Vermont-based dance company to perform September 26 and 27
MIDDLEBURY, VT. ? Big Action Performance Ensemble (Big APE), a daring and innovative new dance company, makes its debut this season with “I’m Right, You’re Wrong.” The one-hour performance will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 26, and Saturday, Sept. 27, in the Dance Theatre of the Kevin P. Mahaney ‘84 Center for the Arts, located on South Main Street (Route 30). A post-performance discussion will directly follow the Friday evening performance with Rhynard, collaborators and the dancers.
Big APE Artistic Director and Middlebury College Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Tiffany Rhynard choreographed the piece in collaboration with five dancers, made up of Middlebury alumni and current students. Vigorous and provocative, the piece explores the personal and social consequences of conflict. Please note that some content may not be appropriate for children.
During the performance, the dancers move within a multimedia environment created by digital artist Marlon Barrios Solano. Using an array of cameras, projectors and a laptop computer, Solano creates a landscape in which the dancers trigger and interact with sound textures and video images that transform the theater. This process, combined with prerecorded footage and still images, integrates a matrix of technology that evokes questions of privacy, observation, our impact on our surroundings, and our increasing dependence on digital input to perceive and interpret the world around us. Lighting design by Middlebury College Technical Director Jennifer Ponder graphically shapes and further defines the space.
“I’m Right, You’re Wrong” was originally created and performed by the Dance Company of Middlebury for their 2007-2008 tour. Four of the five original cast members return, including Middlebury College 2007 graduates Jamie Gutierrez and Louisa Irving, and 2008 graduate Adriane Medina, as well as current seniors Yina Ng and Simon Thomas-Train.
Big APE was formed in 2008 by Rhynard, a dance and video artist invested in the study of human behavior through the exploration of kinetic, visual and temporal landscapes. Her dances push the edge of conventional dance; they interlace activism, technology, imagery and bold athleticism into an alluring, sensory experience. The mission of the company is to promote art that is daring, provocative and curious. Rhynard’s productions awaken audiences to a blend of performance that responds to the brutality and bliss of living and speaks to the humanness in all of us.
In addition to performances at Middlebury College, Big APE will be in residency at Marlboro College Sept. 12-13. Big APE is the 2008-2009 Resident Dance Company at the newly renovated Town Hall Theater in Middlebury. On March 13-14, the company will present its spring season there, including a selection of repertory and new works. For more information about Big APE, visit www.bigapensemble.com.
The event is funded by the Middlebury College Dance Program and by a grant from the Vermont Community Foundation. Reserved seating tickets are $8 for general admission and $6 for senior citizens and children. Online tickets and information are available at www.middlebury.edu/arts. Tickets go on sale Sept. 15.