museums. He is in residence at EMPAC to develop a new work, Chameleon, which will have its premiere at New York Live Arts in 2020.

Chameleon is a multimedia project that uses performance to explore the role of media archives in American Black diasporic communities. Archives of protest and collaborative action take the form of documentary film, popular music and television, and cell phone footage of an event captured by a witness on the street. Chameleon uses theatrical technologies to reveal the subversive impact that these archives have on the systemic oppression and erasure of minoritarian communities.

For his EMPAC residency, Kosoko and a team of AV collaborators will conceive and develop their own archive of sound and visual material that will become central to Chameleon. They will then collaborate with the EMPAC team to create elements of a stage performance that moves fluidly between body, image, sound, and text. Kosoko will return to EMPAC in November 2019 to continue this research toward a film installation, podcast series, and live performance event at New York Live Arts in 2020.

The work-in-progress showing for this event will include a conversation with the artist during an early-stage technical residency, so its structure and form will be determined by the artist’s creative process. Work-in-Progress events offer a window into the research, development, and production of new works by artists in residence at EMPAC. These free events open up a dialogue between our audiences, artists, and EMPAC staff.