Interdisciplinary Arts Lab 2023
Esther Baker-Tarpaga, photo: Karla Conrad
Friday & Saturday, August 4 & 5, 2023
Movement Research
122 Community Center, 150 1st Avenue, NYC
Come investigate and experience ways that movement, sound, image, and performance can inform human culture. With multiple workshops each day, teaching artists who have just engaged in a 5-day International Interdisciplinary Artists Consortium (IIAC) Residency join with participants from around the world to create an embodied dialogue at the intersection of modalities—contemporary dance, improvisation, voice, sound, visual art, social rituals, walking practices,
and more. Open to all backgrounds and experiences.
Facilitated by Peter Sciscioli (Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, NY)
2023 teaching artists:
Esther Baker-Tarpaga (Lenapehoking/Philadelphia, PA), Deborah Black (Lenapehoking, New York, NY),
N. Eda Erçin (York, England/Istanbul, Turkey), yaTande Whitney V. Hunter (Lenapehoking/Philadelphia, PA),
Martín Lanz Landázuri (Mexico City, Mexico), Arely Landeros (Mexico City, Mexico),
Paulina Ruiz-Carbailldo (Paris, France), Iskra Shukarova (Skopje, North Macedonia),
Zornitsa Stoyanova (Sofia, Bulgaria), and Sugar Vendil (Lenapehoking, Brooklyn, NY)
bios and workshop descriptions below
Join us for a free Roundtable Discussion on Friday, August 4 at 7:30pm.
Teaching artists will share insights and discoveries from the IIAC Residency taking place July 29-August 3, 2023.
Sliding scale $30-$15/workshop
Covid-19 Safety Protocols
- All participants, attendees, and visitors participating in workshops must be Fully Vaccinated.
- All participants, attendees, and visitors must wear K95 or KN95 masks while indoors during the entire duration of the workshop. Movement Research will provide K95/KN95 masks if you do not have/bring your own. While outdoors, masks are optional.
- As variants continue to arise and circumstances around the virus shift we may announce updated COVID protocols closer to the date of the workshops.
- If circumstances related to COVID-19 arise that prevent you from attending a workshop(s) for which you have pre-registered, you will be issued a full refund.
2023 Teachers and workshop descriptions
Day 1:
Dancing the Ecology - from inside to outside
with Esther Baker-Tarpaga
Friday, August 4, 2:00-4:00pm
Register Here
This workshop ritual takes place in the studio and outside space. We begin with a gentle energy warm up moving into activating and stretching the muscles and breathing into the bones. Then we will practice tuning deep listening through gazing, partnering, and improvisation. With music we will build into rhythmic flow and dancing into the outside space. How do you honor your feelings, move to your own flow, and co-exist reciprocally within this space with other humans, animals, and the land on which we live? How does memory of place, imagination, and ancestry shape the choices in dance making?
Esther Baker-Tarpaga (MA, MFA UCLA) is an improviser and interdisciplinary artist based in occupied Lenapehoking/Philadelphia. She co-organizes multidisciplinary, site-responsive, and collectively derived projects, aiming for an ethic of shared leadership and decolonizing practice. She is co-founder of interdisciplinary arts collective Propelled Animals (Mid Atlantic Arts, National Performance Network, MAP Funded). She recently performed at La Ville En Mouvement in Dakar and in Latvia with the Movement Research LAUKKU residency. Her work was commissioned by Philadelphia Contemporary, Trade School, The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education (Philadelphia, PA), Kelly Strayhorn Theater (Pittsburgh), ArtYard New Jersey, Englert Theatre (Iowa City, IA), and BAAD (Bronx, NY). She has been an artist-in-residence at Marin Headlands, an FCA Grantee, Grant Wood Fellow, and Cultural Envoy in Guinea, Botswana, and South Africa. She is also a Licensed Massage Therapist. www.propelledanimals.org | Instagram | www.madronemassage.com | Instagram
with Esther Baker-Tarpaga
Friday, August 4, 2:00-4:00pm
Register Here
This workshop ritual takes place in the studio and outside space. We begin with a gentle energy warm up moving into activating and stretching the muscles and breathing into the bones. Then we will practice tuning deep listening through gazing, partnering, and improvisation. With music we will build into rhythmic flow and dancing into the outside space. How do you honor your feelings, move to your own flow, and co-exist reciprocally within this space with other humans, animals, and the land on which we live? How does memory of place, imagination, and ancestry shape the choices in dance making?
Esther Baker-Tarpaga (MA, MFA UCLA) is an improviser and interdisciplinary artist based in occupied Lenapehoking/Philadelphia. She co-organizes multidisciplinary, site-responsive, and collectively derived projects, aiming for an ethic of shared leadership and decolonizing practice. She is co-founder of interdisciplinary arts collective Propelled Animals (Mid Atlantic Arts, National Performance Network, MAP Funded). She recently performed at La Ville En Mouvement in Dakar and in Latvia with the Movement Research LAUKKU residency. Her work was commissioned by Philadelphia Contemporary, Trade School, The Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education (Philadelphia, PA), Kelly Strayhorn Theater (Pittsburgh), ArtYard New Jersey, Englert Theatre (Iowa City, IA), and BAAD (Bronx, NY). She has been an artist-in-residence at Marin Headlands, an FCA Grantee, Grant Wood Fellow, and Cultural Envoy in Guinea, Botswana, and South Africa. She is also a Licensed Massage Therapist. www.propelledanimals.org | Instagram | www.madronemassage.com | Instagram
Sounding Movement, Moving Sound
with Sugar Vendil
Friday, August 4, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Register Here
All are welcome in this workshop; no dance or music experience necessary. We will explore ways that movement can initiate/inspire/influence sound, the physicality of sounding, and where these impulses lie in our individual bodies/histories. Through improvisation we will create choreo-soundscapes with the materials we have available (voice, body, objects, instruments). Musicians will investigate sound and movement with/without their instruments. We will also create loose scores together and freely document (write, notate) as we go, discovering our own individual methods of drafting scores. Bring a notebook and writing utensil, and if you’re an instrumentalist interested in exploring movement, your instrument as well!
Sugar Vendil (she/they) is a composer, pianist, interdisciplinary artist based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn). Her work spans acoustic and electronic music, and performances that integrates music and dance. A late bloomer, she began making work in her mid-30’s. Current projects include “Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia,” a memoir of a Filipinx American childhood that weaves music and movement and COMING OF RAGE, a maximalist eruption of AAPI voices. Vendil is also part of Emily Johnson/Catalyst’s “Being Future Being.” Her album, “May We Know Our Own Strength,” which includes her score for collaborations with filmmaker Jih-E Peng and artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, is out on Gold Bolus Recordings. www.sugarvendil.com | Facebook | Instagram
with Sugar Vendil
Friday, August 4, 2:00pm-4:00pm
Register Here
All are welcome in this workshop; no dance or music experience necessary. We will explore ways that movement can initiate/inspire/influence sound, the physicality of sounding, and where these impulses lie in our individual bodies/histories. Through improvisation we will create choreo-soundscapes with the materials we have available (voice, body, objects, instruments). Musicians will investigate sound and movement with/without their instruments. We will also create loose scores together and freely document (write, notate) as we go, discovering our own individual methods of drafting scores. Bring a notebook and writing utensil, and if you’re an instrumentalist interested in exploring movement, your instrument as well!
Sugar Vendil (she/they) is a composer, pianist, interdisciplinary artist based in Lenapehoking (Brooklyn). Her work spans acoustic and electronic music, and performances that integrates music and dance. A late bloomer, she began making work in her mid-30’s. Current projects include “Antonym: the opposite of nostalgia,” a memoir of a Filipinx American childhood that weaves music and movement and COMING OF RAGE, a maximalist eruption of AAPI voices. Vendil is also part of Emily Johnson/Catalyst’s “Being Future Being.” Her album, “May We Know Our Own Strength,” which includes her score for collaborations with filmmaker Jih-E Peng and artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya, is out on Gold Bolus Recordings. www.sugarvendil.com | Facebook | Instagram
Ecological Voice: Song, Border, Body
with N. Eda Erçin
Friday, August 4, 4:30pm-6:30pm
Register Here
Do we need a category of ecological voice in contemporary performance? How can we define ecological voice in relation to aural diversity in performance? In this workshop, we will approach human voice as sound and movement by working with songs. The vocal and physical exercises will draw on psychophysical performer training methods such as presence, bodily isolations and partner work. We will investigate the non-verbal, interspecies, and nonbinary qualities of voice to find and sustain ecological and aural diversity in performance composition and pedagogy as well as in everyday life and social activism. No previous experience of singing or movement is required. Willingness to try is a must, and bringing a song that challenges you will be plus!
N. Eda Erçin is an intercultural practitioner whose work deals with experiences of embodiment, voice and movement in relation to place, identity and technique. She is a performer, deviser, facilitator and director of interdisciplinary performance practices including physical theatre, digital performance, installation and auto-ethnographic work. With a background in sociology, political science and performance studies, she holds a PhD in Performance Practice from University of Exeter. She is the former manager of HopKins Black Box Theatre at Louisiana State University, and currently a lecturer in Performance at York St. John University in the UK. www.urbanresearchtheater.com | www.ecoperformance.art.br | www.urbanresearchtheater.com/songwork
with N. Eda Erçin
Friday, August 4, 4:30pm-6:30pm
Register Here
Do we need a category of ecological voice in contemporary performance? How can we define ecological voice in relation to aural diversity in performance? In this workshop, we will approach human voice as sound and movement by working with songs. The vocal and physical exercises will draw on psychophysical performer training methods such as presence, bodily isolations and partner work. We will investigate the non-verbal, interspecies, and nonbinary qualities of voice to find and sustain ecological and aural diversity in performance composition and pedagogy as well as in everyday life and social activism. No previous experience of singing or movement is required. Willingness to try is a must, and bringing a song that challenges you will be plus!
N. Eda Erçin is an intercultural practitioner whose work deals with experiences of embodiment, voice and movement in relation to place, identity and technique. She is a performer, deviser, facilitator and director of interdisciplinary performance practices including physical theatre, digital performance, installation and auto-ethnographic work. With a background in sociology, political science and performance studies, she holds a PhD in Performance Practice from University of Exeter. She is the former manager of HopKins Black Box Theatre at Louisiana State University, and currently a lecturer in Performance at York St. John University in the UK. www.urbanresearchtheater.com | www.ecoperformance.art.br | www.urbanresearchtheater.com/songwork
Creative Fields: a composition lab
with Martín Lanz Landázuri
Friday, August 4, 4:30pm-6:30pm
Register Here
An approach to body, objects and landscaping from the design, material and shapes of any given form or source. Collection, interaction and distribution will help us to compose and inhabit creative fields. We want to create places where body meets materiality, and mold to each other while carving the space. Sound and color could frame, be part of the ecosystem, the environment gets transformed by our actions+movement, we can create a situation, redirected and evolve with, by the choices we make.
Interdisciplinary performance artist and arts manager Martín Lanz Landázuri's work has been developed either through creating pieces or organizing events, thought collaborations, and exchanges. A combination and approach to the body and movement via sound, color, architecture, or science. A.I.R of Movement Research 2009, with a journey permeated by many different cultural engagements and interactions that create emergencies that get embodied in his identity and sometimes in others. Martín's work and laboratory experiences have taken him to NYC, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Uruguay...and back to Mexico. YouTube
with Martín Lanz Landázuri
Friday, August 4, 4:30pm-6:30pm
Register Here
An approach to body, objects and landscaping from the design, material and shapes of any given form or source. Collection, interaction and distribution will help us to compose and inhabit creative fields. We want to create places where body meets materiality, and mold to each other while carving the space. Sound and color could frame, be part of the ecosystem, the environment gets transformed by our actions+movement, we can create a situation, redirected and evolve with, by the choices we make.
Interdisciplinary performance artist and arts manager Martín Lanz Landázuri's work has been developed either through creating pieces or organizing events, thought collaborations, and exchanges. A combination and approach to the body and movement via sound, color, architecture, or science. A.I.R of Movement Research 2009, with a journey permeated by many different cultural engagements and interactions that create emergencies that get embodied in his identity and sometimes in others. Martín's work and laboratory experiences have taken him to NYC, Japan, South Korea, Brazil, Finland, Denmark, Germany, Uruguay...and back to Mexico. YouTube
Day 2:
MICROPOLIS: Creative tools for social innovation
with Arely Landeros
Saturday, August 5, 10:00am-12:00pm
Register Here
Let's take a walk around the neighborhood and explore our connections between the self and place, then gather in the studio for some collective actions. We will experience a participatory walking interview from within the group, to be introduced to this qualitative research method that can be useful for gathering data from the experience of the body in outdoor space (specifically now that a new normal is being established). How can we contribute to reimagining our cities? What kind of agency do we have? Let's unite for a moment of reflection and explore together the possibilities of the creative body in the politics of everyday life.
This is an open invitation to the general public. Artists or scientists who work with research-based creative processes can also find this approach useful. No experience in the arts or research is needed however, and all bodies are welcome.
Arely Landeros is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural promoter. Her work explores the sway between the inner experience of the body and its performative presence in the world. Her research focuses on collaborative processes in the performing arts and the experience of communality through participative art. Arely has completed studies in psychology and has experience in social research and community intervention. She also serves as director and producer of Espontánea!, a multidisciplinary creative residency for emerging professional women, and curator and co- producer of Laboratorio: Condensación, an encounter for artistic interdisciplinary experimentation and its relational context. Arely has been a member of the International Interdisciplinary Artist Consortium since 2017. Her work has been shown in México, United States and Europe. Currently Arely is working on Micrópolis, a nomadic laboratory that explores movement and space through the practice of walking, supported by FONCA from the Secretariat of Culture of México. Vimeo
with Arely Landeros
Saturday, August 5, 10:00am-12:00pm
Register Here
Let's take a walk around the neighborhood and explore our connections between the self and place, then gather in the studio for some collective actions. We will experience a participatory walking interview from within the group, to be introduced to this qualitative research method that can be useful for gathering data from the experience of the body in outdoor space (specifically now that a new normal is being established). How can we contribute to reimagining our cities? What kind of agency do we have? Let's unite for a moment of reflection and explore together the possibilities of the creative body in the politics of everyday life.
This is an open invitation to the general public. Artists or scientists who work with research-based creative processes can also find this approach useful. No experience in the arts or research is needed however, and all bodies are welcome.
Arely Landeros is an interdisciplinary artist and cultural promoter. Her work explores the sway between the inner experience of the body and its performative presence in the world. Her research focuses on collaborative processes in the performing arts and the experience of communality through participative art. Arely has completed studies in psychology and has experience in social research and community intervention. She also serves as director and producer of Espontánea!, a multidisciplinary creative residency for emerging professional women, and curator and co- producer of Laboratorio: Condensación, an encounter for artistic interdisciplinary experimentation and its relational context. Arely has been a member of the International Interdisciplinary Artist Consortium since 2017. Her work has been shown in México, United States and Europe. Currently Arely is working on Micrópolis, a nomadic laboratory that explores movement and space through the practice of walking, supported by FONCA from the Secretariat of Culture of México. Vimeo
Subsystems of Non-Verbal Communication
with Iskra Shukarova
Saturday, August 5, 10am-12pm
Register Here
The seven elements of the human communication subsystem (hand movements, posture, body rhythms, speech, eye contact, proxemics and facial expression) as developed by A. Milton Jenkins and Randall D. Johnson, are identified as parts of our ability to communicate “non-verbally”. In this workshop, I will share more about this system which inspired part of my PhD work, and invite participants to improvise, exploring for ourselves how we might embody each of these component parts before improvising collectively with them. For the second part of the workshop, we will work with animal imagery and metaphors, then explore any possible links between the two parts as a continuation of our structured improvisation. We will then share reflection through feedback and a talk, seeking ways to illuminate our connections to our own “subsystems,” ultimately as animals in natures both real and imaginary.
Iskra Shukarova accomplished her contemporary dance studies at the National Conservatorium Superior in Lyon. In 2002 she obtained her Masters Degree at the Laban Center - London and in 2014, her PhD at the state faculty of Theatre Arts in Skopje. She has completed numerous dance trainings with established artists, and her pieces have toured regionally and internationally. Iskra has been honored with fellowships such as CEC ArtsLink (New York) and DanceWeb (Vienna). She was a principal soloist in the Macedonian Opera and Ballet beginning in 1991, and one of the founders of Lokomotiva- Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture. She was also the co-founder and co-programmer of the contemporary dance festival Locomotion in Skopje and one of the founders of the Balkan Dance Network and the NOMAD Dance Academy project. Iskra is also a member of Movement Research’s GPS/Global Practice Sharing network, and a member of the dance board as part of the Macedonian ITI Center. Since 2010, Iskra has been a professor at the University St. Cyril and Methodius- Music Faculty - Department of Dance pedagogy in Skopje. www.slobodenpecat.mk | www.youtube.be | Facebook
with Iskra Shukarova
Saturday, August 5, 10am-12pm
Register Here
The seven elements of the human communication subsystem (hand movements, posture, body rhythms, speech, eye contact, proxemics and facial expression) as developed by A. Milton Jenkins and Randall D. Johnson, are identified as parts of our ability to communicate “non-verbally”. In this workshop, I will share more about this system which inspired part of my PhD work, and invite participants to improvise, exploring for ourselves how we might embody each of these component parts before improvising collectively with them. For the second part of the workshop, we will work with animal imagery and metaphors, then explore any possible links between the two parts as a continuation of our structured improvisation. We will then share reflection through feedback and a talk, seeking ways to illuminate our connections to our own “subsystems,” ultimately as animals in natures both real and imaginary.
Iskra Shukarova accomplished her contemporary dance studies at the National Conservatorium Superior in Lyon. In 2002 she obtained her Masters Degree at the Laban Center - London and in 2014, her PhD at the state faculty of Theatre Arts in Skopje. She has completed numerous dance trainings with established artists, and her pieces have toured regionally and internationally. Iskra has been honored with fellowships such as CEC ArtsLink (New York) and DanceWeb (Vienna). She was a principal soloist in the Macedonian Opera and Ballet beginning in 1991, and one of the founders of Lokomotiva- Centre for New Initiatives in Arts and Culture. She was also the co-founder and co-programmer of the contemporary dance festival Locomotion in Skopje and one of the founders of the Balkan Dance Network and the NOMAD Dance Academy project. Iskra is also a member of Movement Research’s GPS/Global Practice Sharing network, and a member of the dance board as part of the Macedonian ITI Center. Since 2010, Iskra has been a professor at the University St. Cyril and Methodius- Music Faculty - Department of Dance pedagogy in Skopje. www.slobodenpecat.mk | www.youtube.be | Facebook
YUTE (river)
with Paulina Ruiz Carballido
Saturday, August 5, 1:30pm-3:30pm
Register Here
Yute is a word in Tnu’u Dau (a variant of Mixtec, language spoken in the Mixteca alta of the state of Oaxaca in southern México) that means river. This workshop is an open space to dive into our body-sound-landscape. Yute invites participants to express themselves, to explore different types of listening and to (re)discover different sounds, silences, movements, gestures and modes of expression in relation between voice, language and image. As a river that dances and river that sings we will dance based on the idea that the soles of our feet become fluid ears. Slowly sensations, slowly associations… moving together in a choral cellular dance we dive into space. Yute propose a time to co-create corporeal sonorous poems as a cadavre exqui. At the end of the workshop, we will have an open studio, a polyphonic performance.
Paulina Ruiz Carballido is a choreographic artist interested in creating spaces of experimentation to reveal the interactions, confrontations and resonances of a body-voice in becoming, of a becoming world. She creates choreographic projects in which she investigates and co-creates links from ancestry and collective mythology trying to decolonize knowledge from the body in resonance with the community, the landscape and nature. She collaborates, resonates and intervenes as a choreographic artist, dancer and teacher in different projects, contexts and constellations of artists to sow other possibilities of cohabitation, peace, support and trust. Her choreographic, transmission, research and screendance work has been presented in festivals in Latin America, USA, Canada and Europe. www.paulinaruizcarballido.com | www.collectifvidda.com
with Paulina Ruiz Carballido
Saturday, August 5, 1:30pm-3:30pm
Register Here
Yute is a word in Tnu’u Dau (a variant of Mixtec, language spoken in the Mixteca alta of the state of Oaxaca in southern México) that means river. This workshop is an open space to dive into our body-sound-landscape. Yute invites participants to express themselves, to explore different types of listening and to (re)discover different sounds, silences, movements, gestures and modes of expression in relation between voice, language and image. As a river that dances and river that sings we will dance based on the idea that the soles of our feet become fluid ears. Slowly sensations, slowly associations… moving together in a choral cellular dance we dive into space. Yute propose a time to co-create corporeal sonorous poems as a cadavre exqui. At the end of the workshop, we will have an open studio, a polyphonic performance.
Paulina Ruiz Carballido is a choreographic artist interested in creating spaces of experimentation to reveal the interactions, confrontations and resonances of a body-voice in becoming, of a becoming world. She creates choreographic projects in which she investigates and co-creates links from ancestry and collective mythology trying to decolonize knowledge from the body in resonance with the community, the landscape and nature. She collaborates, resonates and intervenes as a choreographic artist, dancer and teacher in different projects, contexts and constellations of artists to sow other possibilities of cohabitation, peace, support and trust. Her choreographic, transmission, research and screendance work has been presented in festivals in Latin America, USA, Canada and Europe. www.paulinaruizcarballido.com | www.collectifvidda.com
Elemental P.L.A.Y.
with yaTande Whitney V. Hunter
Saturday, August 5, 4:00pm-6:00pm
Register Here
Elemental PLAY (EP) - an embodied social-ritual experience integrating three modes of engagement: Elementals - air, earth, fire, water
PLAY (physical, liveness, action, you)
Four Bodies (vigorous, rhythmic, controlled, reflective)
Starting with breath, participants move through a series of experiences guided by the Elementals. Next, PLAY, with the Four Bodies, move participants through ephemeral moments rising to the peak of excitement and falling to the depths of contemplation. EP is open to all bodies. Participants, and witnesses, are welcome to bring objects, instruments, pens, cell phones, books, and other tools that can be used in this embodied social-ritual experience.
yaTande Whitney V. Hunter, Chicago-born, Philadelphia-based artist committed to #cultureascatalyst. With his co-created, NEA supported Denizen Arts, his work centers around cultivating individual and communal spirit through dance-performance, education and curation. yaTande has performed with world-renowned artists, and his choreographic and performance work has been presented nationally and internationally for which he has received several grants and commissions. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Art Theory and Aesthetics (Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, 2013 David Driskell Fellow), and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Dance and Coordinator of the African Diaspora Dance Series at Temple University. www.whitneyhunter.com | Video | Facebook | Instagram
with yaTande Whitney V. Hunter
Saturday, August 5, 4:00pm-6:00pm
Register Here
Elemental PLAY (EP) - an embodied social-ritual experience integrating three modes of engagement: Elementals - air, earth, fire, water
PLAY (physical, liveness, action, you)
Four Bodies (vigorous, rhythmic, controlled, reflective)
Starting with breath, participants move through a series of experiences guided by the Elementals. Next, PLAY, with the Four Bodies, move participants through ephemeral moments rising to the peak of excitement and falling to the depths of contemplation. EP is open to all bodies. Participants, and witnesses, are welcome to bring objects, instruments, pens, cell phones, books, and other tools that can be used in this embodied social-ritual experience.
yaTande Whitney V. Hunter, Chicago-born, Philadelphia-based artist committed to #cultureascatalyst. With his co-created, NEA supported Denizen Arts, his work centers around cultivating individual and communal spirit through dance-performance, education and curation. yaTande has performed with world-renowned artists, and his choreographic and performance work has been presented nationally and internationally for which he has received several grants and commissions. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy, Art Theory and Aesthetics (Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, 2013 David Driskell Fellow), and currently serves as Assistant Professor of Dance and Coordinator of the African Diaspora Dance Series at Temple University. www.whitneyhunter.com | Video | Facebook | Instagram
Brutal Honesty - dance and language improvisation practice
with Zornitsa Stoyanova
Saturday, August 5, 4pm-6pm
Register Here
Brutal Honesty is a dance and language improvisation practice developed by multidisciplinary artist and choreographer Zornitsa Stoyanova. The practice has a goal of not censoring oneself in movement and the language, stories, emotions, and bullshit that comes up while in it. Initially inspired by the global “pandemic” of alternative facts, Brutal Honesty questions what is honest, real, and truthful. This improvisation dance and language research interrogates our personal connection to the idea of truth, within gentle and safe boundaries. The generation of language and movement initiates from the sensual body, our memories, feelings, and the here and now. Within this practice, Stoyanova offers tools and modalities for this language and movement practice that help unearth the notion of personal truths and what it means to be honest, with yourself and others.
Zornitsa Stoyanova is an accomplished performance artist, writer, and designer whose work centers around exploring feminist ideas, power dynamics, and personal stories. Based between Bulgaria and the United States, Zornitsa founded BodyMeld, an organization that supports independent choreographers and showcases her own performances. Her stage, video, and photographic work use the female body as an abstract object, celebrating its strength and sensuality while conveying emotion and vulnerability. Zornitsa's performances have been featured in festivals across the US, Bulgaria, and France, earning her recognition and numerous awards. She is also committed to creating a sustainable dance community and has organized workshops and residencies in both her locales. Zornitsa teaches improvisation techniques for performance, dance on camera, and composition, both in-person and online. She is an editor for thinkingdance.net and as a mother of two continues to advocate for parents in the performance art field. www.bodymeld.org | Facebook | Instagram and Instagram
with Zornitsa Stoyanova
Saturday, August 5, 4pm-6pm
Register Here
Brutal Honesty is a dance and language improvisation practice developed by multidisciplinary artist and choreographer Zornitsa Stoyanova. The practice has a goal of not censoring oneself in movement and the language, stories, emotions, and bullshit that comes up while in it. Initially inspired by the global “pandemic” of alternative facts, Brutal Honesty questions what is honest, real, and truthful. This improvisation dance and language research interrogates our personal connection to the idea of truth, within gentle and safe boundaries. The generation of language and movement initiates from the sensual body, our memories, feelings, and the here and now. Within this practice, Stoyanova offers tools and modalities for this language and movement practice that help unearth the notion of personal truths and what it means to be honest, with yourself and others.
Zornitsa Stoyanova is an accomplished performance artist, writer, and designer whose work centers around exploring feminist ideas, power dynamics, and personal stories. Based between Bulgaria and the United States, Zornitsa founded BodyMeld, an organization that supports independent choreographers and showcases her own performances. Her stage, video, and photographic work use the female body as an abstract object, celebrating its strength and sensuality while conveying emotion and vulnerability. Zornitsa's performances have been featured in festivals across the US, Bulgaria, and France, earning her recognition and numerous awards. She is also committed to creating a sustainable dance community and has organized workshops and residencies in both her locales. Zornitsa teaches improvisation techniques for performance, dance on camera, and composition, both in-person and online. She is an editor for thinkingdance.net and as a mother of two continues to advocate for parents in the performance art field. www.bodymeld.org | Facebook | Instagram and Instagram
Peter Sciscioli (Facilitator) is a Brooklyn-based interdisciplinary performer, creator, educator, and producer whose work encompasses dance, music, theater, and film. Since 1997 he has been creating performance works through a choreographic lens with a wide variety of collaborators for concert, site-specific, and theater venues around the world. In 2008, he created Peter Sciscioli Performance Projects, and in 2012 founded the International Interdisciplinary Artists Consortium (IIAC), a network of artists and producers working across disciplines and cultures. As a performer, he has worked extensively with Meredith Monk, Jane Comfort, and Daria Faïn, and appeared in work by Jonathan Bepler/Matthew Barney, Ping Chong, DD Dorvillier, Susan Marshall, and Philip Glass/Mary Zimmerman, among others. Peter has taught his approach to Voice as Movement in countries from Mexico to North Macedonia, co-initiated The Sounding Body workshop series at Movement Research (MR) in New York, and offers private lessons and coachings. Peter has been honored to receive support from MR’s GPS/Global Practice Sharing program to attend meetings with partners in Eastern Europe and the Caucuses, and to help bring several artists from the region to the U.S. to participate in the IIAC residency and Interdisciplinary Arts Lab.
www.petersciscioli.com | Facebook | Instagram
www.petersciscioli.com | Facebook | Instagram
This project is supported by the 2023 GPS/Global Practice Sharing program of Movement Research with funding from the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
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Images information:
1. A close-up portrait of Esther Baker-Tarpaga wearing a red sparkly dress with a bouquet of yellow flowers poking out of the top. She is smiling softly at the camera. Behind her is a chalkboard with blurred lettering. Photo by Karla Conrad.
2. A dancing photo of Esther Baker-Tarpaga wearing a red hoodie and black jeans, her left arm tossed toward the sky, gazing up, holding a bouquet of yellow flowers in her right hand. Photo by Kelly Strayhorn.
3. A close-up portrait of Sugar Vendil, waring a sheer black shirt, her right hand suspended in air, looking off to the side with a brightly colored floral background. Photo by Julia Comita.
4. N. Eda Erçin in a white short-sleeved dress stands with her eyes closed and mouth open, her arms stretched behind her holding on to a white metal structure. Photo by Josiah Pearsall.
5. Martín Lanz Landázuri, wearing a black shirt with white vertical stripes, stands looking to one side, against a blackboard with white horizontal stripes. Photo courtesy of the artist.
6. A close-up portrait of Arely Landeros wearing a brightly colored shirt, hands folded over her left knee. Looking at the camera with a serious expression and purple lips. Photo by Natalia Luna.
7. A dancing portrait of Iskra Shukarova, her left arm encircling her right arm, looking up, the back of her head reflected in a mirror behind her. Photo by Darko Stojanovski.
8. A portrait of Paulina Ruiz Carballido wearing a long white shirt, open at the neck, leaning against a pale yellow wall, looking to the side and smiling. Photo by Luna Arboleda.
9. A photo taken from above of seven people standing around a circle looking at a series of drawings on paper on the floor. Photo by Malcolm-x Betts.
10. A dancing portrait of yaTande Whitney V. Hunter wearing a white hat, shirt and pants, a red scarf draped from his waist and a large shawl swirling out from his shoulders as he bends his knees and extends his arms in movement. Photo by Brian Mengini.
11. A close-up portrait of Zornitsa Stoyanova posing with closed eyes, in golden light, leaning her head against a reflective silver material. Photo courtesy of the artist.
12. Portrait of Peter Sciscioli wearing glasses and a blue casual shirt and smiling vividly at the camera. Photo by Barbara Dietl.
1. A close-up portrait of Esther Baker-Tarpaga wearing a red sparkly dress with a bouquet of yellow flowers poking out of the top. She is smiling softly at the camera. Behind her is a chalkboard with blurred lettering. Photo by Karla Conrad.
2. A dancing photo of Esther Baker-Tarpaga wearing a red hoodie and black jeans, her left arm tossed toward the sky, gazing up, holding a bouquet of yellow flowers in her right hand. Photo by Kelly Strayhorn.
3. A close-up portrait of Sugar Vendil, waring a sheer black shirt, her right hand suspended in air, looking off to the side with a brightly colored floral background. Photo by Julia Comita.
4. N. Eda Erçin in a white short-sleeved dress stands with her eyes closed and mouth open, her arms stretched behind her holding on to a white metal structure. Photo by Josiah Pearsall.
5. Martín Lanz Landázuri, wearing a black shirt with white vertical stripes, stands looking to one side, against a blackboard with white horizontal stripes. Photo courtesy of the artist.
6. A close-up portrait of Arely Landeros wearing a brightly colored shirt, hands folded over her left knee. Looking at the camera with a serious expression and purple lips. Photo by Natalia Luna.
7. A dancing portrait of Iskra Shukarova, her left arm encircling her right arm, looking up, the back of her head reflected in a mirror behind her. Photo by Darko Stojanovski.
8. A portrait of Paulina Ruiz Carballido wearing a long white shirt, open at the neck, leaning against a pale yellow wall, looking to the side and smiling. Photo by Luna Arboleda.
9. A photo taken from above of seven people standing around a circle looking at a series of drawings on paper on the floor. Photo by Malcolm-x Betts.
10. A dancing portrait of yaTande Whitney V. Hunter wearing a white hat, shirt and pants, a red scarf draped from his waist and a large shawl swirling out from his shoulders as he bends his knees and extends his arms in movement. Photo by Brian Mengini.
11. A close-up portrait of Zornitsa Stoyanova posing with closed eyes, in golden light, leaning her head against a reflective silver material. Photo courtesy of the artist.
12. Portrait of Peter Sciscioli wearing glasses and a blue casual shirt and smiling vividly at the camera. Photo by Barbara Dietl.