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Kinesis Project dance theatre's Bi-Coastal Live & Livestream Performance of "Search(Light)"

Company:
Kinesis Project

Kinesis Project dance theatre presents a bi-coastal live performance of Search(Light) on October 8-9, 2021 at 8pm Eastern/5pm Pacific, live at Brooklyn Navy Yard and Vashon Center for the Arts, livestreamed from Vashon Center for the Arts. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit kinesisproject.com/events.

Kinesis Project dance theatre—the large-scale, outdoor dance company known for creating beautifully expansive yet surprisingly intimate dances—performs Search(Light), their newest evening-length work, simultaneously on two coasts live with Sandbox Percussion Quartet. Combining high-energy dancing, gorgeous light-reflecting costumes, and live music, this ground-breaking dance performance connects dancers in duets, trios and group unison across the country, in real time, prompting viewers to experience the potency of human connections across great distances.

Search(Light) will be danced by the full, bi-coastal company in their respective cities. Claudia-Lynn Rightmire, Therese Ronco, David L. Parker, Nicole Truzzi, in New York with Hendri Walujo, Kimberly Holloway, Robbi Moore, Madeline Morser and Margaret Behm on Vashon Island, WA. The dancers are accompanied live by violin soloist Doori Na and the award winning Sandbox Percussion Quartet, with projection installations in the Navy Yard by Ezra J. Robinson - creating a layered experience of the human and the ethereal for audiences.

Melissa Riker, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Kinesis Project dance theatre, said "The dancers and I are thrilled to step up to the challenge of bringing the full company back together — offering access to dance audiences on two coasts. With Search(Light), the scale of the Brooklyn Navy Yard will create an entirely new experience for fans of Kay Hall on Vashon Island. The duets, trios and solos beamed across the country in real time reveal our large-scale vision, overlaid with the intimacy of individual connection in each in person space"

The dancers' connections are enhanced by reflective costumes designed by Rebecca Kanach. These eye-catching elements replicate lines of light through the movement as the 60-minute dance progresses.

 

Know Before You Go:

For everyone's safety, we are asking all participants to observe the following guidelines:

COVID Safety Protocol

• At Vashon Center for the Arts: Proof of vaccination is required for entry to performances in the Kay White Hall theatre
• Ticket-holders are required to show proof of vaccination or a documented negative Covid test result taken within 72-hours prior to the event. VCA also requires visitors wear masks at all times.
• At Brooklyn Navy Yard: Proof of vaccination is required for entry to performances. All ticket-holders are required to wear face protection at all times. Ticket-holders twelve years of age and above must also show proof of vaccination.

 

Consistent with this unique dance company's process of using varying environments to explore a single dance work, Search(light) appeared in Seattle and Vashon Island, WA over summer 2021, and in NYC in Riverside Park and Little Island.

Melissa Riker is Artistic Director and Choreographer of Kinesis Project dance theatre. She is a New York City dancer and choreographer who emerged as a strong performance and creative voice as the NYC dance and circus worlds combined during the 90s. Riker's dances and aesthetic layer her training as a classical dancer, martial artist, theatre choreographer and aerial performer. She creates dances on site - and in context. Riker invents large-scale out-door performances and spontaneous moments of dance for individuals and corporate clients. Audiences and critics have called Riker's work "a Marx Brothers' routine with soul," "A movable feast." And from The New York Times, her choreography is: "comically acrobatic, gracefully classical, visually arresting."

Kinesis Project is a dance organization that creates dance as public art, facilitates educational programs and produces site-specific performances with diverse communities. A company at the forefront of the international discussion of placemaking, art engagement and the cultural imperative of art in public space, Kinesis Project dance theatre invents large scale, space-changing, breath-taking experiences. In 2020 Riker kept Kinesis Project working and creating consistently on both coasts thanks in part to COVID Relief Grants from Dance/NYC, the Indie Theatre Fund and generous donors. The company live-streamed multiple performances from Riverside Park South presented by Summer on the Hudson and has continued creating and developing new work on both coasts in person throughout 2021, from Vashon Island, to Seattle to NY's Brooklyn Navy Yard. Since 2005, Kinesis Project's work has been experienced in San Francisco, San Diego, Seattle, Boston, Philadelphia, Vermont, Florida and in New York City at such venerable venues as Danspace Project, Judson Church, Joyce Soho, The Minskoff Theatre, The Cunningham Studio, West End Theatre and Dixon Place. In 2019, the company's work was experienced in Seattle, Brooklyn, NY, Riverside Park, supported by New York City Parks, and in Snug Harbor Cultural Center on Staten Island. The company dances outside in sculpture gardens, universities, and annually since 2006 in Battery Park's Bosque Gardens and The Cloisters Lawn as well as hosting more than 30 surprise performances all over New York City and the tri-state area as an element of the company's earned income and outreach programming with volunteer populated flash mobs. Residencies include: Earthdance 2006, Omi International Arts Center 2008, Kaatsbaan International Dance Center 2011, TheaterLab 2014, Adelphi University 2014. Ms. Riker is a 2016, 2017 and 2019 CUNY Dance Initiative Residency Fellow, 2015 LMCC Community Arts Fund grantee, 2019 Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Grantee. In 2020 Riker and Kinesis Project received a Dance/NYC COVID Recovery Grant and Indie Theatre Fund Recovery Grant. She has been commissioned by The Brooklyn Botanic Garden for a surprise large-scale work and performances of her work Secrets and Seawalls at Omi International Arts Center, Long House Reserve, Gateway National Park in partnership with Rockaways Artist Alliance. Ms. Riker has received commissions from Carson Fox and the Ephemeral Festival in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 for large-scale outdoor events, NYU in 1998, for an outdoor work long before "flash mob" was coined, 2006 and 2008 grants from the Puffin Foundation for her work Community Movements, a dance work with community volunteers, Fellowships from the Dodge Foundation, Space Grant Residencies from 92nd St Y, The New 42nd St Studio, Gibney Dance Center, and The Joyce Theatre Foundation, and grants from The Bowick Family Trust and John C. Robinson to support the continued work of Kinesis Project dance theatre.

SandBox Percussion Quartet, described as "exhilarating" by The New York Times, and "virtuosic and utterly mesmerizing" by The Guardian, Sandbox Percussion has established themselves as a leading proponent of this generation of contemporary percussion chamber music. Brought together by their love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together, Sandbox Percussion captivates audiences with performances that are both visually and aurally stunning. Through compelling collaborations with composers and performers, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, and Terry Sweeney seek to engage a wider audience for classical music. In 2021, Sandbox will release their second album Seven Pillars, an evening-length commissioned work by Andy Akiho, with staging and lighting design by Michael McQuilken, and will give the live world premiere in December 2021 with Emerald City Music. 

Doori Na, a San Francisco native, took up violin at the age of four and began his studies with Li Lin at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. In the fall of 2018, he made his debut with The San Francisco Symphony performing Bach's Double Violin Concerto with Itzhak Perlman and Michael Tilson Thomas. Currently living in New York City, Mr. Na plays with numerous ensembles around the city. He has played with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with tours in the US, Japan, and Europe performing in venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Musiverien in Vienna. Mr. Na is also a member of Argento Chamber Ensemble performing works of living composers such as Georg Friedrich Haas, Beat Furrer, Tristan Murail, and many more. New Chamber Ballet is where you can find Mr. Na regularly performing solo works for dance and he has been a part of the company since 2013. Recent tours include performing in Lake Tahoe, Germany, and Guatemala. Chamber music has also been an integral part of Mr. Na's musical career. He has collaborated with members of the Juilliard String Quartet, Orion String Quartet, New York Philharmonic, Metropolitan Opera and has been fortunate to tour with Itzhak Perlman at venues such as the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Other notable experiences include performing at the Chamber Music Society of Palm Beach with the Bonhoeffer Trio and Les Amies trio.

The Brooklyn Navy Yard (the Yard) is a mission-driven industrial park that is a nationally acclaimed model of the viability and positive impact of modern, urban industrial development. The Yard is now home to more than 450 businesses employing more than 11,000 people and generating over $2.5 billion per year in economic impact for the city. Building on the Yard's history as the economic heart of Brooklyn, the 300-acre waterfront asset offers a critical pathway to the middle class for many New Yorkers. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) is the not-for-profit corporation that serves as the real estate developer and property manager of the Yard on behalf of its owner, the City of New York. BNYDC strives to provide an environment in which innovative companies can take root and grow. The Yard was once the nation's most storied naval shipbuilding facility, which for over 150 years built and launched America's most famous fighting ships, including the USS Maine, USS Arizona, and USS Missouri. The Yard also served as an important point of the passage, home, and workplace for countless veterans as they served our country. Through its public programming, the Yard continues to honor and preserve this rich history. Along the east side of the VCA campus lies the Heron Meadow. This two-acre wetland forms part of the eastern headwaters of Judd Creek, our islands' largest salmon-bearing creek.

In 2019, Vashon Center for the Arts and Vashon Nature Center created a partnership to restore this wetland meadow to become a sanctuary for native wildlife and a demonstration site for how to enhance wildlife habitat. It is also a field-based office for Vashon Nature Center and a community gathering spot where the confluence of science, art, and community can thrive in nature!