Ingenuity 07 Caters to Dance Fanatics

Much as we enjoy the high tech exhibits and the general festival atmosphere, dance has always been the highlight of Ingenuity for us. At this year’s Ingenuity, in addition to having more really great stuff than ever before, the Festival’s curatorial committee has assembled an unusually good assortment of dance performances that make use of technology in ways new to Cleveland audiences.

Talking with Linda Jackson, Ingenuity’s Dance Coordinator for Playhouse Square, we asked: What’s the highlight of this year’s Ingenuity? Grandmaster Flash? 10,000 drums? Jackson replied, “This year, throughout all kinds of programming, through all kinds of disciplines, things are going to be reaching new heights, especially in dance.”

“One of the things that’s going to set things off,” Jackson said, “is that Troika Ranch is here (at Playhouse Square, Thursday and Friday nights at the Ohio Theater) as one of the featured artists; they are the leader in the field as far as multi-media and the melding of dance and technology. Troika Ranch has developed computer programs and systems that other dance companies are now beginning to use. They have blazed the path.”

The New York-based company performs regularly in NYC and tours the U.S. and Europe. Critical reaction to the piece they’ll be performing in Cleveland, 16 [R]evolutions (2006), is positive. “I wish Nik could have seen this,” wrote the Village Voice’s Deborah Jowitt, referring to Alwin Nikolais, pioneering modern dance advocate of multimedia. “Brilliant visuals, vivid abstract images,” wrote the New York Times’ John Rockwell.

See for yourself: TroikaRanch.org serves up video footage of 16 [R]evolutions as well as their seminal work, In Plane (1994), a duet for a dancer and her video representation. In the earlier work electronic sensing devices and a special computer program allow the performer to control the generation of music, recall of video images, theatrical lighting, and movements of a robotically controlled video projector. 16 [R]evolutions applies these and other techniques to an ensemble of 4 dancers, so what we’ll be seeing is not just live dance juxtaposed with video projections, difficult as that is to get right, but a genuinely interactive performance.

Also appearing at the Ohio will be Double Edge Dance from Oberlin. “They were chosen because of their great proposal (to the curatorial committee) and plan of how to make their performance happen.”

Like Troika Ranch, Double Edge is built around a choreographer/dancer, Kora Radella, and a composer, Ross Feller. “In Double Edge,” Jackson predicts, “you’re going to see some things similar to what you’ll see with Troika Ranch, but on a smaller scale because they’re a younger company. This is a whole vision in process, and one of many reasons besides just the performances that dance is such a cool part of Ingenuity.”

Meanwhile, out on the street, the Audio Ballerinas of Die Audio Gruppe will be mingling, performing a repertoire of 4 or so short dances. “That’s part of the festival too,” Jackson said, “to have the festival village alive with art and technology.” This Berlin-based art group performs with “electro-acoustic” clothing, the early versions of which simply played music recorded on cassette tapes through speakers incorporated into the costumes. For Ingenuity Festival, however, the Audio Ballerinas will wear an audio costume developed in 1989. Based on the design of a ballerina’s tutu, the costume is equipped with solar cells and 257K samplers so that they can play from a digital memory. “It’s pretty fascinating;” mused Jackson, “these plexiglas tutus make their own music.”

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the Palace Theater, Die Audio Gruppe’s Audio Geishas will be performing what Jackson called “theateresque” dances, with “some choreographed movements - but it’s more about how their costumes are triggered as they walk through light.”

Jackson says to expect to see some familiar faces: 4 dancers from Inlet will be among the groups’ Geishas and Ballerinas. “The director of Audio Gruppe needed local dancers, so we contacted Inlet’s artistic director, Bill Wade. He was, as always, so engaged and involved. Inlet is a wonderful fit.” And, we note, has an enthusiastic local fan club.

Also in the Palace, festivalgoers can see a film featuring local choreographer / dancer Sarah Morrison dancing with the aid of a strange piece of equipment. “She’s in a harness with wires attached and a treadmill,” Jackson explained. NASA, it seems, has built this device to train astronauts in the peculiarities of lunar and Martian gravity. Will we see Morrison moon walking across lunar seas? Bounding over the red planet? As we go to press, our efforts to secure a photo of Morrison in NASA’s realization of every space cadet’s dream remained unsuccessful.

Local / international dancer / choreographer Lisa Lock also graces Ingenuity. Back in May, we saw a preview of Lock’s Gravity Well Movement project, an interactive installation that will be running for the duration of the festival at 1510 Euclid Avenue. “Lisa’s whole vision has evolved from (that) initial proposal; it’s very exciting for local artists to be able to create work like that,” said Jackson. In May, Lock’s dance component of the piece took place inside a framework of metal bars; over a span of some minutes she moved with a slow, even flow, gradually rising and descending. Lock has told us she and her collaborators plan “projections of a slowly changing environment and live projections of me on the adjacent walls, hence the slow, even movement of the choreography.” Lock and her partner, photographer/video artist Larry Coleman, are joined in the project by composer/computer engineer Craig Bourne, computer engineer Tim Green, as well as others.

Ingenuity’s dance performances alone make going to the festival worthwhile, but Jackson reminded us that there’s lots more reasons to attend. There’s the opening parade, Samba for 1,000 Drums, non-stop musical acts including Grandmaster Flash, a family village, and NASA exhibits in the Palace Theater. “People just need to come,” she says. “You can see it all for five dollars.”

Explore Ingenuity starting this Thursday, 7/19 through Sunday, July 22, 2007 at Playhouse Square, the Idea Center, and at Cleveland State University on Euclid Avenue between 14th and 18th Streets. For all Festival details and to purchase Ingenuity passports go to http://www.ingenuitycleveland.com, or purchase passports at State Theater Ticket Office or by phone 771-8403. Children under 12 are admitted at no charge.

From Cool Cleveland contributors Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas vicnelsaATearthlink.net (:divend:)