DANCE NEWS ... (for an ongoing schedule with dates and details, go to Mereminne Calendar) 2007 New slideshow! Here are some shots from Birdsong Sketches, Oracle, and disSolve subMerge ... featuring some of the beautiful dancers who have been studying (and teaching) at UNC-Greensboro. (Videographers: closeups - Katherine Stroscio; wide shots - Amy Brinkheide) During her time at UNCG, Lacy has been exploring new artistic processes, both in her choreography and in electronic composition. Her thesis concert osmosis on April 13 and 14, 2007 opened with Birdsong Sketches (set to music by Olivier Messiaen), which was followed by Oracle, a women’s quintet performed to an electronic sound score by Lacy. The second half of the program marked the premiere of disSolve subMerge, a large group work interlaced with elements from the first two dances. disSolve subMerge employs layered manipulations of movement phrases and recorded texts to create a dreamlike sequence of events set to Steve Reich's 1965 voice manipulation It’s Gonna Rain, Part II, additional sound scores by Lacy, and live spoken word. 2006 Lacy is currently a teaching assistant in the dance department of the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she is completing a Master of Fine Arts degree. She is developing movement and music material for her thesis concert, which is scheduled for April 2007 (see Mereminne Calendar for details). This past April she presented some of this material in a lecture demonstration, "Beyond Words: Manipulating Text as a Choreographic Element," as part of the GReAT (Graduate Research in the Arts) Conference at UNCG. The lec-dem incorporated audio and video as well as live performance. Kudos for their excellent dancing go to Claire Askey, Audrey Doklan, Kelly Hamm, Tanae Rascoe, Samantha Taulker and Corinne Willis, UNCG undergraduate dancers who have been working with Lacy on this new piece. 2005 December -- Mereminne Dancers performed Birdsong Sketches as guest artists in the December 2005 concerts of the Salem College Dance Company, along with Winston-Salem based company alban elved. June-September -- Grants for new work - Mereminne Dancers traveled to Pennsylvania in the summer of 2005 to participate in the Swarthmore Project, a choreographic space grant and residency at Swarthmore College. Lacy worked with dancers Michaela Bosshard, Susan Haines, Kumiko Nasu and Bradley Parquette (two dancers from NC and two from NYC) to develop a new group work Birdsong Sketches, set to Olivier Messiaen's Petites esquisses d'oiseaux. On Sunday, September 25 we returned to Swarthmore for an informal showing of the piece and a master class. The creation of Birdsong Sketches was also supported by a summer assistantship from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. 2004 June -- Mereminne Dancers presented a week of modern dance workshops for children at Piedmont Arts Association in Martinsville, Virginia. April -- Lacy appeared as a guest artist with the Sidelong Dance Company, previewing a new solo entitled Endangered Species in concerts supported by a grant from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County and the North Carolina Arts Council. 2003 September -- Many thanks to all the very special people who helped our company in so many ways -- and/or who came out to see our shows -- in support of our debut NYC season "Spirit and Nature," which took place September 4, 5 and 6, 2003 at the Theatre of the Riverside Church. And thanks again to the beautiful dancers of the company, who gave so much of their time and energy to make Mereminne Dancers' first season especially wonderful. Click here to read a review of Thursday night's performance by Jennifer Dunning of the New York Times. On Thursday, 9-11-03, Mereminne Dancers performed Peace Prayer in an outdoor/riverside benefit performance memorial for the September 11th WTC tragedy. This event was hosted by Aries Imp Productions and The Firewalkers Dance Company, and featured many local artists including Arthur Aviles Typical Theater, Rod Rogers Dance Company, Randy James Dance Works and Lonne Morreton, among others. Pier 63 is located at 23rd St and the Hudson River and is home to the John Harvey Fire Boat which came to the rescue on 9/11/01, pumping thousands of gallons of water for three days from the Hudson river during the WTC tragedy. Proceeds from the benefit were donated to the Fireboat.

Click on (most of) the photos below to see more pix from:

 

The Clearing of Gaea  

 

Gaea 1

Gaea 2

Gaea 3

This beautiful dance for nine women invokes ancient themes of consecration, fertility/creation and protection. Its seven short sections form a mystery rite for renewing the earth and ourselves. The choreography includes elements of folk and ethnic dance as well as influences from Graham and Duncan ways of moving.

 

 

trinity  

The three part solo trinity depicts an evolving spiritual journey through times of chaos and confusion. This dance is a triptych set to music by Blind Willie Johnson, Single Gun Theory and Lacy James. The opening section ("Grandfather") portrays a simple, joyful faith which gradually becomes tested. The central, transitional section ("Apocalypta") struggles with disillusionment, the breakdown of rules and the recognition of destructive forces in the world and within oneself. The final segment ("gravity flight") arrives at transcendence by means of a giving in to nature and life.

 

trinity with chorus

A further development of the solo trinity, featuring the addition of a chorus of 3 angels,
who reflect environments and intermal states experienced by the central figure.

 

 

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Photo credits (in order): Jessica Pursley, video stills, Julie Lemberger, video still, video still, Nan Melville, Nan Melville, Nan Melville, Robert Coghill, Nan Melville, Marcia Warner, Kristin Lodoen, Julie Lemberger, Julie Lemberger, Kristin Lodoen.