THE FLOATING WORLD: 13 Views of the Dance Company on Tour
Japanese woodblock prints (Ukiyo-e) depict images of destinations and celebrities that evoke moments of pleasure and respite from everyday toils. In Malashock Dance?s The Floating World, contemporary forms of music, dance and image-making will draw inspiration from this aesthetic and will combine to celebrate and reveal what it takes to create a ?fa?ade of beauty? in the arts today.
Envisioned as the story of a contemporary dance company on tour, The Floating World portrays what happens both on and off the stage ? what happens to dancers bodies, to their relationships with each other and what, emotionally, goes into creating the illusion of beauty and pleasure in an art form that is lighter-than-air.
The Floating World will take the form of a journey ? like some of the most famous woodblock print series themselves (such as 53 Stations Along the Tokaido Road). We will follow a talented company of professional dancers, led by their director/choreographer, through the essential experiences of life on the road. We will observe them in the exciting throes of performance; in pain after the show; contending with challenging rehearsals in the dance studio; bickering backstage in the wings; enduring countless receptions and well-meaning speeches; blowing off steam in the night clubs; endlessly waiting for the next performance; and confined in their lonely, generic hotel rooms. All the while, the Director is involved with, yet quite separate from, the dancers ? by virtue of his position, authority, and age difference.
Choreographer, John Malashock has convened a remarkable team of artists to realize The Floating World. Malashock and filmmaker/projection artist Tara Knight have co-conceived the work ? from storyline to the four-sided video environment that will envelop the performers and audience. Popular Bay Area ?avant? cellist, Zoe Keating, is providing the musical score and fashion icon, Zandra Rhodes, will create the costumes.
Knight?s dynamic, animated video projections, which will reference the style the woodblock prints, will set each scene where Malashock?s dancers will tell the stories of the many personalities and occurrences of the dancer?s life on tour. Keating?s music is sensual, emotionally expressive and perfect for setting each scene?s unique atmosphere. Rhode?s costumes will blend reality and fantasy with their highly stylized sense of shape and pattern. The interplay of artistic disciplines, and the intimate and enveloping projection atmosphere will put viewers inside the dancers world. The video art will create the world to which we travel, while the choreography will portray the dance characters and their interactions. Through a progression of times, places and people, the audience will share in these travels, and experience a voyeuristic look into a world of pleasure, pain and decadence.
The Floating World will be presented by Malashock Dance in conjunction with the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA), and their exhibition ? Dreams & Diversions: 250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints. It will premiere in April, 2011 for a three-week run in the Museum?s Copley Auditorium. Throughout the year leading up to the performances and exhibition, Malashock Dance and the San Diego Museum of Art will share the creative process with the public through open rehearsals, educational programs, web postings, social networking, video blogs, and public talks.
Admission: $10 - $25
Location:
San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101
Dates and Times:
Saturday, April 9 - 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM
Sunday, April 10 - 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM
Saturday, April 16 - 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM
For more information, please call: (619) 232-7931
Japanese woodblock prints (Ukiyo-e) depict images of destinations and celebrities that evoke moments of pleasure and respite from everyday toils. In Malashock Dance?s The Floating World, contemporary forms of music, dance and image-making will draw inspiration from this aesthetic and will combine to celebrate and reveal what it takes to create a ?fa?ade of beauty? in the arts today.
Envisioned as the story of a contemporary dance company on tour, The Floating World portrays what happens both on and off the stage ? what happens to dancers bodies, to their relationships with each other and what, emotionally, goes into creating the illusion of beauty and pleasure in an art form that is lighter-than-air.
The Floating World will take the form of a journey ? like some of the most famous woodblock print series themselves (such as 53 Stations Along the Tokaido Road). We will follow a talented company of professional dancers, led by their director/choreographer, through the essential experiences of life on the road. We will observe them in the exciting throes of performance; in pain after the show; contending with challenging rehearsals in the dance studio; bickering backstage in the wings; enduring countless receptions and well-meaning speeches; blowing off steam in the night clubs; endlessly waiting for the next performance; and confined in their lonely, generic hotel rooms. All the while, the Director is involved with, yet quite separate from, the dancers ? by virtue of his position, authority, and age difference.
Choreographer, John Malashock has convened a remarkable team of artists to realize The Floating World. Malashock and filmmaker/projection artist Tara Knight have co-conceived the work ? from storyline to the four-sided video environment that will envelop the performers and audience. Popular Bay Area ?avant? cellist, Zoe Keating, is providing the musical score and fashion icon, Zandra Rhodes, will create the costumes.
Knight?s dynamic, animated video projections, which will reference the style the woodblock prints, will set each scene where Malashock?s dancers will tell the stories of the many personalities and occurrences of the dancer?s life on tour. Keating?s music is sensual, emotionally expressive and perfect for setting each scene?s unique atmosphere. Rhode?s costumes will blend reality and fantasy with their highly stylized sense of shape and pattern. The interplay of artistic disciplines, and the intimate and enveloping projection atmosphere will put viewers inside the dancers world. The video art will create the world to which we travel, while the choreography will portray the dance characters and their interactions. Through a progression of times, places and people, the audience will share in these travels, and experience a voyeuristic look into a world of pleasure, pain and decadence.
The Floating World will be presented by Malashock Dance in conjunction with the San Diego Museum of Art (SDMA), and their exhibition ? Dreams & Diversions: 250 Years of Japanese Woodblock Prints. It will premiere in April, 2011 for a three-week run in the Museum?s Copley Auditorium. Throughout the year leading up to the performances and exhibition, Malashock Dance and the San Diego Museum of Art will share the creative process with the public through open rehearsals, educational programs, web postings, social networking, video blogs, and public talks.
Admission: $10 - $25
Location:
San Diego Museum of Art
1450 El Prado
Balboa Park
San Diego, CA 92101
Dates and Times:
Saturday, April 9 - 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM
Sunday, April 10 - 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM
Saturday, April 16 - 2:00 PM & 5:00 PM
For more information, please call: (619) 232-7931
